Revisited: Casey Anthony must die!
As things are gearing up for the trial, I want to reflect on some of the issues that transpired during the past two-and-a-half years. On April 20, 2009, I published Casey Anthony must die! on my old WordPress blog. Four days short of one year later, Casey’s defense team filed a motion demanding that the Honorable Judge Stan Strickland step down from presiding over the murder case. This article was cited by the defense as the primary reason why Judge Strickland would not be able to judge fairly. Poppycock! The judge never read that post or any of the others the motion cited. Also, had Jose Baez and, particularly, Cheney Mason fully read what I wrote, they would have discovered that the title had nothing to do with delivering Casey’s head on a platter of any kind.
Here is the defense motion, and here is Judge Strickland’s order granting the motion. Incidentally, the date I was called up in front of the judge was October 16, 2009, a FULL SIX MONTHS before the recusal motion was filed.
On the WESH Website, Richard Hornsby said on the day the motion was filed, “There is little doubt that one day the defense will look back on the motion (as) the worst move they’ve made,” He added that, “Judge Strickland has previously shown a fairness to Casey in the way he sentenced her in the check case, and now they don’t know who their judge will be.”
Anyone who reads my articles should know by now I am not a proponent of the death penalty. Incidentally, this was written before Casey was declared indigent. Also, the electric chair was taken out of commission and injection is today’s method of execution.
Casey Anthony must die!
From the Florida Department of Corrections Web site, here are some fun facts:
The case of Furman vs. Georgia was decided by the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) in June 1972. In that landmark case, the Court held that capital punishment was unconstitutional and struck down state death penalty laws nationwide. As a result, the death sentences of 95 men and 1 woman on Florida’s Death Row were commuted to life in prison. However, after the Furman decision, the Florida Legislature revised the death penalty statutes in case the Court reinstated capital punishment in the future. In 1976 the Supreme Court overturned its ruling in Furman and upheld the constitutionality of the death penalty in the case of Gregg vs. Georgia. Executions resumed in Florida in 1979 when John Spenkelink became the first Death Row inmate to be executed under the new statutes.
In January 2000, the Florida Legislature passed legislation that allows lethal injection as an alternative method of execution in Florida. Florida administers executions by lethal injection or electric chair at the execution chamber located at Florida State Prison. The three-legged electric chair was constructed from oak by Department of Corrections personnel in 1998 and was installed at Florida State Prison (FSP) in Starke in 1999. The previous chair was made by inmates from oak in 1923 after the Florida Legislature designated electrocution as the official mode of execution. (Prior to that, executions were carried out by counties, usually by hanging.) The apparatus that administers the electric current to the condemned inmate was not changed. It is regularly tested to ensure proper functioning.
OR
Since the middle of July of last year, the name Casey Marie Anthony has permeated the airwaves, earwaves and print media of this country and many parts of the civilized world on a daily basis. Every day, something must be reported on the case against Casey, and no one has titillated more than Nancy Grace. All of her loyal followers must be tickled pink since the State Attorney’s Office of Florida announced last week that the prosecution will seek the death penalty against her for the murder of her daughter, Caylee Marie. State Attorney Lawson Lamar’s office said they want to kill Casey because, as the official explanation says, “sufficient aggravating circumstances” have come to light. Please take note that Lamar did not ask for the same thing against George, Cindy and Lee and some of you won’t sleep until the entire family is dead by the wheels of justice. How ironic that nearly 2,000 years ago and for hundreds of years, the idol worshippers of Rome demanded the heads of Christians as they begged for their lives. Now, it is the Christians making the same kinds of demands. There should be no trial. Casey Anthony must die! I am not going to delve into the pros and cons of this sort of punishment and I don’t really want to hear opinions one way or the other. This article is meant to just give you a taste of things to come.
Sentencing Casey to death might be what minions of people from around the globe are hoping for, but Lamar knows it’s no easy task. Here is a case I remember well: On November 25th 1998, police were called to the Central Florida home of Kayla McKean and told that she was missing. They began a search and as the story hit the news, hundreds more people gathered to help. Countless people spent Thanksgiving Day searching and continued through the weekend to no avail. On Monday, November 30, searchers were ready to begin again when Kayla’s father, Richard Adams, came forward and confessed that he had killed her the previous Tuesday in a fit of rage because she had soiled her underpants. In his confession, he told police where her little battered body was buried. Kayla’s stepmother, Marcie Adams, took police to the Ocala National Forest where Richard buried her. He was immediately arrested on charges of first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse, tampering with evidence and medical neglect. Like Casey, he faced the death penalty, but on May 15, 2000, Adams was sentenced to life without parole, plus 28 years. Because of her death, Florida enacted the Kayla McKean Child Protection Act.
Casey’s team will go to trial with a credible cast of legal experts, something Adams did not have. Although you may scoff at Jose Baez’s credentials, he’s got some strong talent behind him, including New York defense attorney Linda Kenney Baden [not now], famed criminologist Dr. Henry Lee [today, it was announced that Lee would not testify at trial], forensic scientist Dr. Larry Kobilinsky and Todd Macaluso [nope!], who excels at cross-examining technical experts. This will make the death penalty a tough win for Lamar, and he’s got to be concerned.
Some people feel this is nothing more than an old prosecutor’s trick. Well known law professor Alan Dershowitz, of Harvard Law School, claimed that Texas prosecutors used the same ploy to get a conviction against Andrea Yates, who drowned her 5 children in 2001.
“The prosecutors… never really expected, nor even wanted, the jury to return a death sentence,” Dershowitz wrote. “They manipulated the death sentence processing order to get a pro-prosecution jury, more likely to reject the insanity defense and return a verdict of guilt. This tactic, well known to those who practice criminal law, is becoming more widespread in states which authorize the death penalty.”
In Yates’ case, her conviction was overturned on appeal and she was ruled not guilty by reason of insanity. Because of the nature of choosing juries in death penalty cases, a potent problem exists for the defense. The selection process may give potential jurors an impression of guilt by merely asking for death instead of a lesser penalty. Ultimately, the State Attorney’s Office may be looking for a plea deal now that Casey faces being strapped down on a gurney to one day be fed intravenous shots of killer medications. No doubt, this will be a very long and costly trial since it doesn’t look like Casey is readying herself for some sort of confession. With this in mind, let’s examine how the death penalty works in Florida.
First off, death penalty trials are not cheap. The stakes are much higher because we are talking about taking a life. Because of that, more motions are filed, more interviews are conducted and lots more research is performed. The possibility of execution will prolong and complicate this trial and make it 10 times more expensive for the prosecution and defense than a maximum life in prison sentence.
Capital punishment cases need a very select type of person to sit in the jury box because they must be willing to sentence someone to die. Also, cases like these are two-parted: the guilt/innocence phase and the penalty phase, and that could almost double the length of the trial. Time costs money.
Unlike non-death penalty cases where potential jurors are questioned in groups, these jurors are interviewed individually. Sometimes, a process like this can take weeks. Once a jury is seated, the trial begins with the guilt/innocence phase, and like any other criminal trial, the state presents its case and the defense does its best to poke holes in the evidence presented against their client. After that, the jury decides guilt or innocence and if found guilty, the trial moves into the second stage, the penalty phase.
You’ll notice that in the State Attorney Office’s explanation of why it asked for the death sentence, “sufficient aggravating circumstances” was cited. These aggravating factors, all outlined by law, must outweigh the mitigating circumstances as put forth by the defense. Aggravating factors would include whether the killing was committed in a cold, calculated and premeditated manner. Mitigating circumstances would encompass areas such as whether the defendant acted under duress and why this life should be spared. It becomes a second trial within the trial and it is where the costs really start to add up.
Most of the time, it’s the defense that has to work harder and spend more time working out the reasons to spare their client’s life. To prepare for this phase, they must do extensive research into that person’s background. They must dig up every school record, medical record, where they were born and what doctor delivered them. If mental health issues never factored into the main trial, they will here. Mitigator specialists may be called in. I’ll bet you never even knew this type of career exists. All of this is very time consuming and expenses can soar into the 100s of thousands of dollars for this phase alone, just to pay for experts.
As of today, with the trial set for mid-October and more likely to be a year or two away [BOY, WERE WE WRONG ABOUT THAT!], it’s impossible to say how much it will cost the state, but the bill will rise tremendously now that it has asked for the death penalty. Prosecutors’ spokesman Randy Means said that death penalty cases are not budgeted separately from other cases, but because they take longer, they cost more. Anywhere from 3 to 10 times more effort is put into this type of case. If the defense puts many experts on the stand during the penalty phase, the state must counter those arguments.
Many of those aggravators have already been shown during the guilt/innocence phase and the mitigating circumstances will need to be fought again, with new testimony. We, the taxpayers, must fund the state. The money set aside to prosecute cases has already been budgeted and because of this, it takes away from other trials. That means someone else might not be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Keep this in mind as the state readies itself because prosecutors had better be sure they know what they are doing. Before you throw any “Lawson Lamar lament” my way, this is not meant to argue the pros and cons of the death penalty, nor is it to trash Casey for not fessing up. This is just to let you how the process works.
If she is found guilty and sentenced to death, she will go to the Lowell Correctional Institution Annex in Lowell, FL, outside of Ocala in Marion County. Her cell will be 6 x 9 x 9.5 feet high. She will be served meals three times a day, at 5:00 am, from 10:30 am to 11: am and from 4:00 pm to 4:30 pm. All food is prepared by prison staff and transported in insulated carts to the cells. Prior to execution, she will be able to ask for a last meal and the cost to prepare it must cost no more than $40.00 and all ingredients must be purchased locally. As for the final cost of arrest, trial, incarceration, appeals and execution, the price will run into the millions, a lot more than just a life sentence, and in the end, Lawson Lamar knows that a death sentence in Florida may end up being more about dying of old age in a stark jail cell than anything else.
To those of you so hellbent on Casey’s execution, I ask you where you were when Kayla McKean’s father sat on trial, charged with her brutal murder. I ask you where you were when he was sentenced to life instead of death. I guess you didn’t care. Perhaps that’s not it at all. Ten years ago, this precious child, every bit as beautiful and angelic as Caylee Marie, didn’t have Nancy Grace fighting for her. No Geraldo, no cable shows, no Internet and no public. Who cried for Kayla? Think about it.
Reader Comments (83)
More Casey Evidence Expected Friday
Latest Release Includes Interviews Regarding Anthony's Jailhouse Letters
I will send you my number after dinner, katfish. You can call me any time. It will be an honor and a privilege.
Thanks, B-Man. I think it is so hypocritical of people to use the Bible to their advantage. When one verse doesn't fit, find another one that does. I really liked George Carlin, too, and he said it well. Better, I might add, than Bill Maher, who is just a little too cynical for me. I like some of what he says, but his delivery is sometimes too condescending and sarcastic.
B-Man - I think it was a ridiculous statement when Mason tried to push his weight around Judge Strickland's courtroom. That was the wrong thing to do, but instead of getting up and brushing it off, he chose to take a stand and ambush the judge. Oh well, he will reap what he has sewn. If Judge Perry has ruled the same way Judge Strickland would have had he continued with the case, then it was no improvement. The defense got anything but a liberal judge. To be quite frank, I spoke to a lot of local attorneys and they all agreed that it was a huge mistake. This was even before Judge Perry took over. There's more to that story, too.
Hey, no one get graded on speling here, so don't worry about it.
I am one who believes in the death penalty, but not for this case. I will say that I have been glad Casey has death hanging over her head during this process, however, she doesn't seem to "get it", imo, so what's the use? I wanted her to know what Caylee felt in her last moment of life. DP should be for those cases when its intentional murder and there are eyewitnesses, like the Tuscon nutjob.
Everyone has made very good comments concerning what went down in the judge's recusal and this article being in the motion. At that time, nearly two years ago, I believe you, Dave, were considered to be pro-Anthony because you would not allow vitriole against the players in this case within the comment lines. Even though I despised the Anthonys because of their antics, I liked reading at your site because I did not want to read a bunch of juvenille snarkiness which was becoming a contest at other blogs to see who could outsnark the other with Anthony insults. I sure made no friends when telling others about your site, lol!
Look at all that has changed since you wrote this article! A once dream team made up of well known experts has dwindled to nearly no one noteworthy. Read the discovery (linked in a recent comment) that Baez handed over to the State and the motion asking for more time and one can see that having Judge Stricter, er, I mean, Judge Perry, may not be the ideal the defense was hoping for. And, I think we can see that the experts were not going to be in it for free even if some of them were doing it pro-bono. Why shouldn't they be paid? Baez got his big bucks and there's not much to show for it.
In the end, all those who kvetched on and on about you causing the recusal of Judge Strickland should be glad that Judge Perry is at the helm now for the simple reason that it isn't going so well for the defense team-or what is now left of it. Strickland was a very good judge, no doubt, but he was very lenient with Baez, imo, because he knew Baez was cutting his teeth on his first DP case. Judge Perry is not so concerned with giving Baez a break as he is about the process going on as it should in a timely manner.
Casey will be found guilty of first degree pre meditated murder I M O...The sentance will be life ....A death sentance will only bolster Caseys already high profile....The Anthonys spin machine money grabbing would go into over drive ...Sentance her to life an obscurity .....A death sentance would never be carried out anyway.An only result in years of media attention for the Anthonys concerning apeals clemancy ect....
Wow, Celeste, thank you! I don't think a woman has been giddy over me for a long time! That made my day!
About Casey, it's too late in the game and the state never offered her a deal after she was charged with murder. They had no intent to. Even before the body was discovered, she was charged with first-degree murder, so there was already enough evidence against her. Now, with so much time and money invested in it, a plea will never happen, and pleading to the bench would be turned down by the judge. Nope, she's in it 'til the end, one way or another.
I had a feeling your friend was just a friend, but women do call each other girlfriends. They dance together, too.
Thank you for the very nice accolades. I rock, huh?
That was a chilling moment, nan11, and I remember it well. Cindy got up and ran out the door. That's going to be said at the trial, too, probably in closing arguments. Extremely intense!
Thanks for the link, Mary Jo.
I am sure there are many women in your circle ( and some that admire from a distance) that are giddy about you...How could they not be?! Perhaps they are just shy :)
And I have to say, I was never for the DP until this case and up until reading ecossie's comment above I had hoped that would be her judgement...But the way ecossie stated what he/she stated I have to agree...DP would only lengthen the spotlight on that whole twisted family...Sentence her to LWOP and hopefully they will all just go away!
Will you be allowed in the court room come trial Dave? Oh,to be a fly on that wall!!!
You are welcome, Dave.
ecossie, you are right about if Casey gets the DP that it would give the Anthony's media attention for years. It would keep Casey the center of attention too, which she would love. If she is given LWOP she will be forgotten and have to live the rest of her life in a cell with no internet, cell phone or boyfriends. It might give her a chance to think about what she did, but someone like her doesn't think about anyone but themselves.
Hello, Sherry! You know, I really do believe Casey is oblivious to all of this. The magnitude of it has gone right over her head. Jose Baez recently told me she is scared to death about it and in a sense, I believe it, although where I think it escapes her is with her defense. By that, I don't mean it in an insulting way. Instead, I think she looks at her team of defenders as her hope. She fully expects them to exonerate her and if they don't, she will be in for a ruda awakening. As for the series of problems and setbacks befalling the defense in the hearings, defenses do file lots of motions expecting many of them to fail, but they gotta do what they gotta do. We are seeing potatoes now. During the trial, hopefully there's meat on the platter. We'll see.
Yes, I never allowed name calling. To all of the people who still think they were right, good riddance. You never belonged here anyway, and I am not saddened by the loss. Heck, what loss?
This case sure has changed since I wrote this post. The defense did not end up with a bargain. As I've said since this occurred, you're right, they went from Strickland to stricter. I wonder how that will play out in the history books. Thanks for your comment. You brought up some very valid points. What a difference between then and now.
I don't believe the media will address Casey again if she's convicted, ecossie. That's what's been holding so much interest; the trial. The rest of the world will go on without her. Even if she's acquitted, the story will end there. No one will be interested in her after that, and remember, this is about the victim, not her or her family.
I'm going to watch a little TV, but a letter was brought to my attention this evening. I will try to address it tomorrow.
Okaaay!!! I gotta relog in after an hour. I think I'll hit refresh before posting a comment from now on...lol!
Perhaps Casey's attitude is to cover up her fear of what could be her fate. I hear from Andrea that the maker of one the injections in the lethal cocktail has decided to stop making it. You have to check out her blog, only dreamin, and I apologize about there being no link to it...
Sherry, I doubt if Casey will receive the death penalty but, if she does, it will be years down the road before she takes that final walk. By that time, they will have invented a nose spray to do the job rather than a lethal injection. Who knows, the state of Florida may abolish the death penalty all together. I do not think it is a deterrent anyway,
Here is the news article I was referencing:
http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-general/20110126/US.Execution.Drug.Shortage/?cid=NET_SZHeadlineRSSLinks&attr=article_news_general_US.Execution.Drug.Shortage
True, Snoopy. I think the whole US of A may have the DP banned by then.
My apologies for the long link in my previous comment.
Let me try again:
Sedative Maker Deplores Executions
It didn't work- : (
Here is Andrea's post:
http://andreadreamin.com/2011/01/26/lethal-injection-drug-halted/
I fixed it, Sherry. Thanks for the link. Andrea's been doing some exceptional work over there.
IMO This case has gone on far, far too long, and should have been over months ago. I also think the whole Anthony family is shameful. Their lies, and making "blood money" are shameful! I will be thrilled when this case is over, and justice has finally been done for precious little Caylee. Hopefully, we will hear the last of the Anthonys when it is over. However, I feel SURE they are already planning on ways to make some big bucks. (Books, media appearances, movies, magazine etc,,,) Once Scummy, always Scummy......like leopards, they don't change spots!
Hi Dave,
Another great post, as usual. You are such a good writer - how is the book coming along??? Hope you and your famiily are doing better. Such a great job keeping us informed. I think Baez and Mason are finally realizing their time is over . . . there are not too many avenues they can follow. Their darling monster is going LWOP or DP. Thank you for your hard work, despite your personal issues.
Hi, Simba. My family is feeling better now, thank you. I try to stay on top of this case, which gets more bizarre with each passing day, sad to say. I am looking forward to covering the trial, but I doubt I will be able to attend every day. That's a lot for a diabetic, but I shall try my best. Thanks for appreciating my work. I enjoy doing it.
http://www.stateline.org/live/ViewPage.action?siteNodeId=136&languageId=1&contentId=25995
34 states have opted to continue punishing murderers with the death penalty. Florida is one of them. BTW abortion is legal. Maybe it's wrong, but it is legal and it's not considered murder. I personally think you're wrong to compare the murder of a 2 year old child to the termination of a fetus. But I digress and don't want to start a debate about abortions. It's completely off topic and deserves it's own forum.
Anthony's defense team (the no longer a dream team by any stretch of the imagination) can and will present mitigating factors to save her from death if she's found guilty.
I recall reading a few years ago Florida had recently added an aggravating circumstance to consider for the charge of capital murder and Anthony was to be charged with capital murder for that reason. In addition to the other aggravating factors involved of course.
"The victim of the capital felony was particularly vulnerable due to disability, or because the defendant stood in a position of familial or custodial authority over the victim".
A parent has total authority and control over a helpless child.
Nowadays with the internet we can follow any case. 10 years ago not so much. Plus Florida has the Sunshine Law and it's all out in the open. Every sordid detail.
BTW I agree, Jane Velez Mitchell is a sorry excuse for a journalist or whatever she considers herself to be. She's a piece of work and her show should be cancelled. She's incompetent and biased to boot.
Great comments on your site Dave!
Is it even possible at this stage for Cheney Mason to quit? He is the death qualified lawyer and they'd have to replace him since Baez isn't qualified. Wouldn't this delay the trial if he did quit?
As for Jose saying Casey is scared I don't really believe it. I think he gave you the answer that would be the reaction of most people in this situation. Casey is living in an alter world where she believes she is guiding the attorneys, making the decisions and living the life of a celebrity. If she was scared she'd be in tears and shaking every time she was in that court room. I think a real and true reaction from Casey is what the world is waiting to see. Will she crumble when the State describes Caylee's death. Will she feel remorseful for all the lies she told others. Will her knees buckle when she hears the verdict of guilty. Casey will play the martyr to the hilt. She will spin lie after lie on the injustice that she has received and how she has been framed.
Dave, do you know if you will be putting the links here to the documents being released tomorrow? If so, then a bunch of us won't all be doing it too.
Dave, what is this "ugly coping" i been hearing about that the defense is supposed to be trying to use? And how does this relate to the Casey Anthony case?
Dave, always a reader, never a poster until now. I like coming hear and reading your well written posts. It gets those rusty old wheels in that brain of mine turning. I find it quirky how the blogs and media continue to wonder how this case gets so much attention, yet everyone continues to write about it. Could I use the word ironic? Did the prosecution in this case put the death penalty on the table to get a jury more prone to convicting the defendant? It is possible, but I find it hard to believe. The evidence both direct and circumstantial would leave me to believe otherwise. Did the prosecution put the death penalty on the table to get rid of that pesky lawyer? A self-serving his interests only lawyer who has been moonlighting, basking in the glory of his client. A client that has made him famous, adored by certain media outlets. He had better watch-out as the way things are going he is more likely to end of infamous in the what not to do law books and media. Only time will tell on that one. If that is so, the prosecution was extremely foolhardy in thinking that such a little thing as the death penalty was going to let it slip from his hands. I believe the prosecution had dealt with him long enough to know that hell would have to freeze over before he gives up fist chair. Maybe it was a roll of the dice, only the prosecutors know and I don't think the public will ever find out. Could it be they put it on the table because the whole family is guilty in one aspect or another of helping cover up the death of a innocent two year old. Did I just strike gold? I don't know but I don't think it really matters. Maybe it was because they found a two year old child, who rotted away in the woods with duct tape, of all things across her mouth, just one quarter of a mile away from the home and people who were supposed to love and protect her. .The defense team had the best legal eagles (before they flew the coop) in the country to get it off the table and as we all know the were unsuccessful. Maybe just maybe the prosecution is doing the right thing, we have our own opinions about that. In the end it is a jury of Casey Anthony's peers who will decide her ultimate fate, and rightfully so because they heard the evidence from start to finish. May the lord be with them in deciding her fate when and if found guilty. As for the Judge situation, I for one am glad the Honorable Judge Perry is presiding, he's getting it done and taking no prisoners from either side. He has got the stance of I am not a floor mat, I wasn't born yesterday and I am not your mama. I love that about him, I know come May all of us readers and writers will be glued to our T.V. sets to see if Caylee Marie Anthony will get human justice.
Wow, great comments here, all the way around. Personally I do still think it possible that closer to trial one of the Team takes a full, detached look at what the State has, grows a brain stem, then a spine, and has The Talk with Casey. And somehow, some sort of deal is done. Which would be a HUGE pity for Us of course, but a real break for the Florida Taxpayer!
Wow,there has been some very good, thought provoking discussions going on here. Thanks Dave. IMO if Casey had shown any concern for Caylee's well being or showed any remorse or even tried to tell the truth, people would not be so willing to condemn her.Casey did not care that Caylee's little body was in the dark woods, her little body rotting away under water, the animals and bugs eating at her flesh and dragging her bones over the woods. Casey could have told someone where she was and she would not have been so mutilated.Casey partied, got tattoos stole money, shopped and run from her family and walked into the courtroom in handcuffs smiling all the way, while this was happening to Caylee. She has been smiling since. I have to hear something out of her mouth to make me think that there is some redeemable quality in her. I feel that way about all these low life wimps that kill and molest kids. I can't understand how Zahra Bakers Dad is still walking around free. I'm sorry, but I just can't see how this world is better, with people like that in it.
I'm sure many would agree that "pro-life" is a euphenism for "anti-abortion", but in my opinion that doesn't rule a proponent out from also being a supporter of the DP.
The way I see it, the unborn child committed no crime, therefore doesn't deserve to lose their life.
On the other hand, taking the life of someone who perpetrates their cruel, depraved fantasies on others who had the misfortune of being a target or in the wrong place at the wrong time brings peace to those who need it and serves as a deterrant to those who might follow in the monster's footsteps.
The law should be cracking down on criminals, not the innocent.
Dave, as a woman myself (no children yet) I can assure you that the reason that most women are/were so interested in the Tot Mom case has something MORE to do with the insane amount of narcissism that one mother could have, as well as lies reaching the heights of something that we as the human race had never thought possible before. It was NOT because she was a woman or because of her looks. I can swear on the bible that from day one until this day I have NEVER found Casey Anthony remotely attractive and frankly struggle with why so many try to claim that this is a fact. I tend to explain this strange theory as being that Casey is a skinny white female that did not have a pock-marked meth face or years of wear from a rough life/being in the streets (like the typical stereotypical female prisoner that we tend to see), so yeah going by those factors I can see why she would be categorized as being close to good-looking. Anyways, the more that I learned about Tot Mom the more uglier that she became. I had to reply because i get so sick and tired of people claiming that the reason that most women are so intrigued with the Anthony case was because we were so enamored [somehow] with Tot Mom's [made believe] good looks and that for unknown reasons [what could the assumptions be here - jealousy of her "model" good looks? Um, no. Puhlease.] we just tend to target and hate her more so than anyone else considered "less attractive" or of the opposite sex who committed a similar crime.... NO!! NO!! And NO!!! At least for me, this is the case and I am very secure in my appearance & believe that what I (as well as the majority of all other women of the world have) got is 100x better quality than that of anything that Miss Thang thinks that she has (or bloggers/media such as yourself believe that she somehow has). What gets me is that the dumb beotch has not, will not, & probably NEVER will tell the truth & fess up to what she did. It is THIS (the lies, playing the public like complete & utter fools - as if we were all as brain dead as the Pinellas 12, pfh) that pi$$e$ women off (such as myself) MORE than anything else & angers us beyond all else. In the case that you referenced about the little girl named Kayla, well that case went by the wayside because the dad/killer came forward & confessed & fessed up to his wrongdoing(s) & admitted what he did that was so terribly wrong. A young life was lost which in itself is so very tragic & upsetting, but at least the party responsible had taken responsibility for having committed the taking of that life; & I'm assuming he had given a full confession of WHAT exactly happened. In doing so, it is seen by many as the guilty party knowing what they did was wrong & accepting punishment for their actions. So of course the outrage is not going to be as obscene as it could be if say the guilty party murdered her child -with a TON of damning circumstantial evidence so clearly proving so- & guilty party STILL tries to lie, play the public like a fool, & in the end continue to not accept punishment for or acknowledge that was she did was wrong.