More from "My bus runneth over"

ENTERING THROUGH THE BACK DOOR

Casey's tragic bus took another wrong turn when it recently handed her former and final boyfriend, Anthony Lazzaro, a copy of a subpoena duces tecum without deposition for phone records from January 2009 to present.

What's this all about? Casey has been locked up for how long? What would her legal team want to do with poor Tony's cell phone records for the past year-and-a-half plus? William Jay, his attorney, thinks that whatever it is, it's no good. He countered by filing a MOTION TO QUASH SUBPOENA DUCES TECUM. Should Baez & Mason be surprised?

What exactly is a subpoena duces tecum without deposition?  A subpoena duces tecum is a summons ordering a party to appear before the court and produce documents, in this case, cell phone records, that could be used at a hearing or at Casey's trial. The literal translation from Latin is to "bring with you under penalty of punishment." The without deposition part means that Lazzaro would not be compelled to appear in person to offer those documents. Whew, what a lucky break.

Here's the problem that the defense doesn't get. After a hearing last August, Judge Stan Strickland - yes, the fine, upstanding and highly revered judge the defense had removed from the case this past April - ordered that, "the time frame allowed to be subject to a subpoena duces tecum was from June 1, 2008 to December 18, 2008."

If you recall, the defense wanted Roy Kronk's cell phone records, too, for a similar period of time. They were denied that request. Poor Roy Kronk was one of the first ones the defense pointed incriminating fingers at while tossing him under a few speeding Van Hool tires.

What would Casey's attorneys do with Anthony Lazzaro's cell phone records from the past twenty months or so? Imagine looking into each and every person he ever made and received calls to and from. Why, if only half of them could be investigated for the next three years, give or take, two things may happen. One, the trial would surely be postponed, and two, there may be a Zenaida or two in that there briar patch. That's a thought, but Baez can't afford another three years pro bono and Mason will be retired by then. No, it's not that. What actually strikes me as funny is that this team recklessly pursues everyone law enforcement has cleared. This includes the Grunds, her former friends, Kronk, of course, and a number of others.

Do I think the defense is trying to pin the crime on Lazzaro? No, I do not. Once again, this is a feeble attempt to discredit the state's prime witnesses, and if he ever made a prank call to Pizza Hut and it's in those records, all of his credibility will fly out the window. "Your honor, this proves the state's witness is unreliable."

I expect this sort of treatment. It is the defense's job to tarnish everyone the state plans to call up to the stand, excluding experts who will go head-to-head with their own slate, but in this particular case, as in many others; just what does the defense really need 26+ months of phone records for? As soon as Lazzaro realized who and what he was possibly dating, he high-tailed it. Casey bit the dust and is, most likely, nothing more than a morbid thought in his mind today. Meanwhile, all this team seems to be going after is the stand-up crowd, with no Zenaida in the patch. Anthony Lazzaro's phone records aren't worth a rabbit's foot. He moved on with his life. Should his girlfriend of today be slapped around, too?

In his wisdom, Judge Strickland made the right and proper call. With Judge Belvin Perry now at the helm, did the defense realize it would lose another Motion for Reconsideration of Prior Rulings if it chose to go that route instead, so, let's choose another path? Enter through the back door. Hand little guy Tony an official order and hope he doesn't take it to his lawyer. Well, he did, and William Jay knew exactly what to do with it. So will Judge Perry.

Texas Equitable

"My bus runneth over."

I can almost picture a sign like that hanging on the wall of a particular attorney's office.

Princeton University's WordNet describes equitable as fair to all parties as dictated by reason and conscience; "equitable treatment of all citizens". Three important words jump out at us - fair, reason, and conscience. I have come to believe that, during the course of two years, Casey Anthony's defense has been anything but that. A recurring theme continues to cling to the backs of our minds; who else will the defense throw under the bus?

When Casey Anthony forced the hand of an extremely fair and equitable judge, that being the Honorable Stan Strickland, it was unconscionable. What we caught was a real life glimpse, a puzzling ponderance, into the stupefying notions of her defense and what they would be capable of doing to anything that stands in their way, past, present and future, if necessary. Trust me, I felt the wrath, but in the end, it was nothing personal because this team has no conscience. The age old idiom flares its nostrils and cries it's a dog eat dog world, only in real life, some people are mutts; wolves in fox's clothing. Yes, the first to fall, but not from grace, was the judge, who is regarded as one of Florida's finest. Next came Roy Kronk, whose alleged dalliances have nothing to do with this case. Why attack a man's integrity? Why would this defense foolishly infer that he was capable of murdering Caylee Anthony? When that idea fell through the cracks, the defense moved on. After all, the bottom line was that Roy had all the evidence he needed to prove he had nothing to do with the toddler's death. Of course, we cannot leave Richard and Jesse Grund behind. The heavy tire tracks are still indented in their reputations, unscathed prior to this debacle. They haven't had a chance to scrape themselves up from the defense road to virtual perdition.

Now, we're faced with Tim Miller and Texas EquuSearch. A fierce and dedicated fighter who sought nothing more than closure and justice for Caylee's death, he, too, has come under the tread of Jose Baez's and J. Cheney Mason's tragic bus. Prior to Mason's entry into this case, the defense claimed that Casey was in jail when the body of the little girl was tossed away for vermin to devour. Therefore, she couldn't have done it. Dr. John Schultz, Professor of Anthropology at the University of Florida, concluded that the body had been placed in the woods off Suburban Drive before or soon after June 17th. Some of the evidence he examined to make this determination included the amount of decay on the bones, the scatter patterns of those bones from animal disturbances, leaf growth through the bags and the remains, and positive indications she was in those woods during heavy summer rains because of muck deposits on bones.

Those are the facts. What the defense will try to prove is that there's no proof Casey placed the corpse there. They will also dispute the findings of Schultz and Dr. Jan Garavaglia, the Orange/Osceola Medical Examiner, who concurs. No one saw Casey do it, therefore, it could be anyone else, including a searcher.

One thing that has captured my mind is this obsession with TES records. I understand it's the defense's responsibility to dig deep into all possible clues; to search for the, sometimes, elusive thread of hope, but I smell a set-up. The bus is rolling and looking for new victims; new lives to destroy in its path. Although gone, Todd Macaluso confidently declared a year ago that the body was placed there while Casey was incarcerated. Mason switched gears and said that no one entered the woods when TES searched the area in September of 2008. He acknowledged the area was flooded. This was a major revelation except for one thing – he didn't state that it couldn't have been anyone else who, in fact, did look on their own time and off the documented records kept by Tim Miller's group, almost 4,000 strong. It still begs the question, if no one from TES searched there in September, why the incessant need to examine all those records? Because the body could have been tossed in November or December by a TES straggler. Scrutiny is the key element.

The tack this defense is taking is not unusual. It will rely on discrediting the state's evidence, which is predominantly circumstantial. Call it mucking. All the defense has to do is debunk whatever it can, and never mount a credible attack based on their client's innocence. That's why they never looked for Zenaida Gonzalez. She doesn't exist and never did. Why seek what isn't there? Casey will never take the stand and she will never seek a plea. Why should she?

In my opinion, Baez & Company will scour over those records. Openly, Baez said, “We just want to be as thorough as we possibly can.” Behind closed doors, it may be another matter. When Chief Judge Belvin Perry granted the defense full access to those records with the stipulation that they not be allowed to publicize any private information about the searchers, it was a victory of sorts. Why? Because 4,000 people will have their cans of worms opened and the skeletons in their closets will be scrutinized beyond reproach.

What will stop this team from stretching out their arms and pointing fingers at several searchers as possible suspects fully capable of murder? Why couldn't it have been someone else, a real “Zenaida” who stole the girl and joined the search in order to hide her? Holy mackerel! The mother lode! If a Zenaida Gonzalez exists, it will be one from TES. Under an assumed name, of course.

In the final quarter of 2008, I was not healthy enough to help search for the missing toddler. Today, I'm almost glad, because I would now be one of the many names the defense team could target. Oh well, they're going to be going after people with criminal records and disgruntled ex-spouses. In my case, it's immaterial. In life, I try to be fair. I know how to reason, and I have a conscience. Just like Tim Miller and all those searchers, who only wanted to help. From the defense, all I'm smelling are exhaust fumes because my bus already came and went. Tim's is on its way. That's not very equitable, is it?

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TEXAS EQUUSEARCH

Caylee Marie Anthony

There are no public memorials scheduled for today that I am aware of, so in honor of Caylee, here is what I wrote last June 16.

"As much as you love Caylee, please... just don't forget the others."

- Richard Grund

Caylee loved butterflies, so it was no surprise that at the end of the memorial held on June 16 at Jay Blanchard Park, a basket holding butterflies was released to the skies along with balloons - with each balloon honoring a missing or murdered person. One of the butterflies flew right to the floral arrangement at the front of the pavilion.

In the beginning, Richard Grund said he was asked to hold the memorial on Suburban Drive but he said no, that was where something happened to Caylee and it's not how he wants to remember her. He wants to remember her running around and swinging, just like in that park. Then, he spoke of Caylee. He mentioned those who could not attend and he read a message from Marc Klaas, father of Polly Klaas and now a child advocate who established the KlaasKids Foundation. He spoke of his son, Jesse, who loved Caylee like his own daughter, even when he found out he wasn't her father. Most of all, he spoke of all children and how we must do everything we can to stop the innocent murders and crimes against our youth, here and around the world.

Children are born as babes in the woods. They are free from sin. How can anyone harm a child? This was his message to the few who came to listen; some who were a part of Caylee throughout her short life. They were friends, neighbors and strangers, but on this day, we were all together to remember the little angel named Caylee Marie Anthony and her presence was felt by all of us.

I'd guess there were about 40 people; not a big crowd, but a very comfortable one. Everyone was nice. One of the things I noticed was that these were ordinary people, the types you'd sit next to in church or at a casual restaurant, the ones you'd feel very comfortable with and easy to strike up a conversation with as you mill about. I had a chance to thank Richard for his dedication to Caylee and her memory. I spoke with Lois Peter and told her we had met the day Leonard Padilla was with the dive team. "As a matter of fact," I said, "you were at the top of my first blog post about this case. You were wearing your Caylee t-shirt."

"Back then," she responded, "I was coming to the park every day."

I spoke to a friend of hers who told me that her son was messed up on drugs and she had the chance to adopt his child, now four years old. She said she lives near the Anthonys and that place where she still cannot bring herself to drive by to this day. I thought about how her child will never get to meet Caylee now. She said another son went to school with Casey and no one would have believed this.

When the basket of butterflies was opened, only one flew out, the one that went to the flowers and stayed even when everyone was invited to take a rose. In the end, I took a carnation I will keep in a book with a note explaining where it came from. Dakota Skii wondered why the other butterflies were staying still. Were they dead? she wondered? No, I responded. They were a little shocked and dormant. That's their way of defending themselves and it was calming to her, reassured that the frail and beautiful creatures were safe from harm.

In the end, I was reassured, too, because everyone there was no different from anyone else. These were people who were moved by Caylee and it was a love fest of sorts. Everyone gathered to pay homage to her and to greet each other with open arms. It was not the largest crowd, but every heart was huge and I could feel it.

The memorial was organized by In Memory of Caylee Marie Anthony.

The following photographs were taken by me. I shot 72 pictures and selected many to show you. I hope each one tells a little story about what it was like and how comforting each person in attendance was. If you have any questions, please ask me. Each picture can be enlarged by clicking on it. It will open in a new page. Click it again. Thank you for taking the time to read this and take a look.

The images are in descending order - the way I took them.

The originals can be found HERE.

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

Photos © David B. Knechel 2009 – All rights reserved