The Umansky Law Firm

Attorney Bill Umansky was quoted in a People Magazine article about some of the reasons Casey Anthony was acquitted of murdering her two-year-old daughter, Caylee.

Attorney Umansky said, "When you've been doing this for so long, you know that you never know what a jury will do. "

And that's what this case that was part of headline news for so long came down to. The jury of 12 decided that there was not enough evidence to convict the 25-year-old. However, juries are often unpredictable and even very good attorneys cannot read how they will react to certain aspects of the case.

In the Anthony case, the prosecution relied on the story that Caylee may have been suffocated with duct tape across her nose and mouth. The defense said the girl drowned in her grandparents' pool. However, the jury just did not buy the prosecution's theory. What they did seem to believe, or at least give credence to, was the defense's insistence that this was an accident that spiraled out of control when the Anthonys were confronted with the horror of it.

Twelve regular people were more likely to understand this was a horrible accident and that the Anthony family was not able to deal with it in the proper way – that is, call the authorities. Confronted with a dysfunctional family day in and day out, may have rung true with many of the jurors.

There was a lot of circumstantial evidence provided by the prosecution, which seemed strong, but didn't do any good in the end. They used forensic evidence to tie a smell in the trunk of Anthony's car to a dead body; they used computer searches for "chloroform" and "neck breaking"; they used Anthony's continued partying in the aftermath of her daughter's disappearance.

In the end, the burden of proof comes down on the prosecution. Anthony's defense team used the tack that just because she lied doesn't mean Anthony killed her daughter.

The prosecution did a good job, said Attorney Umansky, "but circumstantial cases are very difficult to prove."

He adds, "What happened to Caylee? We may never know."

If you have been charged with a crime in Orange County or Orlando, Florida, or anywhere else in the state of Florida, please contact the experienced criminal defense attorneys at the Umansky Law Firm today.