Cindy Anthony Did Not Lie About Chloroform Searches?
Casey Anthony did not search for “chloroform” 84 times like the prosecution asserted during the trial, new findings suggest.
In a recent report by The New York Times, John Bradley, a software designer who testified previously in court, stated that he had found an error in one of his search programs, CacheBack, which reported a high level of chloroform searches from the Anthony family computer.
But Net Analysis, a second program used by the Orange County Sheriff’s office found that the search had only been conducted once.
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According to the developer, the term “chloroform” was searched once through Google, which led to a Website called sci-spot.com. The site provided information on the use of chloroform in the 1800’s.
Seeing the discrepancies, Bradley redesigned a portion of his software and conducted a second, more thorough analysis on the search history from the Anthony computer, confirming the findings that chloroform was only searched once.
In fear of misleading the jury, Bradley immediately contacted the police and prosecution with his new research, and was told by Sergeant Kevin Stenger of the Sheriff’s Office that he was already aware of the discrepancy.
As for the prosecution, they never corrected the record although they were given the information as well, possibly withholding data that was exculpatory to the defense.
Defense attorney Cheney Mason told the Times, “If in fact this is true, and the prosecution concealed this new information, it is more than shame on them. It is outrageous.”
But prosecutors refuted any claims of withholding exculpatory information, and stated that they had spoken with defense attorney Jose Baez about the discrepancies on June 27. Baez even used the information in his closing arguments.
A statement from the state attorney’s office in Orlando released on Wednesday read, “Court records show that the defense was completely aware of the issues, utilizing these facts at trial.”
“We are dismayed at the suggestion made by the defense that prosecution would withhold exculpatory material.”
“Mr. Bradley never told prosecutors that the searches or the dates and times of the searches were inaccurate. The only inaccuracies discussed were the visit counts discrepancy and that each software program (CacheBack & Net Analysis) revealed a different number of total records. Again, all of this information was disclosed to the defense in a timely manner.”
Bradley’s attorney, Gregory W. Mair also released a statement on Wednesday saying that his client never accused the state of any wrongdoing, reported The Associated Press.
“There have been erroneous reports about Mr. Bradley’s handling of a discrepancy relating to the number of searches regarding the search term ‘chloroform’... Mr. Bradley denies making any comments that either determined and/or implied any wrongdoing on behalf of the prosecutor’s office.”
Bradley shared on his website, according to WESH.com, “The Casey Anthony trial was a good experience for no other reason than to experience the American justice system and to be humbled in acknowledging that ‘one more test’ is never a waste of time.”
The Anthony family lawyer, Mark Lippman, also commented on the recent findings and told Fox News that the new information proves that his client, Cindy Anthony, was not lying on behalf of her daughter concerning the 84 searches for chloroform, which she denied she made.
Though the trial has been concluded for over two weeks now, the case continues to draw controversy because of the shocking verdict – Anthony was acquitted of manslaughter, murder, and child abuse.
Jurors only found her guilty of lying to law enforcement, which she was sentenced to four years for, with a total fine of $4000. But accounting for time already served and gain time based on good behavior, Anthony was released earlier than expected.
She walked out of jail a free woman on Sunday, with her current whereabouts unknown.
The Anthony case has been called “the social media trial of the century” by Time magazine and reported one of the biggest viewer ratings in recent memory.
