Murderers in the US gets a lot more than 10 years in prison, and people can and are criminally charged for making false police reports (and can also be sued for defamation in civil courts).

The biggest problem in high profile cases like this are that they tend to be tried in the media, which allows the prosecution to taint the jury pool via media coverage of evidentiary motions and so on. Juries hear all manner of things about the case which may not be credible, and wouldn't be admissible in court.

Many nations have laws prohibiting such pre-trial coverage (known as sub judice) that protect defendants' rights to a fair trial, but the US balances its criminal system in favor of the media