There are many similarities between the cases involving Florida mom Casey Anthony and N.J. mom Michelle Lodzinski, and one big difference. Here's why. Watch video
NEW BRUNSWICK -- When Michelle Lodzinski was convicted Wednesday of murdering her 5-year-old son Timothy Wiltsey, some people remembered back to the 2011 trial of Casey Anthony, whose 2-year old daughter Caylee Anthony went missing in July 2008.
There were many similarities between the cases, but one big difference: Lodzinski now faces up to life in prison; Anthony was acquitted of murder.
George Thomas, a professor of law at Rutgers Law School in Newark, said the most important difference between the Lodzinski and Anthony trials is the jury.
"You can take the same exact circumstantial evidence and present it to 10 different juries and you'll get five convictions and five acquittals," Thomas said. "It depends on the jurors -- always."
Robert Bianchi, a former Morris County prosecutor who is now a defense attorney, agreed with Thomas' about the main difference between the two trials.
"A case can be built on circumstantial evidence alone so long as the evidence is solid," Bianchi said. "Then, it's up to the jury. No two juries are alike."
Bianchi added that there are other factors that can go into how a jury reaches a verdict, including how the case is presented to them by the prosecutors and the defense.
"Some lawyers are better in front of juries than others," Bianchi said.
Here are some of the similarities between the two cases:
# Both children were reported missing. Lodzinski originally told police she and her son went to a concession stand so she could buy a soda. Caylee's grandmother reported the child missing after she had not seen her in 31 days. Cindy Anthony told police Casey Anthony's car smelled like a dead body.
# Both mothers denied any involvement in their children's death. And neither woman testified at their murder trials.
# In both cases prosecutors said the mothers, both in their 20s and single, were struggling and wanted their freedom from motherhood. Prosecutors in both cases focused on impugning the character of the young women.
# There was no cause of death in either case because the bodies of both children were exposed to the elements. Timothy's body was found in a swampy area of Raritan Center in Edison 11 months after he went missing. Caylee's body was found six months after she was reported missing, in a wooded area near the family's home.
# A blanket was found either near or with the remains of both children, and prosecutors linked both blankets to the childrens' mothers.
# Both women changed their stories about how their children went missing. Lodzinski gave police at least four difference versions of the night of May 25, 1991 when Timothy disappeared, including that she left him with a woman named Ellen and two men. Anthony also gives different versions about why she hasn't seen her child for several weeks, including that Caylee was kidnapped by her nanny and that she accidentally drowned.
# Both defense attorneys offered alternate theories about what happened to the children. Anthony's attorney argued at trial that Caylee drowned in the family's above ground swimming pool and that Casey Anthony and her father collaborated to hide the child's body. Lodzinski's attorney, Gerald Krovatin, presented a witness who told jurors that his former cellmate in an Arizona prison had confessed to killing a child in New Jersey. That former inmate denied killing anyone.
# Both cases received a great deal of national publicity. Timothy's face was on thousands of milk cartons, while Time called the Caylee Anthony case the "social-media trial of the century."
Sue Epstein may be reached at sepstein@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @susan_epstein. Find NJ.com on Facebook.