Anatomy of a Filicide

Tony Pipitone from WKMG just reported that a search for “foolproof suffication” was performed on the Anthony family computer on June 16, 2008, the day Caylee Anthony died. Jose Baez claims that George did it, but Pipitone says that, according to the timeline, it couldn’t have been him. He was already at work. At the time, Casey’s cell phone was pinging in the immediate area of the house. 

Baez wrote about this in his book. He waited for the information to be admitted during the trial, but the procecution never produced it. While it’s true the defense was part of the dicovery process, this was evidence each side had the opportunity to examine. It was not something Baez had to share since the State could have readily concluded the same thing. Unfortunately, OCSO missed it. Had it been introduced, the prosecution would have argued that the death could not have been an accidental drowning and it may have impacted the jury. Sadly, there’s nothing that can be done. Double jeopardy, you know. To most of us, this just adds to what we’ve believed for a long time — that Casey Anthony murdered her daughter and she’s still the most hated woman in America, if not the entire world.

This is a story I wrote and published on March 27, 2009, over three years before the trial. Take from it what you will. Originally, I put a disclaimer at the bottom, calling it a work of fiction. Today, I’m not so sure…

CAUTION! CONTAINS LANGUAGE NOT SUITABLE FOR ALL AGES

It’s a perfect day for a murder

Dear Diary,

Last night I had a terrible fight with my mother. I hate her guts. It’s the worst fight we’ve ever had. Sometimes, I can’t decide who I hate the most, her or Dad, but I am so pissed off, I wish she was dead. Him too. Why, oh why, does she think I am a bad person when it is her? She sucks. I want her out of my life. I need to get away from this house and these people forever.

If Tony would only take me away. He must. He’s got to help me. Why do I feel my life is such a mess? If only I didn’t have the brat. She is nothing more than a pain in my ass. Today, I will start my life all over again. With Tony. Or Ricardo. Or… OK, Jesse. If not Jesse… and SHE will never be with us, whoever I’m with. Jesse? If only you didn’t love her so much, we might still be together. Maybe not.

Mom? You think you can take her away from me, but I will never let you. She would make you so happy because she could be the daughter you’ve always wanted. It was never me. You never loved me. What do you think I should do with her? It’s too late. You can’t have her and I don’t want her. I’ve made my mind up and today is it. That little shit will never, ever ruin my life again. She is dead. Screw you all and you will never find out about her. You think I’m crazy, do you? I’ll show you what crazy is all about. You got it. I’ll get even with you. You won’t ever be able to spoil her again.

Dad? Eff you, you weak son of a bitch. You are such a pussy. You let Mom run all over you. I’ve had enough of you and you think you were such a hotshot cop. Oh yeah? You are nothing and you will never figure out what I did with her because I am way smarter than you. You can rot in Hell. Besides, you always loved Lee more than me. You both did.

Lee? Just go on living in your simple little world. God, if you only knew how much I’ve used you over the years, you’d realize just how stupid you are. So’s your girlfriend. Too bad you’re not here to say good bye.

Brat? Today is the day. You will never see me again. Better yet, I will never see you again. Even better still, your grandmother is going to really, really suffer and in the end, I will laugh at you all. Sleep late. I don’t want you seeing Ci Ci before she goes to work. That’s why our door is shut. OK, here, take Mommy’s nanny Zani pill.

I’ve been planning this day for a long time. It didn’t have to be today, but after last night, this is it. It had to come sometime, because I was going nuts. Today, I feel liberated. My mind is made up. What? You wonder why Mommy is in such a good mood? Quick, go see Grandpa Jo Jo before we go. I need to get ready.

OK, Baby, let’s get going. I’ll see you later, Dad. I’ve got some errands to run. C’mon, let’s go. Say good bye to Jo Jo. Tell him you love him. Yes, we’ll see you later. Wave to him as we drive away. Go ahead, Sweetheart.

12:40 pm

She didn’t really need to go anywhere early that afternoon. She just wanted to get out of that house, away from the pain of the night before, so she drove around, chatting endlessly on her cell phone with her boyfriend, Tony, her ex-boyfriend Jesse, and her then-best friend, Amy, never paying any attention to her daughter. She headed down Chickasaw Trail to Lee Vista Boulevard, where she killed some time, about a half hour, at the shopping plaza; then she took off up Narcoossee to Goldenrod. From there, she headed north to Curry Ford and turned into the Winn Dixie shopping center just to kill more time until her father left and the coast was clear. OK, let’s go home for a minute. Mommy forgot something. It was easy to tell her toddler that they needed to go back home. Besides, the little girl always felt safe and secure in that house. Maybe, she messed her pants and Mom forgot the pull-up diapers and the pack of Nice’n Toddler wipes and that angered her. Oh, Come on. You’re too old for this. Whatever, this was the day she had been planning for a long time. She was starting to feel happy again, something she hadn’t been since before the day her daughter was born. She started the car and drove east on Curry Ford until she turned south on Chickasaw to return to the neighborhood where she grew up.

3:00 pm

When they got back to the house, they went into the bathroom where she cleaned the little girl and dried her off . Then, she led her into the bedroom. Mommy will be right back.  She went out to the garage to get the duct tape and a couple of trash bags. Then, she walked back in, took the bags into the bedroom and began peeling a swath of tape off the roll. Here, Mommy wants to play a little game. Come on, you little brat. She started to stick the tape around her head, from the left side of her face and far into her hair.

Mommy, what are you doing? the little girl wondered, unable to really speak like an adult and too tired too fight. Mommy, Mommy, Murfurlbalbl… The tape was now wrapped around the toddlers head and Mommy tore it off the roll, making sure it was stuck firmly to her mouth. She picked the small child up, who was lightly kicking and breathing through her nostrils, wimpering like crazy, as if begging for her life, but the pill had begun to take its toll.

Stop kicking, you little shit! Tears of fear were rolling off the little girl’s face as she struggled to free herself, but she was no match for her mother, as slight of build as she was. Finally, the Xanax she had given her earlier kicked in and the precious bundle of joy gave up. She set her daughter down and hurried into the bathroom to grab a bottle from under the sink. She poured the homemade chloroform onto a wad of folded up toilet paper, returned and held it against her daughter’s nose, just to make sure. All of the faith and trust this girl had in her mother was as weak as her now shallow breaths. What was so different this time as her mother picked her up, was how much heavier she seemed. I guess she never knew much about dead weight. Well, she was never as bright as she thought she was.

She carried her out into the back yard and walked up to the above ground swimming pool. The body made a light splash as it was dropped in. She held her under water until the bubbles stopped. It didn’t take long. The child-like breaths that once smelled like a field of fresh flowers on a breezy Spring day were forever silenced. The life she brought into this world was now dead by her own hands. To her, it was the most exhilarating, the most liberating feeling in a long, long time - until she tried to lift the child out of the water. Wow! This kid is heavy. She hadn’t thought about how much the water would log her down. She propped her little body against the edge of the pool, pulling her arms out and over the side. That gave her a chance to go get the pool ladder that would act as leverage as she struggled to pull the girl out of the water.

One of the things she’s known for is that she doesn’t like to follow directions. She’s never been good at finishing jobs, either. If her mother hadn’t been around to lecture and complain, her bedroom would have been a mess. When she pressed the ladder against the swimming pool, she never attached it firmly. That’s why the ladder was left next to the pool and it explains why she never closed the gate behind her. She never followed up on anything unless someone like her mother was behind her every step of the way and that angered her so.

3:30 pm

Fortunately for her, the pet dogs were napping when she re-entered the house. Casey always demanded that her parents stay out of her room. They always granted her wish for privacy. She was, after all, an adult woman and she needed her space. She walked into the bedroom, dropped her daughter onto the floor and put her soiled clothes into one of the bags. She dried the body and opened the other bag to put her little girl inside. Then, she pushed her under the bed, grabbed the bag of clothes and walked out of the room, shutting the door firmly behind her. She had to be very careful about making sure the door was properly closed. For one night, her bedroom was to be Caylee’s mausoleum. When she walked out the front door with bag in hand, she took one more brief look inside the house before locking the door. Good bye, she thought. Eff this house. No more fights. No more nagging. I am free, but she knew she had to come back tomorrow. This was enough work for one day.

Quiet Observations, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!

“There is no reason for a 2-year-old child to decompose in a field in a plastic bag with duct tape over its face.”

“I don’t understand people who think Elvis is still alive. I don’t understand people who think we never landed on the moon. I don’t get those people. So I don’t get these people [the jury] either.”

— Dr. Jan Garavaglia, on Sunday night’s program on TLC, The Learning Channel

Yes, I watched it, and yes, it was exceptionally well done, but did I learn anything new? Not much, really. It served to reiterate and fortify the state of Florida’s substantive and well grounded claims made against the mother of Caylee Marie Anthony, charged with her murder and found not guilty by a jury of her peers. I think, mostly, it allowed Dr. G to get some things off her chest. In the end, Caylee’s death was a homicide, regardless of the end result, and it tore at the very fabric of the Orange-Osceola chief medical examiner. This is a case that will forever haunt everyone involved, especially law enforcement, investigators on all levels, and prosecutors, who spent countless hours going to bat for Caylee. Yes, us, too.

God knows we’ve had countless what ifs to ponder; things that never made it into the courtroom and ones that did that didn’t pan out, like the phone call between Erica Gonzalez and the defendant on July 15, 2008, when Casey (I broke my own rule) was on her way to pick up Amy Huizenga at the airport. Gonzalez claimed she heard Caylee being scolded by her mother during that call, but that was impossible because, in his opening statement, Jose Baez said that Caylee was dead on June 16, 2008, a full month earlier.

CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE

Why wasn’t that phone call used to it’s fullest advantage at trial? Yes, Gonzalez was questioned on the stand by Assistant State Attorney Frank George, but she couldn’t remember the details at the time. OK, fine, but at that point, she should have been shown the document above to help remind her of what she told law enforcement. She wasn’t. Anyway, that was a key piece of evidence in my opinion, that went nowhere. As a matter of fact, it worked to the defense’s advantage. Why? Surely, a “grieving” mother would have no reason to make up a silly lie about scolding her dead child, right? What would be the point? Why talk to an imaginary person, something she did very well? The state should have expanded on it. (Watch Erica Gonzalez’s testimony here)

Sadly, there are no more points to make because it’s way too late for that. Case closed. I just needed to get that off my chest.

Of course, it’s never too late to remind everyone that, although the case may be closed, the memories are permanently etched in the minds of all of us who lived through it, and history will look as kindly on Casey Anthony as it has on Lizzie Borden, scorned to this day, yet dating all the way back to the 1890s. You know, the nursery rhyme about the 40 whacks she gave her mother that’s still recited. And like the one for Lizzie, I wrote one for you know who over a year ago - 6 months before the trial began, when no one knew the outcome would be similar to Lizzie’s…

THE BALLAD OF CASEY

For the rest of her life

Her name will be mud

For taking the life

Of her own flesh and blood.

For what lies ahead

Is a brewing storm.

Her Caylee long dead

Was fed chloroform.

I did change a few words from my original, but I hope it lasts a hundred years or more. Oh no, not because of me. I don’t care if anyone remembers who wrote it, I just want people to remember Caylee. Whether her mother murdered her or not, she was solely responsible for her death.

Moving on, we come to one of the prosecutors from the Anthony trial, Jeff Ashton, now retired. Today, he’s a best selling author and there are some misconceptions about him making the rounds on the Internet. I’m going to do my best to give you the truth. For sure, Ashton must have been working on his book during the trial, right? Perhaps, before it began, you think? I mean, how else could anyone explain how it was written and published in what seemed like record time? It was roughly 5 months after the trial ended that Imperfect Justice was on bookshelves across America. What gives? According to Suzanne Fox of VeroNews.com, the book wasn’t crafted until after the trial ended, and according to Ashton, not before he took his wife and children on a much needed vacation.

“When we started, I had no frame of reference,” Ashton said. “I figured the timeframe was short, but I didn’t really understand how short until the lawyer who vetted the book for HarperCollins told me that we’d done in three months what usually takes eighteen.”

“I couldn’t have taken on the book project if I was still working,” he added. “Even if the State Attorney would have authorized me to do it, there wouldn’t have been time.”

Of course, having Lisa Pulitzer, a seasoned professional crime writer on hand, helped tremendously. So did a very serious-minded editor, something I learned about while writing for Mike Boslet, Editor-in-Chief of Orlando magazine, during the trial. Get the job done.

That leads me to Ashton’s latest announcement that he’s going to challenge his former boss, Lawson Lamar, for the office of Orange-Osceola State Attorney. Alas, I would strongly consider voting for him except for one thing. I live in Seminole County, home of the 18th District Court. He’s in the 9th, and I can’t vote there. However, I can still offer my thoughts regarding his background and qualifications.

The Super Bowl comes once a year. Half of us don’t remember who won last year when the new one comes around. But after the big event, we look at the losing team as a bunch of, well, losers, not taking into account that they came in second in a field of 32 teams. Out of those teams, Number 2 stands out like a sore thumb. Why? In real life, Number 2 is not a pathetic loser. Yes, the Super Bowl is all about hype leading up to the main event and the media sucks it up like a sponge. Yes, it’s like any great battle, but so was the Anthony case, in a sense, and that one lasted nearly 3 years. Wow! What a build up and what a let down. The only thing is, we can’t obscure facts by skewing history and the truth.

Jeff Ashton was but one of three assistant state attorneys that took on the mammoth and monumental task of prosecuting Casey Anthony. That’s one third, folks, not one person. He was merely a co-prosecutor. Sure, the State should have won, but it didn’t, and we now have a retired prosecutor with a rather sterling 30 year career who is running for political office. I’m hearing some reverberations from several detractors around the Web. I do find it amazing that some people look upon him as a loser because of one case, but that’s the way we live today - for the here and the now, and everyone has personality conflicts. One thing we need to remember is that, during his 30 year career, he tried “some 70 homicide cases” and won all 12 of his “capital murder trials.” (See: Orlando magazine, Dec., 2011., The Prosecution Can’t Rest)

Ashton was the first prosecutor in the nation to gain the conviction of a rapist as a result of DNA evidence. In 1987, Tommy Lee Andrews was found guilty and sentenced to 22 years in prison. That was just over 24 years ago, when he was a young man around 30-years-old. A Florida appeals court upheld the conviction and the state became the first in the nation to affirm DNA evidence. That’s quite a statement, folks. And he’s not one to back away from anything.

Here’s my opinion — take it or leave it. Jeff Ashton is a fierce competitor. Here is a man who did his best for Caylee Anthony. What do you think he would do in the wake of that loss? Quit? Just write books? Do speaking tours? Sure, he could do that, and he should, but he now chooses to stick around and fight for future Caylees and everyone else in Orange and Osceola counties seeking justice. That shows you he’s dedicated and determined and not a quitter. I dare say he doesn’t know how to quit — not the driven man that I have learned to know and respect. Tomorrow morning at 11:00 am, I will be standing on the courthouse steps when he officially announces his candidacy and I will urge him on. 

(Also see Orlando Sentinel)

Judge Perry's Order Sounds "Appealing"

In the beginning of September, 2008, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office said that lab tests confirmed that a decomposing body had been in the trunk of George and Cindy Anthony’s 1998 Pontiac Sunfire. “[FBI] laboratory evidence, along with additional evidence that has not been made public, leads investigators to the belief there is a strong probability that Caylee is deceased.”

Sgt. John Allen added that, “The information we’ve gotten back from the lab [was] that she was in the trunk of that car and that she is dead is certainly something we take seriously.”

By September 21, detectives noted that there were still lab tests pending, plus evidence not yet made public. According to OCSO, no homicide-related charges would be filed until they could determine if the child died and her body ended up in the trunk. As a matter of fact, throughout the month of September, it was looking very clear that Caylee was deceased and the odor of death in the trunk of the Pontiac and a combination of forensic evidence would be enough for an Orange County grand jury to indict her mother on First-Degree (Capital) Murder and other charges on October 14, including Aggravated Child Abuse, Aggravated Manslaughter of a Child, and four counts of Providing False Information to a Law Enforcement Officer. 

Certainly, there was plenty of evidence by then to gain convictions as far as the public was concerned, but on July 5 of this year, a jury found the defendant not guilty of the first three felony charges and guilty of the remaining four misdemeanor charges of lying to law enforcement. The public was shocked and outraged. The State Attorney’s Office had put an awful lot of work into this case that took nearly three years to come to an abrupt end. Law enforcement kept plugging away even as the trial unfolded. Everyone on the state’s side wanted nothing more than justice, but during this period, costs spiraled higher and higher it wasn’t until recently that a matter of cost came before the court. Someone’s got to pay for all this labor intensive work, right?

On September 2, 2011, the state filed an “Amended Motion to Tax Special Costs of Investigation and Prosecution and to Reserve Jurisdiction” pursuant to Florida Statute 938.27. The original motion, “State of Florida’s Motion to Tax Special Costs of Investigation and Prosecution and to Reserve Jurisdiction” was filed on July 6, a day after the defendant was acquitted of the felony charges.

The amount the state was requesting was to the tune of $517,000, broken into separate agencies, including the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), the Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation (FDLE), the Orange County Sheriff’s Office (OCSO), and last but not least, the State Attorney’s Office.

The state wanted the defendant to pay for the investigation from its inception, on July 15, 2008, when she told authorities her first lie, to December 19, 2008, the date when skeletal remains found a week earlier were positively identified to be those of Caylee Marie Anthony.

On paper, the state’s proposition sounded about right, but it wasn’t, according to the law. There’s no doubt the amount of hours it took to come this far were phenomenal. Who kept lying and lying and lying to police until her attorney put a clamp on her mouth? The fact remains that this whole affair could have ended a long time ago had it not been for her. She would have saved the state, not to mention taxpayers, tons of money had she just told the… [sorry, that word is not in her vocabulary].

I know my opinion on this is not going to be popular, but it follows how Judge Perry ruled today. Allow me to place myself in a situation that may shed a little light on the decision…

Suppose I’m visiting old friends in New Jersey during a specific time period. I rode up with a buddy. During that time someone (allegedly) stole my car and robbed a convenience store in my neighborhood. The perp is bald like me, so when the cops show the store owner my picture, he says, “That’s him!”

My car is impounded and examined, and the only set of prints on it are mine. Meanwhile, I come home to a 24-hour stake-out, and I’m promptly thrown to the ground, handcuffed and arrested. Here’s the deal - my friend is deposed but the cops don’t believe him. The state indicts me. Meanwhile, my friends in NJ are reluctant to testify on my behalf. Unfortunately, some of the evidence makes me look bad because the police find out I had been dating the owner’s daughter and we had a rocky relationship until it finally ended. It turns out the father never liked me to begin with.

Eventually, the case goes to trial, some of my out-of-state friends are subpoenaed, and the jury finds me not guilty. Should I be required to pay for the entire investigation? How about any of it? After all, ultimately, I did nothing wrong. 

There’s the dilemma. Who foots the bill? In my case, it’s fairly cut-and-dry. I was, in no way, involved and the law is on my side. No one should pay money for an ill-fated investigation. How many people a year are charged by overzealous prosecutors? That’s not my point, though.

In this particular defendant’s case, she lead authorities to dead end after dead end. She lied through her teeth and impeded a legitimate investigation. The entire nation prayed that little Caylee would be found alive, while her devious mother laughed behind everyone’s back. She should be forced to pay, right? Well, yes and no.

The investigation into the missing toddler began on July 15, 2008, when Cindy Anthony made her desperate 911 calls. Yes, initially, it was a missing child case, but somewhere along the line, it switched from that to a murder investigation. Caylee was dead. That’s where the impounded Sunfire became so crucial. Sometime in September of 2008, the gears switched from missing to dead.

On September 2, 2011, the judge heard testimony from both sides. The state wanted the charges to encompass a five month period, from July 15 - December 19, 2008. The defense argued that their client was found not guilty of murder, including the other felony charges. How could the court force her to pay for something she was found not guilty of? The defense asked for the final tally to represent July 15 to September 30, a two-and-a-half-month period, because, after that date, investigators were no longer seeking a missing child - they were looking for a deceased one.

The judge agreed. Just like in my case, why should a person be forced to pay for an investigation when the verdict is in the defendant’s favor? If that were the case, police and prosecutors would be charging people left and right for crimes they never committed in order to fill state coffers. As much as Jose Baez’s client is unpopular, the law is the law and Judge Perry had to rule the way he did.

Section 938.27, Florida Statute (2011) provides, in part:

In all criminal and violation-of-probation or community-control cases, convicted [my emphasis] persons are liable for payment of the costs of prosecution, including investigative costs incurred by law enforcement agencies, [etc.] For purposes of this section, “convicted” means a determination of guilt, or of violation of probation or community control, [etc.]

The court shall impose the costs of prosecution and investigation notwithstanding the defendant’s ability to pay. The court shal require the defendant to pay the costs within a specified period or in specified installments.

In his ruling, Judge Perry acknowledged that “there are costs that may be taxed against Defendant because they were reasonably necessary to prove the charges in Counts 4 through 7, for which she was convicted.” Therein lies the crux of the argument. For which she was convicted. You cannot charge any amount of money on not guilty verdicts according to the law, no matter how one may personally feel. The judge had no choice because he had to follow the letter of the law.

While the judge acknowledged that there are no Florida cases dealing with apportioning the costs after a criminal trial when a defendant has been convicted of some charges but acquitted of others, there is some guidance in federal case law “which provides that costs associated exclusively with the prosecution of counts which are discharged cannot be assessed against the defendant.”

“When a statute is clear, courts will not look behind the statute’s plain language for legislative intent.” City of Miami Beach v. Galbut, 626 So. 2d 192, 193 (Fla. 1993), and Holly v. Auld, 450 So. 2d 217, 219 (Fla. 1984).

“A statute’s plain and ordinary meaning must control, unless this leads to an unreasonable result or a result clearly contrary to legislative intent.” State v. Burris, 875 So. 2d 408, 410 (Fla. 2004).

“Cost provisions are a creature of statute and must be carefully construed.” Wolf v. County of Volusia, 703 So. 2d 1033, 1034 (Fla. 1997).

Based on case law, Judge Perry decided that the costs incurred by investigators would be from July 15, 2008 through September 29, 2008. That was the period, he decided, all costs incurred were “reasonably related to the investigative work provided as a result of Defendant providing false information as to the location of her [then missing] daughter, Caylee Anthony, and making other mistrepresentations to law enforcement.”

End of story. We may not like it, but that’s the law and that’s why the judge ruled the way he did. The breakdown of what he granted looks like this:

• FDLE - $61,505.12
• MBI - $10,283.90
• OCSO - $25,837.96 (the Court found that several of the reports were not adequately broken down, and in order to reimburse OCSO for additional work, they must file a revised expense report with the Court by 4:00 PM on September 19. At that point, the order will be amended accordingly.)
• With regard to the costs incurred by the Office of the State Attorney, in accordance with Florida Statute 938.287(8), the State Attorney is entitled to a total amount of $50 for each of the misdemeanor convictions. Grand total? 200 buckeroos. Personally, I think it’s an insult,

All in all, the defendant will have to cough up $97,676.98, not a pittance by any means, but not close to the amount the state requested. How is she going to pay? Oh, I think her attorneys will find the tally quite “appealing”, if you get my drift. Speaking of drift, would we know how to contact Mr. Baez about this? I hear Aruba ta bunita this time of year.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

On December 3, 2009, I met with Sgt. John Allen at the sheriff’s office on West Colonial Drive. This was in reference to a matter regarding something someone said to me and photographs I was shown that may have been relevant to the investigation. He called me the day before. After I gave him my testimony and filled out a report, we sat around for a few minutes and discussed different aspects of the case. At no time did he reveal anything that would be harmful had I written about it, but I told him I wouldn’t. We spoke on the phone 2-4 times after that, and at one point, he said it was okay for me to write whatever we had discussed. I had a green light, and one thing came to mind. He was emphatic about it, too. Up until the remains were found and identified, over 100 law enforcement personnel never gave up hope of finding Caylee alive. All around the country, investigators continued to follow up on leads. That’s how dedicated they were, and that tells me there’s a gray area the judge should have known about. Whether it can be substantiated, I don’t know, but it is worth considering, in my opinion.

Of Biblical Proportions

SOLOMON, PART I

On January 27, 2010, I wrote a post titled, “The Wisdom of Solomon”. It was two days after The Honorable Judge Stan Strickland listened to Amy Huizenga’s thieving friend plead guilty to thirteen counts of fraud. Here is part of what I wrote that day:

State Attorney Frank George stood up at his respective podium and began to speak. On July 8, 2008, Casey wrote a check in the amount of $111.01 that accounted for charges 2, 3, and 4. She wrote this check at Target.  On July 10, she passed a check at Target in the amount of $137.77 that accounted for charges 5, 6, and 7. Also on July 10, she passed a third check at Target for $155.47 and that took care of counts 8, 9, and 10. Counts 11, 12, and 13 took place on July 15 when she wrote a check for $250 at the Bank of America. He then brought up count 1 which referred to a deliberate scheme of conduct overall. She planned on writing checks until they bounced off the walls, I would guess. Good thing we live in the information age, where account balances are instantaneous almost everywhere we go.

Judge Strickland gave the defense an opportunity to challenge the charges. We can discuss the lack of brevity or the levity of the arguments, but let’s cut to the chase - it came down to the judge. First, it should be noted that Casey had no prior convictions and she did make full restitution and  Baez did bring up “equal justice” for his client. He asked for one year of probation and credit for time served, rather than the five years of incarceration the State sought. In the end, His Honor sentenced the 23-year-old Casey to (jail) time served - 412 days - plus $5,517.75 in investigative costs and $348 for court. The amount may be discussed and negotiated at a later motion hearing because the defense found the investigative charge too high and not justifiable. He also adjudicated Casey guilty on six of the fraud counts and withheld adjudication on seven, plus he tacked on a year of supervised probation, which could be problematic and complex later on, given that she still faces a huge mountain of charges ahead. He said that he had given this a lot of thought prior to sentencing. “I’ve done what I thought is fair based on what I know.”

In closing, he added what he felt was the right thing to do:

“There was not an even number of offenses, so I withheld in seven, I adjudicated in six. If that seems Solomon-like, it is.”

Of particular interest now is the Solomon-like decision Judge Perry faces regarding the recent clarification of Casey’s probation period set by Judge Strickland. I find it ironic that good old Solomon once again rears his head at the now acquitted and much detested convicted felon.

MOSES, PART I

That brings me to another biblical figure - Moses. He was the guy who cast ten plagues on the people of Egypt. He also parted the Red Sea after he turned the Nile into blood. The pharoah was none too happy with that, so he let Moses and his people go out of Egypt to be slaves no more.

My reason for bringing up Moses has little to do with him, actually. It’s more about the pharaoh at the time, and what his edict was while Moses was packing up the Israelites to wander in the desert for forty years. Every mention of his name and every word etched in stone was struck from the official records. (Historical records actually show that Ramses II was not in charge at the time, but Hollywood disagrees.)

As Ramses II, Yul Brynner exclaimed in Cecil B. de Mille’s film The Ten Commandments, “So it shall be written, so it shall be done.” In this same light, I proclaim that the name Casey Anthony will no longer be permitted on this blog. It is now stricken from the record. However, I do have an appropriate replacement. We know that Caylee called Cindy Ci Ci, and George was Jo Jo. What did she call her mother? How about Ca Ca? From now on, Caylee’s mother will only be known as Ca Ca. Yes, you know how it’s pronounced.

SOLOMON, PART II

Back to the problem Judge Perry called “a legal maze” and “a legal morass”. What sort of decision should he make? According to the Department of Corrections, Ca Ca served her probation while incarcerated and was duly discharged a year later; free from all restrictions. According to what Judge Strickland said in open court on January 25, 2010, her probation was supposed to begin AFTER her release from jail, not while she was sitting in a cell, and he made it clear last week, on August 1, when he issued a corrected Order of Probation and corrected Court Minutes, nunc pro tunc to January 25, 2010. Nunc pro tunc, of course, means now for then; whatever the action is, it has a retroactive legal effect.

Here’s the dilemma. Ca Ca’s defense argues that she has served her probation while incarcerated and they have a letter from DOC to prove it. On the other hand, Judge Strickland made it abundantly clear that Ca Ca did not serve her probation as per his instructions, and his order stated that it was to begin after her release, only there was a mix-up on the first order, as written by the court. But that was not Judge Strickland’s fault. Meanwhile, Cheney Mason filed a motion on his client’s behalf, the EMERGENCY MOTION FOR HEARING TO QUASH, VACATE, AND SET ASIDE COURT’S ORDER. 

Judge Perry said (at the August 5 hearing on the matter) that what Strickland stated in court should trump all - not what the defense claimed. At the same time, Perry acknowledged that she DID serve out her probation in jail according to the Orange County Corrections Department. What a quagmire. “If anything could go wrong,” he said, “it went wrong here.”

Perry is quite aware of safety concerns, meaning keeping Ca Ca safe from harm. To openly serve probation now opens up a can of worms since her address would be made public due to Florida’s sunshine laws. You know, what with all those death threats and whatever.

Phooey. Ask OCSO how many real death threats they’ve received since her release from incarceration. From my own experience with trolls and the “vengenance is mine” crap - yes, that’s the way one idiot spelled it, insinuating harm on me - almost every one of them lives far enough away to be a real threat, although I wouldn’t trust any of them face-to-face, and that leads me back to Ca Ca. Personally, I feel she should be more afraid the farther away from home she is, as she enters uncharted territory. There are more crazies out there in the world than there are in Orlando. Believe me, I thank God for the Atlantic ocean, but that’s another story.

Ahum.

Moving on, I am left with prior motions the defense filed before the trial which asked the court to seal jail records, including visitation logs, telephone conversations and commissary purchases. They were filed and denied while Strickland was on the bench, and they were refiled, along with new ones, after Judge Perry took over. Both judges made it very clear that the judicial branch holds no legal sway over the legislative branch; the one that controls jails and prisons. Consequently, neither judge ruled in favor of the defense because they had no authority to do so.

That leads me to what I think the judge should do. Since he has no power over the jail because it’s a completely separate governmental branch from the court, his decision should be based on those prior rulings. The court does not have to honor the administrative decisions the jail makes in its day-to-day operations. What both judges have been saying all along is that they have no control over the executive branch, and at the same time, the jail has no power over the judicial. There you have it - a very simple solution to a complex problem. Ca Ca did not serve a day of probation while incarcerated because she did not satisfy the court’s order. The heck with what the jail says.

MOSES, PART II

As Ramses said about Moses, let Judge Perry say the same thing about Ca Ca. So it shall be written, so it shall be done. While he wanders through what must be at least 40 years worth of court cases, let’s see how he rules. Personally, I think the answer should be a year of supervised probation. Afterward, she can find her Promised Land. By then, she should be old news and TMZ won’t pay her another dime.

Have a Happy Heavenly Birthday!

16 Days

The State has been presenting its case for over two weeks now. How are they doing? What about the defense? 

Read what I think. Only at Orlando Magazine.

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Feel free to add your thoughts.

THANK YOU!

I Was There

The courtroom got very graphic as the state entered photographs of Casey’s skull and other evidence found at the scene. Please read my account of the day, including sketches of the skull

Only at Orlando Magazine.

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Feel free to add your thoughts.

THANK YOU!

How the Cards Stack

Two weeks have passed and, surprisingly, Jose Baez did well in some areas. Where?

You’ll have to read about it on Orlando Magazine.

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Feel free to add your thoughts.

THANK YOU!

A letter to OCSO Sheriff Jerry L. Demings

Today, I sent this e-mail to the sheriff of Orange County, Jerry L. Demings. After yesterday’s experience, I made sure every deputy I spoke to in the courthouse knew about this incident.

Dear Sheriff Demings,

I write about the Casey Anthony case. In Dec. 2009, Sgt. John Allen interviewed me on the phone and asked me to come into the W. Colonial address to make a written statement. I must say he was a true gentleman in every way, and a consummate professional. This isn’t about him, though.

I attended the Frye hearing on 23 March in Judge Perry’s courtroom. During the lunch break, I walked down Orange Avenue to a Cuban Cafe. When I went to place my order, I realized I didn’t have my wallet. It was one of those uh-oh moments. I may have failed to pick it up after going through security, or I could have left it in the courtroom in a bag I left behind.

I asked a security officer if anyone had turned in a wallet. I said I’m a diabetic and needed to eat lunch. When she told me no one had, I said it could be in 19D. I went up the elevator and all courtrooms were locked for the daily lunch break. No one was in sight. I went back to the 1st floor, hoping that someone might open the door for me. While addressing security, an OCSO deputy was standing nearby. He told me “you need to eat lunch,” and proceeded to take $10 out of his pocket. I tried to say no, but he insisted. Again, he said I need to eat lunch. I asked him when he would be back again and he said, don’t worry about it. You can give it to someone in security if I’m not around. I attend as many hearings as I can, but he wasn’t aware of that. Despite having no knowledge of me, he trusted me, no questions asked.

Deputy Pat Patterson is a very caring individual, very much a gentleman, and an asset to your agency. He went well beyond the duties of his position. It is law enforcement officers like him that show just how caring and dedicated they are. In my opinion, he should be commended. He is someone you and the entire sheriff’s office should be proud of.

Please thank him again for me. Although I wasn’t able to go to today’s hearing, I will be there tomorrow, with my wallet in hand and a crisp ten dollar bill. Deputy Patterson exemplifies the true spirit of our men and women in uniform.

Sincerely,
Dave Knechel

By the way, my wallet was inside the bag. It was, obviously, safer in the courtroom than it was in my own pocket. I told Dep. Patterson I was going to write something on my blog, but it was Yuri Melich who suggested I write to the sheriff. OCSO is used to receiving more complaints than compliments.

Interesting day of discovery

More documents were released today concerning the investigation into the death of Caylee Marie Anthony. Some of the discovery is not very revealing, while other documents are. For instance, several TES volunteers described receiving phone calls from private investigators stating they were “calling from the Orange County Courthouse.” While misleading, they were not illegal. Cpl. Yuri Melich wrote in his incident report that an “investigation was conducted in order to determine if a private investigator working for the Casey Anthony defense violated State Statute by falsely impersonating an officer as per Florida State Statute 843.08.” He added that “there is insufficient evidence to prove anyone violated this statute.” Yes, several people complained the callers had misrepresented themselves, but by merely saying they were calling “from” the Orange County Courthouse failed to constitute probable cause that a crime was committed. I have to agree. I’ve made phone calls from the courthouse and by merely telling the other person I am calling from that location reveals nothing. I could be there for a hearing or something else.

What I did find interesting is that, while a lot of people believe Jerry Lyons is working alone, or that Mort Smith is still somehow involved, two new names surfaced. AHA! We can now add Katie Delaney, Gil Colon and Scott McKenna to the list. What would be intriguing would be if the SAO decided to seek the cell phone records from all of the PIs to see if they really did call from the courthouse as they claimed.

(See: http://www.wesh.com/pdf/27161837/detail.html)

Julie Ann Davis

Julie Davis was a TES searcher who was a K-9 handler. Her dog was trained to find human cadavers. She searched the Suburban Drive area on September 7, 2008 along with Tammy Dennis, Karen Gheesling and Luther Peeples. Tammy Dennis was also a dog handler. None of the dogs alerted anyone to a body. She was clear in her memory of where she searched, and more signifiacntly, where she didn’t. She said she looked at the end of Suburban, across from the school, with her dogs. So did Tammy. They found nothing unusual. She also said she looked into the wooded are where the body was eventually found, but not with her dogs, that remained in her car at the time. Those particular woods were overgrown with brush and flooded, she told Cpl. Eric Edwards on February 3 of this year.

“Um, I got out of my vehicle, walked along the edge of the, the tree line there. Looking inside that vegetation ah, it was thick, but I could see through the thickness was a lot of water.”

One of her most significant statements she made was that it may have been very difficult to find a body. Many variables would come into play.

“It depends on the body if it was wrapped in bags whether or not that K-9 would be able to detect that.”

(See: http://www.wesh.com/pdf/27161880/detail.html)

Cpl. Mark David Hawkins

Mark Hawkins was a longtime friend of Casey and her family. She often talked about visiting him in California, where he was stationed as a U.S. Marine. He knew her from their high school days together. After finding (alleged) samples of human decomposition, samples of Caylee’s hair and chloroform in the trunk of Casey’s vehicle, Hawkins came forward and offered to help in the investigation since he had knowledge of the victim and her family. He admitted that his relationship with Casey was only plutonic; that they had never been sexually intimate together. He said that they both agreed that they should just remain strictly friends. He was in the military and constantly being sent to different locations. Casey said she didn’t want a transient life for herself or Caylee.

“In late June/early July 2008, Casey and I were talking regularly, as I was keeping her updated on some medical issues of mine. She was worried about me and stated she wanted to come out to CA to see me, although there were never any solid plans made. A week or so later, Casey called me and was noticeably upset nd frustrated. She said she had something to tell me and couldn’t say it over the phone. She said ‘something happened’ a long time ago, but wouldn’t say what it was. Casey said she told her mother and brother whatever it was and they became angry & frustrated about it. I asked Casey what happened and tried to get her to tell me, she just saind, ‘Hey Mark, it’s just something I want to tell you in person’. I thought maybe there were some issues between her and her father or thought she was possibly upset about something else and she was just sort of dancing around it.”

In my opinion, this could have been the start of her accusation that her brother used to molest her. NCIS, the U.S. Naval Criminal Investigation, sent Supervisory Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs and Probationary Special Agent Ziva David - JUST KIDDING! NCIS sent Hawkins to Orlando where he agreed to be wired up by FBI Special Agent Steve Mackley. He met with Casey at her house on October 9 and 10, where she was under house arrest after Leonard Padilla bonded her out of jail. Casey never did make admissions related to the death of her child, although this was prior to Caylee’s body was found. Casey also told Hawkins her brother, Lee, knew most of the story about what happened to Caylee. She added she would tell him all about it one day. I doubt Lee was in on the murder, though, and he was never a suspect.

(See: http://www.wesh.com/pdf/27161404/detail.html)

Anne Pham

Anne e-mailed Yuri Melich on February 1 of this year to tell him that on the morning Caylee’s remains were discovered the two of them spoke over the phone as the news broke. Laura never said anything about searching that specific area of Suburban Drive. In fact, it wasn’t until weeks or months later that she started claiming she searched there. Pham continued by saying that other searchers had no idea about Buchanan’s claim. Buchanan thought Roy Kronk was somehow involved in the murder of Caylee.

(See: http://www.wesh.com/pdf/27161898/detail.html)

Dr. Barry Logan

Dr. Logan is an expert in toxicology and analytical chemistry for NMS Labs. He has been retained by Casey’s defense.He will argue that there is no standard operating procedure for the use of the equipment utilized by Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He also states that the database was established with a total of four cadavers buried underground. There’s no demonstration that the findings would apply to human bodies that decomposed under different circumstances, such as in the trunk of a car. As an expert witness, he bases his opinions on several factors, one of which is that Oak Ridge is not a forensic laboratory, nor is it ASCLD-LAB qualified.

(See: http://www.wesh.com/pdf/27161862/detail.html)

Dr. Timothy Huntington

Dr. Huntington concluded that the species of fly associated with the garbage bag in Casey’s trunk is unremarkable and of no forensic value. Also found in the trash was a single dermestid beetle larva that’s of no significant value. Of course, he acknowledged that the findings were open to revision and reinterpretation, but we are now seeing what some of the defense witnesses will testify to at trial. He continues by claiming that, given the conditions in the trunk, specifically increasded temperatures due to solar radiation, adult flies found in the trunk on July 16, the eggs should have not been laid before July 2. Of course, the two sides will be arguing over the insect evidence at trial. Big time.

(See: http://www.wesh.com/pdf/27161900/detail.html)

(See: http://www.wesh.com/pdf/27161900/detail.html)

 §

In a minor setback for the defense, DNA tests on a laundry bag and shorts that were found with Caylee’s remains came back negative. It may have helped raise reasonable doubt. 

§

Depositions

Several depositions were released yesterday. One that was filed comes from the Orange-Osceola Medical Examiner’s Office, where Dr. Jan Garavaglia works. In her September 28, 2010 deposition, she confirmed that the remains showed no signs of trauma. Nothing led up to the cause or manner of death. When defense attorney Cheney Mason asked her about other possibilities besides murder, such as playing with a plastic bag or drowning, she replied that because nothing was “reported immediately to the hospital or law enforcement to try to rescuscitate this person, or EMS, and this person is still found with duct tape on the face, I would still call that a homicide.”

I know many of us have already heard that revelation, and we may remember what Kiomarie Cruz said, too. Another deposition came from OCSO Deputy Appling Wells from his March 9, 2010 deposition. Kiomarie told him that Casey “didn’t really want the baby” and that she wanted to give it up for adoption. Cindy wouldn’t allow it.

Wells met with Cruz on July 19, 2008. She and Casey were friends from middle school and high school and they used to hang out in the woods across from Hidden Oaks Elementary School. She told wells that they used to go there to do adult things like fornicate and smoke wacky weed. “If Casey was to do something bad,” she told him, “maybe this is where she would put the baby.”

Jose Baez questioned him about Kiomarie’s mental health and Wells said, “I didn’t think that was an issue talking to her.”

Wells said that after Casey was first arrested, she was shocked and most likely “a little pissed off.” 

He discussed meeting with the Anthony’s neighbor, Brian Burner, about the time Casey borrowed his shovel. “She brought it back an hour later,” Wells said. “Nothing stood out as far as being something wrong.”

Later, he had a “police officer to police officer” chat with George looking for evidence that “someone, something had been buried” in the back yard.

Finally, and some in the media may find this a bit unsettling, Wells expressed his annoyance with the media throughout his deposition. He considered them to be obsessed with the story.”They’re just vultures,” he said.

(See: The Orlando Sentinel, March 11, 2011)

A sneaking suspicion

Since I didn’t have the opportunity to attend last Friday’s hearing, I just want to touch base on a couple of things regarding that day.

I am glad Kathi Belich won. Freedom of the press in this country is protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. If Kathi or any other journalist investigates a story, only defamation and the infringement of copyright laws should be subject to restrictions.

When Jose Baez and Jeff Ashton shook hands and the contempt motion flew out the window, I’d bet my bottom dollar that Judge Perry had told both sides that if they didn’t come to an agreement on their own, neither side would like the way he would handle it. That’s enough motivation right there. Not only does a judge dislike dealing with motions of this nature, he’s not in the courtroom to babysit. Crack the whip, git ‘er done. He did.

§

On Monday, I attended a hearing designed to give the defense and prosecution one final shot at summarizing the two motions discussed last Wednesday and Thursday regarding statements Casey gave law enforcement back in mid-July of 2008, and the statements she gave her parents and brother while she was sitting in jail. Were they unwitting agents of the state? If the judge agrees with the defense, it will be a damaging, but far from fatal blow, to the State of Florida. If the judge sides with the State, it will be business as usual - on with the show!

One of the things we must keep in mind is that if evidence is tossed, there’s still plenty more the State will use against her. For instance, Casey’s car is not in her name. The owner gave permission to have it examined. That’s a nice chunk of evidence. Caylee’s remains changed the playing field, too. When she was charged with first-degree murder on 14 October 2008, there was no death penalty. That came the following April, and of utmost importance was that her little bones and what surrounded them gave plenty of credibility to the old saying, “she’s speaking from the grave.”

While sitting in the courtroom, I must say Cheney Mason impressed me. His voice was stronger than it usually is. During one of the detective’s testimony last week, he asked if he was familiar with the term unarrested. The detective responded positively. Yesterday, Mason exclaimed that there is no such thing as being unarrested. He went on to scrutinize the tactics of the deputies and detectives from the first hours they spent with Casey to the final moments they pressed the Anthony family into service to visit her in jail. Agents of the State? Please.

When Casey was driven to Universal, he asserted that the detectives were already aware that she wasn’t employed there. They had set the meeting up with the chief of security, where a small room was awaiting her forquestioning. The door was closed, he said, and the intimidating tactics began. Voices were raised. Was she free to go, he wondered. No, of course not. She was at their mercy. No car and no one telling her she had a right to leave. The only way it could have been a voluntary interrogation would have been if she drove herself to meet them there.

He said it would have been impossible for trained law enforcement personnel to not treat her as some sort of suspect once they took a whiff of her car that first night. Where the defense had been weak in citing case law, Mason let loose here with the case of Ross v. State of Florida and the Florida Supreme Court’s ruling upon appeal:

After carefully reviewing the issues raised on appeal, we reverse the convictions and sentences of death because of the police conduct in interrogating Ross on January 9, 2004. Specifically, the police, over a period of several hours of custodial interrogation, deliberately delayed administration of the warnings required by Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966), obtained inculpatory admissions, and when the warnings were finally administered midstream, minimized and downplayed the significance of the warnings and continued the prior interrogation—all of which undermined the effectiveness of Miranda.

In Ross’s case, the court wrote that investigators mishandled his interrogation days after his parents were beaten to death with a baseball bat more than seven years ago. On 7 January 2004, Ross, then 21, called 911 to report that someone had murdered his parents. No weapon was ever found. The Supreme Court ruling described a pressure-packed investigation two days later in which a detective questioned Ross for hours without reading him his Miranda rights. The high court ruling states the detective deliberately delayed reading Ross his rights in an effort to obtain a confession, while assuring him that he was not under arrest, amounting to an involuntary confession. Specifically, law enforcement, over a period of several hours of custodial interrogation, deliberately delayed administration of the Miranda warning. According to the ruling, when Miranda warnings were administered “midstream,” detectives…

… minimized and downplayed the significance of the warnings and continued the prior interrogation — all of which undermined the effectiveness of Miranda.

There is another case in Florida that is a real puzzler. In Ramirez v. State, 1999 WL 506949, the Florida Supreme Court reviewed Nathan Ramirez’s conviction and death sentence for his role in the execution-style murder of Mildred Boroski, a 71-year-old widow. He and another man broke into her home, killed her dog, tied her to a bed and raped her. Then, they forced her into a car, dead dog and all, and drove her to a remote field where Ramirez shot her twice in the head.

Investigators with the police department discovered some of the woman’s possessions in Ramirez’s custody and asked him to go to the station for a taped interview. He agreed. The investigators began the interview without a Miranda warning because they thought he was only a witness rather than a murder suspect. Within a few minutes, he began to sing like a canary and one of the investigators stopped the interview to suggest he be Mirandized. The colleague immediately read Ramirez his rights which the (now) suspect acknowledged and waived. He proceeded to detail what transpired that day.

Sadly, the Florida Supreme Court reversed Ramirez’s conviction and sentence despite how careful and diligent the investigators were. Why? Four of the justices claimed that his Miranda warning was given in a manner that unconstitutionally minimized and downplayed the importance of his rights. They exploited his pre-Miranda admission about being in the house.

That’s bad enough, but back to the matter at hand. The most startling revelation made by Mason was his assertion that the first time Casey was Mirandized was not until 14 October 2008, when she was indicted on first-degree murder and other charges. I beg to differ with him. According to Casey’s ICJIS (fraud) Arrest Affidavit, she was read her Miranda warning by OCSO Detective Johan Anderson on 29 August 2008 at 2135 hours, or 9:35 pm:

I responded to 4937 Hopespring Drive and made contact with defendant Anthony. She was placed under arrest and transported to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office. I read defendant Anthony her Miranda Rights and she advised that she did not want to speak to me without her lawyer. I terminated my interview and she was transported to BRC without incident.

Whether she was read her rights prior to this date is not readily available, but the above log refers to the fraud charges only. In any event, technically, she was read her Miranda Rights prior to 14 October. Was she advised of her rights before this exchange occurred on 16 July 2008?¹

“What happened to Caylee,” an investigator asks on the tape.

“I don’t know,” Casey Anthony said.

“Sure you do,” and investigator said.

“I don’t know,” Anthony said.

“Listen, something happened to Caylee,” an investigator said. “We’re not going to discuss where the last time you saw her (was). I’m guessing something bad happened to her some time ago and you haven’t seen her, so that part is true — is you haven’t seen her because she’s somewhere else right now.”

“She’s with someone else right now,” Anthony said.

“She’s either in a Dumpster right now, she’s buried somewhere, she’s out there somewhere and her rotten body is starting to decompose because what you’re telling us…,” an investigator said. “Here’s the problem. The longer this goes, the worse it’s going to be for everyone. Right now, everything you’ve told us — we’ve locked you into a lie. Every single thing that you’ve told us has been a lie.”

If she wasn’t read her rights before being interrogated, this could be a real problem because, clearly, she was the only suspect that law enforcement had as evidenced by their line of questioning. They were already on to her tricks.

On the other hand…

When Linda Drane Burdick approached the podium, she calmly stated that at no time was Casey in custody - there was no custodial interrogation. When at Universal Studios, Cpl. Yuri Melich wrote in his arrest affidavit, interestingly dated July 15:

At this time, we found a small conference room in which to talk to the defendant. This conversation was also recorded. Prior to beginning this interview, we stressed that the door was unlocked and were in the room for privacy only. She understood and agreed to speak with us on tape.

At no point in the arrest affidavit was it written that Casey was read her Miranda Rights. If there was ever a time for a sinking feeling, it may have come in the courtroom on Monday if she was not read her rights. There’s something else. Cpl. Yuri Melich made this notation in his affidavit:

I first met with the defendant inside her residence and spoke with her alone and away from other family members. Before asking for a recorded statement, I reviewed her original four page written sworn statement and asked if this was her version of what happened. She said it was. I told her that the incident was very suspicious and her version suspect.

Later that day, several of Casey’s friends and boyfriends called OCSO to report what they knew. It was a shock to everyone that darling Caylee was missing. Melich continues:

Once at our central operations center, and after I started receiving the above phone calls reference the defendant and her child, the defendant was given one more opportunity to change her story. She did not. She was then placed under arrest for child neglect, and providing false information to us regarding this investigation.

The official charges were:

• Neglect of a child 827.03 (3)(C)
• False Official Statements 837.06
• Obstruct Criminal Investigation 837.055

However…

At no time did Casey express an interest in remaining silent. Initially, as Linda Drane Burdick was quick to assert, Casey was not a suspect in the disappearance of her child when she was briefly cuffed and held in the back seat “cage” of Dep. Acevedo’s patrol car. She was never suppressed inside her house, nor was she ever held without her permission. Of course, common sense tells you when an officer of the law carries on a conversation and/or asks you to do something, you’d better comply, so there are gray areas defense teams are trained to exploit. Rightfully, Burdick contended that law enforcement merely treated Casey as a possible witness to some sort of kidnapping and there was no reason to Mirandize her.

I think before we continue, it’s important to clarify the written statement made by Casey. It came before she was handcuffed and placed in the police car.

Here comes the judge…

While Mason was arguing his case, Judge Perry broke in and asked him if he was familiar with Parks v. State (1994). Mason said no, and the judge advised him to read it. Now, if you want my opinion, when a judge suggests something to read, you’re darned-tootin’ I’m going to read it! The mere fact that a judge mentions case law is ominously significant, so here is where I think the judge will go with his decision regarding Miranda…

In the case of Darryl Parks v. State, in the District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District, the appellant appealed his convictions for first-degree murder and three counts of armed robbery. He asserted four issues on appeal:

1. whether appellant’s motion to suppress his confession should have been granted;
2. whether the trial court erroneously allowed an accomplice’s prior consistent statement into evidence;
3. whether the trial court erred in granting appellee’s peremptory challenge of a minority juror; and
4. whether prosecutorial statements in closing arguments amounted to a comment on appellant’s exercise of his right to remain silent.

The appeals court affirmed as to all issues. However, their affirmance of issues one and two did warrant discussion. The following is quoted directly from the ruling. I will highlight key points:

On January 16, 1991, an individual wearing a mask entered a business in Broward County, began waiving a gun, and demanded money. The gunman was joined shortly thereafter by a second individual. During the course of the robbery, the owner of the business was fatally shot.

Five days after the shooting, appellant was arrested on an unrelated robbery charge. He was brought to the Broward County Sheriff’s Department homicide office for questioning concerning the murder. He was handcuffed and shackled. However, doubts arose concerning whether there was sufficient probable cause for appellant’s arrest. It was decided that appellant would be released. Appellant was advised he was free to go, the handcuffs and shackles were removed, and he was offered a ride home. Thereafter, but prior to leaving, appellant was asked whether he would remain and talk about the shooting. Appellant said he would talk to the officers about it. After appellant was informed of his Miranda rights, he was questioned by detectives. During this questioning, appellant made incriminating statements concerning his involvement in the murder and robberies. Appellant said he was present and he only intended to rob the place. However, he admitted using a substandard quality gun and “it just went off.”

The evidence shows appellant freely and voluntarily gave his statement to police. Even if the police lacked probable cause for the arrest on the unrelated charge, the fact appellant was released from custody and voluntarily remained to answer questions breaks the causal link between the arrest and his making of the incriminating statements to police. Appellant’s agreement to discuss the crime when he was free to decline and go home was an act of free will sufficient to purge any possible taint from the arrest. We find the trial court properly denied the motion to suppress appellant’s incriminating statements.

Parks asserted that the trial court improperly allowed a prior statement by his accomplice into evidence to help build the case against him. The day after he was arrested for the murder, Terrance Batten was brought to the police station for questioning. After being informed of his Miranda Rights. He then gave a tape recorded statement to police which implicated himself and Parks in the murder. About 22 months later, Batten received a plea deal from the state.

At trial, Batten testified about the shooting and robberies. He said appellant shot the victim. On direct examination, Batten acknowledged he gave a statement to police shortly after the shooting. During cross-examination by defense counsel, Batten was extensively questioned about his plea deal with the state. The details of the deal were spelled out for the jury. Batten was also questioned about the circumstances surrounding his prior statement made to police. Batten acknowledged the detectives told him that they did not want him, but wanted appellant. Batten also acknowledged he was told if he did not cooperate, he would be charged with murder and sentenced to the electric chair. He admitted he was thinking if he gave a statement to the detectives he could go home, but if he did not give them a statement he was going to be held on the murder charge.

Defense counsel also questioned Batten about specific contents of his prior statement. Batten was asked about his comments concerning who he was with prior to the robbery. Defense counsel noted that Batten said in his statement to police he was cooperating because the victim was shot. Also, Batten acknowledged there is no mention of a mask in his prior statement.

During the testimony of one of the detectives who questioned Batten, the tape-recorded statement was admitted into evidence over defense objection. Defense counsel had argued the prior consistent statement itself was made after Batten had an improper motive. Therefore, it was inadmissible.

Here’s the clincher, though:

We agree with appellant that the prior consistent statement should not have been admitted into evidence. Generally, prior consistent statements are not admissible to corroborate a witness’ testimony. Jackson v. State, 498 So.2d 906 (Fla. 1986). An exception to the rule provides that such statements are admissible to rebut charges of improper influence, motive or recent fabrication against the witness. Id. at 910; see also § 90.801(2)(b), Fla. Stat. (1991). However, the prior consistent statement must be made “prior to the existence of a fact said to indicate bias, interest, corruption, or other motive to falsify.” Dawson v. State, 585 So.2d 443, 445 (Fla. 4th DCA 1991).

We hold, however, that the erroneous admission of Batten’s tape recorded statement was harmless. The jury was aware of the existence of the prior statement. A reasonable jury could presume the prior statement was consistent with Batten’s in-court testimony. Further, defense counsel delved into some of the specifics of the statement, referring to actual comments made by Batten to police. Thus, portions of the statement were highlighted for the jury, by defense counsel, prior to the admission of the statement in its entirety.

These factors, in combination with appellant’s incriminating statements and testimony linking appellant to an item stolen in the robbery, convince us of the harmless nature of the trial court’s error. See State v. DiGuilio, 491 So.2d 1129 (Fla. 1986). We therefore affirm appellant’s convictions on all counts.

AFFIRMED.

What does this tell me? Well, when Mason mentioned October 14 - and he did so twice - and the State did not counter, it sent a message. Two times and the prosecution came back with no response. I think the judge is going to allow Casey’s early statements to stand until a clearly defined moment surfaces that distinguishes her standing with the police. I believe that once Casey was asked to go to Universal with the detectives, or earlier, when Cpl. Melich told her of his suspicions, she should have been Mirandized. Therefore, from the wee hours of 16 July 2008 until she was finally read her rights, whatever she said could be tossed. What, you say? There’s no real need to worry. Consider this: After Casey lawyered up, what did she say? Nothing, really. Honestly, most of the really incriminating evidence came after Caylee was found in the woods, but other things like the “smells like a dead body in the damn car” evidence cannot be suppressed, nor can all of the statements made by her friends and lovers, especially Anthony Lazzaro. Linda Drane Burdick did a convincing job of keeping Casey a victim before the truth began to seep through her lies. At what point did the line cross from victim to suspect? That’s the key. Personally, I think custodial interrogation began when she told Orange County Sheriff’s Sgt. Reginald Hosey that her mother had blown the whole thing out of proportion. Huh? Your child is missing for a month and your mother is overreacting? On the stand last week, Hosey said the actions of his officers were guided by George and Cindy’s concerns over Casey’s very erratic behavior and the missing toddler. That would have done it for me. And that God-awful smell.

Either Way

While attending court on Wednesday, I noticed a big difference in how Casey’s defense presented itself as opposed to past hearings. It was a dramatic improvement. It was also the first time I saw Dorothy Clay Sims, the Ocala attorney who specializes in aggressive cross-examinations of medical experts. She joined Casey’s team in September of last year. We will be hearing much more from her as we approach the trial, I’m sure.

On Thursday, Judge Perry opened the hearing by admonishing the gallery. He reminded everyone he does not want to see any smirking or hear any snickering. This includes moans, sighs and any sort of reaction that deviates from quietly sitting still and behaving ourselves. One thing I admire about him is the manner in which he handles issues on the surface. He seems to be rather uncomfortable with singling any person or group out. I would imagine if and when it ever reaches that point, the person(s) on the receiving end won’t be happy.

Thus began the day filled with testimony from detectives, deputies, jailers and the two Anthony men. When I arrived on the 19th floor, I expected to see a good number of OCSO’s finest, and I did. The first one I noticed was Sgt. John Allen, the lead investigator of this case. We had warm greetings and a firm handshake as we crossed paths. If you recall, Sgt. Allen interviewed me in December 2009 and I’ve spoken with him several times by phone since then; the last call was made in November 2010 concerning an idiotic conspiracy being promulgated on another blog.

I have an awful lot of respect for Sgt. Allen for several reasons. He made me feel very comfortable during our initial meeting. He was professional and courteous. He knew how to ask the right questions and he allowed time to talk about other things of interest, some personal, but mostly about the case. For instance, when Casey was initially arrested and all leads pointed to finding a victim, he and over 100 law enforcement personnel continued to search around the country for a living Caylee. You could clearly sense his dedication, focus and concern. No one ever gave up hope until after her remains were found. What I walked away with that December day was a good understanding of the man and the challenges he faces every day. I recall how OCSO and other personnel were castigated by family members for not doing more to find Caylee, but I knew they were. All they wanted was the truth.

I also had an opportunity to speak briefly to Cmdr. Matt Irwin and Cpl. Yuri Melich. During a more lengthy break, I had a good conversation with another detective, Cpl. Eric Edwards. Great guys, all. Of course, nothing about the case was discussed. Actually, the police had to wait outside the courtroom for two days waiting to be called. It’s my understanding that during the entire time, they were in limbo. In other words, no working on any present investigations. Everything was on hold. It seems like so much wasted time, but such is the case when charges are filed and trials ensue. It comes with the territory.

Agents of the State?

Just like I wrote in my previous post, I do not intend to relate a play-by-play account of what transpired in the courtroom. I will proffer my thoughts on the overall scheme of events and what the defense was after. The day before, it was the Miranda warning. On Thursday, it was Agents of the State.

First off, I think the M.O. of a cop is pretty simple. Cops do what cops do. They investigate. They uphold the law. They do a lot more than that, but let’s just stick with investigating and upholding the law for now, especially when the defense questioned both job descriptions. I understand what Jose & Co. were engaging in and while Wednesday may offer them hope, I’m not all that sure about Thursday. Taking a look at one of the angles Jose pressed was how he took it personally when the detectives allegedly told George his daughter could have found a much better attorney. OK, fine. So what? As soon as Casey lawyered up, she wasn’t going to open up to authorities any longer. That’s a given. Who she hired meant nothing because any attorney worth his/her weight in salt would have severed direct communications with law enforcement personnel, so who it was and how good or bad the person was wouldn’t have mattered. Cops and criminal defense attorneys are like oil and vinegar. Anything the law wants to find out from that point on just ain’t gonna transpire.

Because police act the way they do, they usually try any trick in the book to find answers. That’s what private investigators do, too. Short of anything illegal, that’s the name of the game. If you ever watch COPS, you’ll know that any and all people involved in suspicious activity are questioned separately. More information is collected that way. In this case, detectives knew that George was once in law enforcement and, naturally, he would be a better fit when it came to collecting additional information. He understood the lingo. As for Lee… well, Lee is a different breed of animal, but I feel that law enforcement sensed his desire to pursue the field of investigative work. Whether he’s a cop wannabe or not, he created his own agenda. He sure played into their hands. Remember, Dominic Casey told him to work on becoming a PI. There were two willing family members with George and Lee. Where it gets tricky is when the OCSO detectives offered to pick up George and drive him to the county jail to see his daughter, knowing that Baez was out-of-town. That in itself is not a big deal, but it is sneaky. Still, it’s nothing illegal. Where it becomes an issue, in my opinion, is when the detectives told Jose under oath that driving George to the jail was not an official trip. It was only to help him find the truth.

Hold on for a second… Uh… Hmm. Not an official trip. It most certainly was an official trip for four reasons:

1. It was a county vehicle filled with gas paid for by the county.
2. It was tape recorded without George’s knowledge.
3. George was accompanied by two detectives and one FBI agent.
4. Everything law enforcement does related to an investigation is most certainly part of the investigation.

Astutely, Jose asked why they would tape record the trip if it was not part of an investigation. He asked if any of them had ever done the same thing for any other person. Was it done out of the goodness of their hearts? He also put one of his former attorneys on the stand. Gabriel Adam may have had a problem with attorney/client privilege, but he was quick to point out the strange goings-on at the jail that day. Why was he not allowed to see Casey until much later? Because the detectives were in the building, setting up an appointment with dear old dad.¹ In the end, she did not see her father that day, she listened to her attorney’s advice, but I still find something to be a little bit problematic. Why say it wasn’t part of any investigation when, in fact, it was? That’s what cops do, after all. Is it enough to win the motion for the defense? No, not in my opinion and I’ll tell you why. While little lies may come into play during the trial, at issue now is whether the Anthony family was surreptitiously swallowed up by law enforcement to, unwittingly, do dirty deeds at their behest. Did they become Agents of the State?

No.

As desperate as law enforcement was to find the answers, so were the Anthonys. On the stand, all members of the family said they would have done anything to bring Caylee home. This was long before she was found. As a matter of fact, here is a direct quote from George:

“I would have sold my soul to the devil to get my grandchild back.”

They were in complete agony, yes, but as far as I’m concerned, if the Anthonys were Agents of the State, those detectives were just as much Agents for the Anthonys. Yuri Melich and John Allen were the only security blankets the family had at the time, if not all of them, then certainly George. What those detectives did was what they do every day. Sgt. Allen summed it up nicely:

“We were doing this at their request but certainly anything that if we had got of evidentiary value we would have used it and turned it over to the prosecutors.”

Another potential issue is the letter Casey wrote to then Sheriff Kevin Beary. Did the detectives coerce George into convincing her to do it without Jose Baez’s knowledge? Even so, should it matter? No one twisted her arm, and the police had no direct contact. That’s why this “agent” thing is such a big deal to the defense. If they can link the police directly to Casey, it could, potentially, mess with attorney/client privilege. Sgt. Allen told Lee on numerous occasions that “she has an attorney, we can’t talk to her but you can.”

Will the defense win this one? I’m inclined to think not. Everything up to that point was done voluntarily, all players were adults, and they shared one common goal - to bring Caylee home. The Anthonys were willing to do whatever it took and, in the end, the bottom line is simple. The police work for us. Right?

§

One of the nice things about being able to sit in the courtroom is that there is so much more to see than what’s viewed on television. The added depth and dimension are huge advantages. Jose posed a hypothetical question to George. He wanted to know, if he was subpoenaed to testify in court next week, knowing that if he chooses not to attend, it would save his daughter’s life, what would he do? Linda Drane Burdick vehemently objected. The judge overruled and wanted to know George’s answer. He told the prosecutor it could be discussed in a sidebar after he answered the question. Jose asked him again. George replied that he would stay away from court and risk it all, including any form of punishment, if it meant it would save Casey’s life. He broke down on the stand and cried all the way out the door after he was excused.

Ultimately, the judge overruled the prosecutor again after the sidebar, but what you couldn’t see or sense on TV was the emotional state of the gallery at that precise moment in time. The cameras couldn’t show you the welling tears of some of the spectators. It was then that we really felt the agony inside of that man. It was real. For whatever you think of him, this is something we can never deny.

If the defense succeeds in acquitting Casey, one thing is certain. It will never be the same. As cruel and distant as she has become toward her family, who she ignores, she will most assuredly never, ever go back to Hopespring Drive and what she left behind. No, George, she may win, but you will never be able to go back. Either way, for you, Cindy and Lee, it will be a lose/lose situation. Caylee already lost.

I want to say hello and thank you to my courtroom friends on Wednesday and Thursday. I had planned on attending Friday, too, but I had other obligations that almost slipped my mind. Hello to Diana in Asheville! I wish we would have had more time to talk. To Gloria and Jim, I enjoyed our “lunch” together and I look forward to hearing from you soon. And to Melinda and Pam, I really, really enjoyed your company.

¹When Gabriel Adam was through testifying, including the cross-examination, Judge Perry took the unprecedented step of continuing to probe him about his visit with his client. This may not bode well for the State. Something got his attention.

From the FRYE pan into the FYRE? Part I

Next month, two motions filed by the defense will be heard by Judge Perry. Because they are very important Frye issues, and of extreme importance to the defense, this post will focus on the motion about chloroform evidence. It will be in two parts.

PART I - The Frye Pan

Casey’s defense recently filed two Frye motions. The date reflects when they were filed with the Clerk of Courts. Both are stamped 12/30/2010.

MOTION TO EXCLUDE UNRELIABLE EVIDENCE PURSUANT TO FRYE, OR IN THE ALTERNATIVE, MOTION IN LIMINE TO EXCLUDE (CHLOROFORM)

and

MOTION TO EXCLUDE UNRELIABLE EVIDENCE (Plant or root growth evidence)

The state filed motions to strike, but today, I will just focus on the issue over chloroform. The other motions (defense and state) will come later, because in this particular one, there is much to discern, including a few errors. I will get to them, but first of all, what, exactly, is a Frye motion/hearing? Frye motions are generally held in limine, which means they are made before a trial starts. The judge then decides whether certain evidence may or may not be introduced to the jury. The Frye standard is a test to determine the admissibility of scientific evidence in legal proceedings. This standard comes from the case Frye v. United States (293 F. 1013 (DC Cir 1923) District of Columbia Circuit Court in 1923. Frye v. U.S. was a groundbreaking case that argued the admissibility of polygraph tests as evidence in a trial. Today, it’s designed to prevent both sides from unfairly exploiting expert testimony. Its intent is to assure that expert evidence is reliable.

In its motion, the defense cites Florida Statutes 90.401, 90.402 and 90.403, Amendments 5 and 14 of the U.S. Constitution, and Article 1, Section 9 of the Florida Constitution. Let’s take a look:

• 90.401 Definition of relevant evidence. — Relevant evidence is evidence tending to prove or disprove a material fact.
• 90.402  Admissibility of relevant evidence. — All relevant evidence is admissible, except as provided by law.
• 90.403  Exclusion on grounds of prejudice or confusion. — Relevant evidence is inadmissible if its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice, confusion of issues, misleading the jury, or needless presentation of cumulative evidence. This section shall not be construed to mean that evidence of the existence of available third-party benefits is inadmissible.
• Amendment V — No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
• Amendment XIV — All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
• Article 1, Section 9 — Due process.—No person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law, or be twice put in jeopardy for the same offense, or be compelled in any criminal matter to be a witness against oneself.

The first two Florida Statutes, I would imagine, were cited by the defense for the purpose of propping up the third, which questions the admissibility of evidence that may prejudice or confuse the jury. In the case of this motion, it’s chloroform evidence found in the trunk of Casey’s car the defense is questioning, specifically carpet and air samples.

After the preliminary introduction of the motion, the defense moved on to FACTS about the case:

FACTS

1. Miss Anthony is charged with First Degree Murder. The State of Florida has announced it’s [sic] intent to seek the ultimate penalty of death.
2. The Oak Ridge National Laboratory conducted tests on carpet samples and air samples taken from a vehicle (Pontiac Sunfire) driven by Miss Anthony at or near the time of the disappearance of her daughter Caylee Anthony.
3. Dr. Arvad Vass reported in his preliminary and final reports that there were unusually high levels of chloroform found on the carpet samples taken from the Pontiac Sunfire.
4. Dr. Vass additionally states that the levels of chloroform are much higher than normally found in decompositional events.
5. This information prompted investigators to search the Anthony family computer for searches of chloroform, which yielded positive results for “chloroform” and “how to make chloroform.” The hysteria begins.

Before I delve too deeply into the motion, remember the defense cited the above as FACTS, not assumptions or speculations made by Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Where it completely strayed from the truth is the final statement of fact, “The hysteria begins.” From there, it turned into a giant smoke screen. The defense went into, well, a defense mode, which is what is expected.

FACTS PART II: UNCOVERING THE FRAUD

In FACTS PART II: UNCOVERING THE FRAUD, law enforcement was accused of intentionally leaking information to the local and national media prior to “any official reports through the natural course of discovery.” I will acknowledge learning of the death smell from the news sometime in August of 2008, so there may be some merit to this particular aspect of the complaint. However, this information would have been released anyway, so it was not, by any means, an attempt to “either satisfy their own vanity or poison any potential jury pool” as the defense stated. Today, it’s two-and-a-half years later, and a fair jury will be seated in May come hell or high water.

What puzzles me at this point of the motion is how the defense contradicts itself. In FACTS PART II, they wrote that they traveled to Tennessee and took depositions from Dr. Arpad Vass and Dr. Marcus Wise. Both testified that the tests on the carpet sample were “qualitative” and not “quantitative.” One way to simplify this is to say it’s the motion in the ocean, not the size of the ship; but at the same time, no one is going to sail around the world in a canoe. That’s not to say flat out that the SS Casey is sinking, but it’s definitely listing. The smokesreen in this example comes from the statements that, “It should be noted that the Oak Ridge National Laboratory also took carpet samples from two Pontiac Sunfires… [and] one of the sample cars they tested ALSO had chloroform in the sample,” and “Dr. Vass, who is the author of the ORNL report is NOT a forensic chemist.” In my opinion, one not need be a forensic chemist to analyze chemical breakdowns. Dr. Vass could readily make analytical conclusions from tests of all kinds, and my guess would be that plenty of them have nothing to do with crime. Industrial spies, for example, have been tackling the secret recipe of KFC chicken and McDonald’s Special Sauce for years and years. That’s not forensics, but it takes real life chemists to break into the “Da Vinci Codes” of restaurant chain trade secrets. Who knows, maybe Dr. Vass could find out what’s really in Taco Bell’s beef. Now, that’s something that matters. Of course, it’s a civil matter, not criminal.

In the motion, the defense noted that the FBI Chemistry Unit in Quantico, Virginia, had tested four samples of the carpet and two of the four were “consistent with chloroform.” Dr. Michael Richenbach, Ph.D, told the defense during his deposition that “consistent with” means that the presumptive test results were positive, but the conclusive tests were not. Aside from all of the scientific mumbo jumbo, of which I will spare you the boredom, the point being made by the defense is, in a nutshell, that the results from ORNL and the FBI were different. Therefore, the results should be tossed out. In my opinion, the most consistent point to be made about this case to date has been the consistency of the two presiding judges, and ultimately, Judge Perry will leave it up to both sides to argue and let the jury take it from there. Laws around the country not only protect cross examinations, they encourage them, and this case is no different. The defense will have ample opportunity to shred the state’s evidence to pieces.

Here’s another interesting smokescreen, but I do not think the State, nor the judge, will fall for it. The motion makes it clear that “the other items tested by the FBI for chloroform (baby doll, steering wheel cover, and child car seat) all yielded negative results.” True, but the cab of Casey’s vehicle was separated from the trunk by a back seat. How much seepage should there have been? Police officers have been trained for years to detect the odor of marijuana in a car, and I’m talking about fresh, not smoked. It does have a pungent odor unlike anything else. While standing by the driver’s door, window down, would the officer smell it if it was tucked away in the trunk? No, probably not, but the nervousness of the occupants would be a sure sign that something’s not right. How much chloroform would it take to be overwhelming? I mean, it’s not even close to the smell of decomposition. Talk about pungent odors.

COMPUTER SEARCHES

Law enforcement ascertained that someone inside of the Anthony home searched for chloroform and chloroform recipes three months prior to Caylee’s disappearance. This is why it’s so important for the defense to crush this evidence, along with the air and carpet samples. This is highly incriminating. The defense wrote:

• Any forensic computer examiner including the ones in this case (Sandra Cawn and Kevin Stenger) will testify that you can never determine who ran what searches on a computer, especially when the computer is NOT password protected.

Okay, in and of itself, that may be true, but more about that in a couple of seconds. Incidentally, Cawn and Stenger work for OCSO and I think they know a thing or two about  computer forensics.

• The computer in question was in a “guest bedroom” and all family members not only had access to the computer, but also testified that they used the computer as well as guests who visited their home.
• Law enforcement cannot ascertain whether Miss Anthony was even home at the time the searches [were] run much less on the computer.

Now, had Judge Perry been born in the 19th century, the defense might be able to pull the wool over his eyes, but he wasn’t; nor was he born yesterday. Yes, of course the computer could have been accessed by anyone, but it is inside the Anthony home, and it’s a desktop, not a portable laptop, which could be moved around the house. By utilizing something simple, like a process of elimination, investigators can sift through a myriad of things, including time sheets. March 21, 2008, was a Friday - a work day. What time of day did the searches occur? I’ll bet you OCSO knows. If Cindy, George and Lee were not inside the house, it incriminates Casey, and with no other source, like a friend who has yet to come forward, her ship is really listing.

Here’s something the defense wrote that struck me as peculiar:

• The Oak Ridge National Laboratories (Some reports erroneously called them “body farm” perhaps for more shock appeal) reported unusually high amounts of chloroform in the trunk of Casey Anthony’s car.

What I would like to do is take to task the remark about erroneously calling ORNL a Body Farm for more shock appeal. In my opinion, the defense is trying to directly infer that the term Body Farm was something new and never used before. I assure you, that is not the truth. I can tell you I heard about the Body Farm long before I heard about the Anthony case and, as a matter of fact, thanks to my Gainesville friend, nika1, I am in the possession of a book titled, BEYOND THE BODY FARM, written by Dr. Bill Bass and Jon Jefferson. So what, you say? Yes, so what. The book was published in 2007, a year before Casey’s defense knew who she was. Jefferson & Bass (as Jefferson Bass) have written four novels about the Body Farm. The first one, Carved in Bone, was released in January 2006. In 2003, Bass & Jefferson released their first scientific book about it, Death’s Acre. To go further back in time, crime writer Patricia Cornwell published The Body Farm in 1994. She drew her inspiration from Dr. Bass and his work. As a matter of fact, he is recognized as the father of the Body Farm, long before Jose Baez was practicing law.

Why did I title this post From the Frye pan into the Fyre, you ask? Even the prosecution misspells…

MOTION TO STRIKE DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO EXCLUDE UNRELIABLE EVIDENCE PURSUANT TO FYRE (CHLOROFORM)

In the second part of this article about chloroform evidence admission, I will delve into the scientific and legal aspects:

PART II - The FYRE

This information prompted investigators to search the Anthony family computer [duh?] for searches of chloroform, which yielded positive results for “chloroform” and “how to make chloroform.” The hysteria begins.

The Tale of Laura and the Barbarian Princess

If any of you are familiar with Florence Virginia King, you are aware that she is an American novelist, essayist and columnist from Mississippi. Born in 1936, alas, she put down her pen in 2002. Almost all of her works written under her real name have been non-fiction. You may recall 1975’s Southern Ladies and Gentlemen. You may also recognize her from the historical romance novel, Barbarian Princess, written under the pseudonym Laura Buchanan. Ironically, she’s not the only writer of fiction with that name. Another Laura Buchanan entered the fray more recently; one who seemingly attempted to parlay her name into the bright lights of stardom, tossing good judgment to the wind. She failed miserably and turned out to be the Clifford Irving of the Casey Anthony saga. Irving, in case you don’t know or remember, became famous  - infamous is more like it - for using forged handwritten letters from reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes in order to convince his publisher into accepting a counterfeit “autobiography” in the early 1970s. Hughes came out of the woodwork to prove it was nothing more than an elaborate hoax. Irving spent several years in prison, but later managed to publish some best sellers, including two aptly titled books, Final Argument and Daddy’s Girl.

On October 24, 2009, Laura Buchanan declared, under penalty of perjury, that, “On September 3, 2008, I was a volunteer for Texas Equus Search.” On that fateful September day, she began her odyssey into the treacherous path of this unyielding monster that’s chewed up and swallowed its victims at will. As innocent as Casey’s first victim was, Buchanan’s not one of them, and whether her initial intent was righteous or not, her ship sunk. Today, she’s just another part of the ever-growing, Titanic-sized, Casey abyss.

“On September 3, 2008,” she continued, ”the team in which I was assigned went to Suburban Street in Orlando and searched the area near where the remains of Caylee Anthony were found… I personally searched near the privacy fence and worked my way towards and then beyond where the body was found… It is my opinion that the remains of Caylee Anthony were not there during the time of our search.”

How quickly memories change when facing someone as intimidating as an Assistant State Attorney; intimidating in the sense that they represent the will of the people, and no one is more fastidious than Linda Drane Burdick when it comes to truth and justice. From her first statement under oath to her last, Buchanan’s story wavered dramatically, especially under the skillful questioning of the seasoned prosecutor. Just how did this begin and where are we today?

First of all, by her own admission, she is a “virtual” emergency/law enforcement groupie. She gets high at the sight of flashing lights and blaring sirens. Riding around with the law had been a favorite pastime and after taking a class at the citizen police academy, getting involved became a hobby of sorts. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that, but at the same time, a lot hinges on where it takes you and how far you want to go. At the end of August, 2008, her husband was scheduled to come to Florida for job related training. She wanted to go far, so she tagged along. Of course, by that date, many people across the country and elsewhere were enamored by the “Tot Mom” story made famous by Nancy Grace and, mostly, by the shocking audacity and hollow gaze of this young and single mother in the news who would ever lose her child, let alone for a month. Caylee was special, too. No child could have looked more angelic. Her wide-eyed innocence and eager smile were plenty enough to melt the coldest heart. There is no doubt in my mind that Laura Buchanan, herself a young mother of three, was one of those who became overtly fascinated and now was her chance. In her mind, I’m sure she felt the same way as all the others, but something took over. Something or someone made her change.

It took around 13-hours to drive from Kentucky to Portofina Bay, the resort inside Universal Studios just south of Orlando. Texas EquuSearch was in high gear and thousands of volunteers had already joined in the search for little Caylee, but they still needed more help. She went to the TES command post the following morning. After her search, she and her husband went to Disney. While waiting for the monorail, she spotted a toddler who she thought was Caylee and reported it to Kid Finders (or OCSO) the following day. That led to her initial contact with Cindy when she called Laura about the sighting. Laura was quick to tell her she and several other searchers had a lot of compassion for the Anthony family. This is where the ball started rolling. It began the back and forth e-mails and phone calls between her, Cindy, George and Mark NeJame, who represented the Anthonys at the time. In one of her initial e-mails to NeJame, she wrote, “I’ve heard so many disturbing things, like George was molesting Casey when she was younger and started to molest Caylee..? That Caylee Could possibly belong to George and or brother Lee???” She also hoped that NeJame had given Cindy and George her e-mails. This message was sent on September 15. In my opinion, it, quite possibly, could have been where Casey got the rather bizarre notion to accuse her father of molesting her, or at least, to plant the seed. I would surely guess the Anthonys discussed the allegations making the rounds while she was home on bond that final month.

Correspondence went back and forth between Buchanan and NeJame beyond the point when the attorney and the Anthonys parted ways near the end of 2008. Meanwhile, she had begun communicating with Jose Baez soon after her supposed sighting. On October 9, Laura sent an e-mail to Jose at the Baez Law Firm. She mentioned being in Florida a month or so earlier and of spotting a girl who looked remarkably like Caylee while waiting to enter either the Magic Kingdom or EPCOT. She lamented that deputies never followed up on her tip because they were no longer looking for Caylee. [This is not factual. While being interviewed by Sgt. John Allen in December, 2009, the lead investigator told me point blank that over 100 law enforcement personnel continued to search for Caylee all over the country up to the date her remains were found.] On Monday, January 12, 2009, she sent Jose this e-mail:

“I spoke with a person that I hadn’t spoke with in a while and she has told me some very strange information and I think we need to talk again ASAP… Oh my god this is horrible… [REDACTED]

By now, she was thoroughly ensconced in the mechanisms of Casey’s defense. So much so, that she sent him pictures of herself and one with her 5-year-old daughter. Life was good and she was getting more cozy with each passing day.

I can’t say for sure who started fishing first, but by all signs, it seemed that they both swallowed each other hook, line, and sinker. She had something for him and he coaxed her for more. She had become an integral part of Casey’s defense, only she had no idea about the massive freight train that was going to hit her; the Burdick Express. Maybe, just maybe, GULP, she didn’t look exactly where Caylee was discovered. No, not precisely.

There were several passages in Buchanan’s August 2010 interview with the prosecutor that immediately sent red flags up as far as I’m concerned, and it showed Burdick’s adeptness and professional flair. The first one dealt with Buchanan’s statement that she searched behind the Anthony home. That’s impossible because the Anthonys have a privacy fence that keeps their backyard, well, private. Totally so. There’s no gate that opens up to the beyond. The beyond, by the way, is nothing more than a private backyard in the adjacent development, also filled with homes.

The second one was a real laugher. She told the Assistant State Attorney that, while she was following the end of the privacy fence on Suburban Drive, she stepped on an alligator. Obviously, this woman has a wild imagination, wilder than any of the inhabitants of the Suburban Drive woods. I addressed the issue of gators early on, soon after I began writing about the case. Alligators generally live in or very close to bodies of water. By that, I mean lakes, ponds, rivers and swamps. Although the end of the woods where Caylee was found had been under water at the time of the searches, it is not in that state all year round, and that’s not very inviting to a gator. They like to remain dead still for hours with just the slightest movement of their eyes so their target isn’t aware they’re even there. Then they pounce. What Buchanan described was that the reptile was resting in the brush. That’s just not true. They want to see what’s going on all around them, so they lurk in the open or with just their eyes above water level. They take their quarry to the bottom of the water to rot before eating. Generally, anyway. I’ve been in the Orlando area for almost 30 years, and let me tell you, I have never stepped on one. Not only that, I WOULD NOT stand there waiting for the creature to run away like she said it did. I’d be gone in a flash - as far away as I could get. Also, there’s a school nearby. Snakes are hard to control, but gators? No way, not as much as they love to sun themselves in the open.

So, two of her stories have been debunked, and now, we come to the matter at hand. That would be the twisted TES report that somehow became a lie. Who instigated it, Baez or Buchanan? That’s the subject of another post, but a search volunteer by the name of Lori Fusco told investigators that she asked Buchanan if she was working for Baez. “She wouldn’t give me a straight answer. She wanted to know everything that I knew, which I didn’t know much. She kept asking me if I was in that area and if I was on a team with her which she should have known.”

How true, and in a recorded phone call with searcher and friend Ann Pham, Buchanan was questioned about her inconsistencies.

Ann Pham: The first one they showed me is legitimate. Right?

Laura Buchanan: Both of them are legit. Somebody else had that form before I had it because they (expletive) spelled my name wrong.

Ann Pham: Your name is signed at the top, Laura. That’s what I don’t understand. It’s got your actual signature and it matches the signature from the first form.

Laura Buchanan: I don’t know that I can’t explain.

Shades of forgery! Ultimately, several of her friends were convinced she wanted to be in the media spotlight, and at Caylee’s memorial service, she seemed more concerned about being on TV than she did about Caylee. Jose Baez was just hit with a new ethics complaint, according to the Florida Bar; quite possibly stemming from the comedy of errors regarding former Anthony attorney Brad Conway and those persnickety TES search documents. What a mess. Did Casey’s lead attorney allegedly misrepresent facts to the court? Time will tell, but it’s common knowledge that he has skated very close to the edge on several occasions, and so far, he’s managed to keep clear of falling through the ice. What about this time? It’s been harshest of winters, but Punxsutawney Phil did not see his shadow yesterday. An omen? No, and no karma moment, either, but will the ingratiating Laura Buchanan come to his rescue as spring rolls in? Not a chance. Today, she, too, could be facing charges, and she tells her friends she wishes she never got herself involved in this mess.

Good old Florence King. She said it best. “People are so busy dreaming the American Dream, fantasizing about what they could be or have a right to be, that they’re all asleep at the switch. Consequently, we are living in the Age of Human Error.” It sounds just like Casey’s defense. Back to square one. Where, oh where, will it turn?

New Discovery Today

Casey Journal ink
Journal part 2
Phone call-threat to Amy H
Map Photos
TES images
Bone Analysis of Caylee Anthony
Computer Evidence Inventory Doc
Adhesive Tape Analysis
Property form-TES
Subpoena TES Laura Buchanan
Transcript of Phone call to Laura Buchanan
Transcript of Laura Buchanan
Transcript Kasper Jordan
Emails Mark NeJames-Laura Buchanan
More Emails

Cindy’s Letters to Casey
April 2010
July 2010
August 2010
Oct 2010

Laura Buchanan-Interview Aug 2010 Part 1
Laura Buchanan-Interview Aug 2010 Part 2
Miscellaneous Interview Transcripts

Robyn Adams Interview, Part 1 | Part 2

Thank you, Jonathan!

“I saw her eyes and they looked evil.”

- Laura Buchanan (hearsay)

This is what Buchanan’s friend, Anne W. Pham, told OCSO Corporal Yuri Melich in a lengthy transcript released today. Dated October 10, 2010, she said  that she and Buchanan searched Blanchard Park in September 2008. Buchanan claims she saw Casey after her release from jail on bond. Pham also remembered Buchanan telling her that searches off Suburban Drive were called off because “the water levels are really high.”

Pham told Melich that Buchanan told her Jose Baez only called her one time. Later, she claimed Buchanan said, “After all this [CENSORED] that I’ve heard after I wrote that statement…I could care less what they do to her…You know? All I did was tell the truth. Did not mean I was on her side… I simply feel sorry for, for George and Cindy.”

Pham also told Melich that she found it a little odd that Buchanan “was so interested in being a part of, you know, being on CNN and, um, the Nancy Grace show or whatever.” She described her as being a sensationalist. Buchanan had told the defense that she searched the area off Suburban Drive where Caylee was found. This was contrary to what Tim Miller of TES told searchers; that the water level was too high and to leave it alone. So far, everyone else who searched the woods also said the precise spot was too flooded to look, and Buchanan may have changed her tune when the State Attorney’s Office questioned her in a deposition.

“We would signal to each other, talk to each other, through hand gestures.”

- Robyn Adams

Adams figures prominently in today’s release in the form of audio recordings of a February 10, 2010 interview with an FDLE investigator. If you recall, she is the wife of a former Altamonte Springs police officer. In 2008, they were arrested after they were discovered to be operating a marajuana growing operation in Chuluota, a small community east of Orlando. Transcripts of her interviews were made public earlier. She was sentenced to 10 years inside a federal prison in Tallahassee.

In a series of recorded jail conversations between Adams and a friend, the friend asked her if she was still rooming with Casey and wondered how she was doing. Adams told her she didn’t seem good.

From the Orlando Sentinel:

Adams said Anthony didn’t seem good.

“I’m praying for her every day,” she said.

The friend asked if Anthony is a basket case. “Pretty much,” Adams said.

The woman told Adams authorities found a body and believe it to be Caylee.

“I had a feeling that it might be, but nevertheless, it’s not my place to judge her,” Adams said.

“I’ve had a complete change of heart Mel since I’ve been here.”

In another conversation with her dad, Adams asked her father to pray for Anthony and her parents.

“They really need it,” Adams said.

 

Many of the released photos show shots taken from a helicopter over search areas after the toddler’s disappearance. Some of the other photos show TES ground searches.

 

A threatening phone call was made to Casey’s former friend, Amy Huizenga. Most of the call is inaudible.

“You need to listen and listen good,” a male voice threatens. “Those charges need to get dropped.” This was in reference to the check fraud charges she brought against Casey.

UPDATES THROUGHOUT THE DAY AS INFORMATION COMES IN

A wealth of misconduct

Time and a Word by Yes

In the morning when you rise,
Do you open up your eyes, see what I see?
Do you see the same things ev’ry day?
Do you think of a way to start the day
Getting things in proportion?
Spread the news and help the world go ‘round.
Have you heard of a time that will help us get it together again?
Have you heard of the word that will stop us going wrong?
Well, the time is near and the word you’ll hear
When you get things in perspective.
Spread the news and help the word go round.

There’s a time and the time is now and it’s right for me,
It’s right for me, and the time is now.

- Jon Anderson & David Foster

To be quite honest, I had no idea my brain would smash into a brick wall, causing my writing skills to atrophy. My word! Or lack thereof.  To say my life was a bit topsy turvy the past two weeks is an understatement. Generally, when I sit down to write, I like to do it with nothing in my way. I like my mind free from clutter. My mind has been anything but that lately. Even today, I can’t sit still. Too many responsibilities. I anticipate this post will take hours to write - hours to focus, too. To give you an idea, here’s how I began my post last week before sickness and death took it all away:

When I arrived on the 23rd floor on Monday, a handful of people were milling about. Sure, there are always journalists waiting for the courtroom doors to open, but I’m more intrigued by the new faces I see each time I attend a hearing. Among them this time were two of the friendliest people I had the privilege to meet, Suzie Jane and Roger, who came all the way from the great home state of our 16th, 18th and 44th presidents, Illinois. We had a very nice chat before the doors opened for us to enter. They sat to my immediate right. We glanced around the room before the judge entered at 1:30 sharp. Meanwhile, I had time to boot up my old laptop computer and crack open my old-fashioned notebook - no, not the electronic kind - it’s a simple and powerless device consisting of two covers, front and back, with lined paper inside. The only thing digital about it is the hand-held digits, also known as fingers, I use to grasp the necessary recording utensil that must accompany the notebook in order to work; a pen.

Suzie Jane quietly wondered where Cindy and her friend were. I whispered back that she is sometimes late, but she should definitely show up.

When…

And that’s where it ended. My father was in the hospital, my mother got quite ill with a bad flu virus, and my aunt passed away. I had a medical procedure done and I’m a little sore from that. Can I pick up where I left off? I guess so, but what’s the point? The motions are old and somewhat stale now, old in the sense that they’ve been discussed in the news and on blogs. Instead, I’ll look into another brewing storm, unrelated to the Anthony case, or maybe it is. I guess it depends on the way the cards are falling. You’ll see.

§

In May of last year, I published a post about James Hataway, the young man sitting in the Seminole County Jail accused of strangling a woman. Fortunately, she lived. Hataway is also the prime and only suspect in the disappearance of Tracy Ocasio. They left a west side bar together on the night of May 26-27, 2009, and she was never seen again. I mentioned that I knew who he was because of a bar I used to frequent way back when, before I gave up my Bacardi & Coke days. Nights, actually. I never was one for drinking during the day. By golly, I have my scruples.

Daniel SaylorMcGuintty’s has been closed at least three years now, possibly four. He and several other skinhead types used to hang out there but I never socialized with them. No, my skinhead came naturally, and I never looked at myself as any sort of tough-guy punk like they did. One night, I was standing at the bar chatting with some of the other regulars. It was a slow night. Sitting nearby was a guy who eventually joined in on our conversation. I don’t recall what we were discussing, but we really seemed to hit it off. It turns out, he was the police chief of Windermere, a small town southwest of Orlando. He even showed me his gold-plated badge. I wondered why he would have been drinking so far away from where he worked, but he told me he didn’t live in Windermere. He commuted from Seminole County, where I live. Windermere is the wealthiest little town in central Florida, or, at least its residents are. You may remember the town because Chief Daniel Saylor’s police department initially investigated Tiger Woods’ accident. The department was criticized for not asking Woods to take a breath test when he was pulled from his wrecked SUV. Florida Highway Patrol eventually took over the case because all vehicular accidents are run through that agency. Tiger was later cited for careless driving.

I used to travel to Windermere all the time. That’s where one of my ex’s mother lives - inside Isleworth, the exclusive gated community where the mishap took place. The reason why I brought this up has nothing to do with Tiger, but it does have to do with police chief Dan Saylor, or should I say ex-police chief? You see, he was arrested on Wednesday and charged with giving unlawful compensation for official behavior, a second-degree felony, and official misconduct, a third-degree felony. I haven’t traveled there in years, but the town of Windermere had a reputation for writing tickets for going 1 mph over the posted 25 mph speed limit. It’s not a joke that the town hired hand-me-down cops, too. The word on the street has pretty much been that officers sworn to uphold the law had problems doing it elsewhere. Some were fired from prior positions, in other words. As it turns out, the police chief held no sterling record, either. According to the WESH Web site, records “show reprimands from the Melbourne Police Department dating back to 1991. He was suspended for lying to Melbourne police supervisors in 1994. The next year, he was given an unsatisfactory review for professional behavior. Then, three months later, he was suspended for 160 hours without pay and put on probation for a year for not being truthful during an internal investigation. Higher-ups noted that they considered firing him but gave him ‘one last chance.; During that one year suspension, Orlando police accused Saylor of soliciting a prostitute. Police pulled him over on Parramore Avenue. According to the incident report: Saylor first claimed to be giving the woman a ride, then admitted he had been at a strip club and employees told him where he could go to pay for sex. Windermere’s town manager, Cecilia Bernier, says the town knew about the investigation but decided Saylor was ‘good material for our chief.’ No charges were ever filed in the prostitution case.”

Scott BushIt’s very interesting, too, that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Orange County Sheriff’s Office had an ongoing investigation into him and the police department he ran. Just what were those charges related to? I mean, what do unlawful compensation for official behavior and official misconduct mean? Here’s where it starts to get ugly, and I mean UGLY! He’s good friends with a guy by the name of Scott Frederick Bush. Bush was arrested on Wednesday, too, and held without bond, charged with sexual battery and lewd and lascivious molestation of a child under 12 years of age. This took place over a three year period, between 2000 and 2003. Here, we have a police chief allegedly granting several of his own officers time-off with pay and other incentives to stonewall the criminal investigation of an alleged sexual deviant who raped a child. Officer Irving Murr was handling the case. He was offered money, a promotion and a day shift to cover it up. According to Saylor’s arrest warrant, he destroyed notes related to the investigation and offered bribes to lie to FDLE. The FDLE special agent in charge, Joyce Dawley, said, “Chief Saylor used his position to hinder our investigation.”

Saylor was suspended from his job without pay and released on bond Thursday, but with one stipulation: He had to agree to turn all of his personal weapons over to authorities. The locks on the doors of the police station were changed and an OCSO captain was named the interim chief. More heads are expected to roll. Meanwhile, Saylor’s career is ruined, and rightfully so if he’s actually guilty. One thing cops can’t stand is a crooked cop. It gives them all a bad name. What’s worse is the fact that he shut down the investigation into his friend who is now charged with raping a child. Of all crimes, who in their right mind would do something like that, let alone a police chief or anyone else related to law enforcement, for that matter? It’s disgusting. Child molesters are the lowest of the low.

Bear with me for a moment, please. I’m veering off course. Do we recall the time, early on, when a lot of people had gut feelings that George and Cindy knew what Casey was up to? Why didn’t they act before it was too late? How could they not see what their daughter was capable of doing? Remember, I’m not talking about after the fact, this is before the crime. Today, the Tuscon murderer’s parents could be compared to George and Cindy in the same light. How could the parents of Jared Lee Loughner not know? Again, I’m not talking about after the fact. How many people never see something coming? Especially parents? In George and Cindy’s case, Mark Nejame was their first attorney. Then, he got fed up, left, and was practically deified. He could do no harm. Next came Brad Conway. Today, it’s Mark Lippman, and he seems to be keeping the family in check. After Conway dumped George and Cindy, his reputation in the public went up a few notches. In the case of the Windermere police department, it’s quite evident the political powers in charge are now in the same boat as George and Cindy. Why didn’t they see what was going on? Town leaders knew when they interviewed Saylor that he came with lots of baggage, yet they hired him anyway. That was back in 2002.

Remember, everyone is entitled to legal counsel, and that includes Casey. Who would ever want to come to her defense and why would anyone want to, for that matter? These have been some of the recurring questions made by many, and Jose Baez and the rest of her defense team have been vilified over and over and over because of it. They are evil incarnate! Yesterday, Daniel Saylor’s attorney was able to secure bond. What attorney in their right mind would be interested in defending an alleged crooked cop who squashed an investigation into the rape of a child? That’s downright disgusting, right? Well, his attorney downplayed the state’s case against his new client and urged the public to remember Saylor has only been accused - not convicted - of crimes. Sure, we’ve heard it all before. At the bond hearing, this attorney told the judge that Saylor should be released because he didn’t belong in jail. “He should be released and he should not be here. This is a travesty that’s occurred and continues to occur.”

Who is this attorney? Just who would want to represent a police chief that used his power to cover up a rape investigation against a friend? Who would it be? Why, none other than everyone’s favorite, Mark Nejame!

§

I want to thank everyone who stood by me during my family’s recent setbacks. I got some lovely, caring comments. Also, I received quite a few e-mails and submissions through this blog. I have not forgotten you, I just haven’t had much time to respond. I will. As the dust settles, I will get back into writing about the Casey Anthony case, too. There’s plenty to discuss, including lots of motions and the sanction against Jose Baez. I had a good conversation with a very nice gentleman at the last hearing. I want to say hello to Jim Barthiaume who was visiting from Michigan. It was a pleasure meeting you. Today, I will not be traveling down to the courthouse.

Thank you for your patience.

Fly Robyn Fly, Lie Casey Lie

No Pie in the Sky

“One of the biggest things that truly cuts me when I hear them talk about me as a mother – I was a great mom! And I love my daughter with everything that I have. I would give my life to have her back even for five minutes.”

- Casey Anthony, in a letter to Robyn Adams

Today’s discovery release includes letters Casey wrote to fellow inmate Robyn Adams, who was later transferred to a federal penitentiary. She was convicted of selling drugs. In one of the letters, Casey told Robyn about paternity tests that were taken to determine who Caylee’s father was. Jesse Grund took a test and he was ruled out. She never reveals who she thinks fathered her child. She also said she miscarried in 2007 and told her brother, Lee, about it. He told Cindy about the miscarriage on Casey’s 21st birthday.

Jail Letters

Transcripts and LE documents

Casey repeats over her version of what happened to her daughter - that she left Caylee with a nanny named Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez and - POOF! - she and Zanny were gone, never to be seen again. Of course, law enforcement debunked that story.

She also wrote about having periodic seizures while in jail.

Most of the letters were published months ago, and their content was already discussed, but it doesn’t hurt to refresh what we learned then.

In her conversations with investigators, Adams claimed that Casey made two references to the nanny. One was that there was no Zenaida, and the other one claimed that she and Zenaida were childhood friends. I must make clear that jailhouse snitches are not credible, so this will probably never see a courtroom. Adams told authorities that Casey gave her daughter “stuff” to make her sleep. They discussed chloroform, and Casey said she would give Caylee “antihistamines or something” because she had problems getting her to take naps.

Casey said she asked Zanny to watch Caylee so she could prepare to move out of the Anthony home completely. She had saved up money. “Unfortunately, my plans got beyond tangled when Zanny wouldn’t tell me where she and Caylee were.”

She claimed she was an emotional wreck and was sexually abused by her brother. “I woke up night after night with my sports bra lifted over my chest or if I had a regular bra, it would be unhooked.” Lee would walk into her room at night and feel her breasts.

“When I told my mom about it two years ago, she made excuses, saying that he was sleepwalking. Not only did she say I was lying, but when I explained everything, her reaction was literally like a knife in my chest: ‘So that’s why you’re a whore?’”

It’s interesting to note that Casey also claimed she thought her father did the same thing when she was much older and that she sought help from a doctor when she was 18. It’s also interesting to note that no doctor (that we know of) has stepped forward to back her accusations.

Liz Brown works for the DePaul Center for Justice in Capital Cases. She was listed as the contact for the defense team after Andrea Lyon left. Yes, the center still fights the death penalty. She issued a statement that said the letters “reflect the natural desire for companionship when isolated for 23 hours a day, and clearly demonstrate Casey’s unconditional love for her daughter, Caylee. Despite these intentions, it is obvious in the letters authored by Robyn Adams that her sole purpose and only goal in corresponding with Casey Anthony was to create ‘leverage to get out of prison early.’ Furthermore, despite numerous inaccurate media reports, the letters written by Casey Anthony do not contain a single reference to chloroform or any admissions of guilt. Casey Anthony maintains her innocence and looks forward to her day in court.”

Pictured above are River Cruz (Krystal Holloway) and George Anthony. River claimed that she and George became intimate after Caylee disappeared. George emphatically denied that. She said her cell phone showed images and text messages that backed up her contention of an affair. She said that George told her that the death of his granddaughter was “an accident that snowballed out of control.”

At the time, Brad Conway was the family attorney and he stated the affair never took place.

Today’s discovery contains photos, text messages and contact information that OCSO took from a Samsung phone in March of this year. Whose phone was it? You can guess, but the above photo was taken from it, and one of the text messages listed in the “Contacts” was George saying on December 19, 2008, that he was, “Just thinking about you! I need you in my life.”

Linda Drane Burdick audio interview with Joe Jordan

Yuri Melich voicemail from Maya Derkovic

Deputy Whitmore audio interview

LE audio interview with Lori Cree

(Transcript of Lori Cree interview)

LE audio interview with Maya Derkovic

I will continue updating and adding links as they are released.

Barking up the wrong plea?

“I found my daughter’s car today, and it smells like there’s been a dead body in the damn car.”

- Cindy Anthony

You know, I really wanted to title this post, Cryogenic oven-trapping gas chromatography for analysis of volatile organic compounds in body fluids, but it was already taken. Darn those three, K. Watanabe-Suzuki, A. Ishii and O. Suzuki. They left nothing for another man’s creative imagination.

On July 24, 2008, Investigator Mike Vincent of the Orange County Sheriff’s Office sent Oak Ridge National Laboratory a carpet sample from the trunk of Casey’s Pontiac, the one that contained the damn dead pizza with squirrel topping smell. All kidding aside, what tests were performed on the air quality in that trunk was a very serious matter. Whether or not the judge allows the forensic report to be admitted as evidence in the case against Casey is of tantamount importance to both the state and defense, where the life or death of the accused may be in the balance. The judge will have to weigh heavily the type of science it is - something never used in a court of law. Is it truly a valid science or is it junk, as Casey’s defense has implied? To grasp the basic concept of what it is, we must understand it first.

To begin with, there’s nothing quite like real, live witnesses; the ones who will testify in court that the car smelled like death and decomposition. There’s no escaping it. Cindy smelled it, George smelled it, Lee smelled it, and certainly, lots of law enforcement officials running around the Anthony home on July 15, 2008, smelled it, and many of those officials were duly trained in detecting decomposition of the human body. Just like the pungent smell of marijuana, there’s no escaping its uniqueness. Once you smell death, you never forget it. I believe it is in our primordial genes. The very first time it impacts you, you know what it is. No need for an education. No learning curve. No one need tell you what it is. Coupled with the scientific results, it could smell, er, spell doom for Ms. Casey. Even without it, the odor is what it is: decomp. No squirrels or other organic matter was found, lest a few crumbs of dried up pepperoni, if that.

The carpet sample sent in July was not the only thing parceled out. On September 3, Dr. Neal Haskell included air samples from the trunk, paper towels, and a white trash bag, both containing fly pupae. Dr. Haskell is a forensic entomology expert - forensic refers to investigation into the cause of death and entomology refers to insects. He is part of the faculty (Biology Department) at St. Joseph’s College in Rensselaer, Indiana.

According to Oak Ridge, compounds in all the samples were identified by mass spectral library match, which means they were compared against known samples that exist in a library. Without getting too complex, verifications were determined from standards purchased from the Sigma-Aldrich Chemical Company. It’s like comparing samples of anything against a known bank of information pertaining to that subject matter.

The first carpet sample was placed in a sealed metal can. A preliminary analysis was performed by extracting a small amount of air from the can. It was injected into a Hewlett-Packard Gas Chromotagraph/Mass Spectrometer (GC/MS) equipped with a Hewlett-Packard Mass Selective Detector. If this sounds anything like the Turbo Encabulator, it’s not even remotely close. Hewlett-Packard never made one. Alas, only a few compounds were observed in the sample, primarily chloroform, and it became apparent the sample wasn’t strong enough, so it was deemed necessary to increase the sensitivity in order to find a lower abundance of compounds - if they were present at all. According to the report, the technique selected for concentrating the sample was cryogenic trapping, which can improve detection of organic compounds ten-fold. Cryo-trapping is widely used for the analysis of fragrances and odors.

For these analyses, cryo-trapping was performed by injecting air into a short loop of inert stainless-steel tubing connected between the injector of the gas chromatograph and the head of the GC column. The stainless-steel loop was cooled with liquid nitrogen which condensed the organic compounds present in the air sample, while allowing the nitrogen and oxygen to be vented away from the GC/MS. Normal heating of the GC oven during analysis cycle vaporized the condensed organic compounds in the stainless-steel loop and allowed them to traverse through the GC column into the mass spectrometer.¹

If you are not familiar with cryogenics, think of cryonics, which is the “science of using ultra-cold temperature to preserve human life with the intent of restoring good health when technology becomes available to do so,” according to the Alcor Website. Rumor has it that Walt Disney’s head is frozen and kept under the Cinderella Castle at Disney World, here in Orlando, but that’s not true. His whole body is on ice in a hidden chamber beneath Pirates of The Caribbean at Disneyland. Actually, none of that is true. Dearly departed Disney was cremated, head and all, and his ashes rest in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California. Cryo no more.

Back to the matter at hand…

The carpet sample was removed from the metal can and placed in a Tedlar bag for 2 days at 35 degrees Celsius (C) and allowed to off-gas into the bag. Kind of like a silent, but deadly, if you get my drift. Tedlar bags have many uses in many industries, including air sampling, hazardous waste, and other gas sampling needs.

The report admitted that gasoline was found in the trunk and it was likely a source of significant hydrocarbon interference that caused an overlap with about 41% of the chemicals typically observed in decompositional events. This may wreak havoc on the state’s claims. The defense will jump on this like flies on… flypaper. Of the 51 chemicals identified on the carpet sample from Casey’s vehicle, 80% were consistent with decompositional events. A mere 17 of the 51 overlapped with known or possible gasoline constituents, leaving 24 compounds - 59% - associated with decomposing human remains potentially unaccounted for. In other words, there was no other way to explain their existence, such as pepperoni. There are lots more examples in the report, but to go into every aspect would be boring and quite tormenting. Suffice it to say that in its conclusion, the report summed up things nicely.

What the lab determined was that odor from early decomposition was present, including “an unusually large concentration of chloroform - far greater than what is typically seen in human decomposition.” There was also an increased level of sulfur containing compounds found, which are “particularly characteristic of decompositional events.” Certainly, of particular interest to the defense is the report’s conclusion that the possibility exists there could be a variety of products that could have contributed to the overall chemical signature.

How much credence should we, as untrained laymen, put into the Oak Ridge report? Laywomen, too. No discrimination intended or implied. Our opinions won’t count in court, but it makes for great discussion. What we may lose sight of are the lab tests conducted for OCSO because we keep wishing upon a star that Casey will be found guilty, so we sometimes skew the results. To be frank, we’re not even into what the defense experts will bring into battle, but we do have another report at our fingertips; the findings of Michael E. Sigman, Ph.D., Assistant Director for Physical Evidence at the National Center for Forensic Science on the campus of the University of Central Florida, right in Casey’s backyard.

Here is a list of what was analyzed and reported in Air Analysis Results: Caylee Anthony Missing Child Investigation²:

Some samples were not tested at NCFS, but an interpretation of the findings stated that“… dimethyl disulfide, tetrachloroethene  and Chloroform are known to be liberated from decomposition of human remains. These three compounds were not found in a representative gasoline sample in the NCFS database. Dimethyl disulfide occurs naturally in cabbage and onion.” Was that pizza ordered with onions and pepperoni? “Tetrachloroethene is used in dry cleaning and may be used in spot removers. Chloroform may be used as a degreaser and may be formed through the reaction of chlorine bleach with some organic chemicals.”

What Dr. Sigman concluded was that the presense of dimethyl disulfide, tetrachloroethene and chloroform did not conclusively demonstrate that human decomp was present in the trunk. There were too many other possible sources. 

These were the findings of Oak Ridge and NCFS, and not my opinion. In other words, I have no dog in this fight other than a cause similar to everyone else that’s compassionate about this case and looking for complete and final justice for Caylee. Speaking of dogs, though, the defense is going to look into all of this in a lot more depth and try to convince the jury a machine could never replace a canine nose. Therefore, it’s inconclusive. On the other hand, didn’t a dog also hit on human decompostion in that trunk? How is defense attorney Dorothy Clay Sims, a specialist in medical-expert witness cross-examinations, going to bark back at a dog?

I recommend reading Air science could be used for first time ever in Anthony case by Anthony Colarossi, Orlando Sentinel, October 8, 2010.