Cindy Takes the Stand in Casey Anthony Trial

Heaven knows Cindy Anthony has given us a lot of reasons to criticize and even dislike her.  But when she took the stand in the murder trial of her daughter, I was flooded with nothing but empathy. 

After writing ten true crime books, I know how difficult it is to be the loved one of a murder victim.  I've learned to that being the loved one of a perpetrator is a heavy burden as well.  Cindy is unfortunate to be filling both those roles at once.  The horror of walking in Cindy's shoes was never more apparent to me than while I was watching her testimony on Saturday.

Cindy looked like a woman who had been through an emotionally exhausting ordeal and knew the worst was yet to come.  She cried when she described her granddaughter Caylee's bed.  Her tears seemed sincere expressions of grief not the acidic tears of self-pity we've seen so often from her daughter.

She broke down again when describing Caylee's playhouse.  Her uncontrollable anguish prompted Prosecutor Linda Drane-Burdick asked if she needed a break.  The judge granted the request.  During that time of no audio, we witnessed tears of rage from Casey Anthony.  We could not hear what she said, but her ire was apparent.  From the hostile and sullen looks she'd cast at her mother, it was obvious the target of her anger was her mother.

When court resumed, with Cindy back in the stand, Linda Drane Burdick asked, "After June 15 of 2008, did you see your grandaughter Caylee again?"

Cindy's voice quavered as she answered: "No, Ma'am.  I did not."  Cindy swayed in her seat and looked as if she might pass out,

The state later asked her how long she continued to search for the real Zanny.  Cindy admitted she never stopped looking until six weeks earlier.  I know it sounds ridiculous, on the surface, that she had continued tilting at that windmill; but I could understand the desperation of a mother wanting to avoid the ugly truth about her own daughter.

The looks Casey gave her mother were the thing that really elevated my empathy for Cindy.  I put myself in her shoes and imagined my daughter looking at me the way Casey looked at Cindy.  That thought was nauseating and disturbing.  The hatred shooting from Casey's eyes in Cindy's direction is the stuff of every mother's nightmare.

And as Dr. Lillian Glass wrote: "For the first time, when Cindy walked off the stand without looking at Casey,she literally walked away from Casey and her lies forever "

Perhaps now, Cindy Anthony has her focus in the right place--on finding justice for her granddaughter Caylee.

*

Question to my readers: I've recieved some harsh criticism for calling for Justice for Caylee.  They say that it is ridiculous and fatuous phrase--you can't get anything for a dead person.  What do you think about that opinion?  Is it all about justice for Caylee?  Or do you think the critics are right?

*

As currently planned, I will be on Nancy Grace this Tuesday night talking about this case--8pm Eastern on HLN.

If you missed my appearance on Justice with Judge Jeanine, that segment of the show is now online.

Talking Casey Anthony in New York City

I sat on the set in front of Judge Jeanine Pirro and across from Gloria Allred in the Fox News Network studios to tape a show about the Casey Anthony trial which will air this Saturday night at 9PM Eastern. It was a pleasure to meet both of those women and a blast to be in New York City.

Energy crackles in the streets of Manhattan.  Just walking three blocks from the Mela Hotel, on West 44th, to the studio, on West 47th, charged me up like three double expressos in rapid succession. No other city has this effect on me.

I sat in The Long Room, an Irish Gastropub, next to the hotel and had potato crusted salmon and a delicious Key Lime Martini. My table was right by the open French doors leading to the street--excellent spot for people watching. The drama was in high gear. The most amusing spectacle was the three sailors who came down the streets trolling for dates. They snagged two women immediately--one displayed her commitment to the evening by doffing a sailor's cap. The search for girl number three wasn't as easy. The sailors stopped a number of women on the street who listened for a moment and then faded away. They went into a bar and came out emptied handed. While they searched, the other two waited patiently on the sidewalk. Finally, number three was secured and off the new couples went up the street.

I also got to meet Yaniv Soha, my editor from St. Martin's Press, today. We've worked on a lot of books together over the past few years but this was our first face to face encounter. What a pleasure!

I fly back to Texas tomorrow but I can't wait to return.

Sidebar Fever In Casey Anthony Trial

After Monday's high drama where the state presented their case, the defense splattered the walls with every crazy excuse that crossed their minds and the first witness for the state, George Anthony, took the stand, Wednesday was a rather bland day in the Casey Anthony trial.  The State called a series of Casey's friends to testify.

The big point the state made was that during the first month that Caylee was gone, Casey lived the life of a party girl and was always happy and upbeat.  The defense countered in cross-examination by eliciting positive opinions of Casey as a mother--attentive, caring and a disciplinarian. 

Throughout it all, the defense called for a sidebar every time anyone made them squirm.  I didn't tally up the minutes but it seemed as if we were in sidebar or on break more often than in open courtroom proceedings.

I felt sorry for Anthony Lazzaro, the erstwhile boyfriend of Casey Anthony.  It had to have been a shock initially to learn that the woman he slept was a murderer.  Now, he has to be embarrassed sitting up there and admitting it to the world.  He's received a lot of criticism for not asking about Caylee more often and more intently.  But I think that is too much to expect of a young guy who was focused on his casual, month-long sex fling with a young woman who happened to have a child. 

Anthony did paint the most chilling portrait of Casey Anthony.  On the very same day that the defense claims Casey's child accidentally drowned and the state contends she intentionally murdered her child, Casey spent a relaxed happy evening with him watching a blockbuster movie  and that night and all the next day, frolicked in bed with her new guy as if she didn't have a care in the world.

The cross examination of Lazzaro resumes this morning.  I imagine it will be followed by re-direct from the state.  Poor Tony is paying a high price for his relationship with Casey.  Of course, it was no way near the price that little Caylee Anthony had to pay.

Diane Fanning is the author of the only book about the Casey Anthony case, MOMMY'S LITTLE GIRL.

Baez Goes with All the Above in the Casey Anthony Trial

We all wondered what tact defense attorney Jose Baez would take in his opening statements in the Casey Anthony murder trial.  It was a multiple choice test.  Would he:

• A. Argue that Caylee lost her life in a tragic accident?
• B. Blame someone else for Caylee's death?
• C. Explain away all of Casey's behaviour as the result of incestuous child abuse and poor parenting?

Baez didn't chose one of those options, he picked D: All the Above.  He claimed that in the first three to three and a half minutes, he would give the answers that would explain everything.  After five minutes, he was still grinding out his preamble, listing points of fault with the state's case.  Finally, seven minutes into his presentation, Baez dropped his bombshell: Casey never reported her child missing because she was never missing.  Caylee died on June 16 in the family swimming pool.

Personally, I think that bomb was a dud.  I might have believed it in the summer and fall of 2008.  But Baez waits until trial day to reveal this bit of information.  Does that mean he allowed his client to sit in jail for more than two years so that he could get more publicity and have his big moment on the national stage?

Baez then moved on to shred Casey's family to pieces.  He spoke of "stories of a family that is incredible dysfunctional.  You will hear about ugly things, secret things, thing that people don't speak about.  He proceeded then to speak of them: George's inappropriate touching of his 8 year old daughter; putting his penis in 13 year old Casey's mouth; and additional acts of sexual abuse by her brother, Lee.

His client, he said, was raised to lie because of that incestuous abuse.  So on June 16, when Caylee drowned in the swimming pool, George Anthony threw his very own daughter under the bus.  He was responsible for the duct tape around Caylee's skull.  He was having an affair.  He attempted suicide over guilt for what he had done.

Casey, he said, was guilty of nothing but going into denial.

And what of the hapless city utility worker, Roy Kronk?  Roy did not kill Caylee, he said, but he is morally bankrupt.  He found the body somewhere that summer, held onto it for several months and then dumped it where he would know to find it in December 2008.

How did Casey react to the day's events?  Throughout the State's straight-foward presentation, she sat with a pouty mouth, tearing up at appropriate moments, shaking her head at others.  When Baez started talking, she cried on cue when he mentioned her child abuse, she held her head high.  When opening statements wrapped up, the first witness took the stand: George Anthony.  Casey never looked full-on at her father.  She turned her head in his direction when he spoke, and in the attorneys' direction when questions were asked, but for the most part, she kept her eyes downcast, looking back and forth as if at a tragically boring tennis tournament.

At the end of court yesterday, I was left with one big question: Is Casey really that good of an actress or has she repeated her fantasy timeline to the defense team so many times that she now believes her own lies?

Today, I can't help but wondering what the jurors were thinking as they fell asleep last night.  Will they see through the smokescreen erected by the defense?  Or will they find justice for Caylee Marie Anthony?

Diane Fanning is the author of the only book about the Caylee Anthony story, Mommy's Little Girl.

Curtain Rises on Casey Anthony Trial

Today is rhe big day that many of us often thought would never come.  I am looking forward to the opening statements that will be presented to the jury by the prosecution and defense this morning.  I posted my thoughts on the upcoming drama on Women in Crime Ink today.

Justice for Caylee Anthony may just be weeks away.

Loss of Control in Casey Anthony Courtroom

We all expect drama in the courtroom when the actual trial started for Casey Anthony.  When it struck on the last day of jury selection, it took us all by surprise.  Or did it?  We've come to expect the unexpected with this case from Casey Anthony's first lie.

But on Friday, Casey didn't stir things up.  Nor did her drama-prone attorney Jose Baez.  While a prospective juror was enduring voir dire, a total stranger, Elizabeth Ann Rodgers, shouted out: "She killed somebody, anyway."

The 29 year old woman was hustled out of the court by deputies.  The potential juror on the stand was escorted out, too.  The defense insisted that the woman being questioned should be striken from the jury pool because she had been tainted by Rodgers behaviour.  The state insisted she should tell them first if the event impacted her.  The judge called for a five minute recess.

Rodgers was brought in to face the judge after the recess.  She was a mess, sobbing to the point that she could barely speak.  She begged for forgiveness and piled on the excuses.  She was bi-polar, she said, ADHD, a PTSD sufferer and made daily visits to the methadone clinic.  She said she was in the courthouse to attend domestic court over a situation with her boyfriend.  Could it get much worse?  And with a life that complicated why did she feel the need to heap on more problems?

Judge Belvin Perry seemed to feel her pain.  But no matter how much empathy/sympathy he might have had for her, no matter how much he believed her story, he could not simply let her walk away from the incident.  If he had, he would have encouraged repeat performances from others.  And, odds are, many would have recited the same litany of woe that Rodgers uttered.  He sentenced her to two days in jail, noting that the punishment was light because of her mental health issues.

Considering the craziness is already cropping up in the preliminaries, what will the next six to eight weeks be like?  No matter how well the judge controls the courtrol the courtroom, there's not a thing he can do about the spontaneous actions of the mentally ill, the attention seekers or those who, for one reason or another, want to complicate the course of justice.

The curtains rise on the opening statements on Tuesday, May 24, at 9 am Eastern with a jury of twelves and five alternates.  Save us from sidebars, spare us from histrionics and bring us justice for Caylee Marie Anthony.

Sweet Sixteen the Magic Number in the Casey Anthony Trial

Right now, sixteen people have passed through Judge Belvin Perry's scrutiny and may possibly be jurors at the trial.  Twelve additional people are up for screening this morning.  Perry's plan is to swear in a jury of twelve with four alternates this afternoon around 3 pm Eastern.  Before he does, the state can exercise up to three more peremptory challenges and the defense team one on the jury panel itself.  Then, both sides have the option of using a challenge on every single alternate chosen.

If the prosecutors and defense both exercise their peremptory strikes to the maximum, the end result of the pool of candidates, the final number would be an even dozen remaining--four short of the judge's sweet sixteen.  And that is without accounting for the very likely possibility that some of the twelve new prospective folks might be dismissed for cause.

Perry's goal is possible but as the morning wears on, we'll learn how probable it might be.  I certainly would hate for him to come up short today.  Once the remaining group is exhausted, it won't be possible to get any additional prospects until next week--and at that time, there will not be a courtroom available.  I have seen jury selection scheduled in a mock courtroom at a law school in another case.  But, there does not seem to be a law school any closer to Clearwater than the Orange County Courthouse in Orlando.  If today's efforts fail, could they bus a pack of potential jurors from Pinellas County to Orlando for questioning?

The plan has undergone massive changes since the beginning of jury selection.  Perry hoped to seat the full jury last Friday--or on Saturday at the latest.  From that start, I believed that was an impossible dream.  He wanted to have a jury panel with eight alternates--he's cut that expectation in half.  But it should work.  The Michael Peterson trial in Durham, North Carolina, lasted twice as long as the estimated length of the Casey Anthony trial and they lost only three of the four alternates by the time it was over.

As the jury selection moves forward, we are getting incredible glimpses in the desperation of the defense team.  I couldn't believe the begging and pathetic act they displayed in an attempt to convince the judge that he force the prosecutors to give a day by day breakdown of the witnesses who will be called to testify.  But it was all for naught.  As the judge said forcing the state to reveal which of the three hundred witnesses will be called on any particular day is an act "above my pay grade."

I suspect there will be more unpredicted moments in today's events.  But I fervently hope Judge Perry can pull this off and seat a full panel with alternates by day's end.  Because, in the end, all that matters is Justice for Caylee.

Much Ado About Nothing? The Casey Anthony Trial

It appears from the opening in the courtroom that the drama was for naught.  Business has proceeded as usual and there are eleven seating jurors.  The next potential jury is now facing questioning.

If they don't seat a jury today, there is trouble for the case.  Pinellas County does not bring in jurors on Fridays and there doesn't appear to be a courtroom to use there after Friday.

Back to the grinding our way through the process to find Justice for Caylee.

Most Dramatic Moment in Casey Anthony Trial

We all knew there would be lots of dramatic moments in the trial of Casey Anthony but I suspect most of us thought they'd come after jury selection and during the actual trial itself.  But drama has struck already and the rumors are flying.

Yesterday at lunch time, Jose Baez disappeared not to return to the courtroom.  Both sides, minus the lead defense attorney disappeared into chambers and reappeared only to hear Judge Belvin Perry suspend the selection of the jury.  It was hard to believe.  The same judge who'd been riding the prosecution and defense to finish up, who spurred on forward progress with dire warnings of no courtroom space after this week.

The official story was that Jose Baez had to attend to a personal matter.  Some said he was sick.  Baez himself spoke to the media urging the end to speculation.  Did he really expect anyone to listen?

What is happening?  A number of possibilities come to mind.  It is possible that what the judge told us is true.  Baez had an urgent personal situation or an emergency family problem that required his immediate attention.  Or he could have fallen ill.  But Cheney Mason's reaction and refusal to make even a token statement to the media creates reasonable doubt about that scenario.

It is possible, as I speculated last year, there is a plea bargain in the works.  It is possible that Jose Baez was absent from the court because he was meeting with the State's Attorney.  If there was happening, it would explain the shock on the faces of the prosecution. It would also explain the possibility of a cover-up story.

It is also in the realm of possibility that Casey fired Baez.  She has stopped sitting next to me and has shown her displeasure with him every since he said she was acting like a two year old and it went out over an open microphone.

We should know just a little bit later this morning.  But, then again, we may never know the truth.  If there were attempts at a plea bargain but no agreement could be reached, the parties involved could keep their mouths shut and the court could return to business as usual.

Another issue that's come up in questions I've seen scattered across the Internet is why neither the state nor the defense has asked prospective jurors if they've read my book, MOMMY'S LITTLE GIRL.  I think there is a simple answer for that.  I've heard Jose Baez ask a number of times if anyone has read a book about the case.  Since my book is the only book, that is all he needs to ask.  I imagine he does not want to give any more publicity or credibility to my book by saying it's title or my name in open court.

Finally, you'll find an interview with me talking about the case today on Women in Crime Ink.

And now we wait.  Will the defense take a short cut to Justice for Caylee by admitting guilt?  Or will we continue on the long road, spending weeks in trial and days in deliberation before Caylee Marie Anthony receives the justice she deserves?

Overwhelmed and Humbled: Defender of the Innocent award

Julie Rea and Diane Fanning, photo by Ginny Lee

At the tenth anniversary celebration of the Downstate Illinois Innocence Project on Monday night, I was the main speaker and a recipient of a Defender of the Innocent award.  I cannot find the words to express how incredible it was to be at an event with Julie Rea knowing that I played a role in obtaining her freedom after her wrongfully conviction.



Julie Rea, photo by Ginny Lee

 Seeing her stand there, no longer behind bars, was an overwhelming joy topped only by learning she succeded in obtaining a Certificate of Actual Innocence from the State of Illinois.  The process to get that document is extremely arduous and goes far beyond her second trial verdict of not guilty.  The second trial said that the state could not prove its case against her.  The certificate says the prosecution was unwarranted, Julie is totally unblemished by any blame or responsibility.

Julie and I got quite emotional up at the podium when she introduced me.  But, honestly, it went far beyond us.  We both had our emotional pumps primed by the speakers that proceded us to center stage.  Herb Whitlock, freed after twenty-one years of incarceration for a crime he did not commit, introduced Michale Callahan, a former investigator for the Illinois State Police.  Michale wrote one of the most important books I have ever read, TOO POLITICALLY SENSITIVE.  His book exposes the wrong-doing perpetrated by law enforcement and prosecution in the convictions of Herb Whitlock and Randy Steidl as well as ripping back the shield that covered the dark stream of corruption polluting the agency where he worked for many years.

Kathy Saltmarsh, appeals attorney for Randy, was our emcee who provided valuable and moving commentary throughout--as well as an exqusite sense of timing that kept the event moving forward. 



With Ann Masters Ogden Hamilton



It was quite humbling to look out over that room filled with people committed to helping the wrongfully convicted.  Many of them have done so much to rectify the injustices committed by the state against so many. 

The last two speakers were two men I deeply admire: Bill Clutter, investigator for the Downstate Illinois Innocence Project, and Randy Steidl, an exonoree who spent seventeen years behind bars, mostly on death row.  Bill is a workhorse, a man of principle and a incredibly gifted investigator who will make any personal sacrifice to free the innocent.  Randy is a courgeous man and a beacon of hope to the wrongfully convicted everywhere.  It was an honor to meet him.



Nadine O'Leary and Diane. Photo by Ginny Lee

 I came from the event with a firm conviction of the value of the work of the Downstate Illinois Innocence Project.  They have recently received a large grant to facilitate DNA testing but they have a great need for funds to help in other cases.  It is rare for a woman to be exonerated through DNA and with the female population experiencing a dramatic increase in recent years, more wrongfully convicted women are now behind bars. 

If you hesitate to become involved or make a donation to this cause, remember this: for nearly every wrongfully convicted person, there is a perpetrator walking our streets, preying on new victims. That thought should be one that haunts every prosecutor and pushes them to always seek truth and ensure justice.



To learn more about, or make a donation to, the Downstate Illinois Innocence Project, visit their website.  Or check out their Facebook page. 

Greed Knows No Bounds: The Casey Anthony Trial

George and Cindy Anthony have sent out cease and desist orders to anyone using the murder case against their daughter Casey to sell products relating to their murdered granddaughter Caylee.  On top of that, they are trademarking Caylee's images and the phrase "Justice for Caylee."  If I knew nothing else about the Anthony family, I believe I would find this action understandable.  But I do, we all do. 

Of course, they would trademark their granddaughter's images--they own them.  As George and Cindy proved when they sold those photographs and videos for $200,000 to the highest bidder.  It's not as if they want no one making money from the death of their granddaughter--it is simply that they want to make ALL the money.

One of their cease and desist letters went to CafePress who offer a tee-shirt bearing the phrase "Justice for Caylee."  I cannot quite understand why they would oppose that product.  After all, don't they want justice for their granddaughter? 

Quite frankly, if my granddaughter had been murdered, I would love to see thousands of people wearing a tee-shirt like that proclaiming their support for a just cause.   It would warm my heart knowing that so many people cared. 

And what of the other Caylees?  I did a little digging and found that there is only one individual named Caylee Anthony and that is their granddaughter.  But there are as many as 1557 Caylees in the United States.  What if something happened to one of them?  Would their families be unable to cry out for justice for their Caylee if George and Cindy succeed in getting this trademark?

I would not be outraged by these legal maneuverings of the Anthonys if I felt that it was the product of their love and protective instincts toward their granddaughter.  But I cannot believe that because of their track record and am appalled that they would attack the very people who are indicating support for the slain little girl.

Under the guidance of their new attorney Mark Lippman, they have also filed suit against an honorable man, Brad Conway, and now this attack on others.  How long will it be before they turn on Mark Lippman, too?

Sniff Test, FaceBook and Another Lawsuit: The Casey Anthony Trial

Caylee Anthony, still waiting for justice

After jury questioning, on Thursday evening, Judge Belvin Perry asked prosecutors why they kept asking prospective jurors about their sense of smell.  The state said they had three preserved tins of air taken from the trunk of Casey Anthony's car--leftover from the air tests done in Tennessee.  They want the jurors to open one and take a whiff.  The judge will have to decide whether it would be allowed or if it went beyond the jurors' role in court.  If he decides to allow it, it certainly will break new legal ground but it could also create an opening for a successful appeal.

Spicing up the questioning of the prospective jurors, the prosecutor pulled up one man's FaceBook profile and there he was chattering away about jury service.  Judge Perry specifically told every one of those people that they could not mention it on any social media platform.  To make matters worse, the state found this little tidbit in his comments: "Book coming soon!"  If those were his plans, he sure blew it.  He's outta there.

The judge clearly missed all his goals with jury selection.  He originally hoped to have the jury seated by the end of today.  Monday would have then been used to transport the jurors to Orlando and closing arguments would start on Tuesday.  Unfortunately, after six days, a pitiful group eleven jurors remain--six women and five men.  Perry wants a panel of 12 jurors and 8 alternates.  The still-standing eleven have to still get through death penalty certification and peremptory strikes by both sides.  I sure don't expect to see opening statements any time next week.

What would a week in the Anthony world be without Cindy and George Anthony stepping front and center to lash out at somebody new?  This time, their new lawyer Mark Lippman announced, the couple will be suing their former attorney Brad Conway for violation of the lawyer/client privilege when he spoke to the media about the family.  Lippman also said he will send a cease-and-desist letter to Conway and place a grievance on the Anthonys behalf before the Florida Bar.  Yikes.

Whenever I think of Cindy and George Anthony these days, I think of Wal-nut Bowling on the Plants versus Zombies game.  No matter who comes running to the Anthonys' side, Cindy and George always end of angry and treating them like Zombies--bowling them down with any nut they can find.

And while they play, Caylee Anthony waits for justice.

Defender of Innocents Award and More

Time for a personal note. 

I'm heading up to Springfield, Illinois, to the Tenth Anniversary Celebration of the Downstate Illinois Innocence Project this Monday.  The reason I'm going is to accept a Defender of Innocents award.  I am thrilled, honored and just about beside myself. 

I will be introduced by none other than Julie Rea.  It was her wrongful conviction that I helped to set right.  It will be a joy to see her acquitted and free once again. 

Will I'm up north, I'll be doing an live interview with Steve Kane on WWNN, 1470 in Miami at 8am Eastern/7 Central.  You can listen to the show live online.

I'll also be making an appearance on a radio station in Springfield later that morning.  Unfortunately, I have no clue where I'll be transported and who'll be sitting in the announcer chair.  But if you're in Springfield, play with the dial, you might find me.

Weird Flag Flies High at Casey Anthony Trial



Casey is second from the left but the party is over now.







Two things really caught my attention Thursday. And one was dressed in Red. Her name is Rosalie Bolin and her addition to the defense team is simply an odd choice. You’ve seen her with an arm around Casey comforting her, mothering her, coaching. That sweet lady is married to a murderer. And she married him after his conviction. Over the telephone. She held a receiver in her apartment, he held his in jail. Doesn’t the romance send chills up your spine?

Good old Rosalie was married to a lawyer and the mother of four girls. She worked as an investigator for the Public Defender’s Office. On her case load was Oscar Ray Bolin, aka Bolin the Butcher. Bolin was first found guilty of the second degree murder of Natalie Holley and give a sentence of 22 years. By the time that trial was over, he was charged with six other felonies: murder, kidnapping, rape, aggravated battery of a law enforcement officer, escape and conspiracy to kidnap. He received a death sentence for the two other murders and a total of 75 years on the rape and kidnapping charges.

For that miserable excuse of a man, Rosalie left her husband, renowned defense attorney Victor Martinez, and abandoned her children. It seems fitting that Jose Baez brought a woman like this to the trial to hold Casey’s hand. And look at Rosalie’s hand—see if you can spot the five carat diamond—her engagement ring from her first husband. She still wears it, she quips, because she “earned every carat.”

The other real attention-getter was the loud crunch and crack of bones as Baez threw George and Cindy Anthony under the bus. The list of mitigating factors given in court, according to the defense, included Casey’s young age, her lack of maturity, lack of impulse control, lack of parental guidance. She was taught to project fake appearance. She was used as a decoy or a pawn by her parents and a scapegoat for parental misconduct.

Oh, poor Casey, she couldn’t help herself—she had rotten parents.

I’d try to feel sorry for her but, unfortunately, the person who had the worst parent of all was little Caylee Anthony.

Lucinda Pierce Found her Nook

All four books in the Lucinda Pierce series are now available on Nook from Barnes and Noble.  The great reduced prices on Kindle are available on Nook, too.

Book one: THE TROPHY EXCHANGE $2.99
Book two: PUNISH THE DEED $2.99
Book three: MISTAKEN IDENTITY $2.99
Book four: TWISTED REASON $7.99

All four books in the series for less than you could buy one hardcover copy.  If you've got a Nook, fill it with Lieutenant Lucinda Pierce today.

Crazy Reigns in Casey Anthony Court Proceedings

Who's smiling now?

One of the highlights of Wednesday’s crazy day in the courtroom was the image of a pale Casey Anthony being helped out of the courtroom. She erupted in tears as Judge Belvin Perry read the details of the charges against her and the possibility of the death penalty to yet another group of prospective jurors. The second time it happened, her tears led to a bout of nausea and dizziness.




It seemed as if Casey Anthony didn’t believe this time would ever come. As if she fantasized for eighteen months that she would wriggle her way out of this situation just as she had done all of her life. I think she is stunned and dismayed to find herself sitting there while people are being selected to determine her fate--individuals who literally hold her life in their hands.


Makes me wonder how she is going to hold up when the state makes its opening statement. Will she keel over when a prosecutor points an accusatory finger at her and condemns her to the jury and the world and ask them to take her life?


Outside of the courtroom, Mark Lippman, George and Cindy Anthony’s attorney, fired a warning shot across the bow of the defense team. He insisted that George did not ever molest Casey and had nothing to do with the death of his grand-daughter Caylee. Lippman said if those charges were made in open court, he might be forced to take legal action. We knew there would be appeals filed if Casey received a guilty verdict but now there is a possibility that whatever the verdict, the courtroom high jinks will continue after the trial.


The third day of jury selection continued to offer new surprises.  Jonathan Greene, an employee of Publix, Florida's ubiquitous supermarket chain, was called for jury duty but did not want to serve. After receiving instructions from the judge to keep his mouth shut about the case, he sought out a producer with In Sessions and talked about the case. He told the judge that he did it on purpose to be excused from the jury but then said that he didn’t think he’d done anything wrong or illegal.


An angry Judge Perry asked him: “What, sir, did you not understand about what I told you?” He had no explanation for that and he didn’t offer an apology. Perry held him in contempt of court and fined him $450. Ominously, he added: “I will not imprison you this time.”


By the end of the court day, at 7 that night, Perry had gone through nearly two hundred people in the jury pool in three days. The litany of hardship rolled on. One woman who served as the caretaker for an elderly mother said that if she had to serve on the jury, she might have to put her parent in a nursing home. Perry sent her home. Another woman who’d been married for forty-two years was terrified at the prospect of spending the night away from her husband. Apparently she had never done since she wed. Perry kept her in the group. When the night was over only sixty-nine individuals remained.


Ideally, at this point, there would be 110 possible jurors to face the one at a time questioning about their exposure to the case, followed by being qualified for the death penalty. In response to the defense’s second request to dismiss the jury because it didn’t have a sufficiently diverse ethnic make-up, Perry suggested recruiting jurors from the nearby homeless shelter. That move would be unprecedented, but it doesn’t appear to be illegal.


If Thursday in the courtroom goes as planned, with one juror after another filing into the judge’s chambers, it promises to be a boring day for the trial. But then, with this case, when has anything, ever been predictable?


The only thing that is certain is that Caylee Anthony deserves justice.

Another SNAFU in Casey Anthony Trial

The court of Judge Belvin Perry grabbed its gavel and moved out of town for jury selection in order to find a jurors who had no connection to the Casey Anthony case and had not been exposed to the intense local media exposure present in Orlando.  So what did they get? A potential juror on the list of possible witnesses.

Of course, they did.  The atmosphere surrounding the quest for justice for Caylee Anthony has been volatile from the beginning.  A defendant who has taken prevarication to new heights, physical confrontations with demonstrators in front of a suburban home, character assassination of many who were on the scene to help the case from the hapless city worker who spotted the body to the dedicated head of a nationally known search organization--the list of unexpected occurrences and quirky characters began on July 15, 2008 and has never let up.

From the moment Judge Perry stepped up to the bench to replace harried jurist Stan Strickland, the court has been committed to move the case forward without further delays.  Many thought that it was an impossible goal.  But Perry did it.  He started the jury selection on May 7, just as he promised.  When he said that the jury would be selected in one week, it seemed if anyone could make that happen, it was Perry.

So naturally, fate intervened in the form of a prospective juror with all the common sense of road-flattened armadillo.  The person in question admitted to being ineligible to serve on the jury because of being on the list of possible witnesses and for service as a volunteer for Texas Equusearch, the organization that once led the search for Caylee's remains.  The person should have announced his presence to a deputy or someone with the court clerk's office on arrival and been sent home right away.

Instead the potential juror avoided sharing the information with those in authority and instead engaged in a discussion of the case with forty-eight others in a group that waited to appear before Judge Perry for instruction.  Perry had no choice.  He dismissed the entire group of forty-nine, putting his goal of begin opening arguments on Tuesday, May 16, in jeopardy.

Another group will come in to replace them Wednesday morning.  Common sense should have informed the disqualified group that they shouldn't discuss the case while they wait.  But it didn't so the new group will be brought before Perry for instruction immediately to hopefully avoid a repeat of the incident.

The defense seemed dismayed by Perry's threat to move jury selection back to Orlando in they failed to fill a jury in Clearwater.  Attorney Cheney Mason objected more often today to the requests that jurors be dismissed because of hardship.  He argued against the release of some potential jurors saying the experience would be an inconvenience not a hardship. 

When Cheney objected to releasing a disabled man on a fixed income who could not afford care for his seven dogs, Judge Perry asked if the dogs could stay at Cheney Mason's house for the duration of the trial. 

Somewhere in Orlando, Stan Strickland must be counting his blessings and breathing a sigh of relief.

Jury Selection Location Revealed in Casey Anthony Trial

I was really concerned that something unexpected would happen to delay the first phase of the trial of Casey Anthony but it appears is if everything is right on schedule.  Jury selection begins today at noon in the Pinellas County Courthouse on the west coast of Florida in Clearwater.

The wheels of justice are now turning for little Caylee Anthony.

Update on Casey Anthony Trial

I wanted to give you a quick update about what has transpired since I wrote about the Casey Anthony case.

Over the defense objections, Judge Belvin Perry allowed George and Cindy Anthony to be an exception to the witness sequestration rules.  They will be able to sit in the courtroom for the complete trial.

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals denied the media-submitted appeal that requested the court to require Judge Perry to reveal the location of jury selection.  That decision means that Perry can move forward with his compromise plan to provide access to journalists while doing what he can to ensure that Casey Anthony receives a fair trial. 

Any media outlet signing a confidentiality agreement promising not to reveal the chosen county before court on Monday can learn where they need to go on Sunday.  Since the defense also dropped their motion for a 30-day delay to respond to the media appeal, jury selection should move forward without a hitch on Monday morning.  I imagine, though, this situation will be one that journalists debate for long after the trial is over.

Finally, Cindy Anthony requested a visit with her daughter on Saturday morning.  The jail send that she would be allowed pending Casey's decision to accept her deny.  This morning, Casey refused to see her mother.

What a week!  But every piece of craziness gets us just a little bit closer to justice for Caylee Anthony.

Will Casey Anthony's Trial be Delayed Again?

Jury selection day was just around the corner and it seemed as if Judge Belvin Perry was going to pull it off and actually keep everything on schedule as he promised.  Now, at the last minute, the media may be responsible for stopping the forward progress of this slow-moving wheel of justice.

Quite some time ago, Perry decided that the trial venue would not be moved but that jurors from another region would be imported into Orlando for the trial.  No one had a problem with that--every reporter wanted to be the one to find that secret location but despite their efforts, nothing more than rumour and possibility emerged. 

The current brouhaha started when the judge, in the interest of a fair trial, informed the media that they would not be informed of the location of the jury selection until Sunday and would only learn it then if  they signed a confidentiality agreement swearing not to divulge the information until after the actual process began.  He said that "the Court is apprehensive that the new locale would be inundated with media coverage which would thereby again cause concern with the defendant's sixth amendment right to obtaining a fair and impartial jury."I'm sure Perry thought this was the perfect compromise.  He could protect the jury pool and allow the media to make preparations to be present to cover the events in the courtroom.  But the journalists thought otherwise.  A group of media outlets, with the Associated Press leading the charge, appealed the decision before the judge and when we denied their motion, they took it a step further.

A 28-page appeal was filed with the Fifth District Court of Appeal.  "News organizations request that this court [the Fifth DCA] find that the trial court departed from the essential requirements of the law in implementing and enforcing the confidentiality agreement," and it ask the judges to "vacate the trial court's order with instructions that the press and public be provided immediately with the location of the upcoming jury selection proceedings."

The three judge panel is reviewing the document and will render a decision.  But no one knows if they'll deliver the word by Friday or if they will stay the start of the proceedings while they consider their ruling.

 

But are we surprised to see one more complication in the convuluted course this case has taken since the start?  I'm not but I am getting impatient.  Justice for Caylee is long past due.

Prosecution Hid Evidence in Hannah Overton Case

I wrote about the Hannah Overton case on Women in Crime Ink in September 2008.  She's the Texas mother of five who was convicted of capital murder and given a sentence of life without parole for failing to obtain medical assistance quickly enough for adopted son, Andrew Burd.  A harsh and incomprehensible sentence for what at worst was negligent homicide and what at best was an accident. 

In October 2009, Hannah lost her appeal in the 13th District Court of Appeals.  I had a difficult time believing that any judge would find her punishment fair and just--even if she was slow at addressing Andrew's health crisis.

Now, all those questions about responsibility have been turned on their heads.  Hannah was not negligent at all.  In fact, Andrew did not die from an overdose of salt.  Her new appeal makes it clear--the prosecution possessed a report from a medical examiner who was asked to assess the level of sodium chloride in the four-year-old's body clearly stated "there was an indication that the gastric contents of Andrew Burd did not have a high sodium chloride level."


The prosecution did not share this exculpatory evidence with the defense. There is no gray area here--this is a clear cut case of prosecutorial misconduct.   It simply boggles the mind.  The people we put in a position of trust, whom we call upon to seek truth and find justice actually hid the truth and perverted justice. 

Unfortunately, it is a story that has become increasingly familiar.  I wrote about another travesty of justice perpetrated by yet another ethics-fee prosecution team last week in Women in Crime Ink.  Prosecutors need to be held personally and professionally accountable when they intentional subvert justice.