Leaving on a jet plane

Cause I'm leavin' on a jet plane
Don't know when I'll be back again

- John Denver

We've all heard the philosophical riddle, "If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" This sort of conundrum raises questions regarding observation and knowledge of reality, with knowledge being a key word, because, at the same time, we can ask how we know the tree fell if no one was around to witness it. Suddenly, the philosophical riddle becomes more of a perplexing puzzle. That's the way I look at the latest motion filed by Casey's defense, the OBJECTION TO RELEASE OF DOCUMENTS RELATED TO INTENDED DEFENSE REVIEW OF EVIDENCE. If the media doesn't get a chance to fully question the experts about yesterday and today, do we know for sure that the Field of Dreamers actually examined the evidence? Without further digression, if we take a look at the motion itself, on the surface it may look ordinary, but it's not. To explain, let's start by looking at some of the key points noted in the document.

Page 1

5. This case is a criminal case that carries on in its investigation stages.

Of course it does. So does every other criminal case throughout the land. An investigation can continue until the bitter end, when the state and defense rest. So what's the point? What does that statement tell us the court doesn't already know? Nothing.

Page 2

6. The reviewing of documents and/or tangible evidence related thereto by the defense should not be publicized and disseminated by the news media. This is a case of the state of Florida versus Casey Anthony; this is not a case of the news media and John Q. Public.

Aha! It didn't take long to get to the meat of the motion. What the defense is saying, as Mr. Mason has stated in the past, it is no one's business. This is a capital murder case and the public doesn't have the right to know. Basically, the defense wants to muzzle the media. It's called a gag order. If the defense wishes to put a wall up between the court and the media, why not just file a motion to suppress, restricting information or comments from being made public? That's not what this motion is asking.

8. Defense submits that at some point this Court must recognize the superior rights and entitlements under Constitutional Amendments other than the First Amendment. The news media can report on any and all evidence or proceedings that occur in court at the time of trial.

To be real, this is like sequestering the entire court - prosecution and defense included. Keep the media away from everything until the trial is underway. While I can sympathize with the defense, it's too far fetched and completely unrealistic. This would mean locking the courtroom doors to everyone, because nothing would stop John Q. Public from running to the media as soon as a hearing is over. When I said sympathize, I can understand the frustration the defense feels from some of the reports filed by media outlets. They're not always accurate and they never admit their mistakes. At the same time, we do have a Constitution that protects freedom of speech, and Casey's defense cannot undo that. We also have an open Government in the Sunshine law in the state of Florida, which means government meetings and proceedings are accessible to the public, and the last time I checked, the court system is still a part of the government.

Here's a list of the Constitutional Amendments. Do any of them apply in the motion's argument?

• Amendment 1 - Freedom of Religion, Press, Expression
• Amendment 2 - Right to Bear Arms
• Amendment 3 - Quartering of Soldiers
• Amendment 4 - Search and Seizure
• Amendment 5 - Trial and Punishment, Compensation for Takings

Amendment 5 states that "No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury." Been there, done that.

• Amendment 6 - Right to Speedy Trial, Confrontation of Witnesses

Casey's defense waived her Right to a Speedy Trial a long time ago.

• Amendment 7 - Trial by Jury in Civil Cases
• Amendment 8 - Cruel and Unusual Punishment
• Amendment 9 - Construction of Constitution
• Amendment 10 - Powers of the States and People
• Amendment 11 - Judicial Limits

"The Judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by Citizens of another State, or by Citizens or Subjects of any Foreign State." This one means that federal courts have the authority to hear cases in law and equity brought by private citizens against states. It has no bearing on Casey.

• Amendment 12 - Choosing the President, Vice President
• Amendment 13 - Slavery Abolished
• Amendment 14 - Citizenship Rights

"... 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." Again, the last time I checked, Casey is still living proof that due process of law has not been deprived.

• Amendment 15 - Race No Bar to Vote
• Amendment 16 - Status of Income Tax Clarified
• Amendment 17 - Senators Elected by Popular Vote
• Amendment 18 - Liquor Abolished
• Amendment 19 - Women's Suffrage
• Amendment 20 - Presidential, Congressional Terms
• Amendment 21 - Amendment 18 Repealed
• Amendment 22 - Presidential Term Limits
• Amendment 23 - Presidential Vote for District of Columbia
• Amendment 24 - Poll Taxes Barred
• Amendment 25 - Presidential Disability and Succession
• Amendment 26 - Voting Age Set to 18 Years
• Amendment 27 - Limiting Changes to Congressional Pay

There's a brief summary of the amendments that could be associated with the motion, but I see none that usurp the First Amendment, which mandates that no law can abridge "the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

Let's continue on Page 2

9. To allow the news media to continue to have what has turned out to be, in many instances, "first look" at evidence, publicize otherwise uninformed speculation and conclusions about the evidence, utilizing "talking head" lawyers who have neither the experience, knowledge, or predicates for their public comments, promises to continue to infuse this case with public bias, prejudice, misunderstanding, and error.

This one is bothersome. If I recall, OJ Simpson went on trial and we, the public, learned an awful lot from the media. The nation was still split over his guilt, and legal pundits didn't do much to change the outcome, did they? I'm sure, if you look at the "talking head" attorneys the motion notes, and let's just stick with the local ones, Richard Hornsby, Bill Sheaffer and John Jay would strongly disagree. They are experienced, knowledgeable, and qualified to make assertions in this case. As a matter of fact, if I were an attorney, I'd be downright offended. On the public front, people like to study and learn, George Orwell died long ago, 1984 came and went, and no one has the right to tell any of us what we can read, write, listen to, and see. And we are still free to make our own assumptions.

10. The news media is not going to be allowed to view or see any of the evidence to be inspected; they are not going to be allowed to observe the inspection; at best, they will be able to see the arrival and departure of counsel and witnesses, thus, any reporting about the process would be nothing but imaginative speculation, and purportedly could have no reasonable journalistic value.

This is an arguable point. We, most likely, have seen images and documents of the evidence. We just don't have a concise and itemized list yet of what the defense asked to see. Will we get to see the list? That's what this motion is about. Will the video of the inspection be revealed? That, too, is a matter for the court to decide. Media outlets say yes; the defense says no. We shall see. As for journalistic value, this entire case has been a study in it, and it will continue until the very end.

Page 3

11. Your undersigned submits that at some point a balancing of the First Amendment Rights to report must be had against the eminently more important rights of the defense to effective assistance of counsel, due process, and equal protection. The media will be able to observe all phases of the trial that are on the record and do their reporting from then.

WHEREFORE, the Defendant prays this Court consider the foregoing, exercise its inherent supervisory powers, and deny the release of the documents by which the defense and prosecution have agreed to be an evidence inspection.

I am of the opinion that this motion is J. Cheney Mason's all the way. What I read is precisely the way I hear him in the courtroom; the same mannerisms, the same innuendos, the same language. In fact, his signature on the motion sits atop Jose Baez's, which generally means it came out of his office. I understand the frustration of the defense. After all, every defense attorney must cope with the media, and in this case, publishing the list could tip the hat regarding strategy, but the most important part of keeping strategy under wraps is to deny the prosecution this information, not the media. With this knowledge, the media will inform the public more uniformly and with greater accuracy.

Let's backtrack to page 2

7. The news media have, generally, spent nearly the past two years reaping benefits of their own imagination and reporting of matters both accurate and grossly inaccurate. All of such actions have resulted in causing this case to have to bear the extraordinary expense of a change of venue and bringing jurors from an undisclosed location in this state to be sequestered throughout the trial proceedings.

The defense would be better served if media outlets continue to have access to public records regarding this and all cases. To challenge it means that we would be less accurate, as I said, and in all honesty and practicality, no one is going to stop writing about Casey Anthony until the end, whenever it may be. This is part of the American psyche and it will remain a part of history for centuries to come. In the meantime, nothing can take away our inherent thirst for knowledge.

This defense would also be better served if it stopped holding impromptu press conferences at the end of each hearing for one reason and one reason alone: How can it shut the press up while it continues to inform them? This is no ordinary juxtaposition, this is hypocrisy. The left hand is doing one thing while the right hand is doing the opposite. It's perplexing, to say the least.

There is nothing in this motion that cites case law. There are no valid arguments. This is a matter of state law, and the law is abundantly clear as written in the Florida Constitution. By filing this motion with the judge instead of through the Clerk of Courts office while the judge was on vacation, Cheney Mason knew exactly what he was doing. Anyone could have predicted it. In my opinion, it was nothing more than a stall tactic. Does the defense really expect to win this one? I don't think so, but it was a smart maneuver. What the motion gains is this: It gives the experts time to leave on jet planes before the media can come after them with precise questions. They'll be long gone before the receipts are released to the public. Gone, yes, but not forgotten. Speaking of which, how ironic is it that exactly two years from the date of those 911 calls, July 15, 2008, those same calls will be argued in court? As Judge Strickland wrote in his dismissal order, "Indeed. The irony is rich."

What dreams may come

Today is the day that Casey Anthony's Team of Dreamers rolls into town to inspect evidence the defense hand selected. Judge Belvin Perry had set a deadline date of last Thursday to give the prosecution and the Orange County Sheriff's Office their wish list of evidence it wants to see. Interestingly, B&M (Jose Baez and Cheney Mason) bypassed the Orange County Clerk of Courts and turned this list of receipts over to Judge Perry's office. The judge was on vacation last week and the defense must have been aware of that fact. What it expected to gain by the maneuver is somewhat of a mystery, but the odds on bet is on keeping the receipts away from public inspection. Both the prosecution and defense have until 4:00 PM today to file motions if they are opposed to the release. The chances the prosecution would file a motion like this are out of the park, and if the defense does, bet the farm league that this will be one more motion it loses. The list will become another part of the public record.

Let's take a look at the Team of Dreamers as they find their way to Orlando and the Orange County Sheriff's Office on west Colonial Drive. In honor of tonight's MLB All-Star Game, let's call them the Field of Dreamers who are coming to bat for Casey. Judge Perry will be the umpire.

Play Ball!

The SAOs have home field advantage. Part of the visiting team, the B&Ms, has arrived, and on first base, we have Dr. Henry Lee, the famed criminologist/pathologist who covered the bag during the OJ Simpson trial. According to his Web site profile, he is "Chief Emeritus of the Connecticut State Police, Founder and Professor of the Forensic Science Program at the University of New Haven, Editor of Seven Academic Journals, author/ co-author of 30 books and over 300 articles."

His biography states that, "Dr. Lee’s testimony figured prominently in the O. J. Simpson trial, and in convictions of the “Woodchipper” murderer as well as hundreds of other murder cases. Dr. Lee has assisted local and state police in their investigations of other famous crimes, such as the murder of Jon Benet Ramsey in Boulder, Colorado, the 1993 suicide of White House Counsel Vincent Foster, and the reinvestigation of the Kennedy assassination."¹

Playing second is Nicholas Petraco, an associate professor of chemistry and forensic science at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. Coincidentally, that's the same school where Dr. Lee earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Forensic Science way back in 1972. According to a fellow John Jay professor, Thomas Kubic, a co-author with Petraco on crime scene investigation books, the forensic expert has spent a lot of time in the NYPD's crime lab peering through microscopes and spectrophotometers to find fibers and trace evidence the human eye cannot detect. The former police detective is now "teaching physical chemistry I (classical equilibrium thermodynamics), physical chemistry II (quantum mechanics and theoretical spectroscopy), computational quantum chemistry and general introductory chemistry. Conducting research into the application of statistical pattern recognition to physical evidence in forensic science. Also conducting research on the application of quantum chemistry to forensically important molecules."² In other words, this man is no second-string ballplayer.

At third, we have Dr. Tim Huntington, an assistant professor at Concordia University, Nebraska, and a board-certified entomologist. I guess you could say that he should be playing in the outfield since his expertise is in going after fly balls, but as a forensic expert in the world series of bugs, he studies insects and other arthropod biology as they apply in criminal matters. Usually associated with death investigations, he may be able to establish Caylee's time of death - from a defense standpoint - and whether any drugs or poisons were present. He may add evidence regarding whether any post-mortem movement occurred. This is very important.

According to his Concordia Bio, "Professor Huntington is one of 15 board certified forensic entomologists, and is a forensic entomology consultant for several law enforcement agencies. He has consulted on more than fifty death investigations spanning seven states and four countries, and is a member of the American Board of Forensic Entomology, American Academy of Forensic Sciences, Entomological Society of America, North American Forensic Entomology Association, and Nebraska Chapter of the International Association for Identification. In 2007 he was awarded the Young Alumnus of the Year Award by Concordia."³

Playing shortstop is a tag team of Dutch forensic scientists,Richard and Selma Eikelenboom, who are well-known for pioneering the field of Touch DNA. Touch DNA was so named because it analyzes microscopic skin cells left when an assailant touches a victim, a weapon, or something else found at a crime scene. It's been around for about seven years and it was the technology that cleared JonBenet Ramsey's family of her murder. Boulder police had wrongly suspected her parents. The Eikelenbooms identified full DNA profiles from parts of her clothing where the perpetrator grabbed hold of her. In another crime, with Richard and Selma's help, Touch DNA was crucial in having the murder conviction of Tim Masters thrown out. Masters became the first convict in Colorado to be exonerated due to DNA evidence, but it was actually the absence of his DNA on the victim's body that cleared him. (See also:48 Hours: Drawn to Murder)

Well, there you have it. Here's part of the line-up for the thrilling game that will be underway next season. In the field of forensics, these four came with one intent - to strike the state out. On the mound is team captain, Jose Baez. Catching is the guy with bad knees, Mr. Cheney Mason, himself. The rest of the field will follow. Until then, is this really a Dream Team, or are they playing out in left field somewhere?

♦

In Memory Of New York Yankees Owner

George Steinbrenner

July 4, 1930 – July 13, 2010

GO YANKEES!

Frink on Crime

Norman W. Frink is the Chief Deputy District Attorney of Multnomah County, Oregon. In a letter released yesterday that he had written to the circuit judge two days earlier, he said "the... Major Crimes Team could no longer stand by its assertion in my affidavit of July 2 that unsealing the sealed matters before you would undermine our on-going criminal investigation." With that, Circuit Court Judge Keith Meisenheimer opened the floodgates and released several documents pertaining to Kaine Horman, Petitioner, and Terri Moulton Horman, Respondent.

All court documents were filed on June 28.

First up is the RESTRAINING ORDER TO PREVENT ABUSE, sanctioned by the state Family Abuse Prevention Act. This one prevents Terri from making any contact with the Petitioner, her husband. This means business. If she attempts to contact Kaine in any manner, she will, most likely, go to jail. This means everywhere in the country, not just the state.

It was ordered that:

Respondent is restrained (prohibited) from intimidating, molesting, interfering with or menacing, or attempting to intimidate, molest, interfere, menace, the minor child/ren inPetitioner's custody directly or through third parties.

Respondent is restrained (prohibited) from intimidating, molesting, interfering with or menacing, or attempting to intimidate, molest, interfere, or menace, the minor child/ren in Petetioner's custody directly or through third parties.

Except as otherwise set out in this Order, Respondent is restrained (prohibited) from entering or attempting to enter, or remain in, the area within 150 feet of the building and land at the following locations:

The locations included Kaine's employer, Intel, and the gym where he works out. Terri is still living at the property he owns.

Respondent shall not knowingly be or stay within 500 feet... of Petitioner unless otherwise ordered by the court.

Terri is allowed to appear at court hearings and at those meetings, she must stay at least 10 feet away from Kaine.

Except as otherwise set out in this Order, Respondent is restrained (prohibited) from:

Contacting, or attempting to contact, Petitioner in person directly or through third parties.

Contacting, or attempting to contact, Petitioner by mail or e-mail, or any other electronic transmission, except for mailing court-ordered emergency monetary assistance, checks or money orders directly or through third parties,

Contacting, or attempting to contact, Petitioner bytelephone, including cell phone or text messaging directly or through third parties.

Respondent is restrained (prohibited) from entering, or attempting to enter, or remain at:

The child/ren's current or future day care provider, or removing them from daycare.

The child/ren's current or future school, or removing them from school.

Terri is not allowed to purchase or possess any firearms or ammunition, too. Kaine was awarded temporary custody of their 18-month-old daughter, Kiara Ariel, and Terri was given NO parenting time. If this sounds harsh, consider the next PETITION FOR RESTRAINING ORDER TO PREVENT ABUSE...

Kaine wrote that, "I believe Respondent is involved in the disappearance of my son Kyron who has been missing since June 4, 2010. I also recently learned that Respondent attempted to hire someone to murder me. The police have provided me with probable cause to believe the above two statements to be true."

Throughout the motion, he wrote that he was in imminent danger because,"Respondent attempted to hire someone to murder me." He and his daughter are staying at an undisclosed location.

He also filed a FAMILY LAW NOTICE OF NONDISCLOSURE OF CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION FORM. Kaine filed an ex parte order that this CIF information not be made available to anyone else, including their attorney because a restraining order was in effect that protected Kaine from the opposing party, which, in this case, is Terri. We should remember ex parte motions from the Casey Anthony case. It is a situation where a request is made in which only one party (and not the adversary) appears before a judge.

The final document filed is the one that is rather interesting. The others were straight and to the point, but this one is asking for a special dispensation.

AFFIDAVIT OF COUNSEL RE: EX PARTE MOTION AND ORDER TO RESTRICT ACCESS TO FILE

The search for Kyron and the alleged murder plot are still open investigations. Of course, law enforcement had to know every detail of Kaine and Terri's lives, and it looks to me like there are some things that should remain behind closed doors, so to speak.

Laura E. Rackner is Kaine's attorney. She states that both litigants, Kaine and Terri, have a high profile existence, which they do now, and family relations which garner media attention. That sure is true today. Here's where it gets tricky:

The disclosure of information pertaining to the parties' family information and other matters involved in this proceeding [ongoing criminal investigation] will make the parties the target of further media and public scrutiny. The disclosure of this information will be detrimental to the petitioner and his privacy rights, and could affect the interests and privacy rights of other family members.

Those two sentences imply a lot, but it doesn't stop there:

The information contained in the pleadings filed with the Court may be potentially embarrassing for the parties or for family members. It is likely that if public access to this file is allowed, this information will be disseminated in the media.

Well, well, what could this be all about?

This is a private family matter that should not be disseminated by the press and there is no public policy served by allowing public access to these records. Such access may be embarrassing to the parties, damaging to the family, and disruptive to the Court proceedings.

This Motion to Restrict Access to Court File says a lot, even by saying nothing at all. In earlier comments on another thread pertaining to this case, we discussed matters of privacy and how we project ourselves in public. The id is part of the psychic apparatus defined in Sigmund Freud's model of the human psyche. According to Freud, the id is the set of uncoordinated instinctual trends. The ego is the organized, realistic part, and the super-ego plays the role of moralizing.

We have different personae depending on how comfortable we are with people. This is called the "I" person and the "me" person. When we meet someone for the first time, we tend to be on our best behavior. That is the "I" personality. If we continue to see that person, over time, we become more comfortable and less restrictive. We open up. That's the "me" part. A man would, most likely, never belch on a first date, but he would down the road as he becomes more relaxed. What this illustrates are different levels of comfort. Everyone has rules regarding what they are willing to do and where they draw the line and they constantly change over time; be it style, politics, religion, and most certainly, private matters. As they grow together, they learn to adapt, and what was once unacceptable may become a norm. For example, a lifelong Baptist could one day embrace the Catholic faith because his mate wants him to convert. The same holds true in most walks of life, and we all have our own sets of mores that we constantly adjust.

What happens when this includes other areas of our lives, like what we do in the bedroom? There is probably nothing more embarrassing than for someone or something to open up our hamper of sexual behavior, dirty in the sense that what may be good for some geese might not be acceptable for others to take a gander at. Shocking! Rumors have been rampant regarding matters of what was going on behind the doors of certain households and private clubs around Portland, Oregon. Is it important that we find out? No, of course not, but part of that human psyche involves peeling away the curtains and poking around our neighborhoods, and with the advent of the Internet, the world is now our neighborhood. Humans are a curious lot and always ready for gossip. Just what is Kaine's attorney asking to keep private? No one will say at the moment, but a buzz is in the air. Will we find out? Most likely, yes, because of our curious proclivities and also because Terri's defense may want to use it against her estranged husband - to take away his innocence and place him on an even playing field in court. Why? People don't like to be backed into corners, and that might be the way she feels right now.

That doesn't mean we need to ask, because we might not like what we see. Personally, I'd rather leave the investigation in the capable hands of the Multnomah County Major Crimes Team. Let them come out swinging.

Lyon Down

This is an opinion piece based on my observations in and out of the courtroom.

"You're really not going to notice any difference in the way the team operates."

- Cheney Mason

I never planned on writing anything about my interaction with Andrea Lyon because it wasn't all that relevant. Yesterday, that changed when she stepped out from the Casey limelight and the shadow of Cheney Mason. To be honest, it came as a complete surprise to me and I'll be the first person to say I thought she would be there until the end; that she would do her very best to keep Caylee's mother from the clutches of death, if it comes to that. Whenever anyone asked me if she would stay or leave now that another death qualified attorney joined the team, that was my standard answer. To me, she was the best chance Casey had. Well, that's no longer the case, and when I think about it and try to put everything in perspective, I never would have guessed that Judge Strickland would be off the bench, either. Interestingly, Judge Strickland and Andrea Lyon have something in common. Both left after Cheney Mason joined the illustrious defense. He's the common thread and the one that, in my opinion, had something to do yesterday's Motion to Withdraw Counsel. Time will tell if her absence becomes noticeable or not, but so far, I see no improvement after one fair judge stepped down, only to be replaced by another. I make it a point to say he went from Strickland to stricter, and because of his lengthy and seasoned career, he should have known you don't change horses in mid-stream. With yesterday's turn, I'm afraid it was brought about by conflicting viewpoints, along with other factors such as money and scheduling issues. We must consider that Mason had already assumed many of her responsibilities involving the death penalty and this should have been an overt clue. It was a natural transition I never recognized, but I still feel she was and could still be extremely essential to the case.

Under Mason's tutelage came a complete shift in strategy as witnessed at the last hearing and press conference. No longer was Roy Kronk the defense's main target. No longer will it embrace the theory that TES searchers went into those woods earlier on, when the area was flooded. Remember, it was Mason who said there's a difference between missing and disappearing. I'm not suggesting that there were problems with those issues. What I will strongly hint at are bones of contention we may never know about, and when push came to nudge in a battle of intellectual supremacy, was it really worth the trouble from all the way up Chicago way?

Today, I sense a strong possibility that, with Andrea gone, the trial date could be moved ahead at least a week. After all, it is her daughter who is graduating college the week of May 2nd. Judge Perry wanted it to begin that week but he graciously accommodated her. Suddenly, as the judge continues to poke and prod both sides to speed things up, it takes on a new and earnest meaning and that could come to fruition, only don't bet the farm just yet. Trust me, I've been wrong before.

♦

When Andrea Lyon's book, Angel of Death Row, was published, I wrote apost about it based on excerpts published on the Scribd Web site. Soon after, I attended a hearing and had a chance to talk to her. That was the day I "famously" handed my business card to Jose Baez. You know, the card that DOES NOT have my address on it. Walking to the parking garage, I had a friendly chat with Mort Smith, the defense team's private investigator who will, incidentally, remain with the team. As we continued to walk, I asked Andrea what she preferred to be called, ANN'-drea -- AHN'-drea, Ahn-DRAY'A or Ms. Lyon?

"ANN'-drea is just fine," she responded. Okay, Andrea it is.

I told her I had written a post about her new book. I also told her I found a typo in it. A couple of weeks earlier, I sent her an e-mail pointing it out and I wondered whether she received it or not. She acknowledged that she had and then thanked me. She said it would be corrected by the next printing. Along with several other bystanders awaiting the elevator, we all boarded together. Jose asked me if I was going to buy the book. I said, yes, if she would autograph it. Then, he turned to her and jokingly chuckled, "Good, at least one person will be buying it."

Needless to say, the garage elevator is a lot faster than the courthouse ones that go up 23 floors, and in a snap, we parted ways.

♦

The next time I spoke to her was after a later hearing. We were standing outside the entrance/exit doors at one of the now familiar post-hearing press conferences. Standing by her side this time was Linda Kenney Baden, who will also stay on. As Jose was finishing answering questions, I moved closer to the women and asked, "Andrea?"

"Yes, David," she quickly responded. What I discussed with her was of no relevance here, but we stood within inches of each other and I was surprised at how approachable, charming, and downright friendly she was. She was very relaxed, open and candid, too. She even introduced me to Kenney Baden. What I could see in her eyes was an extremely caring individual. Of course, I witnessed it in the courtroom, but, for the brief moment we talked, I sensed - up close and personal - a lot of compassion despite her well known courtroom theatrics. I was impressed that, out of all that was going on in her life, she remembered my name. That was duly noted and appreciated.

I will say this. When she joined the defense team 13 months ago, I thought she was a dedicated woman, it was certainly a step in the right direction, and she was a most positive addition. Up until yesterday, she was the only person of the main three members - meaning her, Baez and Mason - I had the most respect for. I guess I will always have a soft spot for a deeply humanitarian woman, but it was more than that. I happen to hold the same opinion regarding the abolition of the death penalty and I know how committed she is to that cause. That's precisely why her decision to part company came as such a surprise, but I should know better by now. Look what happened to one key player, not to mention little old me, but speaking of judges, here's something you never knew. Neither did she. She felt that a certain judge didn't like her. In the end, and I can say this in all honesty as I bid her well in her present and future endeavors... Andrea? You were dead wrong about that. Take heart, and as you take leave, take that with you.

POOF! Into thin air

"Polly was taken inside of her bedroom. A little girl named Amber Dubois was taken out in front her school last February. Children can be, unfortunately, snatched anywhere."

- Marc Klaas, on Larry King Live last night

In an odd twist, Kyron Horman's father filed for divorce from his stepmother yesterday in Multnomah County Circuit Court. It includes a restraining order. The filing listed Kaine Horman as the petitioner and Terri Moulton Horman as the respondent. KATU also reported that, "The source said the restraining order is a physical restraining order that is meant to protect the couple’s 18-month-old daughter, Kiara."

Read the Horman divorce papers

Kyron's father, biological mother and stepfather issued a statement yesterday. Noticeably absent was his stepmother's signature:

"We have been fully briefed by law enforcement on the on-going criminal investigation. We are in complete support of that investigation. We have asked the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office to facilitate releasing this statement for us due to their access to the media/flash news.

We understand that we have free access to the media but are limiting statements to the media to keep the integrity of the investigation intact.

Any actions taken by the investigation, or by us, are based on the best interests of Kyron and Kiara and comply with the law. Beyond this, we have no comment on the matter.

Desiree, Tony and Kaine"

Since Kyron disappeared from his school on June 4, police have said that Terri is the last known person to see him alive. After a massive search turned up nothing, the Multnomah County sheriff's office labelled the case a criminal investigation.

Last night, Sheriff's spokeswoman Lt. Mary Lindstrand said her office is "not talking about personal issues going on with the Hormans." In other words, the divorce papers mean nothing to them. Although speculation has mounted in recent weeks that Kyron's stepmother might know more about his disappearance than she had initially let on, Lindstrand said Terri Horman is neither a person of interest, nor a suspect.

Meanwhile, her father is staying at her house to lend a hand and to give her much needed support.

Former Multnomah County Deputy District Attorney Jim McIntyre had a few things to say about the investigation.

"The probabilities are that it’s somebody close in – and when I say that I don’t mean immediate family members, I mean that it’s somebody that may or may not know Kyron or know the routine.  It’s usually someone closer in but closer in can include a retail store clerk that sees him all the time that decided to do something," McIntyre stated. He said that maintaining a lead on the right suspect is a key ingredient. "You don’t want to put the investigators off on the track that could be an erroneous track because then the individual who actually committed the offense is gaining time."

McIntyre also warned about the problems associated with joining public opinion. "Jumping on the bandwagon of who the public thinks did it is often a huge mistake," he said. Pointing fingers at the family usually causes them to shut down.

"It’s easy for family members to begin to believe that they’ve become targets when perhaps they’re really just trying to eliminate [the family] and they’re can be a natural friction that can develop and you saw that historically in theJonBenet case which still remains unsolved and that case slipped sideways between law enforcement and the family."

Terri Horman's white truck being impounded twice and the recent questionnaire sent out, McIntyre concluded, "You have to go back to who is the last person who was with Kyron, who was the last person to see Kyron. What was Kyron’s regular schedule and where would he have been.  What was the likelihood of people having contact with him."

On Larry King Live last night, Marc Klaas of the Klaas Kids Foundationsaid, "As I understand it, he does. Let me clarify a couple things. First of all, it's a very rural community. It's a rural school. There are about 300 people at the school. What happened that day, according to her own words, as she was walking the little boy to his class and was very close to the class when the bell rang at 8:45 a.m. She then told him - he told her, mom, excuse me, I'm going the classroom now. She said she waved to him and that was the last time she saw the little boy.

"The problem with that statement is that if she was walking with him, she would have kissed him or rubbed his head or something. Waving doesn't make a lot of sense if you're close to the classroom. So she then turned and went away. One of two things happened, I believe. Number one, she is involved. That's where the numbers take you. That's where the facts as we know them take you. The second possibility is a very high risk snatch by a local pedophile."

The problem with Terri's story is the relative lack of time. If she was walking Kyron to his classroom, he would have been merely seconds away from the door. Had she turned around to leave, how much time would there have been for someone to grab him and run out of the building? Why didn't anyone see a perpetrator? Klaas added, "And I think the best thing to yell is you're not my mom, you're not my dad. Under no circumstances, if a child has any kind an option, you never, ever go with the bad man."

Although the sheriff's office states that Terri Moulton Horman is not even a person of interest, how could someone enter a school undetected and, in a matter of seconds and perfect timing, leave with a young child in tow? This is a far cry from the 31 days Casey claimed, but it becomes more believable if we factor in the entire school day. Remember, he wasn't reported missing until he failed to get off the afternoon bus.

Creepy Cryptic Casey, Part 2 Revisited

This is an article I wrote and published 12 August 2009. Because someone sent a printed copy to Casey at the jail and it was released in the discovery documents yesterday, I decided it might be worth another look. You will find it HERE. You need to go to page 177-179 to view the scanned pages. Thanks, Snoopy. She’s the one who found it last night and alerted me.

Also, bear in mind that we know more today than we did last August. Some people don’t believe Casey was smart enough to conjure up a scheme like this. Others believe she was. I just presented some rather odd coincidences. Some people believe in them and others don’t. This is for you to discern.

At the bottom of this post are 2 videos titled Driving Miss Casey. I had to break it into 2 parts because of size limits on YouTube. In a nutshell, I took a ride down Chickasaw Trail to Hopespring and Suburban Drives. Included are a real time trip from the Anthony house to the woods, a real time trip from the end of Hopespring to the abandoned house the PIs scoped out, a trip to Lee’s old place, and the famous Amscot parking lot with a bonus shot of the dumpster. You can read the article first or last, but I really do want you to read it because it should prove to be thought provoking.

CREEPY CRYPTIC CASEY, PART 2

In January of this year [2009] I wrote an article titled, Creepy Cryptic Casey. It was there that I mentioned the two dwellings at the corner of Suburban and Hopespring Drives. The last two lots on the east side of Hopespring are numbered 4709 and 4701, respectively. In the house next to the end lives Zenaida Almodovar. In the corner lot lives Peter Gonzalez. Some could safely surmise that by combining parts of the two names you come up with Zenaida Gonzalez. Is this merely a coincidence or is there more to it?

Images can be enlarged by clicking them

In that January article, I wrote, “Some people love to play mind games. They bask in the unfounded superiority they feel they have over you. They love to tell riddles. Casey was good at that.” I continued by including something she said to Lee in response to one of his questions:

LEE: What do you think, where do you think. You think Caylee’s ok right now?

CASEY: My gut feeling? As mom asked me yesterday and even Jose asked me last night, the psychologist asked me this morning that I got through the court, um in my gut she’s still ok. And it still feels like she’s close to home.

What was most unusual about Casey’s statement was that she was absolutely right. Caylee was very close to home as we later found out, and it is here that I am going to expand on those words by showing you evidence that could, quite possibly, shed more light on why the state of Florida charged her with premeditated first-degree murder. As puzzling as Casey tried to be, did she hand out clues and truisms at the time of her initial oral and written statements to investigators? Was she telling the truth? In some cases, I allege that she was absolutely telling the truth.

On her first written statement to law enforcement, dated July 16, 2008, she said something that appears to have come from her mother. Cindy told her (and deputies) that she hadn’t seen Caylee since June 9. Casey wrote the same thing on her statement. She also wrote that she hadn’t seen her daughter in 31 days. Obviously, June 9 to July 15 add up to more than 31 days and later the confusion over the date was remedied by the Father’s Day video taken on June 15. What is extremely interesting and telling to me is one thing she wrote in particular…

“… between 9am and 1pm…”

Could that be true? Oh, I’m not talking about the time George said he saw them leave the house together on June 16. I’m looking at the time Casey wrote, between 9 and 1. Take a good look at where Caylee’s body was found:

Caylee’s body was found behind Zenaida’s and Gonzalez’s properties by meter reader, Roy Kronk. Look at the two addresses again:

4709

4701

Casey kept insisting that Zenaida Gonzalez had her. What are the two house numbers and who lives there? Where was Caylee found?Between 9 and 1. Incidentally, this information, like the Zenaida MySpace page, was right under our noses all along, and it came from akfhome27 when she left a comment on my YouTube video of Suburban Drive. The video can also be viewed on my blog.

Are those nothing more than mere coincidences that can readily be shrugged off? One could easily think so, except I have one more thing to show you. This one came to me by way of Laura, a frequent contributor here. Wait until you get a load of this…

Laura Googled 8905 Suburban Drive and this is what she came up with…

At first glance, it really seems innocuous enough, but look at that number again. 8905. Wasn’t Caylee’s birthday on Sunday, August 9? Wasn’t she born in 2005? Isn’t that 8/9/05? Isn’t that where the body was found?

Driving Miss Casey Part 1 (YouTube link)

Driving Miss Casey Part 2 (YouTube link)

P.S. I love you

Among the items released today are four interview transcripts from 2008, police statements, and scads of letters sent to Casey. A jail spokesperson said there was no indication that Casey read all letters, which leads me to believe it is jail policy to scan all letters regardless of who they are addressed to - incoming and outgoing.

TRANSCRIPTS

Rick Plesea

Richard Grund

Nathan Lezniewicz

Debbie Polisano

LETTERS & MISC.

Document 1

Document 2

Document 3

Document 4

Document 5

Meanwhile, there's enough literature in today's discovery to keep everyone busy for a week or so. When I am ready to discern all documents, I doubt I will pay much attention to the letters addressed to Casey. They are not important, but some of them should be good for a few chuckles.

An Observation

Someone on one of my other sites mentioned something that, I think, is very interesting. Most of us know by now that Casey and her friends played in the woods across from Hidden Oaks Elementary School. One of her friends, KioMarie Cruz, stated that the area was also a burial ground for pets. Today, those woods are separated by a chain link fence. So are the woods on the north side of Suburban Drive.

From my own observations of the area, and from video footage I've shot, the land directly across the street from the school is the only place elevated enough to keep from flooding. Because of this, I maintain it was the spot where neighborhood children played, before the fence was installed. They did not play close to where Caylee's bones were found.

From Pipkin50:

"... I would like to remind everyone who is interested in this case that Casey went past these same woods for 6 years while attending elementary school. Basically, for her entire life she had observed this particular area of woods go unattended by the land owner---making it a perfect place, in her mind, to dispose of a body. 'Close to home' =down the street in the woods 'safe' = protected with 3 layers of bags."

That's a compelling thought. Living close to Hidden Oaks, Casey walked that path almost every day during the school year. I know some people think Casey said 'close to Hope' and that may be true, but it's not necessarily relevant because Caylee was found close to home and close to Hope, short for Hopespring or Hidden Oaks Elementary School, which is a stretch in my opinion. 'Holt' has also been tossed around.

Do you think that, because she walked by those woods every day, she was very familiar with that precise spot? It's solitary, and I would say, very uninviting and downright spooky to young children. As I said, the woods on the school side (north) are separated from the street by a fence, and there is a sidewalk on that side only, not on the south side where the body was found. From my trips to the neighborhood, I have not seen any children walking on the south side of Suburban as they leave school, particularly in that area where snakes and other vermin abound. Prior to December 11, 2008 and beyond, were children told by their parents and teachers to avoid that place because of inherent dangers, and to always stay on the sidewalk? Has it been drilled into them? Remember, that's also the age when children have wild imaginations and the boogeyman exists. Was it the perfect spot because no one ever went in there? Until Roy Kronk came along?

Could this observation be presented by the prosecution at trial, or is it too vague and not relevant?

Hot off the grill...

It's been almost two years since my friend Rick died. He drank himself to death. No matter how much I tried to rescue him from the bottle, he wanted no help, and in the end, it was alcohol that pushed him to an early grave. Years earlier, Rick ran an NCAA Basketball Tournament betting sheet where you pick 32 of the 64 team field, eliminating each bracket until only 2 teams remain to play the championship game. In this particular bet, there were two winners to split the pot. I was one of them. When it came time to collect, Rick made every excuse in the book. He forgot to bring the money. He forgot where he put it. After several weeks of this, I hit him with the truth, "You don't have the money. You spent it on booze."

Yup, he wasted money that didn't belong to him. Such is the life of an alcoholic. Of course, we now know where Todd Macaluso stands in the legal community after stepping down from Casey's defense team for writing worthless checks from a client’s trust account. It reminded me so much of Rick. I'm glad Todd entered the Alternative Discipline Program, which addresses the substance abuse and mental health problems of attorneys when disciplinary action is taken in the California State Bar Court.

304 days ago, Todd Macaluso stood before the Ninth Circuit Court of Florida, in front of Judge Stan Strickland, and made this blanket statement:

“There is substantial evidence that we’ve found … that the body or remains of Caylee Anthony were placed there after Casey Anthony was locked up. It proves that somebody else placed the remains in the area.”

For ten months, we were led to believe this would be the tack the defense would take at trial, based on statements made by TES searchers, off-record, who said the land where Caylee was found three months later was not flooded in September when they searched. What made this so senseless was the undisputed fact regarding summer weather in Central Florida. Roy Kronk said under oath that the woods were too flooded to enter in mid-August of 2008. Soon after he reported his sighting, T.S. Fay rolled into town, adding over 12" of rain to an already flooded and low-lying location. Come September, no one could go in there to search, and TES leader Tim Miller instructed his teams to keep away from areas under water; that it may destroy evidence.

I believe Cheney Mason was smart enough to recognize that, because yesterday, he did an abrupt about-face. Huh? What's this all about? In a post-hearing press conference, Mason said:

"They did not search the exact areas where the body was found. So everything they said before that is not relevant."

Did Brother Cheney speak out of school? Is he spanking the numero uno defense attorney, Jose Baez, by taking the lead, or is it part of an orchestrated effort because of one simple truth - the area was too flooded to search and the State has the proof to back it up? I think the answer is yes. The area WAS flooded and the statement of Macaluso past must be erased from the memory bank of future defense maneuvers. Of course, we won't discuss plant and insect forensic evidence at the moment. That comes later.

On July 16 of 2009, Jose Baez and Andrea D. Lyon filed two motions. One was to certify Tim Miller as a material witness and/or to subpoena him for documents in the possession of TES. The motion makes several claims:

1. "This area [8750 block of Suburban Drive] was searched by several individuals, including Orange County law enforcement and TES volunteers, between July and December 2008."
2. "Several searchers have made statements to Orange County law enforcement and to the media stating either that they searched the 8750 block of Suburban Drive with TES, or they encountered TES searchers in that area."
3. "... that Orange County law enforcement provided TES with documents identifying the area in question as an area of interest; that witnesses have made various statements (including in a sworn interview) to the effect that they searched the area in question on behalf of TES or saw TES searchers in that area..."

In another defense motion filed November 23 of 2009, the defense had this to say:

"The Defense, through its own independent investigation, has interviewed several TES searchers who not only searched the area where the remains were found, but who were not among the thirty-two (32) identified by TES."

This was the now famous motion containing the statements of Joseph Jordanand Laura Buchanan, in which the bold claim was made that:

"The signed statements from Joe Jordan and Laura Buchanan, included with this Memorandum of Law, indicate that there were several people who searched the Suburban Drive neighborhood but were not among the thirty-two (32) names disclosed by TES.

Why did the defense decide to run diametrically opposed to previous statements and motions? Clearly, this is something Cheney Mason conjured up because Jose Baez and Andrea Lyon filed motions that are contrary to this new revelation. They are also motions this defense did not win, and there lies the crux. Since this didn't work, let's try something else. Gone with the old, in with the new, and most certainly, Mason is not naive to the ins and outs of criminal defense strategies. Here's the brand new slant:

“What do you have that shows she was not there in June?” WFTV reporter Kathi Belich asked him.

“That's when Caylee was missing. We don't know when she disappeared,” he replied.

AHA! The linguistic switch! No one knows when Caylee disappeared. As President Clinton once responded, "It all depends on what your definition of isis," there are discrepancies in the meanings of missing and disappearing. I guess we could establish the fact that my keys may be missing if I lost them, but they certainly didn't disappear because they would have to be where I left them, unless, of course, they were taken by someone else. Then, they would have disappeared and they are missing. Got that? You see, it's all in the semantics. Instead of admitting it can't win the flooding argument, the defense concedes by manipulating the verbiage. What it will attempt to prove in court is that Casey lost Caylee, but she didn't disappear. It was precisely like losing a set of keys, only she wasn't where Casey last left her. Let's see... was that at Sawgrass, or was it at Jay Blanchard Park? Oh. She lost her at Sawgrass, but she disappeared from Blanchard. Today, Casey misses her more than anything else. Gotcha!

No matter what twist the defense tries, the prosecution is going to present evidence that shows Casey never lost her. She never went missing or disappeared in her mind because she knew exactly where she left her all along; in the woods on the southern side of Suburban Drive, 8750 block. What interests me now is one simple question about why the defense still needs those TES documents. If Cheney Mason has concluded that no one searched in those woods, what difference should it make? Has someone else, another TES member or an independent searcher, stepped forward; someone who looked inside at an earlier or later date when the ground was dry enough? Or is there a slim possibility that a searcher joined the TES team in order to conveniently dispose of a body? If that's the defense plan, then I could almost justify wanting to go through those records, especially now that Roy Kronk is no longer under a defense microscope as a suspect, as Cheney said. That's whole different story, too.

Whatever it is, it's a pickle. When Judge Belvin Perry denied the defense access to the illegal tape recording made by Joe Jordan, Mason knew it would have to shift gears. Jordan's defense statement was unreliable and would hold no credibility in court. Would Laura Buchanan's words be enough? I doubt it, but hopefully, we'll know more answers after the July 15 hearing, when the issue of TES records is heard, or by August 31, when the defense must present its list of witnesses. Most likely, what Mason uttered yesterday is just a new way to create an element of doubt; another soft-shoe shuffle. Personally, I think it's nothing more than hot air, something Mason and the summer months of Florida are famous for. And, they're all wet.

Two Years Later

Yesterday afternoon, I took a ride down to Suburban Drive to shoot a video of the site where Caylee Marie Anthony was found. It's been two years since she was tossed into those dark and lonely woods like a bag of trash and I wanted to give you another glimpse at how it might have looked back then. I knew before going there that the area where her bones were discovered had been cleared out and that it would never look the same as then. The last time I was there, on April 24, most of the foliage was still dead from winter and what I would guess to be some kind of defoliant. As you will see, it doesn't look like that any more.

Needless to say, I was out of the house and off the computer most of the day. No time to play silly games. When I returned, I had to edit the numerous scenes I shot to make it transition well and make sense.

I know I'm a day late, but better late than never...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DIANA!

Where did Kyron go?



Kyron Horman has been missing over two weeks now. His stepmother said she last saw him walking to his classroom at 8:45 AM on June 4 after looking at exhibits at Skyline Elementary School's science fair, where he is a student.

This became a criminal investigation on June 14. Authorities have put out flyers in hopes of generating positive leads.

Three Page Flyer

As of now, the focus of the investigation seems to have shifted to his stepmother, Terri Moulton Horman, after her story about what she did on the day of his disappearance didn't match her cell phone records, which placed her at or near Sauvie Island, north of the school. Because of this discrepancy, authorities have been combing bodies of water around the area where he was reported missing.

Remember that Kyron's stepmother has not been named a suspect or a person of interest, so she's not implicated in his disappearance.

The following image is a map from Kyron's house to the school, and from the school to Sauvie Island.

The next image will give you a better idea of the Sauvie Island location.

Sauvie Island

See: FBI

See: FBI

X

Those persnickety cell phone pings again

You would think by now the whole world knows about Casey Anthony. You'd also guess that most people know a thing or two about cell phone pings and how they will be used as evidence against her when her trial gets underway next May. It shouldn't take a brain surgeon to realize that the words "cell phone pings" have become synonymous with Casey, where she was, and how those words trigger thoughts about a missing child, now dead.

That's why it seems peculiar that the focus of the search for missing 7-year-oldKyron Richard Horman centers on his stepmother's cell phone records. Terri Moulton Horman told authorities she last saw her stepson at school on June 4, when she saw him walking toward his classroom. She said she took him around the school to look at the many science projects. At 8:45 AM, she left. When he didn't get of the school bus later that afternoon, she called the police.

Now, investigators have determined that Moulton Horman was not where she said she was, or her cell phone wasn't according to pings. Her cell phone records show that the day Kyron was last seen, she was at Sauvie Island, 5 miles from his school. Since June 10, rescuers have been searching all over that island for any evidence that the second-grader may have been there.

Ironically, it was the same nonchalant attitude that gave police immediate suspicion in the case against Casey, where she was forced to admit she hadn't seen her daughter in a month and didn't seem to care. Moulton Horman raised suspicions in a flash for having claimed to have gone to the gym right after she reported him missing.

"Hitting the gym," she wrote on her Facebook wall. Eh, so what, she could have added. Poor Kyron.

Anyone with information is asked to please call the Multnomah County Sheriff TIP-Line at

503-261-2847

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

A Bad Day

Soon after I entered the courtroom, I knew something was amiss. No Casey. She was always present prior to everyone else entering. Then came the whispers and the calls for Cindy and Brad Conway to follow Jose Baez out the door. Soon after, they returned and Judge Perry entered. Cheney Mason waived the presence of his client. It wasn’t until the post-hearing press conference with the defense that we’ve all grown accustomed to that we found out why she wasn’t there. I guess some felt a little sorry about her fall, while others shouted out with joy. Me? I came to watch, listen and learn.

When the hearing came to order, the first business of the day dealt with Casey’s privacy at the jail, particularly when it comes to expert witnesses. The defense premise is understandable enough. They don’t want to show the state their hand by exposing names of professionals who come calling on Miss Casey. Only, there’s a problem with it. There’s no real case study available where this sort of order has taken place, in other words, no mention of exemption in law; and according to Cheney Mason, Florida Statute 119.011 only deals with state witnesses. He wanted the court to seal her witness log so the state and public can’t view her experts after they visit. An Orange County corrections attorney was on hand to make clear that the jail is subject to state public records laws. Meanwhile, a case Mason did cite caused the judge to take the motion under advisement and he will rule on it next week.

What I feel it will come down to is the same decision rendered by Judge Strickland at an earlier hearing; that there is a clear-cut separation of power issue. In other words, the judicial branch cannot rule over the executive branch, which runs the jail. Mason stated that due process trumps all, but the county lawyer pointed out that there are no exemptions to the rules. We’ll see.

Next, the judge led the defense to the motions to reconsider earlier rulings made by Judge Strickland. On the plate, Joe Jordan was the first topic du jour. Were Caylee’s remains at the Suburban site when the state says they were? Cheney Mason said that Jordan contradicted that in his interview with defense PI Mort Smith. On the other hand, he surreptitiously recorded the meeting and provided it to the state. The main problem with this is that it is so against the law in Florida to record someone without their knowledge. Only during trial can elements of the interview be brought up, in which case, it will be up to the jury to decide whether to believe Mort Smith or Joe Jordan if they contradict each other, which they will. In the end, the judge denied the motion and asked the defense,“Are you alleging that there was some taint on Strickland’s prior rulings or are you trying to get a second bite of the apple?”

The defense wanted George Anthony’s grand jury testimony. Since Assistant State Prosecutor Jeff Ashton asked for it and received it, why couldn’t the defense? In response, Ashton maintained that grand jury testimony must remain intact and it can’t be used by either side at trial. Despite Judge Perry’s denial of the motion, he left open the door to refile a more proper motion.

In the motion to strike aggravating circumstances, Casey’s team argued that it wants more of an explanation from the prosecution over why the state is seeking the death penalty. The prosecution had filed a notice listing five legal reasons why the harsh penalty applies in her case:

The murder was committed during aggravated child abuse, for which Casey is also charged
The murder was especially atrocious
The murder was committed in a cold, calculated and premeditated manner
The victim was younger than 12 years old
The victim was particularly vulnerable because her killer was her mother

The defense asked for more of an explanation. The judge said the state had complied with his order and the motion was denied. At the same time, he said that the list may be expounded on during the penalty phase, which of course, would mean after Casey’s conviction. Until then, the state can explain itself during the trial.

Get it done!

In an earlier motion, Judge Strickland ordered law enforcement to turn over evidence. This is about the multitude of tips the defense demanded after submitted an Attorney’s Demand for Discovery. Linda Drane Burdick said the information has been waiting at the sheriff’s office for the defense to pick up, which then nullified the motion. Baez lamented that the defense is indigent and Perry said to go pick it up and invoice the state. Baez said it was somewhere around $1,500.00 and the judge authorized $2,000.00 just in case the amount is higher. Because of issues like this languishing, Judge Perry reminded both sides that work on this case has been going on for nearly 2 years. He said, “Let’s get it done!”

This is something that seems to irk the judge. He said that the case should have been able to go to trial by January had things been done in a timely manner.

The defense then asked for bench (lab) notes and forensic evidence , specifically results and findings from Oak Ridge National Laboratory. They want e-mails between Yuri Melich and Arvad Vass. Oak Ridge, of course, came up with the machine that can smell death, meaning the chemical decomposition found in Casey’s trunk. This is a new science and untested. The judge brought up an interesting correlation with a DUI case in Florida where the defense attorney asked for the source codes of a breathalyzer machine. The judge in the case ordered the manufacturer to comply. The company said the information is a secret, like the recipe for KFC. The bottom line here is that, while Judge Perry did not order Oak Ridge to comply, it may be an issue later on. At the moment, it’s not relevant. That’s because the defense hasn’t deposed Arvad Vass. The judge said that was tantamount to placing the cart before the horse. Jeff Ashton reminded the court that the issue is with the lab and not the state. The motion to force the state to comply had no relevancy. In the end, the judge did deny the motion without prejudice, meaning a more concise motion on the matter could be filed after depositions are taken.

Finally, the defense told the judge that the state had added 45 more witnesses to its list and it felt there wouldn’t be enough time to interview them all. Judge Perry will take it under advisement and he told the attorneys that there are still motions pending. Let’s try to work out some dates.

I don’t know why I’m reminded of this. OK, maybe I do know, and I think it’s something to note. Call it one of life’s quirks. A prisoner awaiting a walk  down  the Green Mile is offered one last meal, within reason, of course. The prisoner requests a giant plate filled with a wide assortment of raw sushi. The guard tells him eating all that uncooked fish isn’t healthy for him. Huh? It’s his final meal. How ironic that today, Casey took a horrible spill and all the court employees in attendance felt an urge to come to her rescue; to comfort her and to ease the pain. All the while, the state is trying to put her to death. I’m not asking for a judgement call. It’s just an observation about another one of life’s quirks.

"I can make them disappear..."

I began writing this article in June, 2009. Today, I bring it up to date.

In February of 2009, Chris George’s car was found abandoned near a wooded area in Apopka, Florida. Also known as George Onda, family members and friends didn’t think much of it because he often took off to go on drug-induced binges. Three weeks later, the family called Apopka police and a search ensued. One of the volunteers was a guy by the name of James Hataway. He was one of only two people who last saw George alive. When the case went cold, police closed it out, but last May, something happened, prompting detectives to reopen the case. Today, the Ocoee Police Department has linked a total of 6 victims to James Virgil Hataway.

Tracy Ocasio was last seen a year ago leaving the Tap Room bar on Raleigh Street in Orlando’s MetroWest neighborhood, at 1:30 AM on May 27. Her car was found abandoned about 15 miles from the bar, not far from Hataway’s home. Yesterday, Ocoee detectives named him as the only suspect in her disappearance. Until then, he was only a person of interest.

Last June, I went to pick up a few prescriptions from the pharmacy almost across the street from where I live. As she was ringing up my purchase, I asked the always friendly woman behind the counter if she knew anything about Tracy and the guy police have in custody who might also be tied into Jennifer Kesse, missing since January 24, 2006. It’s pretty big news around Orlando and both women are a sad reprieve from the Casey Anthony saga. At first, she didn’t quite know, so I mentioned the bar up the street by Dan’s Restaurant, called McGuinnty’s Irish Pub. I told her he used to go there.

“Oh, yeah, I remember seeing him on the news. I thought he looked familiar,” she said. I told her McGuinnty’s was one of his hangouts because he lived nearby. “I think I used to see him in here.”

As a single mother, I just don’t picture my clerk as much of a drinker and, needless to say, neither am I any longer, but I was more of one back then and I knew who this guy was the first time I saw his picture on the local news. McGuinnty’s has been closed for about 3 years years now, but I can remember some of those times like it was yesterday, and I can easily remember the people who oftentimes frequented the place.

I never befriended James Virgil Hataway at that bar and there were some very good reasons why. The people he hung around with were skinhead types. Hoodlums, plain and simple, and most of the time the regular crowd stayed on one side while they planted themselves on the other. They were young - mid 20s to early 30s - the way I saw it. Today, Hataway is 29. They shaved their heads and had goatees. They all had piercings and tattoos. They were a tough group hanging with rough, but good-looking women. There were a few I knew by name, but not much else. Dallas was a good guy. Today, I don’t remember most of the names but I do remember the faces. To give you an idea, the tall guy in the middle of the picture at this link, Matt, taken at McGuinnty’s, had at one time been a nice young man until he got mixed up with that bunch. His change was overnight. Shaved head, tattoos all over, nasty, punk, degenerate attitude. He went from saying hello to wanting to beat the living crap out of everyone in his way and for no good reason at all. Of course, I never said a word to him again after he snarled one night. These were the guys who had no respect for anyone but their own small clique of friends. They had the ultimate chip on their shoulders. They had no respect for anyone but their own and it’s becoming clearer and clearer that Hataway had no respect for human life from what is emerging.

He was always the quiet one in the crowd, but it doesn’t surprise me the least that he, or any of the other ones for that matter, is the only suspect in the disappearance of Tracy Ocasio. A surveillance video from the Tap Room showed Hataway and Ocasio leaving together. She had offered to give him a ride home to Ocoee, a couple of miles northwest of the bar. Although not charged with her disappearance, he is in the Seminole County Jail, awaiting trial for an unrelated attempted-murder case from August of 2008, where a woman accused him of choking her, trying to snap her neck and slamming her head repeatedly in the pavement. There were witnesses, too. Real ones, and still alive.

This is a guy who fancied himself “the worst criminal in the universe” by using the alias Vader McGirth on his now closed MySpace page, named after the Darth Vader character in Star Wars. He’s no stranger to police because he has an extensive criminal record dating back to 1993 which includes kidnapping causing bodily harm, many traffic offenses and drug possession. See Inmate History Report

One of the former bartenders at McGuinnty’s told me he used to ask her for a ride home once in a while. I asked her if she had ever given him one. “No,” she said, “I always told him I live in the opposite direction.”

When I asked her if she was glad she didn’t, she responded, “YES,” but she never would have thought that he could do such a thing, other than because of the type of crowd he was always hanging with. I asked her where they all came from. Why did they congregate at McGuinnty’s? She said most of them lived in the trailer park behind the bar. She also told me that most of them have since outgrown that skinhead phase, and some are married. For the record, the trailer park is now a housing development, but I’m sure none of them live there.

“He wouldn’t care who it was, he would make them disappear, just like he told me. The way he would talk about people … what he would want to do,” said a former roommate who did not wish to be identified, because he said he had received threats from some of Hataway’s friends.

Before his arrest last year on drug charges, Hataway lived with his father in Ocoee. He also worked with his father dredging ponds.
 

“This Jimmy has a preponderance to do violence, he snaps, he gets angry, it’s always a woman, ride home, end up alone,” said Sgt. Mike Bryant of the Ocoee Police Department, in June 2009. “He’s very familiar with going out into open land at night and not getting caught dumping land debris and waste, that’s a concern…”

“We believe he did it. He’s always been a suspect,” the detective said yesterday, almost a year after Tracy disappeared. “He is suspected of killing her.”

Too bad for Tracy because this stunning beauty was a true blue Orlando Magic fan. That’s why she went to the Tap Room bar that fateful Tuesday night on May 26, to watch her team win, and win they did, against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Too bad another James, James Virgil Hataway, was there to watch her lose her life in the wee hours of Wednesday morning. No one ever saw her again. Just like magic, he made her disappear.

You be the judge

A hearing is scheduled for June 1 to discuss the defense team’s request to keep Casey’s jail visits private instead of publishing them like everyone else sitting in a government sponsored cell. There is also the matter of earlier rulings made by Judge Stan Strickland before he recused himself over a month ago.

This post is meant to clear up some issues that sprang to life when the defense filed the motion¹ 3 days before the judge stepped down. It was bad enough that the dismissal request was filed at 4:48 PM on a Friday afternoon, 12 minutes before the Clerk of the Court closed for the weekend. That was plenty rude and tacky, but after the judge removed himself, the defense fired back with its OBJECTION TO COURT’S “ORDER ON DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO DISQUALIFY TRIAL JUDGE”.

I want to explore that and the subsequent DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR RECONSIDERATION OF CERTAIN PRIOR RULINGS BY DISQUALIFIED JUDGE. Therein may lie one of the motives for seeking the judge’s dismissal.

In his ORDER ON DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO DISQUALIFY TRIAL JUDGE, Judge Strickland made it clear that his decision was not based on any prejudice or errors in judgement, real or perceived, by Casey Anthony’s defense. It was all about future rulings under his command.

“If past is prologue, some defense motions may be denied. Since the undersigned has now been accused of bias and wrongdoing, potentially each denial of a defense motion will generate renewed allegations of bias. The cumulative effect will be to elevate an otherwise meaningless situation into a genuine appellate issue.”

He further added that the crux of the defense motion centered around his comments to a local blogger/journalist many months earlier. He explained that his words to the blogger/journalist were delivered in open court, with open microphones, in front of rolling cameras and not in secret. They were, in fact, a compliment for being fair and civilized. These are the words of Judge Strickland, not me, and at the time, neither one of us knew where the cameras were focused, nor did we know whether microphones were on or off. Honestly, there was nothing to hide, despite the fact that a portion of the raw video was surreptitiously snipped out.

Judge Strickland went on to chastise the defense for accusing him of being a self-aggrandizing media hound. Well, if that’s not the pot calling the kettle black, I don’t know what is. Perhaps, this is exactly what Cheney Mason meant when he blurted out at a post-hearing press conference that “this case is going to be fun!”

The fun is over. Where Judge Strickland confessed to a general affability that, at times, seemed to belie the importance of the case, he was every bit a professional. So is Chief Judge Belvin Perry, Jr., who is not as affable.

Of course, leave it to Mason to insist on having the last word.

In his objection, Mason cited the Florida Rules of Judicial Administration 2,330(f), Riechmann v. State, 966 So.2d 298 (Fla. 2007) and Florida Rules of Judicial Administration 2.330(j). He continued his wrath by saying the court“may not argue or dispute facts yielding any response, other than ‘granting’, or ‘denying’, the motion. To do so, automatically laces the Court in an adversarial position, contrary to the defense, and, by that act alone, is required to be disqualified.”

Excuse me, but didn’t the judge dismiss himself in his order? He didn’t do it later. My friend, a former Florida judge, told me in no uncertain terms that since the judge ordered his own recusal, he was well within his right to voice an opinion.

Florida Rules of Judicial Administration 2,330(f) states that:

(f) The judge against whom an initial motion to disqualify under subdivision (d)(1) is directed shall determine only the legal sufficiency of the motion and shall not pass on the truth of the facts alleged. If the motion is legally sufficient, the judge shall immediately enter an order granting disqualification and proceed no further in the action. If any motion is legally insufficient, an order denying the motion shall immediately be entered. No other reason for denial shall be stated, and an order of denial shall not take issue with the motion.

Florida Rules of Judicial Administration 2,330(d)(1) addressed Casey’s fear that she would “not receive a fair trial or hearing because of specifically described prejudice or bias of the judge.” Once Casey affixed her signature to the document, the deal was done and Judge Strickland had no choice but to step down. At the same time, the rule (f) is clear and at no time in his order did he admit to any wrongdoing. He could have denied the motion, but his concern over a possible appeal down the road usurped his right to remain on this case.

Here’s the comical part, the one that makes the objection a laughing stock:

(j) Time for Determination. The judge shall rule on a motion to disqualify immediately, but no later than 30 days after the service of the motion as set forth in subdivision (c). If not ruled on within 30 days of service, the motion shall be deemed granted and the moving party may seek an order from the court directing the clerk to reassign the case.

Excuse me, but this is the same person who filed the dismissal motion 12 minutes before the Clerk of Court retired for the weekend. The judge, on the other hand, promptly responded the following Monday, and did so because, DUH, the office is CLOSED for the weekend. That’s like giving someone poor directions and scolding him when he’s late to arrive at the designated destination. This was nothing more than a self-aggrandizing act by an overly egotistical and pompous lawyer who had to get the last word in. He fully knew the judge would not respond.

Here’s an interesting document. Could it have prejudiced the judge?

Letter to Judge Strickland

This letter, addressed to the Honorable Judge Stan Strickland, voiced a very prejudicial opinion regarding Casey’s innocence, replete with scientific analogies and evidence showing that she could not have been the murderer. Where was the State at this time? Clearly, Linda Drane Burdick could have demanded the judge’s head for accepting the letter to begin with, whether he read it or not. Of course, since it was not damaging to the defense, Casey’s attorneys never gave it a passing thought.

This is where I lead into the possible motive behind that fateful dismissal motion. Sure, I’ve heard a lot of opinions from local attorneys. One said that, with an ego like Mason’s, he couldn’t stand losing his argument during the indigence hearing  regarding where Casey’s defense money came from. Here, he came out in all his glory, telling the world that he is a lawyer to be reckoned with; one with an impeccable record, and one who knows how to hoodwink the court. Only, it didn’t work and he blew his top, speaking of which, he just had to top Judge Strickland by filing the dismissal. That’s all well and fine, but I think the underlying factor is the motion later filed that set-up the one demanding the judge’s head on a platter - the one concerning earlier rulings. Four key elements were introduced:

(A) Defendant’s Motion to Compel Production of Tape Recorded Statement of Joe Jordan and the Court’s Order on same dated April 7, 2010

(B) Motion for Production of Grand Jury Testimony of George Anthony filed by the state of Florida on September 16, 2009 and joined in by the defense, and the Order of the Court dated October 6, 2009.

(C) Defendant’s Motion to Compel Tips Gathered by Law Enforcement, dated November 4, 2008.

(D) The Order on Defendant’s Motion to Modify the Court’s Order on Defendant’s Application for Subpoena Duces Tecum for Documents in the Possession of Texas Equusearch.

In (A), the court turned down the defense request for the taped interview. Instead, it was sealed. The rationale is plain and simple; it is against the law to secretly record anyone, which is exactly what Jordan did when defense investigator, Mort Smith, interviewed him. He said that when he searched the area where Caylee was found, the remains weren’t there and the ground was dry. Other volunteers said the area was too wet to search. Read the judge’s order HERE. Joe Jordan was interviewed by the defense on Oct. 27, 2009 and was later interviewed by law enforcement in the presence of a prosecutor on Nov. 5, 2009. The court recognized that the two separate interviews conflicted with each other and decided the sworn statement by Mort Smith regarding what Jordan said was sufficient and no further action was necessary. It cited Florida Statute 943.o6:

Whenever any wire or oral communication has been intercepted, no part of the contents of such communication and no evidence derived therefrom may be received in evidence in any trial, hearing or other proceedings in or before any Court, Grand Jury, department, officer, agency, regulatory body, legislative committee, or other authority of the State, or a political subdivision thereof, if the disclosure of that information would be a violation of this Chapter.

The statute is very clear, and either the defense didn’t understand the law or it’s maintaining a stance Jose Baez told Judge Perry at one of the recent hearings,“My grandmother told me you’ll never get something unless you ask.” In that vein, his dear grandmother may have been right, but the judge - any judge - must not change the law in a ruling. The judge also wrote that since Mort Smith gave a sworn statement attesting to what Jordan said, “direct testimony regarding what Mr. Jordan stated is still available via the testimony of Investigator Smith.” It’s all quite simple. In my opinion, this will be denied.

(B) is rather interesting. The state requested the transcript of George’s grand jury testimony. The judge granted it.

THIS CAUSE coming on to be heard upon the State’s Motion for Transcription of Grand Jury Testimony, and the Court having been duly advised in the premises, it is hereby,

ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that the State’s Motion for Transcription of Grand Jury of George Anthony taken/heard before the Grand Jury on October 14 2008 is hereby GRANTED, the original of said transcript shall be delivered to the State Attorney and all of the requirements of grand jury secrecy pursuant to Florida Statute 905.27 shall remain in effect pending the further order of this court.

Notice, I said the state asked for the transcript, and only the state, yet in this latest motion to be heard on June 1, the defense wrote, “and joined in by the defense…” Nowhere in his order did the judge include the defense and the reason why is that the state filed the motion all by its lonesome. I did not see Baez and Jeff Ashton dancing arm-in-arm to the Clerk of Court’s office to file together, but I’ll guarantee it was filed in a timely manner because it came from the state. What this tells me is that the judge ruled in chambers and the defense feels left out. Why? It wasn’t the judge’s job to hand the testimony over to the defense and if the defense wants it, it should have filed a motion requesting it. What, exactly, is there to reconsider in this new motion? It is, after all, a motion to reconsider earlier rulings. Therefore, this is an attempt to make Judge Strickland look bad. If the judge grants it, it will be because of case law. Other than that, it’s a used car salesman’s attempt to sell Judge Perry a lemon.

(C) is a motion filed by the defense over a year-and-a-half ago. In it, Baez acknowledges it submitted an Attorney’s Demand for Discovery on October 15, 2008. I think we are all aware of discovery in the state of Florida, but perhaps, the defense is not, at least, not as much as we would like to think. After the prosecutor receives the demand, he/she is obligated to respond. The defense now has over 11,000 pages of discovery documents in its hands. At the time the motion was filed, the defense wanted access to the nearly 5,000 tips that had come in. Today, the number is astronomical and it’s on full display in the periodic document dumps. Also, the motion cited a Motion for Favorable Evidence in Case Number 48-2008-CF-10925-O that was filed on October 3 and included,

a. “Any police investigation reports or any other similar documentation in possession by any law enforcement agency which involves the investigation of tips, leads, and follow-ups conducted by said agency or agencies, based on the sightings of Caylee Marie Anthony.”

The October 3 motion was granted by Judge Strickland on October 10, but on October 21, the state filed a nolle prosequi on the case making the judge’s ruling inconsequential. A nolle prosequi is an entry made on the record in which the prosecutor declares that he will proceed no further. The effect of a nolle prosequi does not act as an acquittal. It allows the prosecution to re-indict the defendant on the same charges and more, if necessary, at a later date. The defense also asked for sanctions for the delay in the state’s production of discovery and for the undue burden it has caused and the costs associated with the filing of the motion. Tsk, tsk. If you recall, the state filed first-degree murder charges against Casey on October 14.

In March of 2009, The defense took a bruising from Judge Strickland. Linda Kenney Baden wanted Strickland to order prosecutors to hand over the FBI’s bench notes from DNA testing on evidence. The judge wouldn’t do that because prosecutors didn’t have them and he had no jurisdiction over the FBI other than in the state of Florida. He informed the defense that if they wanted the notes, they would have to ask the FBI. As for the sanctions for allegedly keeping evidence from them, the judge said, “The motion for sanctions is denied.”

Finally, (D) is a rehash, deja vu, all over again moment, as if it will remain suspended in time until the defense gets to interview every single inhabitant of the ISS, just in case Caylee was whisked away on a shuttle flight. There are roughly 4,000 people who voluntarily searched for her all over Central Florida. Why do they need to see the records of every one of them?

In the original ruling from August 27 of last year, Judge Strickland wrote that the records of 32 Texas EquuSearch searchers mentioned at a hearing held on July 21 would be made available to both the state and the defense. They were recognized as being in the vicinity of Suburban Drive. The remaining paperwork filed by nearly 4,000 others could be reviewed in Mark NeJame’s office. Any searchers found to have been within 200 yards of the site where Caylee was found could be flagged for future consideration.

On April 5, Casey was back in court. So was Mark NeJame. Fireworks went off in the form of angry arguments and explosive accusations. What the defense expected was to be able to go through all of the TES documents in search of someone who may have gone into those woods before Caylee was discovered. The volunteers who did search there have maintained that the ground was flooded and impossible to walk through. Tim Miller told the volunteers to stay out of areas covered with too much water for fear it may damage evidence, so with standing water, there came a standing order to stand down.

The defense was given ample opportunity to go to Mark NeJame’s office to look through all of the TES records. The main problem with a court order is it opens up all of the personal information to the public. In the end, Judge Strickland agreed with NeJame. Later that day, he denied the defense request, but reiterated that they could still go and look through the documents and if they end up finding something, it could be flagged, just like he said before. Then, they could go back to the judge and try to get that released. There was not going to be a blanket release of all the documents. In my opinion, there is no reason why Judge Perry should alter that ruling, so overall, I’m afraid this motion to be heard on June 1 is not going to be thrilling for the defense team. Oh well, there’s still the issue of keeping public records about Casey’s visitors at the jail private, but Judge Strickland already said it’s all about jail rules, not the court’s.

In one last tip of my hat to Judge Strickland, I must say he did justice in this case all along, and in the end, he continues. Cheney Mason made this a problem case when he asked the esteemed judge to step down. He should have known that Belvin Perry always takes over problem cases. Ultimately, I just don’t see a chief judge overruling one of his own judges, especially one who has an incredible penchant for the law; someone with a sterling record of fairness. But just as Jose said, it doesn’t hurt to ask. Well, not always. Be careful what you ask for.

Posted on May 23, 2010 by Dave Knechel| 216 Comments(D) The Order on Defendant’s Motion to Modify the Court’s Order on Defendant’s Application for Subpoena Duces Tecum for Documents in the Possession of Texas Equusearch.

A Day of Discovery, yada, yada

586 pages of evidence were released today in the murder case against Casey Anthony, including inventory lists of DNA evidence and materials collected at the site where Caylee was found, in woods off Suburban Drive. There is some speculation that the dump contains lab results from tests run on the Pontiac Sunbird.

Read the document HERE

In a “shades of OJ” moment, there may have been a breakdown in the chain of command the defense team will surely capitalize on by compromising some of the integrity of evidence. Photographs of some of the evidence show a breach of the seals on packaging. Because of this, the defense may try to get that evidence thrown out, arguing that the evidence could have been contaminated. There is also the issue of evidence collected from the trunk of Casey’s car. One set of communications shows that investigators sent evidence to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement lab, and then onto Wuestoff Reference Laboratories, which specializes in forensic science and DNA testing. The FBIwanted to have all testing of physical evidence sent to their lab. If the private lab had begun testing, the FBI work could not be performed.

If you wondered what happened to Casey’s alleged jail house letters, wonder no more. Every one of them, including envelopes, were sent to the FBI to be analyzed. They are being compared to known samples of her writing, including a letter she sent to former sheriff, Kevin Beary. That was written just months after her arrest.

Meanwhile, it’s been a busy week for her defense team. Last week, prosecutors filed a one page NOTICE OF AGGRAVATING CIRCUMSTANCES listing what it “may” argue, but it came with no explanation of why. Those legal reasons were short and sweet:

1. Florida Statute 921.141(5) (d)

The capital felony was committed while the defendant was engaged, or was an accomplice, in the commission of, or an attempt to commit, or flight after committing or attempting to commit, any: robbery; sexual battery; aggravated child abuse; abuse of an elderly person or disabled adult resulting in great bodily harm, permanent disability, or permanent disfigurement; arson; burglary; kidnapping; aircraft piracy; or unlawful throwing, placing, or discharging of a destructive device or bomb.

2. Florida statute 921.141(5) (h)

The capital felony was especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel.

3. Florida Statute 921.141(5) (I)

The capital felony was a homicide and was committed in a cold, calculated, and premeditated manner without any pretense of moral or legal justification.

4. Florida Statute 921.141(5) (l)

The victim of the capital felony was a person less than 12 years of age.

5. Florida Statute 921.141(5) (m)

The victim of the capital felony was particularly vulnerable due to advanced age or disability, or because the defendant stood in a position of familial or custodial authority over the victim.

All five apply in this case, and yesterday, Jose Baez filed a MOTION TO STRIKE STATE’S NOTICE OF AGGRAVATING CIRCUMSTANCES. In the motion, he argues that “imposed a duty on the state to disclose to the defense… a bill of particulars. The state failed to comply with this order in several respects.”

Among several respects, Baez claimed that “the state failed to provide any indication of the evidence it intends to rely on to prove the existence of these aggravating factors.”

On Tuesday, Casey’s defense team, led by Linda Kenney Baden filed aSUPPLEMENTAL MOTION TO COMPEL FORENSIC DISCOVERYcompelling the prosecution to provide Casey with “certain forensic discovery” from Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the University of Tennessee. Baden cited documents and e-mails between her and Jeff Ashton. Oak Ridge ran “sniff tests” on Casey’s car that concluded the air had signs of decomposition. The defense is calling it experimental research.

Closer to the edge

"This gender bias has something to do with the decision to seek death in this case. I would only ask, your honor, that you think about this, and I know you will carefully.

“People don’t say, you know, ‘She’s a... it’s an impolite word... but, you know, she’s a whore, so she should die. Right? They don’t say that out loud. Oh well, they do in the blogs, your honor, but they don’t say that here in court ... but underneath, that is what’s going on.”

- defense attorney Andrea Lyon, in court today

"She doesn't like the fact that our law permits jurors to assess the character of individuals in deciding the death penalty. That's the way the law is whether it's a man or a woman."

- prosecutor Jeff Ashton, in response to Andrea Lyon today

[For the record, Judge Perry entered the courtroom at precisely 9:02 AM. Two minutes late. Cindy came in a little late, flanked by two family friends, but no George. Read into it what you will. Also absent was Brad Conway.]

Did Casey's defense team take a big risk when it demanded that Judge Stan Strickland step aside? Did it expect the top judge, Chief Judge Belvin Perry, Jr., to take hold of the reins, or was it expecting a judge more favorable to its cause, one less inclined to keep the death penalty on the table? For certain, it took that gamble and the outcome is real. The court wanted none of that. Today, the defense did its best to remove the onus of death that's been hanging over Casey like a heavy cloud waiting to pour down its reign of punishment with each stinging drop in motions lost. Today, Casey began visualizing the prospect of dying at the hands of the state as a harsh reality. There is no stopping it now. This is no game; no dress rehearsal. No one in their right mind would ever act or play games with life and death. This was all too real today. Whether her tears were or not is a matter open for discussion, but cry she did.

I must admit, I was almost certain why Cheney Mason asked the judge at the tail end of the hearing last Thursday if Casey had to attend all hearings. I am convinced it was to spare her from the torturous tirade that would ensue during the motions heard today regarding death as a possible punishment. I am certain the judge made sure she would hear every word of it. DEATH. DEATH. DEATH. That's why she must attend her hearings. She needs to face reality; something she's never had to do all her life. Welcome to the world, Casey. Welcome to Belvin Perry's court.

Today, the hearing dealt "strictly" with death penalty motions. It wasn't a complete bloodbath for the defense, but they do have a few wounds to lick. First of all, let me say that I had the opportunity to ask three separate attorneys about the motion filed to recuse Judge Strickland. All three remain puzzled, even after I mentioned the motion to reconsider earlier rulings by Strickland filed by the defense. Could that have been the motive behind asking for the recusal? To, perhaps, get some decisions overturned? All I can say is that they still couldn't understand the reason. It was a very stupid move by the defense. That brings my total to 15 attorneys I've asked, with every response the same. Also, I had a chance to talk to two of the deputies sitting in the back row of the gallery. They are the jailers who bring Casey to court and take her back to 33rd Street. They deal only with high-profile and/or dangerous inmates. Since they are there, why not watch the proceedings? By the way, they were quite nice; professional and approachable.

THE MOTIONS

Gender Bias

Casey's defense team, "manned" by Andrea Lyon, argued that the death penalty is sexist. Ms. Lyon brought along an expert on gender and its relationship to capital punishment. Elizabeth Rapaport is a University of New Mexico law professor. Jeff Ashton objected to her presence by arguing that the defense witness was not listed and the prosecution had no time to prepare. Judge Perry overruled and allowed her testimony. She said she has found that white middle-class mothers accused of filicide get a lot more media coverage than other cases. She asserted that issues such as whether the defendant has a tattoo, how she dresses or if she goes to see male strippers have nothing to do with a criminal case. They are irrelevant. A woman can still be a good mother. She said that mothers who are considered deviant are harder to defend. When Andrea Lyon began talking about Caylee being healthy and happy, Casey began to cry.

Initially, Judge Perry offered the prosecution the chance to reserve the right to cross-examine within 30 days if they needed time to prepare to question Rapaport. Jeff Ashton decided not to opt on that, but he stressed that she had no background in psychology. Ultimately, the judge ruled against the defense.

Automatic appeal of death sentence

All defendants who are sentenced to death get an automatic appeal to the Florida Supreme Court. Lyon argued that the state's supreme court can't legitimately review the case without a report written by a capital jury, which isn't a requirement in the state. Lyon tried to stress that the appellate review is inadequate because the jury doesn't have to explain what aggravators it had found beyond a reasonable doubt that triggered the death penalty. Judge Perry denied the motion.

Why the state is seeking death

The defense requested statutory aggravators - legal reasons - that clearly define why the State is seeking the death penalty. Florida law requires a jury to weigh aggravators, such as whether the murder was premeditated and if the victim was 12-years-old or under. In order for the defense to prepare its side, they need to know what aggravating circumstances the State will try to prove if the case reaches the penalty phase.

"We should be told what changed and what we are facing and what exactly the aggravating factors are and how they will prove it," Lyon told the judge. "The indictment itself… doesn't even tell us their theory or evidence on how this homicide happened."

She said there are 14,000 pages of investigative documents to sort through. "We don't know what the theory of the case is from the prosecution's point of view."

Ashton said the State is not obligated to provide legal theories on this case. Of the fifteen aggravators, only six apply. He said the fact that the defense can't figure out what is what and which ones apply is absurd and incredible.

Lyon struck back by saying the burden of proof is on the State. Ultimately, Judge Perry agreed with her. He told the State it has 10 days to provide the aggravating factors to the defense. At the same time, he said, "the Court at this time will deny the request at this time of the State of Florida a list without prejudice... Whether we like it or not, death is different, therefore, the motion will be granted."

Here is a direction I feel the defense could have taken today. At least, it was worth a look, in my opinion. Sprinkled throughout the motions was a reference to Ring v. Arizona. Ring v. Arizona is, according to Wikipedia, a case in which the United States Supreme Court applied the rule of Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466 (2000), to capital sentencing schemes, holding that the Sixth Amendment requires a jury to find the aggravating factors necessary for imposing the death penalty.

Former Florida Supreme Court Justice Leander J. Shaw, Jr. wrote an opinionthat, in certain circumstances, would vote to grant a capital habeas petitioner relief on the basis of Ring v. Arizona. A writ of habeas corpus directs a person, usually a prison warden, to produce the prisoner and justify the prisoner's detention. If the prisoner argues successfully that the incarceration is in violation of a constitutional right, the court may order the prisoner's release.

Justice Shaw expressed his view that the Florida death penalty statute violated the principle enunciated in Ring v. Arizona:

Nowhere in Florida law is there a requirement that the finding of an aggravating circumstance must be unanimous. Ring, however, by treating a “deathqualifying” aggravation as an element of the offense,imposes upon the aggravation the rigors of proof as other elements, including Florida’s requirement of a unanimous jury finding. Ring, therefore, has a direct impact onFlorida’s capital sentencing statute.

At another point in his opinion, Justice Shaw concluded that Florida’s statute was flawed:

I read Ring v. Arizona, 122 S.C. 2428 (2002), as holding that “an aggravating circumstance necessary for imposition of a death sentence” operates as “the functional equivalent of an element of a greater offense than the one covered by the jury’s verdict” and must be subjected to the same rigors of proof as every other element of the offense. Because Florida’s capital sentencing statute requires a finding of at least one aggravating circumstance as a predicate to a recommendation of death, that “death qualifying” aggravator operates as the functional equivalent of an element of the offense and is subject to the same rigors of proof as the other elements. When the dictates of Ring are applied to Florida’s capital sentencing statute, I believe our statute is rendered flawed because it lacks a unanimity requirement for the “death qualifying” aggravator.

I am a bit surprised the defense didn't capitalize on Justice Shaw's statement regarding this lack of unanimity for the death qualifying aggravator. Later, perhaps.

Information related to the potential penalty phase

During the penalty phase of a trial, the defense tells the jury why its client does not deserve a particular sentence. In this case, it may come down to life or death if Casey is found guilty. Her attorneys want the judge to issue an order protecting her from having to "reveal any information relating to any potential penalty phase proceeding to the State prior to the time she is actually convicted of first-degree murder."

Andrea Lyon feels there are witnesses who may be afraid that media will focus on them. So far, every witness has faced scrutiny by the press, she said. Jeff Ashton argued that since the defense agreed to take part in the discovery process, everything of that nature - witnesses, documents and other material - becomes a matter of public record.

Judge Perry denied the defense motion, but did tell the attorneys that if a witness faces any harassment, the court can withhold some personal information from the public record, such as a person's address.

State's motive in seeking death

Initially, the State announced it wasn't going to seek the death penalty. Four months after Caylee's remains were found, prosecutors changed their minds. Casey's defense wanted to know why. It accused the State of wanting to financially break the defense. Lyon said that the timing was suspicious. She questioned the State's motives.

Ashton argued that for the defense to suggest their interest in seeking the death penalty was borne of a plan to bankrupt the defense is untrue. "There's nothing in this record that would tend to suggest that the State sought the death penalty for any improper motive. It's the third one we've had alleged. The record does not support and the court should deny the motion."

Lyon requested a sidebar with the judge to discuss whether she can keep some of the arguments under seal. They returned and nothing was offered.

"Defense failed to meet their burden of proof," Judge Perry stated in his final ruling of the day.

With all of the motions heard, the judge wanted to take a look ahead at some of the other pending death penalty motions. "Now, there are eight to twelve death penalty motions left. I will give the defense five days to list, to be sure which ones have not been ruled on, and then I'll give the State ten days."

When the defense balked at five days and asked for seven, the judge relented."OK, seven days to respond."

End of hearing!

We took a ten minute break earlier. At some point during the hearing, Jeff Ashton said he had been prosecuting for 30 years. I ran into him in the hall and said something about those years. "You must have started quite young."

"Yes, when I was 23."

"So, you're 53..."

"No, not yet. Not until October."

Something tells me we'll all be around come October. Who wants to be in charge of sending him a card?

Casey trial will stay in Orange

“The jury will be sequestered. They will be brought back to Orange County. They will be kept at an undisclosed location. I will be entering a gag order [for the attorneys]. I will be doing that at a sufficient time.”

- Chief Judge Belvin Perry, Jr.

I’ll tell you, the courthouse was tough to get into this morning. I gave myself plenty of time, but people were almost backed out the door to get through security. After waiting for what seemed like a half hour, I finally got up to the courtroom. I hate being late for anything, and I missed the first 10 minutes. How do I know I missed 10 minutes? Because Chief Judge Belvin Perry is never late, either, and when he sets a starting time of 9:00 AM, that’s the moment he walks in and sits down at the bench. Fortunately, I was able to open the door quietly so no one heard me walk in.

Change of Venue

The judge had decided this was the day he would hear motions that had been lingering for months, starting with the Change of Venue. Casey’s defense team has argued that their client cannot get a fair trial in Central Florida. In September of last year, Baez wrote in a motion that, “The Orlando community’s involvement in this case and its hostility towards Miss Anthony create an environment in which it would be difficult for a juror to render a verdict based solely on the evidence presented at trial.”

Soon after I walked in and Baez was stating his position, Judge Perry told him to get to the point, at which time he presented a short video of mostly protesters outside of the Anthony home, which were shot nearly two years ago now, as Assistant State Attorney Linda Drane Burdick was quick to point out in her rebuttal. She also asserted that jurors should come from any county that has similar demographics as Orange County.

“The defendant’s motion for change of venue will be granted at the appropriate time. I will enter an order prior to us proceeding to somewhere in the state of Florida to select a jury. I will review and take into consideration the comments by the defense and the state in selecting a site,” Judge Perry said. The future jury will be sequestered. He and all of the attorneys will travel to another Florida county to pick 12 jurors plus 6 alternates. He warned the media that he knows all 20 court administrators in other districts and they will be instructed not to discuss his inquiries with reporters.

Jail Visitation Logs

Visitation logs are a matter of public record, yet the defense wants the judge to keep the list of names private. Only the judge can seal them. The main defense claim is that the media is constantly aware of any visits she has, and the identities of some experts will produce unfounded speculation. According to him, it will hamper the defense’s preparation for trial. Cheney Mason asked the judge if it could be argued at a later date because he didn’t rule one way or the other.

Wild Party Pics

The defense recently filed a motion to exclude irrelevant evidence of party pictures. Today, it argued that the photos do absolutely nothing to prove whether Casey was a good mother or not. “To assume that a person is a bad person because they go to a nightclub, or they drink a beer,” Baez argued, “is completely unconscionable.”

The defense fears that if the images are shown to a jury it would only inflame them against their client. Burdick claimed that the only photos it wants to use are ones taken after June 15 that address where and how Casey was looking for her child. If Casey went to bars looking for Caylee, then wild photos of Casey participating in a hot body contest four days after her disappearance should be relevant evidence. If the defense is going to argue what a wonderful mother she was, the State should be able to use photographs to dispute that issue. She also said that the State has constructed a very careful timeline.

Judge Perry said that if the defense shows evidence of what a good mother she was, then the photos should not be about what she was wearing at the time, it should be more about what she was doing in them. In other words – in my words – women wear bikinis on the beach. Wearing a bikini in that setting proves nothing about who and what that women is doing or thinking. He acknowledged that most of the photos were taken prior to Caylee’s disappearance and only the ones taken from June 16 on should matter. Meanwhile, he deferred ruling on it until the end of next March. That gives both sides plenty of time to work out what photos will be used.

Hearsay

As part of the case, investigators have questioned dozens of people who knew Casey Anthony. They offered their opinions of her character, motives and undisclosed intentions and honesty. Casey wants to keep those statements about her made by family and friends out of the courtroom. Her defense contends they’re all hearsay; gossip and innuendo. They don’t want prosecutors to be able question any of her friends on the stand about whether she was an honest person and what compelled her. What were her motives? He also brought up the 911 calls made by Cindy. Judge Perry said he would not rule on such a vast subject. Narrow it down by citing individual instances where they could be argued as hearsay. He did say he will reserve a ruling on those 911 calls.

Motion to Dismiss Indictment

Denied. ‘Nuff said.

Motion to Compel Bench Notes

Judge Perry brought up this motion to compel filed by the defense. It seeks to obtain documents they feel haven’t been turned over to them. Once again, the judge asked Baez to be more specific. “This has been an ongoing issue,” Baez said after prosecutor Jeff Ashton told the court it was giving them everything it should.

Judge Perry asked for names. Baez gave him five. Both sides went back and forth. “We will table this one here and, uh, if there’s an expert witness for bench notes, list that expert saying you haven’t gotten it and I’ll have the state file a written response,” he said.

In the end, the defense will get 10 days to submit a list and the State will get 10 days after that to respond. He then asked both sides if there were any other discovery issues that need to be worked on down the road. No one had anything to say and with that, the hearing was over. It lasted an hour-and-a-half. “OK, we’ll be in recess on this matter until 9 o’clock tomorrow morning.”

Big Story of the Day!

As deputies walked Casey out of the courtroom, she turned to her mother, smiled, and whispered “Happy Mother’s Day. I love you.”

That is the first time I saw her show any affection for either of her parents, but especially, her mother.

My Observations

One thing is certain. This judge is instructing the State and defense to take the bull by the horn and settle as many matters as possible outside of court. Take control and move on it. What I am seeing is the defense’s failure to be specific about anything. Baez uses broad generalizations in his arguments and Judge Perry is persnickety and detail oriented. I noted his obvious disdain for whiners. In order to get your point across, be clear and precise, focused and reserved, and very knowledgeable of the law. That’s not to say Judge Strickland was not a thorough jurist. On the contrary, but there is a different demeanor in this court than in his, but I can’t quite put my finger on it. You wouldn’t think that personality traits could make all that much of a difference when applying law, but it does. Judge Strickland has the patience of Job. Judge Perry wants to git ‘er done.

I rode down the elevator with the prosecutors. Linda Drain Burdick was discussing an online legal publication. As we exited the elevator, I asked her what it was and if I could also receive it. She gave me the details. As we walked to the exit doors, I asked her about her last name. I notice the judge calls her Miss Drane. Do you prefer Drane or Burdick? Either one, she said. It’s not hyphenated and it was added after she got married. Either name will do and she has no preference.

As she walked away, the defense team approached the awaiting cameras and reporters. I stood near Cheney Mason. Because we were close, I decided to discuss something. “Skin cancer?”

Yes, he responded. I knew that’s what it was. I have too many friends here in Florida. “You’ve got to remember that I grew up when there was no SPF, and I’m 66-years-old.”

That’s many years in the Florida sun. He said that anyone living here and spending time outside will get it. It’s only a matter of time. I told him about my friends and what they go through. He also said he had a 14 hour operation several years ago on the other eye. Obviously, his surgeon did a great job because I didn’t notice a thing.

I think it was quite apparent that Cheney Mason had no problem talking to me, and vice versa. What he did with Judge Strickland was a professional decision and he took advantage of an opening. In the real world, that’s what happens. In the online world, people make up their own laws and hold silly grudges. I’m bald and he’s got skin cancer. Big deal. What’s it got to do with Casey?

What’s my point, you may ask? Remember that when you come to Florida. Wear sunscreen. And a hat. Oh, and I will talk to whoever I damn well please.

Baez doesn’t know JAC

“Dr. Henry Lee once told me at a national association conference that he’s been known to work for a crate of oranges.”

- J. Cheney Mason at Casey’s indigence hearing

Dear Mr. Mason, as a Florida native, you are keenly aware that this state is loaded with oranges; some of the best tasting ones in the world, I might add.

Request to seal all documents from the Justice Administrative Commission

Today, I chose to watch the hearing on TRU TV and the Internet instead of making the tedious trek down to the courthouse. I’m glad I did. Money handling is not one of my stronger points. Being on time is, and so is it with one particular judge; 9:00 AM sharp!

The first thing Chief Judge Belvin Perry, Jr. wanted to discuss was Casey’s request to seal all records related to the public funding of her defense. Jose Baez opened by saying that he wasn’t asking the court to reinvent the wheel, something Judge Stan Strickland referenced at a previous hearing. Baez mentioned that limited circumstances do exist to lock up public records and it’s addressed  in the policies and procedures manual. He cited 3.216(a) as his guide. Immediately, I went to my Florida Rules of Court (State) manual and looked up 3.216(a).

In the section on pretrial motions and defenses, Rule 3.216 is about insanity at the time of the offense. Oops, wrong book, although some may beg to differ with that. Regardless, Baez argued that not granting the motion would bring a clear and present danger to Miss Anthony’s right to a fair trial and closure is essential to ensure that. He brought to light the Orlando Sentinel publishing her purchases of spicy nachos from jail and other items. He also mentioned pseudo-news media, which probably refers to bloggers and forums. I would strongly question how snack items would prejudice a jury, though.

Chapter 119 of Florida Statutes covers the area of public records. The law is quite vast and specific in granting us the right to know what’s going on, particularly when it comes to paying taxpayers’ money. An attorney for theOrlando Sentinel, Rachel Fugate, stepped up to the podium after filing a motion to intervene. She argued that the defense’s exemption motion was too broad. Agreeing, the judge decided the defense had not met its burden because the motion to seal was too vague. It would have covered a multitude of legal issues at one time. Individually, he said, the defense could readdress some of the elements. The defense can request to seal specific records on an expert-by-expert basis. He understood that some are ones the defense doesn’t want to reveal.

One of the reasons, in my opinion and that of others, including attorneys, why Cheney Mason filed the motion to dismiss Judge Strickland was due to his response to Mason’s request at the indigence hearing. He had just stepped up to the plate and expected to hit a home run out of the ball park. How, you may ask? By having the judge grant his request to keep money spent on Casey’s defense behind closed doors. Judge Strickland denied that request and made him look bad. Unfortunately for him, his temper tantrum garnered a tougher, more strict judge, one that’s not going to let one penny of the State’s money go unguarded without knowing where it’s going. Perry’s still not satisfied with where all of the ABC money, and then some, went. This is no different from how Judge Strickland would have ruled. Mason’s net gain? Zero.

Show us the money!

That led directly to the matter at hand – why the hearing was called in the first place. Just who and what does the defense want the state to pay money to? Judge Perry opened by announcing that the State doesn’t pay “full monte” for travel expenses. The JAC objected to out-of-state providers if common experts exist in the state of Florida. That sounds reasonable and with that, the door was opened for the defense to begin providing a litany of experts they expected the state to pay. A lot of the judge’s decisions were conducive to how much work out-of-state experts had spent on their studies up to this point. In other words, would it be cheaper to let someone like Dr. Henry Lee finish his work to date and continue or cheaper to hire someone in-state who would have to start from scratch? In the end, Dr. Lee will stay. He is well-known for his work in forensic science. GRANTED.

Jeanene Barrett is the Mitigation Specialist for the Center for Justice in Capital Cases. Baez said that she has spent 384 hours working on the case. That includes many hours investigating Casey’s family and old friends in Ohio, Florida and elsewhere. He stressed that Barrett has a close and personal relationship with Casey and it’s crucial to the case that this bond is kept. The judge agreed it would be less expensive and unfair to hire someone new, but the JAC attorney was quick to point out that the rate for investigators and specialists will drop from $50 to $40 per hour on July 1 of this year. GRANTED.

At that point, the wisdom of good Judge Perry shone through. He quoted formerChief Judge Susan Shaeffer of the Sixth Judicial Circuit:

“Death is different.”

Baez emphasized that the defense team will “certainly make sure we are as frugal as can be, especially with investigators.”

Moving right along, as is the case in Judge Stricter’s court, the topic turned to depositions. The judge set the cap for out-of-state depositions at 100 hours. Baez stated that he expected to do at least 400 hours in-state. No you won’t, Judge “Stricter” said, and promptly set the amount at 300 hours.

At this time, 10:30, the good judge decided to take a 15 minute recess. It resumed at 10:45 sharp.

Next up on Jose Baez’s wish list was forensic entomologist, Dr. Timothy Huntington, from Nebraska. Dr. Huntington is the Assistant Professor of Biology at Concordia University in Nebraska, where he teaches Principles of Biology, Elements of Anatomy and Physiology, Entomology, Gross Anatomy I & II, Zoology, and Community Ecology. Because he is deeply involved in his work on the case, permission GRANTED.

A request for a forensic anthropologist was GRANTED.

The defense asked to keep their forensic botanist from Colorado. GRANTED.

Baez wanted two forensic pathologists. Judge Perry granted one, and reiterated that any and all specialists will work under strict JAC guidelines. GRANTED.

Can we keep Dr. Werner Spitz? Please, please, oh pretty please??? He performed the defense autopsy on Caylee back on December 24, 2008, so most of his work is through. GRANTED.

How about a digital forensic expert from North Carolina while we’re at it? As long as over 50% of the work has already been performed and there’s a saving, sure, the judge responded. GRANTED.

At this point, Judge Perry reminded the defense that Skype can always be used to save money in lieu of travel costs. He also said that video conferencing is available through the courthouse as an electronic alternative.

What about noted DNA expert, Dr. Lawrence Kobilinsky? He is well-known as a blood, mitochondrial and nuclear DNA specialist. JAC pointed out that there are several doctors who do the same work in the state of Florida. Because his work is over 60% done, retaining him was GRANTED.

Baez then moved into lesser known avenues of specialists and experts. He requested a trace evidence expert, one who explores such things as hair and textile fibers. Judge Perry asked why Dr. Henry Lee can’t do that work.DENIED WITHOUT PREJUDICE.

Just so you know, “without prejudice in a judgment of dismissal ordinarily indicates the absence of a decision on the merits and leaves the parties free to litigate the matter in a subsequent action, as though the dismissed action had not been started. Therefore, a dismissal without prejudice makes it unnecessary for the court in which the subsequent action is brought to determine whether that action is based on the same cause as the original action, or whether the identical parties are involved in the two actions.”¹

Next up, Baez talked about hiring a forensic chemist. This is almost an exclusive club with Dr. Arpad Vass manning the helm at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He is well versed in chemistry, physics and anthropology. Baez mentioned a doctor in Belgium, but he did say he would consult with Vass for other alternatives.

This delved deeply into the area of human decomposition. Was this the body farm, Judge Perry queried? Baez said this covered human and canine odor observations. Judge Perry said that much of the evidence was circumstantial and another expert was necessary. GRANTED.

The conversation then, naturally, turned to the issue of forensic evidence and the study of human decomposition. What about the timing and placement of the body? Here is where Barrister Jose Baez uttered the biggest $10 word of his illustrious career: taphonomy. There. He said it. Taphonomy is the study of decaying organisms over time and how they become fossilized, if they do. Paleontologists work in this field. Paleontologists study dinosaurs, which Assistant State Attorney Jeff Ashton was quick to point out they do not. The State does not recognize it, either, and a 2-prong curriculum vitae may be necessary, the judge said. In other words, he wants to see some resumés from both sides.

Baez asked for a cell phone expert. This perplexed the judge. He said the State could tell when Casey was sleeping and awake by her cell phone pings and there would be no way to determine the time of death or place by those pings. Judge Perry didn’t buy into that one and the motion was DENIED WITHOUT PREJUDICE.

Jose Baez came ready. Talk about 2-prongs, there’s the old adage about asking for everything and settling for less, but more. There’s also the one about being careful what you ask for. He expected the state to buy two Pontiac Sunbirds to determine if the same results could be achieved. No, the judge said, DENIED WITHOUT PREJUDICE.

He asked for jury consultants. Jury consultants? Linda Drane Burdick pointed out that Jeff Ashton and Frank George are jury consultants. Judge Perry said so is Cheney Mason. DENIED WITH PREJUDICE. In other words, don’t bring it up again, silly.

The defense requested a K-9 expert. This is where some barking took place. How reliable are dogs? All dogs are handled differently. What about dog logs and methods of training? How do those procedures vary from one trainer to the next? There’s already substantive conclusionary evidence. The work has been done. This is a contentious issue! Look, said Mr. JAC Attorney, since the bulk of the work has been done, put a limit on the time. OK, 20 hours max. GRANTED.

Baez spoke of the amount of money spent on public records requests from various government agencies. While the JAC wasn’t aware of any specific requests, it still decided to waive all fees. Baez said the defense had spent thousands of dollars on records. In the end, the judge set a limit at $3,500.

Some motions and requests for funds and specialists will be held in camera in the future. Perry warned the defense that he would go over the specialist’s expenses with “a fine-tooth comb.”

Cheney Mason speaks!

Some issues could be resolved without hearings, he said. Burdick responded that when the State has responded, it was an ad nauseum giant waste of time. Judge Perry said it was like blowing “smoke over the papers.” Ashton said Lyon has declined those procedures without a hearing, so it all comes back to square one. As much as the new judge is there to rule, plenty of squabbles still exist and nothing will take all of them away. These are two sides that are so far apart from each other, there’s no way everything will be settled until the jury says so.

The issue of schedules came up again. The prosecution and defense must provide deposition schedules by May 17. At the end of today’s hearing, there were a few odds and ends to be cleared up. The judge reiterated that he is bound by the rules of the JAC. Because Mason is a jury expert, as witnessed by his cases argued in front of him, and since he is working pro bono, there will be no money for travel expenses. Mason whined that his Serrano case took three weeks to find a jury. Judge Perry said we will have time to work on that. There will be 12 jurors and 6 alternates. This judge is not a fan of jury questionnaires, either.

Mason made one bold request. Actually, it wasn’t a request, it was more like a mild demand. Miss Anthony does not wish to attend the hearings any longer. She’s had enough and they are irritating her. The media hordes are making a mockery of everything she does, everything she wears. Assistant State Attorney Frank Gorge spoke up. No way, Jose, although it was Cheney. In the end, Chief Judge Belvin Perry had one more thing to say. An amended trial order will be sent out and she will not have to attend status hearings, but for all future motion hearings, the defendant needs to be present, particularly because this is a death penalty case. DENIED!

In some key areas, the defense made some headway. But would it have been different under the other judge? I would venture a strong guess the answer is no. Both are recognized for being fair. One is more formal than the other. One is more by the book. Will Casey receive a fairer trial because of it? I seriously doubt it. One thing is certain, the hearings are about to get really hot and heavy. After Monday, Tuesday and a smattering of motions, including ones that the defense is arguing over how Judge Strickland ruled, expect to see some motions to suppress evidence. They haven’t even scraped the surface yet.

One last thought on today’s hearing, and as the title suggests, Jose Baez didn’t know JAC today, but the judge most certainly did.