Consultant Advised Defense to Strike Young Moms from Casey Anthony Jury
A Houston jury consultant who helped the defense select the jury for the Casey Anthony trial advised against putting parents with young children on the jury.
Consultant Karen Hurwitz told KHOU 11 News she advised the defense against selecting jurors like Casey Anthony. “If somebody has young children it’s a lot harder to participate in a trial like this just because you’re thinking about your child,” she said. The jury acquitted Anthony of both murder and manslaughter yesterday following only 10 hours of deliberations.
An alternate juror, Russell Huekler, told NBC’s Today Show that he supported the verdict because the prosecution failed to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt. The prosecution failed to show a motive and failed to show how 2-year-old Caylee Anthony actually died, he said.
Huekler said the “$64,000 question” was why Anthony failed to report her daughter’s disappearance and why she lied to police. He said “the lies just didn’t start with the death of Caylee”; they began years before. “I personally think this family was dysfunctional,” he said.
The Orlando Sentinel published a story before the verdict describing the jurors. Five jurors were in their 30s and the rest were older.
Prior coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Casey Anthony Guilty of Providing False Info, Acquitted of First-Degree Murder and Manslaughter”
ABAJournal.com: “Little-Known Defense Lawyer Stuns Observers with Big Win for Casey Anthony in His First Capital Case”
