Video: Will ‘ugly coping’ keep Casey Anthony off death row?

April 29, 10:30 PMCrime ExaminerCindy Adams

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Casey Anthony (L) partying with friends shortly after her 2-year-old daughter Caylee went missing.

Casey Anthony’s attorney, Jose Baez said in a recent interview that there were compelling reasons for his client’s partying and other outrageous behavior after her 2-year-old daughter Caylee went missing. 

Baez told WESH 2 News about a case in which Cynthia Sommer was charged with her young husband’s murder even though he was evaluated as having died from natural causes resulting from cardiac arrest. 

Just two months after her husband died, Sommer's friends told investigators that she had purchased breast implants with the insurance money and began partying and sleeping around. 

The prosecution alleged Sommer killed her husband with arsenic. 

Sommer’s behavior after her husband’s death was called “ugly coping,” a phrase coined by a behaviorist from Columbia University, which describes people who do not grieve normally.   

A jury found Sommer guilty of her husband’s murder and she was sentenced to life in prison.  Sommer’s defense requested and was granted a new trial due to mistakes made by Sommer’s previous attorney that may have prejudiced the jury.  In particular, evidence and scientific analysis that challenged the prosecution’s argument that Sommers poisoned her husband were overlooked.

After two years in prison, a new trial resulted in the charges against Sommer being dismissed.

To use such a defense, Casey would have to admit something traumatic happened to Caylee to result in this ‘ugly coping’ behavior.  This would imply an accident occurred with regard to Caylee's death and if believed by a jury, Casey would not face the death penalty and could go free.

See the report about ‘ugly coping’ below:
 

Casey has been charged with the first-degree murder of Caylee and her trial is tentatively scheduled for Oct. 12.

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