Casey Anthony prosecutors, cops botched important evidence, report says
(CBS/WKMG) ORLANDO, Fla. - A new report from CBS affiliate WKMG says prosecutors and investigators in the Casey Anthony trial missed important computer evidence showing the Florida mom may have researched how to kill with poison and suffocation on the day they claim her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee, died from those same causes.
Pictures: Casey Anthony personal photos
According to the station, prosecutors were not even aware of a majority of the potentially damning computer browser evidence at the time of the trial.
"We were waiting for the state to bring it up," defense attorney Jose Baez told WKMG. "And when they didn't, we were kind of shocked."
In July 2011, a jury acquitted Anthony of first-degree murder in the 2008 death of her toddler.
The afternoon of Caylee's death, June 16, 2008, someone reportedly searched the term "fool-proof suffocation," misspelling the last word as "suffication," on the Anthony family's computer. The user then reportedly clicked on an article that criticizes pro-suicide websites that include advice on "foolproof" ways to die. "Poison yourself and then follow it up with suffocation" by placing "a plastic bag over the head," the writer quotes others as advising.
This is the same method prosecutors argued Anthony used to kill her daughter, but they did not have the evidence at trial.
Baez, who spoke about the evidence in his book, "Presumed Guilty," suggested Casey's father, George Anthony, made the search because he was considering suicide after Caylee accidentally drowned in the family swimming pool.
But according to WKMG, evidence shows the search occurred after George said he left for work and while Casey Anthony's cellphone is pinging a tower nearest the home. Shortly after the search, records show browser activity on Myspace, a website Casey Anthony used often and George did not.
The station reports that part of the blame lies with the Orange County Sheriff's Office, which possessed the evidence but failed to extract it and turn it over to prosecutors.