61% Believe Casey Anthony Is Guilty Of Murder
Nearly nine-out-of-10 Americans are familiar with the outcome of the Casey Anthony murder trial, and most don't agree with the jury’s surprise not guilty decision.
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of American Adults shows that 61% believe Anthony is guilty of murdering her two-year old daughter Caylee. Just 12% believe Anthony is not guilty of the crime, while 27% are not sure. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
Eighty-seven percent (87%) are aware that the Florida jury found Anthony not guilty of murder. Just five percent (5%) believe she was convicted.
Despite the overwhelming number of Americans who are aware of the verdict, only 52% say they have been following news of the trial at least somewhat closely. Nearly as many (48%) say they haven’t been following closely, if at all. These numbers include 21% who have been following Very Closely and 10% who haven’t been following at all.
But 70% of adults believe the media paid too much attention to the Anthony trial, while just four percent (4%) think the media put too little focus on it. Only 21% feel the media coverage was about right.
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The survey of 1,000 Adults was conducted on July 7-8, 2011 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
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