Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Casey Anthony Murder Trial: Day 6

Why is this man smiling?

I’m back after a wonderful, but exhausting trip. I’ve watched all of what I missed of the trial, and am waiting to see what the continued testimony of Cindy Anthony will bring today. Casey Anthony amazed me with her stone-face while her mother was recounting her accounts of “Travels With Zanny” and the various sides of the “Find Casey” story as told by Melissa England, Troy Brown, and Cindy. Will Judge Perry grant Lee Anthony’s motion? Will Judge Perry turn over some snippets of George’s grand jury testimony to impeach him? Is there anything in his testimony with which to impeach him?

Casey Anthony entered court at 8:32 this morning wearing a knit, scoop-necked top. She immediately sat down and started reading her paperwork.

Sedonia Sunset described it better than I can. “Looks like Casey is going to go the sexy route today with a skin-tight, plum-colored top that she (naturally) cannot stop tugging on.”

Judge Perry entered within moments of Casey being seated.

Mark Lippman began by presenting his motion to allow Lee Anthony to attend the courtroom proceedings.

Lippman asked the defense if they had deposed Lee Anthony and they hadn't. The state did depose him.

Judge Perry asked Mr. George who was present at the deposition. There was a member of the defense at the time (Jose Baez, Andrea Lyon?). Frank George also said that both sides questioned Lee and gave statements to LE. Lee Anthony is on both the prosecution and the defense witness lists.

Frank George had no objections to the motion. Cheney Mason did.

Mason started out with a good-old-boy joke for the judge and moved on to say there was no indication in case law that uncles came under the rule.

Mason claimed that the testimony George Anthony heard affected his testimony, especially that of Simon Birch.

Judge Perry spoke to the issue and read from Lee's deposition and the questions Jose Baez asked then.

Perry then asked Mason what testimony would be colored. He said that he would testify to her demeanor, along with other things. In addition, he said he didn't know what else the prosecution would ask him.

Lippman pointed out that an uncle was taken as next of kin in civil cases.

Then, Judge Perry ruled that Lee Anthony could be allowed to attend the trial along with his parents.

Perry said that he had reviewed George Anthony's grand jury testimony and found there was nothing in it that would be beneficial use to the defense.

Curses! Baez is foiled again!

Then, Perry handed a sealed envelope to a smiling Jeff Ashton.

Court was then in recess until 9:00.

Cindy Anthony took the stand at 9:15 and Linda Drane Burdick resumed questioning her about the MySpace posting.

Cindy expressed that Caylee was missing in her heart and she spoke to Casey about why she wrote it. She didn't know Caylee was not with Casey.

She spoke of Casey's betrayal. Casey told her she needed time away and sort things out. She was working through her relationship with Jeff Hopkins. Cindy would have to get used to Casey being out of the house and being her own person. Cindy accepted that.

Cindy assumed the relationship was with a wealthy man who lived out of town.

There were more details of Cindy's motivation and what she discussed with Casey.

Cindy said that she backed off and learned to text Casey. She did ask to be able to speak with Caylee and Casey gave her mother all sorts of excuses as to why she could not speak to Caylee.

Cindy Anthony continued on with the exact same story she told LE and the FBI about Casey's explanations for her absence.

We were now up to her stay in Jacksonville with Jeff Hopkins. His mother was getting married!

Cindy then went on to discuss the yard work they were doing July 13 when she noticed the taped notice on the front door.

She indicated that the notice only said Johnson’s and they didn't know anyone by that name. George was going to pick it up on Monday, but he had a new job and ended up going on Tuesday.

Cindy went to work on July 15 and George was to work the 3-11 shift.

When George told her about the car, she called Casey and told her what had happened and that she was in big trouble and had a lot of explaining to do. Casey didn't give her an explanation. She told Casey she needed to come home.

She then left work and got $500 out of the ATM to pay for the car.

The two of them drove to the tow yard together. She had no access to the car at the tow yard. George came around in the car and George told her the car smelled. She could not detect the odor at that point (She was in her car.)

They drove back home and George parked the Sunfire on the right-hand side. It was raining, sort of a misty rain. When the car was in the garage, she could smell the car as she walked up the driveway. She said, "What's wrong with the car?" and "What died?" as she noticed it. George told her there had been a bag of garbage in the car and she went with that explanation.

George opened the car to air and took the battery out so Casey couldn't take it when she got home.

When Cindy looked in the car, she noticed Casey's purse, Caylee's favorite doll in the car seat where Caylee would have sat. She noticed Caylee's backpack in the trunk and some of Casey's clothes. She took the doll and the backpack out of the car. She also took out the purse and the pants. The doll smelled like the car and she put it on the freezer, got a Clorox wipe and cleaned the head and hands. She sprayed the doll's body and car with Febreeze.

Burdick took Cindy back to the smell of the car. Cindy said it was pretty strong. She didn't associate the trunk with the body. She was satisfied with what George told her what happened to the tow yard. (Is this a lie, or some very serious denial?)
Cindy said she had experience with decomposing flesh in her job as an RN. However, she wasn't considering that something had died in the car.

She encouraged George to go to work. George took no action with the car.

Burdick then introduced a photograph of the rear of Casey's Pontiac Sunfire. The defense did not object and the picture was put into evidence.

Due to technical difficulties, there was a brief recess.

With the problem fixed, Cindy then identified the picture and another picture of the front of the car.

There were then photographs of the entire car from the driver's side, the interior of the driver's side, and the rear seat.

Cindy said that she also removed Casey's work purse from the front of the car and a steak knife.

While Baez had no objections, he asked for a side bar about prior testimony. Turned out it was about the steak knife. The judge told the jury to ignore that piece of evidence.

Linda Burdick then discussed the picture of the back seat of the car. It showed the car seat and Casey's shoes.

Cindy said she removed Casey's slacks from on top of the shoes and laundered them since they had the same odor of the car.

She also stated that she placed a dryer sheet in the car and moved the boots from the well of the car.

When Burdick impeached Cindy on the placement of the dryer sheet (from her deposition), Cindy said she "forgot" that she put it there.

After being shown the deposition, she admitted to having "flashbacks" of the day and that she was on new medication and that her memory had improved due to the flashbacks.
(That's the same thing she said at the hearing when testifying for the defense.)

Burdick then reminded her that she had asked Cindy if she felt ready at the time of the deposition and Cindy reminded her that she had said that that was the best she could do at the time.

(Medicated, tired, etc. Where have we heard that before?)

Cindy cried as the next picture was introduced. It was the contents of the blue bin that she turned over to the Sheriff's Office. On the top was the doll, Mama.

Later, when she got back from work and Casey wasn't returning her calls, she found Amy Huizenga's job applications.

Cindy also said she looked through the backpack. Then, a photograph of the contents of the backpack was put into evidence. Cindy said that she hadn't removed anything from it. She did briefly remove the toothbrush and replaced it.

Cindy then went through the items that had been in the back of the car. Cindy did not vacuum the back and sprayed some Febreeze and brushed a few pieces of debris away.

When Cindy returned to work, she left the car with the doors, trunk, and sunroof open. She stayed at work about 1 ½ hours. While there, she tried to contact Casey.

Her director sent her home.

Cindy had told her co-workers about the car and that Casey had been away from home with Caylee.

(Cindy still stays with her explanation of "it smelled like something died" when referring to the car.)

When she got home from work, she again tried to get in touch with Casey to no avail. Since she had Amy's contact information, she decided to call her.

Cindy was able to reach Amy and pick her up at the Florida Mall. Amy took her to Casey at Tony Lazzaro's apartment.

She then she recounted her version of that event. (It's interesting to note she didn’t mention the way she treated Casey as reported by Amy Huizenga in her deposition.)

Since Casey told Cindy that Caylee was with the nanny, Cindy's goal was to find her.

First, they drove Amy home.

In the car, she continued to question Casey. She stated she didn't want to embarrass Casey or Amy, the conversation was very limited.

When Amy left, she said that Casey told her she would take her to see Caylee. They started driving around and Casey started making excuses why they should leave Caylee where she was. When she asked to be taken back to Tony's, she refused to do so. She decided to head home.

When she passed the Orlando Police substation on Pershing, she told Casey that she was taking her to the police. When she found it was closed. Cindy told Casey it was her last chance, they argued and, getting nowhere, she dialed 911 from the car.

She then she recounted her version of that event. (It's interesting to note she doesn't mention the argument she had with Casey as reported by Amy.)

Since Casey told Cindy that Caylee was with the nanny, Cindy's goal was to find her.

First, they drove Amy home.

In the car, she continued to question Casey. She stated she didn't want to embarass Casey or Amy, the conversation was very limited.

When Amy left, she said that Casey told her she would take her to see Caylee. They started driving around and Casey started making excuses why they should leave Caylee where she was. When she asked to be taken back to Tony's, she refused to do so. She decided to head home.

When the attorneys returned to the courtroom, Judge Perry questioned Linda Drane Burdick as to the reason for playing the calls.

Judge Perry read some jury instructions. They were not to consider them for the crimes mentioned, but to go to Mrs. Anthony's state of mind.

Burdick mentioned that Casey spoke on them. The third call had been admitted based on excited utterance.

Judge Perry said he would include the stolen car and money specifically in his instructions.

Burdick said that she didn't want to have the transcripts themselves admitted into evidence and said that the jurors would see the script in sync with the call.

Cheney Mason referred Perry to rule 2.4. Perry looked it up and decided that he could add further language that the defendant wasn't under indictment here for those crimes.

Perry read the final version of the instructions and Mason, while not liking them, accepted them.

Cindy Anthony then returned to the stand.

Perry then read the stipulation for the first call and read the special jury instructions for the first 911 call made by Cindy in the car.

The FIRST CALL was then played for the jury. Part 1 Part 2

Cindy then explained that she drove home. She did not call George or Lee at that point.

George had already called Lee to tell him something was going on and he was at the house when Casey and Cindy arrived.

Rather than calling 911, Lee said he would try to get the answers from Casey. At first, the three of them were together.

When nothing much happened, Lee spoke to Casey for a bit longer. Since they seemed to be getting nowhere, Cindy made her SECOND CALL.

The police did not respond "fast enough" for Cindy.

Before the police arrived, Cindy paced between the garage and Casey's room where Lee was still talking to her.

At a certain point, Cindy said that she overheard Casey telling Lee that the nanny had kidnapped Caylee 31 days earlier.

She went into the room and yelled at Casey and slammed the bed. She then made the THIRD CALL.

Cindy broke down crying as she related what she had learned.

I was during this call that the jury heard the desperation in Cindy's voice. It was also the first time they heard the cool, calm, collected voice of Casey Anthony.

(Cindy is so overcome with grief that her head sinks down with her shoulders heaving as she cries.)

Cindy Anthony then asked for a break to compose herself.

After the brief break, Cindy was escorted back to the witness stand. She didn't look well at all,
but, Linda Burdick continued with her questioning until lunch.

Cindy began when George pulled up in the garage and she tried to explain the situation to him. He was shocked, but she couldn't see his reaction because she collapsed in his arms.

The police arrived shortly after the call and everything became a blur. The first deputies arrived and, much later in the evening, she gave them a written report.

She remembered that she walked the deputy to her room so he could talk to Casey.

The next day, they turned over the Sunfire and other evidence they had removed from the car to the police, with the exception of the slacks which they didn't want.

They also turned over their computers to the police a couple of days later. Much later, she turned over items she thought that the nanny might have touched. They also took her cell phone to get the material off of it on one of her visits to the police. She also gave DNA and hair samples some time later. She set up a tip line so people could call her (Lee set it up.). They also set up a command center.

On July 16, Cindy received a phone call from Casey after she was arrested. It was received into evidence over defense objections and read a stipulation.

They then played CASEY'S CALL HOME.

Ms. Burdick had no more questions for Cindy Anthony.

The Judge announced lunch would be until 1:30.

When they will return, Cindy will be in for her second ordeal of the day, her cross examination by Jose Baez.

Court reconvened at 1:31 PM.

Cindy Anthony then resumed the witness stand.

Baez started off by saying that she and Casey are a lot alike. Cindy agreed with that. He asked if she raised Casey to be a good, caring, loving, person. Had she her she raised Casey to tell the truth. Cindy said that she had indeed raised Casey to have such values.

Baez then asked what kind of mother Casey was. Cindy said that she had a quick maternal instinct which reminded her of when her kids were born.

Caylee adored her mom and always wanted to sleep with her.

She never witnessed Casey torture or abuse Caylee. Caylee never went without food and shelter.

They then went through the story of Casey's pregnancy and the incident at her brother’s wedding. Baez then showed her the picture from the wedding.

She explained about how her brother confronted her with the subject that Casey might be pregnant. George and Cindy didn't believe Casey was pregnant.

Baez tried to get Cindy to say that Casey got heavy because she was participating in sports. Cindy stood her ground and said she had a sedentary job in human resources at the time.

Baez then reminded Cindy about Casey's situation in jail. Baez then pointed out that Casey today does not have a protruding belly.

He asked Cindy to stand to identify her daughter. The state objected to that and we had a bench conference.

After the lawyers returned to their places, the judge had Casey stand and Cindy had to come off the witness stand to get a good look. (Darn, they didn't show Casey!)

Cindy said that Casey did not have a protruding belly like she did at the wedding.

They thought Casey might have an ovarian cyst. Cindy told her to see the doctor and Casey said she did. She was referred to a gynecologist.

They went through Casey's menstrual history and she never took Casey to a gynecologist. Casey had irregular periods a couple of months prior to Cindy finding out she was pregnant.

Baez then went on to Casey's imaginary friends.

He asked who Caylee's father was. Casey told her it was Jesse Grund. When she found out Jesse wasn't the father, Casey told her that it was Eric Baker who was two years younger than her. He was an old friend she'd started seeing about the time she'd started seeing Jesse. Baker was out of state, Kentucky or North Carolina.

Cindy made no attempts to meet Eric Baker and never wanted to speak to him. Casey didn't want her to meet him. Casey told her that he had died in a car crash shortly after Caylee's second birthday.

Baez asked if Cindy had any evidence to prove the existence of Erik Baker but was shut down by objections.

Next up was Jeff Hopkins. (I'll spare you a good number of the bogus details of Casey's tale here.)

She'd heard of him from the time Casey was breaking up with Jesse and she was confiding in Jeff, a co-worker at Universal. He supposedly had a son, Zachary whose picture Cindy claimed to have seen on Casey's cell phone.

She now knows that Jeffrey Hopkins doesn't exist, as described by Casey.

Again, Baez tried to get in evidence that he ever existed and is overruled.

(This is painful to listen to. Casey had spun a web of lies to everyone, including her mother. Now, Cindy is being to pressed on the details of the lives on nonexistent people!)

When talking of the fictitious people, it seems a lot of parents of toddlers died in Casey’s imaginary world.

Casey really tortured her parents with these fictitious people, planning events and cancelling them at the last minute. Cindy would plan and make a meal or other food, and nobody would ever show up.

Then there was Juliette Lewis and her daughter Annabelle.

The only "proof" Cindy ever had of their existence was what her daughter had told her over long periods of time and Caylee seemed to recognize the name Annabelle and would be excited to hear it.

They went on to Raquel Ferrel and Zanny the Nanny.

Again it was, "did you ever see a picture," "did you ever see them," did you ever talk to them on the phone," and so on and so on.

Baez made his point. Cindy bought it all and believed her daughter. She remembered every detail about each person. This was so very, very sad to hear.

As the story went on (and we've all heard it before), Baez added Gloria, Zanny's mom who had a heart condition, a Rosa, a younger sister Samantha, etc.

At the end of this portion of her testimony, Cindy said that she had only recently learned they were not real.

Then, Baez asked her what efforts she made to find Zanny the Nanny. Cindy went through the details of their search. It even included a trip to an apartment in New York based on a tip. They even went to California to check out a Zanny.

Baez then brought up Dominic Casey. Cindy said he volunteered to follow up tips after his falling out with Baez.

Baez went on to ask about Mr. Casey's efforts to locate Zanny in Puerto Rico. That question went nowhere due to a heresay objection.

Baez even tried to sneak in Caylee's being flown to Puerto Rico in a private jet. It didn't work either.

Then, Baez backed off to Casey's high school graduation and those questions were blocked.

Baez finally asked Cindy if she never realized that these people weren't real. She replied that she hadn't and said that she had trusted Casey because she didn't believe her daughter would lie to her.

Baez was allowed to ask Cindy if she told LE that Zanny was possibly Amy Huizenga or Jesse Grund. Cindy said she even brought up that it could be Ricardo Morales.

A lot of evidence isn't coming in here because it's all hearsay.

Cindy also testified that she had given one of the police officers (Sgt. Hosey) what she thought was Zanny's number. It turned out to be one of Casey's other friend’s number.

Also sustained was the objection made to the question by Baez if she believed Caylee was alive.

Next on Baez' agenda was the Anthony home. He brought up the fact that it had off-white carpet and sliding glass doors. Cindy said that Caylee could not open the doors easily.

Baez asked more questions which were also objected to and sustained. Judge Perry told him to move on.

Baez then asked if she told LE about the gate being open and the ladder up on the pool. Cindy said it was the 16th. It alarmed her because she didn't want her dogs going into the street.

She also testified that she had asked George if he left the gate open and the ladder in the pool. He said that he didn’t. She said that Casey wasn't home that afternoon. (Oh. Casey sure WAS home after George left for work! Check out her cell phone pings.)

Baez went on to how much Caylee liked to swim and other details. When asked, Cindy said Casey could have left the ladder up if she had come home to take a swim.

Cindy then recounted the evening of the 15th.

Cindy was asked if she was 100% sure she took the ladder down, she said no one is 100%, but that she knew she did and the incident came the following day.

Steff Watts (who then worked for Fox News) was one of the media personnel outside her house. She also met Mark Furhman. She let both these people into her home and spoke to them.

Furhman wanted to offer any help he could with his expertise as a detective. She gave them a tour of the back yard. Baez asked if she told them she forgot to take the ladder down. Cindy said she didn't. (Baez asked a question as though to impeach her with proof she said she forgot, and then drops the issue. It sounds like he is trying to fake her out into admitting to something she didn't say.)

Baez then went to the phone calls from Casey on the afternoon of the 16th. She was aware that there were calls, but she was busy with her projects.

Next they were on to the certified mail notice. She recalled that it was dated the 10th or the 11th. They discovered it on the 13th.

Next, it was on to the car in the garage. The reason Cindy said it smelled like a "dead body" in the third 911 call, it just blurted out. The smell in car didn't enter her mind in the first two 911 calls.

Baez then pushed on to elicit that Cindy had testified that the reason she used the phrase was so the police would come faster.

Thankfully, Judge Perry called a "special" recess until 3 PM.

The moment that Judge Perry took the bench, Cheney Mason called for a side-bar.

Cindy Anthony then returned to the witness stand.

Baez then asked Cindy to go back over two points that he overlooked. He referred to the calls she received from Casey. Cindy said that she had been in a meeting.

According to Baez, there were 6 calls within a few minutes. As he read the times, Linda Burdick objected and Perry sustained the objection.

Then, Baez asked if she had health insurance at Getniva and she said that she did.

Next, Baez played a section of the 911 call. It was the part where she was telling George that Caylee was missing. (Here, Baez is trying to show that George had no reaction and said nothing, proving, in his mind, that George already knew Caylee was dead!)

Baez then asked if George had done any of the questioning of Casey. Cindy pointed out that he only arrived home during the 911 call and the arrival of the police.

Once the sheriff's office came, they were all separated.

Baez mentioned her getting the date wrong on Caylee's disappearance as June 7 and June 7 on her statement. Cindy explained she'd gotten her dates wrong, not referencing Father's day. Baez showed it to her and she put June 8 on her written statement.

Baez said that they found out from LE that it was they who figured out that it was the day of June 15th.

Baez also brought up the fact that she didn't want deputies showing up at the nursing home due to her father's illness.

Baez then asked her if she told LE that Casey had problems with seizures but it was not answred due to relevance objection.

Cindy is not working as an RN right now. She is on disability because of this case. Then, Baez went into any financial gain they might get from the case. Cindy said she didn't gain any money, they had, in fact, lost a lot of money.

When Baez asked about the selling of the photos, she referred to the money they got through Brad Conway, who took $6000 of the $20000. They also went to New York with Conway and were looking for a book deal.

She had not attempted to make a living as the director of the Caylee Marie Foundation.

She doesn't have any current media negotiations going on.

Baez then went into all the "daytime" events and the 48 Hour interview.

Then, there were no further questions. (Thank goodness, because he was all over the place and back and forth. He needed to be better organized.)

Linda Burdick did re-direct.

Cindy testified that she provided food for her granddaughter. She provided the clothing, for the most part. She provided the shelter for Caylee.

In regards to Casey's weight, Cindy said that her weight had fluctuated.

She was the one who told George Anthony that the father of Caylee was Jesse Grund.

In August, 2008, she had the people from Greta Van Susteren. She mentioned only that the gate had been open and the ladder was up.

The pool/gate incident was a few days prior to the gas can incident.

When they were gone, the gate was usually locked from the inside. The only time she knew that the gate wasn't locked was the 16th, when she went over to that side of the yard.

George didn't say he unlocked it and Caylee was unable to do it. The only person left to do it was Casey.

She reaffirmed that she used the term dead body, it was to get the police there earlier. When talking to her co-workers, she used the term dead body.

When asked if it smelled like a dead body, Cindy said it was a smell she had never smelled before. It was worse than smelling rotting flesh because it was a bigger surface.

Cindy said she didn't remember what George said, but that he was upset.

The trademarking of Caylee's name was to stop exploitation of her name.

Cindy admitted that the lies started when Caylee was born and mostly were to explain where Caylee was. The exception was Jeff Hopkins.

When Cindy brought up the co-workers Casey had invented, Burdick added to the list of reasons that it explained why Casey wasn't home.

Baez then did re-cross. He questioned her about the smell in the car and she believed it to smell like garbage.

Baez then pointed out that you couldn't hear George's reaction on the 911 tape. Cindy brought up that George was not near the phone to be heard!

Baez stuck to his point that George wasn't heard on the tape. (That was important to Baez because he said George had no reaction on the call because he already knew that Caylee was already dead.)

Baez questioned her about Casey's graduation. They said she would graduate, but was not allowed to walk. They party was planned, so it went on.

That was before Caylee was born, as though the fact that Casey hid things from her parents was a novel idea back then.

Finally, Cindy was asked to stand down.

There seemed to be a problem with Baez putting out of court statements from the defendant (that are not against interest) concerning a number of issues. Baez said that the prosecution had done the same thing. (These statements would be hearsay.)

They are somehow tied to the six felony counts Casey pled to. Apparently, state want the jury to be told of the convictions, but they were to only go to the credibility of the defendant.

It will be further discussed at 8:30 tomorrow morning during a hearing.

The state announced that Amy Huizenga would be the next witness.

The defense complained that they were told she was in Barcelona. Burdick said they had been told she would be back for today.

Apparently, Baez left her file in Kissimmee!

Baez called for an early recess. The judge said that if they do that, he would work them all day on Saturday.

Judge Perry also pointed out that the defense had not utilized the hallway to store files.

Amy's direct testimony will come in today and then they would recess.

Then, Baez was given a verbal spanking by the judge, ever mindful of the sequestered jury.

Amy Huizenga took the stand next and was questioned by Frank George.

She started by saying she did know Casey Anthony. At the time of Caylee's death, they were best friends.

In early 2008 she worked at a theater and at Houlihan's. She never saw Casey's Universal ID. She started seeing Casey more when she started dating her friend, Ricardo Morales. They text messaged on a daily basis. She was living with Troy Brown at the time and would see Caylee at Ricardo and JP's apartment.

There were times when Casey couldn't go out with her friends because she had to watch Caylee. When she would bring Caylee in the evening, she would put her to bed in Ricardo's room or on the couch.

At least once a week, Casey couldn't make plans because she had to watch Caylee.

She was aware of the breakup between Casey (in detail) and Ricardo. In May, they were in an on-again, off-again period.

Amy was going to have to move and in mid-May, she and Casey decided to move in together. They thought about an apartment and then a house. There was an appointment for a house, but then Casey said it wasn't going to work out. This happened on a number of occasions.

Then, Casey told Amy that she was going to take over her parents' mortgage payments and move in there. This came about around mid-July. She never met Cindy Anthony and was excited to meet her.

Casey told Amy that she had problems when she thought that her mother would take care of Caylee but it didn't happen. Casey's frustration grew greater in May as this happened more often.

Amy was shown a text message between her and Casey. After July 15, she gave her cell phone to LE to retrieve the messages.

The message said that they would go out because Casey said "my mom owes me."

This message was a recurrent theme in this period. Amy said the relationship was rocky because her mother had told her she was unfit as a mother. She would hear the beginnings and ends of conversations. Casey said her mom was crazy and she needed her space.

In June, 2008, Amy moved in with Ricardo around June 5-6. She wrecked her car and they lived near her job. Ricardo lived with J.P. Chatt.

Casey was going to give her a ride to Jacksonville so she could purchase a car from her uncle. Casey was going to pick her up extremely early in the morning of June 13. Casey didn't pick her up because she said there was problem and she was going to the hospital.

Amy said that she called Casey from Jacksonville to see how things were going. Casey later invited her to Fusian that night. She didn’t go.

Amy asked Casey for help to get a job because she thought she worked at Universal.

Amy did not see Casey for about 3 weeks in June. They kept in touch by text messages and phone.

Amy said Casey was having car trouble. She had two flat tires, ran out of gas, and had a smell in her car.

Frank George approached Amy with more text messages.

Casey had texted her that "There was definitely part of a dead animal plastered to the frame of my car."

Prior text messages from Casey indicated there was a really bad smell coming from her call and also a phone call saying it had gotten worse. She said that her father may have run over something.

George then questioned her about the times she ran out of gas. There were text messages about those events as well.

During the end of June, Amy assumed Casey was living with Tony Lazzaro.

Casey spoke about her mother and was frustrated with her mother. Most of them had to do with Caylee and that Cindy wanted to see her. Casey had said that something was going on at home (George and Cindy were considering a divorce because her dad cheated on her mom) and she wanted to keep Caylee out of there.

Casey said she needed space because it was time for her to move out and have their own lives away from her parents.

During June, Amy believed that she was moving into the home and a number of dates were set and Casey cancelled them. Casey gave various reasons such as repairs and landscaping.

Finally, Casey told her that the house was not going to be available because Cindy took back the deal due to some bank paperwork that could be undone. This occurred in July.

Amy said that Casey became even more frustrated with her mom. Amy said Casey talked a lot about her mother, a lot to do with a child complaining about a parent and issues with Caylee. There were also issues about the past.

Jose Baez said that he objected to statements and wanted them struck. Judge Perry only sustained the argument for the last question.

Casey ended up staying with her for about a week, it wasn't her place, she was staying with Ricardo and JP. She was uncomfortable with the arrangement. (This was when Tony was in New York.)

The discussion then went to Will Waters' 4th of July party Amy had invited her to. At first, she said she couldn't come because of Caylee. Amy suggested she bring Caylee and Casey said she'd think about it.

Amy never had to ask where Caylee was. Casey told her she was with the nanny "doing a tour of Florida" or with her mother.

At the 4th of July party, Casey told her Caylee was at Sea World with Caylee.

July 5, she woke up and Casey was on her computer. She was happy because Tony was coming home that day.

Casey hung out with Will for the day and then went to the airport to pick up Tony.

At that time, Casey was driving Tony's car because hers was in the shop.

The next topic was the Puerto Rico trip.

Amy returned July 15 and Casey picked her up in her car.

When she got home, she went with JP to the Florida Mall. There, she received a phone call from a very scared Cindy Anthony.

She was cautious speaking with her because Casey had told her she was crazy.

Cindy picked her up at the mall and Amy led her to Tony's apartment.

She went ahead of Cindy and asked Casey to come outside. Cindy was very confrontational and angry. There was a "massive explosion of mother and daughter" which she finally managed to escape. (Amy has a wonderful way with words.)

First, Cindy asked where Caylee was. Casey responded that she was with the nanny. With a lot of persuasion, Casey agreed to take her to Caylee.

During the "explosion" Casey was defending her position and "giving as good as she got." After leaving the apartment, Cindy and Casey got into the car. Amy was in the back seat. Casey didn't say much, just that Caylee was with the nanny. Cindy asked questions and Casey had her arms folded. Amy indicated that she felt uncomfortable with witnessing the confrontation between the two.

With that, the state was finished with the questioning. Jose Baez will cross examine her tomorrow.

There was a brief discussion at the end of the day about the hearing about the felony counts tomorrow. Judge Perry will have to decide if they are more probative than prejudicial for the state to get this information into testimony.

So, it’s 8:30 tomorrow morning again!

See you in court.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

excellent recap! It was emotional today. I felt so sad for the Anthony's. This girl has wrecked and ruined so many lives. Baez, well, I just don't know what to say. When he asked if Cindy thought Caylee was still alive, I wanted to smack him up side the head with a flat iron. What a stupid question. Anyway, its hard to believe that there will be such tension every day of this trial.
See you in court.

donchais said...

Nice to have you back in the saddle!

Great write-up.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for recap. I have never even heard of a person lying so easily as Casey. There are so many! Could not believe that she told the 911 operator she had talked to Caylee earlier that day but now the number was disconnected. And I think we finally saw the real Casey through the first phone call from jail that her mother accepted and Casey whined that everyone only cares about Caylee. Pretty damning testimony today.

Anonymous said...

Looks like Baez has coached his client to stop reacting to the testimony as she had been doing in previous days. He also seems to be somewhat less disruptive to the proceedings, but remains disorganized and perhaps intentionally so.

Hopefully the ugly truth of what this Casey monster did to her own adorable 2yr old child is starting to sink in, her mother Cindy going through meltdown in front of everyone.

Anonymous said...

If Caylee was already dead when Casey left the house that fateful morning, why did she pack Caylee's toothbrush in that backpack?

Anonymous said...

The defense may be rethinking it's strategy and now moving towards demonstrating "insanity" because (per Cindy's testimony) his client's "crazy" behavior started at least around her fake graduation years ago. This may be the way to get his client a life sentence rather than death.

It's quite understandable and natural for parents to think the best about their children, and thus consequently, with the benefit of hindsight in this case, we see that the Anthonys were in a lot of denial if only to maintain their own sanity in their everyday lives.

But one thing's for sure, the public needs to be protected from Baez's crazy client!

FRG said...

ritanita,

Thank you for your summary! You are so good! Missed you!

What a heartbreaking testimony Cindy gave! I bet she regretted to have protected KC. KC is using all of their denial against them now! It is a hard realization that they were fooled by their own daughter. George was not fooled by KC as much as Cindy and she is now facing the horror that KC might have killed Caylee. I feel sorry for her. I never thought a person would be in denial for so long.

It feels stupid being fooled by anybody, so KC has lied not only to her parents but her friends. That girl can make up a lie.

Wow, KC has "imaginary friends"! Are you sure JB is defending KC? JB is trying to downplay KC's lies but does it help her because of alleged sexual abuse by her father? Will they prove GA molested her? That remains to be seen!

Will KC take the hot seat? I hope so!

Isn't that disgusting JB was asking Cindy the money she made from Caylee's photos/videos? They made 10% of what KC made through JB by selling Caylee's photos/videos to ABC which money JB didn't collect taxes. Hmmm.

See you in court!

ritanita said...

The insanity defense is totally off the table here because Casey would have had to plead guilty due to insanity. She would have had to have a record of medical treatment and diagnosis.

There has been a lot of discussion about her possible diagnosis of BPD or some other personality disorder. However, they don't pass the smell test for insanity where the defendant doesn't know the difference between right or wrong.

Morning All!

Not much time to post!

Anonymous said...

If the insanity defense is off the table, then is their only way out to try and get a mistrial and go with another strategy in a new trial?

Casey certainly knew right from wrong, stealing from others in order to eat and live the good life. The testimony shows that Caylee increasingly became just another obstacle (rather than a precious human being) in Casey's life, the carefree life that Casey envisioned for herself. So she did what she saw would get her there: simply get rid of her 2yr old daughter ("the obstacle") and her problem is solved!

For anyone with a heart, this case will rip it to pieces and then some!

Anonymous said...

It looks like she did herself in because had she been honest with her lawyer, he might have gone with the insanity defense to begin with. But she's so good at lying that she even conned her own lawyer! This shows what a hard core pathological liar she really is!

GeeMama said...

My thoughts are that she simply doesn't have the ability to tell the truth and is a sociopath. No wonder her parents had so much trouble with her and probably thought, like many parents, that tough love would straighten her out. Instead it escalated to the point of her doing away with her child to punish her parents and have a carefree life. I can complete understand Cindy now, what mother wants to think they probably pushed their daughter into doing such a terrible act. What a sad situation.