Casey Anthony rejected a plea deal

If Casey Anthony pled guilty earlier in the trial she could’ve avoided the death sentence

According to a recent article by the Associate Press (AP), Casey Anthony had been offered a plea deal, which her attorney Jose Baez strongly suggested. If she pleaded guilty during the earlier days of the case, she would have had a lesser charge and the death penalty would’ve been avoidable; though, Anthony insisted she had nothing to do with Caylee’s death.

In a book Baez recently wrote Presumed Guilty, Casey Anthony: The Inside Story, if Anthony took the early plea deal to plead guilty to ‘aggravated manslaughter’ she would’ve served up to 13 years in prison. Baez thought it would be in Casey Anthony’s best interest, as an attorney, to take it.

“There were times, difficult times, when the evidence didn’t look good for Casey,” Baez said about his insistence for Anthony to take the plea deal.

Baez writes, Anthony “would not entertain it for a second.” Eventually Baez became convinced she would be acquitted—which she was last year except for four misdemeanors for lying to investigators.

“There was nothing in the trial that made me think Casey was guilty of anything as related to the murder…Every single piece of evidence favored us,” Baez said.

Prosecutors accused Anthony of suffocating her 2-year-old daughter with duct tape, so she could spend time with her boyfriend in the Orlando nightlife. Baez defended Anthony by stating Caylee drowned in the pool and that Anthony’s father, George Anthony, hid the body. Baez also claimed George Anthony sexually abused Casey; though, George Anthony denied the two allegations pitted against him.

It has been proven that Casey Anthony was a habitual liar—making up fake friends and going as far to leading investigators to a job she never had. Baez was asked if the lies might have been indicative that Anthony was guilty.

“I don’t think the lies are indicative of innocence or guilt…The lies were there long before Caylee passed away,” Baez said. According to Baez’s book, he writes Casey Anthony had built a “fantasy world” and her lies were indicative of someone with “serious mental health issues.”