Debbie Does Defense

When Cindy Anthony stepped down from the witness stand inside courtroom 23, the room fell silent. While she walked back to her seat in the gallery, the judge asked the defense if it had any more witnesses. This was supposed to be Debbie Polisano's time to take the stand, since she missed the first call, but she was still absent. She was Cindy's supervisor at Gentiva. Judge Perry asked the defense what time the subpoena stated to be available and Jose said 2:00 PM. It was now 3:48. Instead of becoming angered, the judge allowed Lee to take the stand. A deputy went out and called him in.

As Cindy sat down in her chair, Mallory gave her a very loving kiss on the lips while embracing her and offering much-needed support as she quietly whispered in her ear. Cindy was visibly shaking and in tears. Her face was somewhat red. These were real emotions. This was not something any mother - any grandmother - would want to experience to begin with, let alone relive. Silently, I watched her despair, taking notes on paper and in my head, trying to understand what must have bounced around in her brain like a roller coaster ready to jump the tracks. No matter what, as human beings, we must admit that this is not a ride any of us would wish for; one she will tell again and again in her mind and in the courtroom. Needless to say, I don't envy her or anyone in her family. It is a ride to hell.

I took note of George's straight ahead gaze, one completely void of emotion. It was one that spoke volumes about a man who didn't want a part of this theater. I can't say why he seemed so distant, but everyone seems to know; the letters his own daughter wrote that implicated him and his son of some strange sort of sexually perverse behavior, the differences of opinions within his family and some of his friends over this entire mess, and God knows what else. The list may be long, but all I realized, as I sat there, was that these people didn't deserve any of this. No, not at all. No one does.

Lee sat on the stand testifying in his own inimitable style. He has a tendency to laugh when the need arises. I don't know if it's a nervous thing or whether it hits him when he feels like someone is backing him into a corner. It could be his way of remaining uplifted during times when he should be down. Some may think it's quirky, and I would find it most difficult to conjure up if my sister sat in the hot seat, facing a possible penalty of death, but that's me. To him, it's quite possibly a mechanism that helps him cope; helps him get through some, otherwise, very tough times.

He spoke of his arrival at the house, after his father called him on the phone and asked to go home because he felt his mother would need his support. That showed me the concern of a parent. Something was wrong, alright, but I don't doubt that no one knew what would be in store. Caylee wasn't considered missing at the time. To George, Caylee AND Casey were nowhere to be found. Did Cindy ever alert him to the fact that their daughter always had excuses for not putting Caylee on the phone? She's napping. She's at Disney. SeaWorld. If anyone thinks the nanny story was weaved during the third 911 call, Richard Grund was told of her "existence" long before. He told OCSO Corporal Yuri Melich in September of 2008 that Casey had brought up Zenaida Gonzalez sometime between March - May of 2006. (See: Richard Grund Interview)

Lee testified that when he got to the house, no one was to be found. Later, Cindy and Casey came home and the two of them were far from smiling. Cindy was quite frustrated. Where is Caylee? What is wrong with you? She was getting nowhere fast, so she asked him to talk to her. He took over and tried to elicit information, to no avail, so he decided to take a different approach. In a "last-ditch effort" before law enforcement would come to the house to question her, he wanted to know why they couldn't go get Caylee. Plain and simple. End of story. We go get her and call it a night. That's when she blurted out that she hadn't seen her daughter in 31 days, but I seriously doubt she was counting. Up until the moment Cindy found Casey at Tony Lazzaro's apartment, guess who was out partying every night, way too busy to remember days of the week, let alone worry about her daughter's whereabouts? She knew right where she was.

At 4:20 PM, a half hour after he began, Lee Anthony was excused by Judge Perry. He then asked the defense if their next witness had arrived. It took a minute or two before Debbie Polisano was found and brought in. She seemed to me to be a rather reluctant witness, since it was approaching 4:30, and to be well over two hours late to a court hearing is something most people don't think of doing. After her testimony, it became more of a "what was this defense thinking" by the line of questioning. This was Cheney Mason's witness to collect information that would be positive. When he asked her how it started, she told him Cindy needed to take care of family matters after her husband called. She said she needed to do that, to go home and pick up the car.

He asked her if she had a conversation with Cindy when she returned. Yes. Do you recall what she told you? Yes. "That they both (George and Cindy) found the car at an impound lot, that it had been there for a while, that she didn't know, she wasn't able to get hold of Casey, and the car seat and the baby's doll and the backpack were in the car."

"Did she tell you anything else?"

"She told me there was a terrible, terrible odor in the car."

"I'm sorry?"

"She told me there was a terrible odor in the car."

This is where Cheney Mason should have stopped asking questions. Instead, he continued and the damage went from bad to worse. "Did she say anything that, uh, that her husband George had said to her?"

"I asked her if she had opened the trunk and she didn't answer, and then................................ she said that, that she felt that it smelled like a dead body."

"Did she tell you that's what George told her?" And this latest revelation of the defense now investigating George becomes more clear. Is he to blame? Is he someone worth discrediting? Should the defense throw him under the bus with the rest of us?

"That George told her?"

"Yes, her husband, George." The latest target.

"I know................................ She didn't say George told her. She said they both knew that."

"I'm sorry, she what?"

"She didn't say George told her that."

"Yes?"

"She just said that they both knew that."

There you have it. The shape of things to come. Damning testimony. Mason later stated in his argument that Cindy had a long time for reflection before she made the 911 calls, because she went back to work and had to be told by her superior and her superior's superior to go home. He said that Cindy still talks like Caylee is alive today. In the end, it mattered not what Mason or Baez had to say. The judge ruled that the tapes were admissible at trial because the defendant will have an opportunity to cross-examine the witness who made the statements during those calls. They were not hearsay. They were excited utterances made by a desperate woman who wanted nothing more at that time than to hold her grandchild again, her grandchild who was now missing. When she handed Casey the phone, it was the first time she spun her web of lies to law enforcement. What she was so good at doing, or so she thought, could not convince detectives that she'd go get her daughter the next morning. Sadly, a part of Cindy is still waiting for the tomorrow that will never come.

When Debbie Polisano was officially excused, she walked to the gate that separates the court from the gallery. I watched her like a hawk because I wanted to see if there would be any exchange between her and her former employee. I saw none. As she opened the gate to walk through, she turned away from the Anthonys, almost as if it was purposely done that way as some sort of personal affront. As she walked toward the doors, she stared straight forward, and I got the distinct impression that there was some sort of parting of ways somewhere along the pike. Of course, I could be reading more into it than necessary. She might have been nervous, but once again, there was a silence that befell the courtroom, and I looked at this day as an eerie omen of things to come. While both defense attorneys had their moments, they fell well short of convincing the judge that they based their claims on case law. Before the second break, the state proffered an example of case law. Judge Perry was well aware of it. At that moment, I knew how the judge was going to rule. He did his homework.

♦

During the second break, I had the opportunity to talk to Cheney Mason about that particular case law that Burdick and the judge mentioned, something called Lurch v. State. I suggested, because Judge Perry had familiarized himself with the case, he already made his decision and it wasn't favorable for the defense. I told him he did a good job in there. He just said, "We'll see," and he walked back into the courtroom. My intent was not to irritate him at all and it didn't. It was just a commentary. Seconds later, I ran into Jeff Ashton. I asked him why he was late. Not so much why he was late, I explained, but was it the plan all along to have Linda question Cindy because her tone might sound less intimidating? He said, absolutely not! That was how it panned out. It could have been either of them, or Frank George, I suppose. There was never a plan like that. There never is, he said. It doesn't work that way. I thanked him and returned to the courtroom. There was still a lot of work to be done. The OBJECTION TO RELEASE OF DOCUMENTS RELATED TO INTENDED DEFENSE REVIEW OF EVIDENCE was still on the docket du jour. The defense was granted that one. What those experts were doing in town last week is considered work product. In the end, it wasn't a fiasco for the defense, but those recordings are not going to help at trial. Neither is Debbie Polisano.

On a final note, Fusian Ultra Lounge, Casey's old stomping grounds, is no more. In it's place is Fifty Brews Bar and Grill. The initial count has them pegged at 74 beers.