Casey Anthony Faces Civil Suits And Costs

I've managed to move on and now I am seeing the aftermath of Casey's not guilty verdicts. As is my personal preference, I am limiting coverage to the various lawsuits and financial issues that she will be facing for the near future.

On August 25th at 9:00 AM, there will be a hearing in which the prosecution will present the costs of the investigation. If you go back to the sentencing (part 1, part 2) Judge Belvin Perry laid out the lies Casey told to investigators and stressed the resources that LE put forth to find a missing child based on those lies. As we learned from the fraud hearing, there were fees attached. The last we heard about that was the hearing where it was discussed with Judge Stan Strickland. How much Casey would have to pay fell by the wayside as the murder trial loomed.

Next, Casey has to face the civil suit filed by Zenaida Gonzalez in 2008 for defamation. John Morgan served a subpoena to Casey and her civil attorney, Charles M. Greene for her to do a deposition on July 19, 2011 at his offices. Yesterday, he filed an emergency motion asking Judge Jose Rodriguez to allow him to take her deposition in the jail prior to her release. He based the motion on the fact that it has become known that it is likely that Casey will leave the jurisdiction upon her release and possibly adopt a new name and new appearance.

Her attorney has stated that he objects to the motion and that he considers it a"publicity stunt" that is "abusing the court process." He said he would not attend the deposition unless ordered to by the judge.

Next up is the TES motion filed by Tim Miller on July 12. In it, he is asking for reimbursement for the expenditures made in the search for Caylee Anthony. Although the amount he is asking is not in the motion, Mr. Miller has stated on various programs that the expenses ran about $112,000. He also stated that he is asking for an Internal Revenue audit of his books to back up his claims.

The motion is based upon the representations made to him by the Anthony family when he traveled to Orlando to assess the situation. Some key points he made in his motion were that:

P. 4, #25: Based on Cindy Anthony's request, Mr. Miller travelled to Orlando, Florida and met with CASEY ANTHONY, her parents, Cindy and George Anthony, and CASEY ANTHONY's attorney, Jose Baez, to determine whether or not TES could help with the search for Caylee, and whether it should dedicate its limited resources to the case.

P. 4, #26: Mr. Miller met with the Anthony family, including CASEY ANTHONY, Cindy and George Anthony told Mr. Miller, in the presence of CASEY ANTHONY, that Caylee was still alive. CASEY ANTHONY did not correct, question or otherwise comment on the representations made by her parents, Cindy and George Anthony, that Caylee was alive. In fact, CASEY ANTHONY likewise told Mr. Miller that Caylee was alive, and asked him to please bring her back.

There are over 40 paragraphs in the suit and well worth reading. TES is suing on two counts, FRAUD and UNJUST ENRICHMENT.

Jose Baez' opening statement to the court will come back to slap Casey if Mr. Miller and TES prevail in this suit:

P. 8 #55: CASEY ANTHONY gladly accepted the benefits conferred upon her by TES knowing, all the time that her daughter was deceased and that the search for her daughter was unnecessary, particularly to the extent that searchers were looking for a live child.

I was listening to InSession when Leonard Padilla announced that he is considering suing Casey Anthony for $200,000. Another one jumps on the bandwagon.

Finally, let's not forget that Casey has a tax lien against her for about $70,000 in unpaid income tax for the $200,000 she earned in 2008 by selling her daughter's pictures and videos to ABC.


Sources

Attorney Files Motion For Casey's Deposition In Civil Suit
Hearing in Casey Anthony civil case set for Friday
Casey Anthony's legal woes continue

Casey Anthony Murder Trial: Day 35 Closing Arguments

Happy 4th of July everyone! For once I am happy that my husband and I never travel on holidays. Our 4th will be the same as always. We have a barbeque for two capped off by a walk around the corner to watch the fireworks that are set off in the park just across the street from us. Ten years ago, we would just watch them over the trees from our back porch, but the trees have grown so much, we walk around the corner for an unobstructed view. Meanwhile, we will get to watch the fireworks in Judge Perry's courtroom as Linda Drane Burdick gives her rebuttal closing. I always remember Bill Sheaffer's comment that she uses a surgical knife to carefully dissect a witness. I expect her to do the same thing today with the defense's closing yesterday. Jury instructions will be read and the members of the jury will have to make one of the most difficult decisions of their lives. Let's hope they sift through all the evidence to come to a just verdict.

Judge Perry entered the courtroom at 8:30 sharp. Both sides had received copies of the final instructions. Mr. Baez wanted to clarify an issue. He was saying that he objected to the state having Ms. Burdick doing the rebuttal. He was of the opinion that it was not done as the court order indicated.

Perry stated that if she went beyond the rebuttal, all he would have to do is object.

Surprisingly, Jeff Ashton began speaking first. They split the rebuttal. Ashton addressed the science. He wanted to take a more measured and complex approach, indicating that Baez used a simplistic version. He said that, in a dispute between experts, it is up to the jurors to decide what they believe from what the experts said. He then isolated the science by subject matter.

The first was the forensic pathology and anthropology. He started by saying they heard from Dr. Garavaglia, Dr. Utz, Dr. Schultz, Dr. Michael Warren, and Dr. Werner Spitz.

All of them agreed that there is nothing in the bones that told us anything about how Caylee died. They also agreed that, because of the way the body decomposes, the mandible and the skull should not be together. They agreed that the skull and mandible were in anatomical position as if there were flesh holding them together.

Drs. Garavaglia, Utz, Shultz, and Warren all agreed that the only thing that could have held them together was the tape. The one who had the most experience, in Sarajevo testified that the only skulls with the mandibles intact were the ones that were duct-taped together.

Dr. Spitz' alternative was that someone else had come along afterwards, took the skull and the mandible someplace else, duct taped them together, and brought them back and put them in the spot they were found. Ashton pointed out that his findings were inconsistent with the fact that the duct tape was as degraded as the body. Then, there was the issue of the hair, Dr. Spitz blamed it on the ME's office faking the evidence.

The other difference of opinion was about the necessity to open the skull. Spitz said that since Dr. Garavaglia didn't, he called the autopsy sloppy. On cross, he could not say where there was any protocol. He finally he admitted there wasn't such a protocol.

Dr. Warren indicated it was not necessary to open a skull unnecessarily. It is not sloppy, it fact, it is dangerous to open the skull with a child, because the skull can fracture. Dr. Spitz said he didn't recall fracturing the skull, and he did.

They disagreed on the issue of "brain dust" or residue. Spitz said he could tell by looking at it, he knew it was and indicated the position the skull had originally rested. Dr. Goldberger did the saline wash and testified that it was not what Spitz said it was. Dr. Spitz had a problem with the arrangement of the hair mass based on this theory. Spitz had said that it was important to know the circumstances surrounding the death. Dr. Spitz didn't know much at all. His fund of information was insufficient to make a decision in the case.

The entomological evidence was next. They heard from Dr. Neil Haskell who had practiced 30 years in the field. They heard about Timothy Huntington, who is a bright young man, but had only been practicing for about three years.

They agreed that the evidence at the scene indicated that the body initially decomposed in some other location where the original flies could not get to her. She was then dumped in the swampy area. They both agreed it took place between June and July.

They only diverged on the single issue. They disagreed as to whether the trunk would have excluded the original colonizing flies. Haskell said it was, Huntington said it wasn't, even though he'd never dealt with a dead body in a trunk in real world conditions. He did one experiment with the pigs to decide. It was up to the jury to decide the credibility of these two experts.

Ashton next addressed the chloroform. The jury needed to understand what they were testing and what their perspective was. Ashton explained that Drs. Vass and Dr. Wise are used to looking at environmental air samples. Based on that experience, Wise said that the amount of chloroform was high. Dr. Vass studied decomposiing bodies and had found chloroform before, but not at those high levels. In addition, Dr. Wise explained why the quantification had no meaning because chloroform is a volatile gas.

Dr. Rickenbach tested a similar sample out of a can, and also the spare tire cover out of the box. He told the jury he actually found chloroform in that. She was surprised he found anthing at all. He found a much greater amount of chloroform in the sealed can. His amounts were equivalent to what Dr. Vass found, parts per million. Rickenbach had only studied liquid chloroform before. He said he found detectible amounts of chloroform in a car. It was the first time they had seen this. The amount of chloroform in the trunk was much less than would have been there a month before. The Anthony's aired out the car. There has been no evidence to explain where it came for and why. (objection/overruled)

Dr. Sigmond tested the trunk air four days after the liner had been removed. His method of capture was not as good as what Dr. Vass had used and he found chloroform in the air. He also testified that, by-products of chloroform formation were not found in the car. There were no constituents of dry cleaner material, for example. All that was found was chloroform and elements of human decomposition.

The expert testimony on the odor of decomposition was next. The defense's primary attack on Dr. Vass was about his "sniffer machine" and, if it were sold in the private sector, he and the other inventors would split 15% of the minimal royalties.

Ashton stressed that Dr. Vass is an unapologetic science geek who loves to solve scientific problems! Counsel sneered at Vass for his dowsing experiments. But, perhaps Dr. Vass is on to something. He urged the jury to judge him not by what the defense said about him, but by what testified to in court.

Dr. Vass and Dr. Furton both agreed that the science has not reached the point where they have a signature for the odor of decomposition. Dr. Furton agreed that the odor was possible human remains. Dr. Vass said that when he combined his science and experience, he recognized the odor of human decomposition when he opened the can.

Ashton said that Dr. Furton's other explanation was not plausible. He showed him the garbage which demonstrated that it was not the cause of the odor in the car.

In Baez’ closing, he accused the officers of removing food items from the garbage. The only food in the bag of was a small remnant of cheese. Dr. Furton agreed that the small amount of cheese could cause the odor that lasted two years. Ashton told the jury that the odor was not from garbage, it was from Caylee.

Ashton went on to say that the he defense presented non-DNA evidence. The FBI expert said she didn't expect to find any on the tape that had been on the body for six months. The defense called Dr. Eikelenboom, who gave his report two days before he testified, said only said that he thought he might be able to find some. He also agreed that the two most destructive things which would destroy DNA were moisture and heat.

The defense called ten other witnesses who testified to non-results which were meaningless.

Ashton then moved on to the hair experts. They said that there was an artifact only found in decomposing bodies. Since they didn’t know what causes it, they could only say what they thought, that it was consistent with a dead person.

To say there is no link between Casey Anthony and the death ignored all this testimony.

Ashton gave his version of reasonable doubt. He went through the defense reasons given by Mason yesterday. First was the duct tape. The defense connected the duct tape to the Anthony home. They agreed with that. If George Anthony had decided, for some reason, to put duct tape on Caylee's face and put her in the woods, the defense asserted that, on the 24th, he deliberately notified police of the theft of the duct tape on it to implicate his daughter. It didn’t make sense.

People don't make accidents look like murder. It's absurd. (objection/sustained)

When Caylee did turn up missing, the defense said that George didn't tell the police about the gas can missing. If he had wanted to implicate his daughter, he would have done it.

The police took the gas can, photographed it, and give it back to him. At that point, George Anthony stuck it in the garage and ignored it for four months. In December, when the body was found by the police, they took it into evidence.

George (the nefarious criminal) then took the incriminating duct tape to hang posters! It didn't make any sense, it was patently absurd. (Baez objected every time Ashton used the word absurd/overruled.)

Ashton then addressed the alleged drowning. George Anthony testified it didn't happen. Ms. Anthony was also given the opportunity to adopt that, and rejected it twice.

Counsel also asserted that the crime scene was staged. Baez said that George was connected to the tape and, in opening statements, the defense said that Kronk had used the tape. Kronk had only read their meter once and had no connection to the house.

Ashton put up a photograph of the site on December 11, 2008. The only thing that staged the scene was Mother Nature herself. There were vines growing around and through everything at the scene. The skull was not moved for six months, possibly less if animals used it.

The defense said that Roy Kronk took the remains. Dr. Schultz showed the grouping of the bones. It demonstrated how the body was disarticulated during decomposition. (objection/overruled) They showed that animals had chewed on the bones. They were not scattered by Roy Kronk, but by animals and acts of nature. Ashton showed other evidence photos to show that the hair and skull hadn't moved much, if at all.

The duct tape in another photograph showed that leaf litter had covered parts of it as it was wrapped around the mandible. It didn't just get washed there by water. It was there because Casey Anthony put it there. When the tape was lifted away from the mandible, there were strings that went under the mandible. It wasn't a coincidence, an accident, or water. It was a deliberate placing of the duct tape over the mouth and nose. The scene was not staged. It appeared as it was due to forces of nature.

The state did not call Roy Kronk because his testimony of what he did was embellished, he spun a good yarn. They didn't put him up because his story was incredible. However, Ashton said that Kronk found the skull in August and tried to report it three times and was blown off by the police. The calls to his son were to impress him to help build the relationship. Kronk told a very dramatic story about the skull rolling out. It wasn't true. It was impossible. But, that didn't make him a morally bankrupt individual who would take Caylee's skull home and play with it.

Ashton explained about the two ways Casey could be found guilty of murder in the 1st degree. There were 1st degree and felony murder.

(Mason objected/misstatement of the law/Ashton was reading from the law/overruled.)

He also explained that the jury could have different opinions on 1st degree murder and reach a unanimous decision.

Ashton told the jury that they can reconstruct the events in any way they want. He then explained felony murder. There were two objections which were overruled. Ashton did a great job of providing the jury with various scenarios related to the case to show felony murder.

Ashton went on to talk about George. The jury saw hours of video tape of the family. He asked if there was anything in them that showed anything but a loving father and grandfather. He was perplexed as to why Casey wouldn't tell him anything. He was supportive of her and Casey called him a good father and a great grandfather. Nothing there showed a cover-up.

Most of Casey's conflict was with her mother. George was the thumb, he was not the Machiavellian monster the defense claimed he was. When Baez asked about the suicide letter, he asked if George felt guilt. Then, Baez said it wasn't a real suicide attempt. Ashton said that all George wanted to be with his granddaughter. This man was in pain. Through his handwriting, you could see the deterioration of his handwriting as the drugs and alcohol took effect. Ashton then read a few lines from the letter to focus the jury on what George was feeling at the time.

Ms. Burdick would speak next after a 15 minute recess.

Baez had a brief issue about the computer searches. It was about the Sci-spot hits and the inconsistencies between Net Analysis and Cacheback. They believed the Cacheback information is erroneous and false. They want the state to clarify this in their rebuttal. Ms. Burdick indicated that Mr. Baez had already put that in front of the jury. Judge Perry said they should provide the appropriate motion at the appropriate time. He can't chase after it.

The jury was returned and Ms. Burdick began her rebuttal.

She went into the advantages and disadvantages to being the last to speak. The advantage was that she was the last to speak before the judge tells the law. The disadvantage was that the jury was ready to deliberate after hearing from lawyers for so many hours. She asked them to indulge her for a few moments to get their final thoughts in. She wouldn't be getting out posters or pyrotechnics, it wasn't her style.

Burdick stated that when she gave her opening, she meant what she said. She made no promises she didn't keep. Through the testimony and exhibits, the state has proven all the charges against Casey Marie Anthony.

Mr. Baez had indicated that the jury would be asked to make decisions on emotion. She said that they would not do that. While it was an emotionally charged case, they would only ask them to make their decision on the testimony of the witnesses and the exhibits. She said that her biggest fear was that common sense would be lost in all the rhetoric of the case. She was fearful that they wouldn’t step back and take the evidence as a whole.

Mr. Baez talked about rabbit holes (objection/sustained). We want you to take the evidence as a whole. Mr. Baez, in his closing remarks used words like liar, perjurer, fraudulent. The trial is supposed to be a search for the truth. It is lying that perverts that process. During an argument, when the biggest liar (Casey Anthony through her attorneys) ever seen in a courtroom lies, the irony is rich indeed. (objection/overruled)

Accusing other people of lying is classic Casey Anthony. When she wanted to get the attention off herself, she lied about others. She had spent years lying. Mr. Baez had argued that the 31 days mean nothing.

Ms. Burdick said that a lie told convincingly, is still a lie. The defendant through counsel accused Yuri Melich, Jason Forgey, Gerardo Bloise, Dr. Vass and many of the witnesses of being liars.

She indicated that the OCSO was desperate in this case. If there was anything the people in the OSCO was desperate about, it was to find a little girl. They labored for hours to find her. They were joined by the FBI, FDLE, TES, citizens in looking for her. It was in vain. Even her parents were searching in vain.

False allegations of child abduction are not new. Such allegations drains resources away from the perpetrator, it buys the perpetrator more time. When Cindy Anthony went to pick her up, Casey Anthony said to her mother was that she wanted one more day. When she told her brother about the kidnaping, it was to buy time and draw attention away from herself.

Baez put of pictures of the sheriff’s deputies at the house that night, saying they took no action about the car. The police that night, had no reason to think Caylee Anthony was dead. The defendant was telling them she was alive and she asked for their help in finding her. The episode of her being handcuffed ended "like that" because they were there to help her find Caylee.

At Universal the three detectives said to her that they wanted to help her find her daughter and asked why she was lying. Casey was buying time, like she had done with her parents, her brother, and her friends.

The 31 days were meaningless? Mr. Baez had said that they went more to prove that the state wanted to prove she was a slut?

Law enforcement was trying to backtrack where she said she was conducting her own investigation. They were using her cell phone to try and track down Zenaida. As they backtracked, it became more and more apparent that the defendant was lying about everything. She asked the jurors to look at her 4 page statement, the only truth was Caylee's birth date.

The defense had stated that everybody grieves differently. It may be true, but responses to guilt are also predictable. What do guilty people do? They lie, they avoid, they run, they mislead their own family and the police. They divert attention from themselves and act like nothing is wrong. What she was doing was in no way indicative of grief. It was not indicative of someone who lost her child in an accident.

Casey said in the jail tapes that this was a time of desperation for her. She had no way to leave the area and she only wanted to stay away from her family. Her friends were easy to placate with lies.
Casey was running away from her family who would want to know where Caylee was. Her actions and responses during those 31 days answer the only question that remains. Who killed Caylee?

The question was no longer where Caylee was. The question was no longer what happened to Caylee. The only question was who killed Caylee. For the longest time, Caylee was alive, until her remains were found.

Casey's imaginary friends were lies. They were lies to for a specific purpose, to get Casey out of a jam. For the longest time, Caylee was alive, until her remains are found.

(Baez asked for sidebar/denied)

Once she was dead, there was a theory that it was and accident. There was no accident. On July 16, 2008, the detectives asked if Caylee could have had an accident (audio of the Universal interview). Mr. Baez suggested that the OCSO had murder on their minds. The jury just heard that suggestion made to Casey and she denied the possibility. Cindy suggested the pool scenario on August 16. (video visitation) When Caylee Anthony was found dead, surprise, surprise, it was an accident.

No one would ever make the accidental death of a child look like murder. Her behavior during the 31 days was inconsistent with an accident. Ms. Burdick went back to Dr. Garavaglia's testimony that parents whose kids have accidents call 911.

The defense brought up the fact that Casey was an amazing mother. Ms. Burdick debunked the idea since the friends had only seen her for short periods of time. Feeding and sheltering and clothing a child do not made a good mother, they make an adequate mother. In fact, however, it was the grandparents who provided for Caylee, not her mother. Burdick said the amazing mother was the one who tried to protect her child, even in death.

If it were an accident, Caylee would have been found floating in a pool, not in a swamp. If George Anthony had been home, he would have called 911, have tried CPR. He never would have scooped her into a bag and thrown her in the woods.

This argument of Casey being an amazing mother could not be followed to any logical conclusion. The way the remains were found showed complete indifference to the child. It showed how the person who disposed of her really felt about her.

She then showed a picture of the yard and spoke of how George Anthony landscaped it for her. He put a floor in the playhouse so Caylee wouldn't have to sit on the ground where and insect could crawl on her. In the jail videos, George tried over and over again to get Casey to talk to law enforcement, the FBI. Why would he want his co-conspirator to talk to the cops?

The phone call that Casey made to her parents July 16, 2008 (objection/overruled) showed the real Casey. (audio)

Ms. Burdick said that when you use your common sense, you will know that Casey Anthony is a pathological liar. In the call, all she wanted was Tony's number and to cuss out her parents.

Casey Anthony was the only one to have access to every piece of evidence: the duct tape, the laundry bag, the blanket, the shorts, the car. There was no evidence that anybody else used that car. She texted Amy Huizenga that her father had run over a dead animal fifteen minutes before leaving it at Amscot. She left the trash bag as a decoy. The car was backed in next to the dumpster, which was another decoy to keep people away from the car.

George Anthony had no way to know where to find her car. They didn't know where she was or where the car was.

Finally, the shirt that said Big Trouble Comes In Small Packages. It wasn't one Cindy Anthony was familiar with, she never washed it. It was kept in the car, in the diaper bag or the backpack. She wore in at Ricardo Morales' apartment.

Someone killed Caylee Anthony. It wasn't George Anthony, he didn't have access to everything, Casey did. He did not try to cover up and lie.

Burdick then threw Casey into the mix concerning leaving the ladder down. Casey was twisting the knife in both her parents’ backs. Cindy and George were at home, at work, and missing their granddaughter. Where was Casey? She wasn't at home. She was at Tony's, but lied to her mother. Where's Caylee? Caylee's dead in the woods.

All the jury had to ask was who's life was better without Caylee? Was Cindy Anthony's life better? (911 call) Was George Anthony's life better? Mr. Ashton told the jury about that. Who's life was better? That's all you have to answer when Caylee Anthony's body was left by the road, dead. There's your answer. (pictures)

Casey Anthony Murder Trial: Day 33

Updated, 6:00
Scroll down to "Case Closed"

SIT AROUND AND WAIT!

Due to the unusual circumstances, I am posting the events of this morning early. I will be monitoring the situation and updating as events occur, if they do. Check back during the day!

Judge Belvin Perry appeared in the courtroom at 8:50 to hear Jose Baez again plead for the judge to reconsider his ruling for the Gentiva testimony. He pointed out to Perry that there were already some documents that have some of the information the prosecution already had.

Ms. Sims had a medical issue and will be in court shortly. She asked to speak to two of the state's computer experts. The defense contended that they are going to render new opinions not in reports and were unavailable to talk to Ms. Sims. The witnesses are Osborne and Stenger. Baez said he wanted Judge Perry to hold the state to the same standard that he held the defense to.

Baez also mentioned Dr. Goldberger and Dr. Warren were ready to testify. Again, he asked that all new opinions be proffered since there were no new reports.

Ms. Burdick stated that the witnesses from the Sheriff's offices were going to testify to things that Mrs. Anthony said during her testimony. Ms. Burdick said that the defense could speak to them now. Ms. Burdick said that she only heard of the desire to re-depose at 5:30 PM yesterday. She also told Mr. Baez what they would testify to, based on Mrs. Anthony's testimony. There was also an issue as to whether Mrs. Anthony could engage in a remote log-in to her work computer, and they had learned that she couldn’t.

Baez said it would take two days to do this research and he would have liked to have his computer people to look at it. The defense was not placed on notice and waited until their case was closed. He told Ms. Burdick it was in violation of Perry's order.

Judge Perry asked how much time he needed. Baez said he didn't know until he saw reports. Once he saw them, he could show it to his experts and see how long it would take.

Baez also said that Dr. Goldberger and Dr. Warren may also have new opinions.

Jeff Ashton said that Dr. Goldberger's opinion was given to the defense two years ago. It would go to refute Dr. Spitz' testimony concerning the sediment in the skull. Also, Goldberger is on the defense witness list.

Baez pointed out that he is not a forensic pathologist and can't testify to Dr. Spitz opinions.

Perry asked if he wanted to depose the witness. Baez went on pressing his case.

Jeff Ashton pointed out that Goldberger was only going to testify to the cranial wash, which was in his report. Baez said Goldberger never said what he found in his test. He's a toxicologist and cannot testify to that. He can't identify anything as organic matter. Baez argued he didn't open the skull and couldn't testify to that.

Baez was offered the balance of the morning to do the depositions. Perry said that if he wanted to do that, he could take this morning and they would be back tomorrow.

Perry made it clear that both sides had asked to have off tomorrow to prepare for closings. He said he will let the defense take the time and be back tomorrow and Sunday, and Monday, and Tuesday.

He also indicated that if it was a surprise to the defense, he would let them take the depositions, but he first wanted to see the reports to make sure the information was not there.

Jeff Ashton disagreed with Baez and said that he did the saline washes. Ashton indicated that it was not organic matter such as one would see from decomposition. Baez claimed the finding were not in the report.

Baez again couldn't say how much time he needed. Ashton said he'd pointed out the differences and the depositions would be short. Baez then said that Ashton was now admitting that there was new material and Jeff Ashton said, "NO, THERE WOULD NOT!"

Judge Perry said that the jury is sequestered. He said that they would recess on call whenever the defense was prepared.

Judge Perry also asked about a jury instruction about Dr. Rodriguez

So, at this point, we are all sitting around and waiting!.

Case Closed!

Finally, about 1:30 PM, the prosecution began its rebuttal case.

The first witness was John Camperlengo, the Chief Compliance Officer and General Counsel of Gentiva. He was questioned by Linda Burdick.

They discussed the company policy on retention of e-mails. There were a number of technical questions about how the records are kept. E-mails sent and received by employees are backed up at regular intervals and are maintained on the server and a back-up system when the server gets filled. Due to HIPPA laws, they must retain these records. They also keep records of individual computer terminals in their offices. They are also retained under a personal user ID. Gentiva also has a system that retains records of when people log in or log out of the system.

At this point, Judge Perry read a stipulation to Cindy Anthony's employment.

The records for Cindy Anthony were then discussed. They include the records for the week of March 17, 2008. Mr. Camperlengo identified the deleted e-mails of Cindy Anthony for that week. The exhibits were then entered into evidence. The log-in records were also identified by the witness and entered into testimony.
I'm going for the basics here, not how the system works!

For March 17, the records showed that she logged on at 8:02 AM. The log-out periods were in the area of 5:30. March 21, the first session was 8:43 AM. and logged out at about 5:30. The system would automatically log you out after five hours if not in use.

Then, the journal activity for the week was discussed. It contains all the activity dealing with records were documented. Finally, after a lot of technical discussion, Ms. Burdick had the witness go down to the afternoon portion of the document. She started with 2:27 PM and went down through 2:33 PM at the bottom of the screen. There were several changes made to patient profiles during that time frame. (Somehow, the numbers came out differently the second time Ms. Burdick stated them, suffice it to say, whatever the numbers were, they covered the time that Cindy said she was probably home Googling.)
Ms. Burdick then went to the March 21 records. The times were approximately from 2:37 PM until the end of the day. There was continuous activity throughout the afternoon until 4:06 PM.

There was discussion about individual passwords which are changed every 90 days. Mr. Camperlengo explained that it is an extremely secure system due to law.

Ms. Burdick then had the witness testify that Cindy was entering data on the system between 1 and 3 PM on March 17. She was. On March 21, she was also entering data between 1 and 2 PM.

Ms. Burdick was finished with the witness.

Jose Baez asked if he was contacted in the summer of 2009 for any of this data. Camperlengo testified he hadn't.

Baez had no further questions.

The witness was excused.

The next witness was Deborah Polisano, one of Cindy Anthony's co-workers at Gentiva.

Frank George did direct. She was employed by Gentiva in Winter Park. She was Director of Clinical Management. She managed 20 to 25 people and field staff. She was Cindy's supervisor. She was responsible for oversight of her job performance.

In March of 2008, Cindy was a Manager of Clinical Practice who had responsibility for field staff and their paperwork. She was not required to leave work during the day to do her job. All employees had to sign in and out. They would be allowed to run errands, but would not necessarily have to log out of their computers. They would lock themselves after 15 minutes. The system would be running, but the user would have to log on again.

Cindy was a capable, hard-working employee. She would not take 2 to 3 hour lunches. If an employee were gone for that period of time, she would have to do their jobs for them. She also said that other people could use the computer, but they would have to log on under their own user ID. It is against policy for someone to use another's user ID. It was a compliance issue.

Mrs. Anthony could not work from home and could not log onto her Gentiva account from another computer. Ms. Polisano said, although it was possible to fix someone else's time card, she never did that.

Mr. George entered Mrs. Anthony's time card history report. He first discussed March 14 where it said PTO (Part time off). There had to be 8 hours to be accounted for a PTO. On March 17, she arrived at 8:00 and signed out ten hours later at 6:00 PM. On March 21, she worked for 9 hours.

Ms. Polisano would approve the time. The time cards are a computer form. She gets them on Tuesday morning and she checks them for accuracy. Mr. George asked if a salaried employee was expected to work more than a 40 hour week. Ms. Polisano said they were. She also said that there were no situations where she knew Cindy to be at home but on the records. There was no "comp time."

Mr. George also brought up the banking issue and asked how far the bank was from the office. It was a couple of blocks away.

Mr. George finished.

Jose Baez asked if employees were allowed to run errands during the day. They were, Ms. Polisano said. Baez asked it a Bank of America record was shown to show her concerning the bank. (objection sustained)

Jose Baez brought up the July 15 trip to the tow yard. Polisano couldn't say how long Cindy was gone, probably 1 ½ to 2 hours. He asked if she'd reviewed her computer records for that day. Polisano said that she hadn’t. Cindy did work on her computer both before and after she left. Polisano had to force her to leave that day.

Baez had no further questions.

Frank George asked her that if she had to do another employee's work, she would do it under her own password on her own computer. Ms. Polisano agreed.

Jeff Ashton examined the next witness, Bruce Goldberger. He is a professor of toxicology at UF. He gave his background, which includes forensic toxicology. He took samples from a small piece of the left femur, marrow from the left femur, did two washes of the cranial cavity, some hair, some matted hair...(Jose Baez called for a side bar.).

When Ashton returned to the podium, Goldberger added soil from the matted hair to the list of items he took from the Medical Examiner’s Office for testing.

Ashton had Dr. Goldberger describe how he physically conducted the saline washes. He said he sealed the skull with a thin coat of epoxy of some sort, added 30cc of saline solution, swished it around and poured it out. He did that twice.

He ran an analysis of the saline washes and found nothing that would suggest decomposition material in the cranial cavity.

When Jeff Ashton finished, Jose Baez asked about the femur. Ashton objected and Judge Perry said he opened the door! Baez asked for a side bar to explain why he asked. Baez asked if he collected bone marrow and Goldberger said he did.

Baez asked if the saline wash was a crude method. Goldberger said it was, but it was the best way he had without opening the skull.

Baez asked if he didn't look for DNA. He didn't sent the samples for any DNA analysis. (objection/sustained three times). He returned the materials to the Orlando Medical Examiner's Office.

Dr. Michael Warren was called next.

Jeff Ashton had him re-introduce himself to the jury. He is a forensic anthropologist and belongs to a scientific working group which works to develop best practices in a field.

Ashton asked if there were any protocols that call for the opening of a skull in a forensic case. Warren said it wasn't and it wasn't considered "best practice" and hasn't even been discussed.

Dr. Warren pointed out that you can look and feel inside the skull. There is no compelling reason to open it except to photograph it. There are two negative consequences to opening the skull. A person asking to do a second examination would have lost evidence. Secondly, it was unnecessary desecration to the remains. (my words)

Ashton also elicited that there is a special instrument that could be used, a dental mirror could be used, and a flashlight could be used. Warren said that there are no skulls in his lab that need to have the skulls opened at the present time.

With a child's skull, you could fracture the fragile bones. He was shown the picture taken of Caylee's skull when Dr. Spitz opened it to identify the fracture he caused. He said that when he had examined the base of the cranium and there had been no such fracture.

Ashton then discussed documents about the treatment of human skulls. None of them recommend the opening of the human skull. Ashton brought up the UN document dealing with genocide which does not recommend it as well.

Jose Baez was again back to cross. Baez brought up the video he mad (objection/scope/sustained)

Baez brought up that he is not a forensic pathologist and he can't testify to what a forensic pathologist could do. He said that he considered this case a case for anthropology. Baez brought up his eminent forensic pathologist, Dr. Werner Spitz. (objection) Then he showed Goldberger the National Medical Examiners' guidelines and asked if he was familiar with it. He said he was.

Jose Baez asked if his method would locate red marks indicating a suffocation death (objection/sustained) When asked if it were necessary to open the skull, that would be up to the ME to decide. Warren agreed.

There was another question that I missed (objection/side bar/sustained)

Warren did not do the cranial washes in this case. When asked if he reviewed the autopsy, he pointed out that it wasn't an autopsy, but a bone case. He'd never seen the autopsy report or Dr. Goldberger's report.

Next question was objected to/sustained and Mr. Baez was finished.

The next witness was Sgt. Kevin Stenger, with more computer forensics.

Linda Burdick did the direct examination. The latest analysis he had done ran from March 1 to March 21, 2008. This was additional analysis of the Anthony's desk top computer. He provided two disks with reports from Cacheback and Net Analysis.

Jose Baez stated that he wanted more time to study the disks. Ms. Burdick asked for them to be accepted and Baez asked they be accepted conditionally. Judge Perry overruled him and Baez asked for a side bar conference.

Stenger did key word searches on the deleted Firefox history for:

chlorophyll
hand sanitizer
neck-breaking
Gentiva

Doing this keyword searches, he found no searches for chlorophyll. The same happened in the Cacheback report.

Hand sanitizer was only searched by "sanitezer" and it didn't come up.

Next, he searched for "neck" and found two searches, one with "neck break" and one with "neck breaking" It was not a pop-up ad.

Meanwhile, Baez objected to each of these and was overruled.

Sgt. Stenger found no searches for "bamboo" either and there was no access to a Gentiva website.

In addition, Stenger used another tool and searched the text file created and searched for these terms as well in Microsoft Word.

He did the search with two forensic programs and one with a hex file and found nothing.

He did find one search on how to get rid of fleas.

Another impeachment for Cindy Anthony.

Jose Baez asked about Yahoo.com. He got Stenger to agree that there is all sorts of information on it. He said that all Stenger did was search for were the domain addresses that were on the files for a month. He said that if the addresses didn't have the search word in it, he couldn't know what was on the page (as if it were Yahoo). There was mention of a search that included a possible martial arts website. You can't tell what's on a site unless you visited it.

Baez pointed out that Stenger was only contacted after the prosecution decided to impeach Mrs. Anthony. Baez also pointed out that he didn't look up alcohol and another topic. Stenger said he didn't do it because he knew they were there.

Sandra Osborne was up next. She has also testified before.

She was asked to perform a search for key words as well. She used EnCase.

She was asked to search the entire hard drive for:

chlorophyll
hand sanitizer
bamboo

She found one occurrence in the Microsoft Word dictionary.

Hand sanitizer did not appear on the computer.

Bamboo yielded bamboo furniture, figurines, floor surfaces, lamps, rugs, panda bears, tiki bars and other household items. There was no reference to bamboo leaves.

She found three specific log-in names for Gentiva and found no evidence of any remote log in to Gentiva.

Jose Baez referred to the unallocated space and the possibility of the material being overwritten.
He stated that it's not done in order, but her answer didn't make that clear. She said that it is hard to tell what has been overwritten because it's been deleted.

Ms. Burdick asked why there can be fragments of a chat. Osborne explained that it is because part of it has been overwritten.

The witness was excused and Ms. Burdick presented stipulations to Judge Perry.

Yuri Melich made another appearance on the stand. Ms. Burdick handed him the documents that were introduced. The first records were those for Mr. and Mrs. Anthony's land line. Then, there were records for George Anthony's cell phone. Finally, Det. Melich identified the cell phone records of Cindy Anthony.

(This is going towards impeaching the June 16 call Cindy made to George about the ladder being in the pool.)

Melich was asked to see if there were any calls from the home to George Anthony's land line or cell phone during the week of June 16. He testified that there were none.

Baez started out by asking if he knew that George Anthony had multiple cell phones. Melich said he wasn't aware of that.

Baez showed records to Melich to show that George Anthony had a company cell phone. (objections/sustained) Baez asked if he ever pulled his work cell phone records. Melich said he was unaware of a work cell phone, as Mr. Anthony had never told him that he had one.

(Somehow, there was something in the document he was shown that indicated George Anthony had a work cell phone? There were a bunch of objections about its being used and we never found out what it was.)

Baez then asked if he knew that the Anthony's had "boost cell phones." (objection/no time frame/sustained). (Remember, they did not have their phones until July!)

Jose Baez had no more questions and the witness was excused.

Ms. Burdick said the state was finished with their rebuttal case.

There was discussion at the side bar. Then, Judge Perry left the bench.

Judge Perry returned to the bench and asked if the defense was ready. He must have thought they would want to do a brief sur-rebuttal about George Anthony's phones. Cheney Mason said that they wouldn't do that.

The jurors were excused until Sunday at 9:00 AM for closing arguments.

Then there was the motion for judgement of acquittal made by Cheney Mason as well as several motions for mistrial including the one dealing with the video super-imposition.

In his motion for acquittal, he said there was as much evidence for an accidental drowning as for the prosecution "fantasy." He pointed out the questions that had not been answered as to how and where she died. He said there was no evidence of premeditation, except for the prosecution's "fantasy."

He said that the prosecution had proved only that Casey told many falsehoods for many reasons. They proved that she was a very loving and devoted mother through the testimony of her friends.

There was no proof that Caylee was chloroformed or duct-taped. There was no DNA linking the crime to anybody. There was no evidence the duct tape was placed on the face at all. The chloroform death was all media hype. He asked Judge Perry to take the burden from the jury to guess how the child died.

Ms. Burdick responded that Mr. Mason was arguing matters that were for the jury to decide. She said that the defense, during their presentation showed no proof of innocence.

Judge Perry denied the motion of acquittal.

We are done for the day. Tomorrow, everyone can have fun. Sunday there will be closing arguments and jury instructions. See you Sunday at 8:30!

Casey Anthony Murder Trial: Day 32

The prosecution sure had a good day yesterday. As the defense is supposed to rest today, probably after a River Cruz/Krystal Holloway performance, we should expect to see the State of Florida, henceforth referred to as the state, surgically rip apart the few shreds of the defense case that are left to shred.

Sometime before they rest, we will know if Cindy Anthony was at work on March 17 and March 21 in the early afternoon hours. We will learn if her Gentiva system had the "real" internet.

We will be hearing more from George Anthony and his suicide letter, or the prosecution can just enter it into evidence so the jury can read it. Perhaps Dr. Jan Garavaglia will come back to answer one question: Why didn't you open the skull? After that, who knows?

I was surprised that the defense team didn't show up for the phone-in hearing and left their client on her own. Also, Jose Baez was supposed to present his arguments as to why Jesse Grund's bit of information about what Casey told him years ago. It didn't happen and there was ample time after the motion hearing.

Let's hope that things run more smoothly for me today. Monday, the trial ended so late that I couldn't get the blog up at a decent hour. Tuesday, thunder storms burst out overhead the moment the trial ended. Yesterday, my keyboard quit at the end of the trial. Cross your fingers!

The Defense Rests

Court was in session at 8:50. Dorothy Sims indicated that she had a scheduling question concerning Ann Finnel.

Jose Baez said that he had just received work-related papers from Cindy Anthony's employer. They are a bunch of print-outs that he can't understand. He assumed they were about rebutting her testimony. He said that it was a discovery violation since they knew Cindy was going to testify in 2008. He hinted at a continuance. He said that they are only records for those days in question. Baez said he would like to have all the records.

Judge Perry said there would be time after 5 PM for depositions. He also pointed out that he knew what Ms. Anthony was going to testify to. The defense did have the time cards.

Jose Baez stated that his first witness for the day would be Krystal Holloway.

Baez began by asking her other name. She explained her father used to call her River and her mother's maiden name is Cruz.

She went through how she met George Anthony at the KidFinders tent where she went every day. She developed an intimate relationship with George Anthony. He came to her house about a dozen times. She was asked if she ever gave or loaned him money (objection/relevance/sustained)

Holloway claimed that George told her that Caylee's death that snowballed out of control She didn't ask anything further because his eyes were full of tears. This happened around Thanksgiving.

She said she thought the relationship ended the day of the 4th birthday balloon release.

Holloway said that she never went to the media after the relationship ended. The police contacted her two years later. She was asked if she knew George and if she had a relationship with him. They had several text messages from George. She provided the police with her phone and the letters he had written her. He then referred the text message she was holding and it was entered into evidence. It said, "Just thinking of you, I need you in my life" and was sent Tuesday, December 16 (no year).

The day of the memorial, he was supposed to come over to visit her and he was texting that he couldn't show up. Her sister texted him a message and he stopped.

Her name became exposed in the media. (objection/relevance/sustained/sidebar)

When the police first asked her about the affair, she denied it. She thought he would get in trouble. She was also in a relationship at the time. She eventually told the police she did have a relationship with him.

Holloway denied selling her story to a tabloid, but she dd an interview because she thought the media would turn the story into trash. Baez then brought up her twin sister. One of them got compensation for the interview.

She told Baez that she wanted to testify in court.

Jeff Ashton did the cross. He called her Ms. Cruz and indicated that the Anthony's were already in the news, insinuating that she put herself into the case. She received $4000 for the interview with the National Enquirer. She said that the National Enquirer would tell her story in a fair, non-sensational way. Ashton indicated the story was more sensational if she claimed to have an affair. She denied it.

Ashton moved on to the letters that George sent her. Ashton handed her a letter sent to her by George a few weeks after the previously read text message she read in court. Judge Perry read the letter. He then spoke to the lawyers at side bar. It was not admitted into evidence. George mentioned his attempts to contact her, including through her "husband" (boyfriend). In the letter, he referenced that it was from him and his wife.

The text was sent to her five days after the remains were found.

On February 17, 2010, she was placed under oath and said that she did not have a romantic relationship with George. The first time she told someone in the media or police was in February. She replied that her sister went to the media with it and she went and told the police the truth. (When I checked, the 17th was a Wednesday!)

Ashton led her through the series of event which began with the 17th of February, her sister went to the media with the story, and very quickly she herself went to the media (National Enquirer). She could not give the dates or order of the events. (From what she said, it was by the end of the week, which meant three or four days.) Ashton then asked why she gave the media interview. She said that she told the truth because it came out because of the media. Then, she said it was the same week that she told police. Holloway said she started discussions with the National Enquirer at the end of the same week. (That all may not make sense, but that’s what happened!)

Ashton went on to the statement she claimed George made to her. There was disagreement among the attorneys and there was a side bar.

The objection was withdrawn and Ashton read the statement she made to law enforcement. He then had her read it out loud.

The key part there was that he said that George Anthony believed it was and accident that snowballed out of control and she tried to cover it up.

Ashton pressed the issue that he didn't tell her that he was present when it occurred. George never said that he KNEW it or that Casey SAID it to him.

When Ashton tried to get into the statement that George had held Casey up against a wall, Baez objected/sustained/bench conference. Perry sustained the objection and Ashton had no more questions.

Baez got up to re-direct. He referred to the statement Ashton read and stressed the "believing it was an accident." Holloway said that the statement was taken out of context. The first statement was that George said "it WAS an accident that snowballed out of control" and she followed it up with the statement Ashton read.

Baez asked if George was still out making media appearances and telling the world that Caylee was missing when he made those statements to her.

Ashton then went back to the text message and she said that she was still in a relationship with him when it was sent.

Baez brought out that she kept it quiet until the detectives came to her house two years later. The relationship was exposed and it was in the media. She went to the Enquirer because "he" told her he would tell her story.

Baez attempted to go into her failure to sign a citation (objection/sustained).

Jeff Ashton then asked her to read from her sworn statement completely through. (February 17)

By this point, she was sniffing... She started to read and Baez objected, saying it wasn't the complete context. We were off to the side bar again! When the side bar broke up, Ashton handed her the statement and she had to read the entire context.

Ashton pointed out that George never said that he knew what happened, and Holloway agreed.

Jose Baez asked more questions then.

He tried to say that George said the statements in a manner that he KNEW it was and accident. She then agreed with Baez!

Jeff Ashton went next, saying that he was confused. He pointed out that George had not said it like he knew. She agreed and Ashton was finished.

Next came Jose Baez with his computer. They went to a side bar. Somehow, it turned out that there were two different statements! Judge Perry sent the jury out for the morning break and allowed the witness to stand down.

The judge pointed out to the attorneys that they couldn't have a break and discuss the issue. The lawyers left, but came back shortly for a discussion with the Perry about it. Jeff Ashton asked for a special instruction. The key point in it was that the testimony could not go to Mr. Anthony's knowledge of the crime. Baez objected saying it went too far. Judge Perry read case law on prior inconsistent statements.

Ashton pointed out that it is the ONLY piece of evidence in the entire case that mentions an accident. It offered no proof of how the child died.

Baez said the language was superfluous. Baez said there were numerous other arguments made than that. Then, when Baez cited what Ashton wrote, he went on to blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, literally.

Perry asked Baez if he read the case Ashton brought up. He also asked Baez if he felt it was substantiative evidence. Baez said it only went to impeach George Anthony.

Ashton said that the significance of the statement was not to impeach George Anthony, he'd already been impeached a lot! It was presented to be taken for more than what it is. He did not want the jury to use it in an improper way.

Baez still went on about the statement. He obviously didn't want the last part to be in.

Judge Perry said it was evident an instruction would be needed. He decided that the instruction would say (Baez interrupted to try and get more argument in at that point) that the statement could not to be used as evidence of the defendant's guilt or innocence.

Baez then objected to Perry’s instruction. The jury can infer that George Anthony lied on a specific topic and they could use it to decide the innocence or guilt of Ms. Anthony. (Give it up, Baez, the judge won't change his mind.)
Baez built his whole case around "an accident that snowballed out of control" to blame George.

Ms. Holloway was excused in front of the jury and the jury instruction was read.

The next defense witness was Dominic Casey (again). He was shown a defense exhibit, a map which had been attached to an e-mail and a couple of pages of what appeared to be e-mails. It was an e-mail he sent on November 15, 2008. The map he had accurately depicted the area he searched, within (and he drew a circle in the air). Luke Phillips sent him the map and asked where he searched. Baez then entered it into evidence over Mr. George's objection.

The map had pin points where he searched. Baez asked if his mind was fresher on November 15, 2008 than it is now. Baez then had him verify the locations on a larger map. Casey said the blown up version did not seem accurate. Somehow, the map was shown to the jury with the locations marked.

Frank George then did cross. He asked if Casey had been precise. Casey said it was the general area. He said he'd used the bend in the road as a reference site. He said he headed west to the bend and walked in to the woods about 25 feet and then walked some more. So, in effect, the pins weren't accurate. Casey testified that the map was the one he put the pins in, but that it was the GENERAL AREA where he put the pins in.

Baez said the map was prepared three years ago. Baez said that Orlando is 101 square miles, and that was the only place he searched.

Baez had no further questions.

The witness was excused.

Baez had a stipulation to be read to the jury. The video is one which shows the roll of Henkel duct tape at the command center.

The video was shown to the jury. There was no audio of George Anthony speaking. The tape appeared on a table at the end of the video.

The defense then called George Anthony. When asked if the duct tape was his, he answered it could have or could not have been. George also wanted to know which command center it was as they had so many command centers. Baez gave him an address but George said they never had a command center there. He said that there were two Publix's where they had command centers. George could not tell which one that the video was taken. Baez said the date and then asked if it was his duct tape. George said he had no idea.

Then, Baez brought up that George came from Ohio. He asked if he knew that Henkel duct tape was made in Ohio. George said he didn't know that.

Baez then asked if they had a dog named Mandy when they lived in Ohio. (objection/sidebar/overruled) The dog had to be put down. The dog was buried in their yard. To the best of George's recollection, the dog was wrapped in a blanket. When Baez asked if the dog was put in a plastic bag and wrapped with duct tape, George didn't remember. Then, there was a dog named Beau. He died when Casey was about four years old. He was taken to a vet and didn't remember how he was buried.

Then, Baez asked about Penny and Ginger. He couldn't remember how they were put to rest. Then he asked about Cinnamon. Again, George didn't remember. When asked about Misty, George said he didn't have a dog named Misty.

Baez then asked if, when he spoke to police, did he mention how he buried his pets! (Baez, you've got to be kidding me!)

There was a side bar.

Jeff Ashton asked George Anthony ONE question:

Mr. Anthony, have you ever taken a dead pet and dumped it in a swamp? George said no and Ashton was finished.

Next up was Cindy Anthony. Casey was a toddler when Mandy died. She was asked to bring something she wanted her to be buried with. She brought a blanket. The vet took her away in the back and the dog was brought back to her wrapped in a black plastic bag closed with tape (not duct tape). Beau was also taken to the vet and the vet secured him and he was ready to be buried.

The other pets were not at the vet, but they buried them the same way themselves.

Linda Burdick did the cross. She asked if they euthanized their own pets with chloroform? No. Did you put duct tape on their mouths? No.

Casey was present but she and George did the preparations. It was a family tradition. For one pet, George found the statue of a dog for a marker.

Baez asked if the tape was used to close the bag. They put the tape at thirds on the bag.

There were no further questions.

Lee Anthony was called next.

He discussed the fact that he buried Cinnamon in the back yard. The only other one was a dog his grandmother had who was given to her in a black plastic bag and taped with a clear tape. His parents were in charge of burying the family pets.

No cross.

The jury was excused for lunch until 1:30.

The afternoon session began with Cheney Mason asking about the discovery situation from this morning. Jose Baez asked to approach without the court reporter.

Then, the defense stated that they were finished with their case. Casey Anthony stood to be questioned by the judge as to her desire not to testify.

The jury was then returned and Judge Perry read some stipulations. The defense introduced the records of SureTape, manufacturer of Henkel duct tape. Then, the defense rested their case.

The jury was then sent out so court business could take place.

Linda Burdick announced that the state would present a rebuttal case which would last for a day.

Judge Perry then brought up the discovery issue.

Cheney Mason handled the argument for that. The defense had been informed that Cindy Anthony's work records would be coming in to impeach her testimony as to whether or not she was at work the days of the computer searches.

He indicated that this morning, they received hundreds of pages of records. He objected to this testimony. He pointed out that she had testified July 28, 2009 to this issue. The state had two years to get the information.

He said it was a discovery violation and prejudicial to the case. She was cross-examined by the state on the issue and just now want to bring in new material.

Ms. Burdick said that the documents are a one page document which is a log-in log-out report for the pertinent week.

There is a series of e-mails of Ms. Anthony. They only asked for documents for those two days. They are deleted, received, and sent e-mails for the day.

The last document is an Excel spreadsheet which is broken up into two pages per item. It was the desk top log-in records with detailed records.

She said that Mrs. Anthony did talk about doing chlorophyll searches. However, during her testimony last week, she said that Gentiva would have the records.

Ms. Burdick pointed out that exclusion is the most serious remedy for a discovery violation. The documents came in pieces starting last Monday.

Mr. John Camperlengo came from Atlanta and is prepared to testify concerning these documents. Ms. Sims spoke with him over the lunch hour and would need more time.

Mr. Mason said that Judge Perry had reminded them that this was not to be a trial by ambush. The state, with its resources had time to find the material. Mason then started complaining about all the depositions he did and the documents he'd gone through.

The state should not let the state allow Mrs. Anthony to sit back and testify and then come back and say she testified falsely.

They suspected she was not telling the truth then and allowed her to testify here in the courtroom.

Judge Perry asked both sides if Mrs. Anthony give validation to the hours she was working. Ms. Burdick said they spent the majority of the inquiry talking about the computer searches. At that time she did indicate she made searches for chlorophyll.

Baez said that Cindy did mention chloroform and ingredients of it. Cindy answered then that she "may have" done the searches.

Perry then asked when the state got the records. Ms. Burdick said it was yesterday afternoon. She notified the defense yesterday that she was expecting records from Gentiva. She also mentioned earlier that they were going to have someone come in from Gentiva to testify.

Ms. Burdick said that she knew Cindy would say she did chlorophyll searches, but she did not think that she would discuss her work records to the extent she did.

Jose Baez read from the deposition. Perry then asked Baez if the defense knew that she would testify that her work records were not accurate. He did not immediately answer the question. He said that Mrs. Anthony he was a salaried employee and she could come and go. Perry repeated the question about the fact that her work records were meaningless. Baez said definitely yes. Ms. Burdick said it was an area that she only touched upon and it was HER deposition.

Perry then asked what prejudice the defense would suffer other than having her testimony impeached. Baez said that would mean that they would have presented false evidence. Baez even mentioned calling her to be called up in sur-rebuttal and her pleading the Fifth! Judge Perry pointed out that if that happened, ALL of her testimony would have to be excluded. He does not want a stigma attached to the defense. Perry indicated that counsel only gets into trouble if the witness told them they were going to lie. Baez made more arguments and reminded Judge Perry of what he had told them.

Ms. Burdick said that Cindy went on about the topic and was not accusing Mr. Baez of anything. She said she got the discovery as soon as they were aware of the situation.

Baez said that he would need to have his experts examine the documents because they can be misleading. Perry asked Baez if before she took the stand, did he know she was going to say she was home and not as work as her employment records stated. Baez said yes and a whole lot more! Perry repeated the question. Did he know the work records were meaningless? Baez said, yes!

The work records which were introduced were computer generated. It's a time card history report. Were any investigations made to see if anyone tampered with them to question the accuracy of the records.

Baez kept saying she was a salaried employee and that she could come and go and her hours would not compute with her time cards.

With the arguments finished. Judge Perry found that this was NOT a discovery violation. As soon as the State of Florida got the records, they provided them to the defense.

Perry added that trials are a search for the truth!

Finally, Perry asked how long the defense needed to prepare for the testimony of the witness. He also pointed out that both sides have stipulated to the veracity of other Gentiva records, they were not fabricated. Ms. Sims has the balance of the day to talk to the witness.

Perry also said that nobody should be surprised about this after hearing Mrs. Anthony's testimony!

Ms. Sims said that she didn't know how much time she would need. Ms. Burdick indicated the time difference was that it was in central time.

There was an issue that the person who needs to explain them to her has a doctor's appointment in Atlanta. Frank George went out to check on the situation.

Jeff Ashton then said the defense will have an objection to his examination of Mike Vincent, their second witness. Jeff Ashton said he would have him open a can and testify to the odor. This would rebut Dr. Furton, who said that it was the smell of trash. He said the jury would want to smell it (as they did the Velveeta). It would then be possible that the jurors smell it.

Baez said that Furton didn't smell either item. Ashton replied that if the defense didn't rebut the odor, they would pass on it. Perry asked Ashton how many witnesses had testified that the odor was human decomposition. There were four or five. He anticipated that the defense would continue to try and convince the jury that it was the odor of trash.

Perry seemed to feel that there was enough testimony to the odor of human decomposition.

Ashton spent time explaining that the jurors have the right to use their olfactory senses. He cited some case law on the matter. Apparently, this would come up during deliberations if the jurors wanted to smell the can. He felt that if one did it, they all should be required to do it.

Baez accused Ashton of not paying attention during jury selection where this came up. The judge had told them to provide case law and they didn't do it until now. He accused the state of changing the rules of the game in the middle.

Judge Perry read the same decision he read during jury selection. He also referred to some other cases which dealt with odors the jurors would know about. He also cited Florida cases. Not surprisingly, he ruled against the state. That piece of evidence will not go back to the jury to avoid juror experimentation. Needless to say, Mr. Ashton wasn't very happy with the decision. In addition, Mr. Vincent would not be permitted to testify.

They will have the brief testimony of the one witness then recess for the day.

The jurors were brought in and the prosecution presented the first witness in their short rebuttal case.

Alina Burroughs was the first rebuttal witness to take the stand. She is a crime scene technician and photographed items at the Anthony residence during a search. She identified the pictures as the clothing taken from Caylee Anthony's dresser. There were no other questions and no cross. Ms. Burdick introduced them into evidence with no objection.

There were also a series of drawings made by Dominic Casey entered into evidence with no objection.

Burdick also introduced Joe Jordan's records which he testified to. Baez had an objection to them. The exhibit was modified and the defense had no objection.

Jeff Ashton then moved in George Anthony's suicide letter. Baez asked to see the letter and had no objections.

The letter was briefly published to the jury and Judge Perry informed them that they can read it at their leisure during deliberations.

Jeff Ashton informed Judge Perry there were no more witnesses today.

Judge Perry told the jury that the rebuttal case should be completed tomorrow and that closing arguments would be Saturday.

The jury was then excused for the day.

Then, there was a young man at the podium. Matthew Bartlett, 28. He was shown a photograph of himself flipping the bird to someone. He was doing it to Mr. Ashton while court was in session.

Judge Perry held up the sign that was posted outside the door. He asked how far he went in school and he said 12th grade. He read the sign. He understood the sign.

He said he was stupid and was sorry for doing it. He said he didn't think lowly of Mr. Ashton. He said it was a stupid thing he did and he apologized. He was aware that the jury was there.

After getting some information from the young man, he received a tongue lashing from the judge and was held in contempt of court. He was sentenced to 6 days in the Orange County Jail and $400 in fines and court courts of $223 which he said he could pay immediately. The judge gave him 6 months or he could pay it all at once.

He said that he would appeal. Judge Perry swore him in, asked a few pertinent questions, and appointed him a public defender.

Baez said he was preparing for a subpoena duces tecum for Geniva records from July 15, 2008.
The gentleman from Gentiva said he didn't think he could get the records until Wednesday of next week, due to the holiday. Judge Perry said that, unless it was earth shattering, it is what it is.

Court is in recess until 9:00 AM tomorrow unless there is an issue.