Mistakes made that led to Casey being aquitted...

[tlcya]

If they were precluded from providing info about the defendant's activities in the week prior to to the 16th of June then IMO that ruling was a judicial error.

 

[Intermezzo]

If they were precluded from providing info about the defendant's activities in the week prior to to the 16th of June then IMO that ruling was a judicial error.

I am trying to find the motion/hearing regarding that but have not been successful, yet

I do remember that the State said they would focus on her actions after June 16, 2008

 

[watcher9]

I am trying to find the motion/hearing regarding that but have not been successful, yet

I do remember that the State said they would focus on her actions after June 16, 2008

I'm not sure this is what you are hunting for.

I found a motion in limine from the defense dated 12-21-10 to exclude evidence of the alleged history of Defendant's lying and stealing but don't know how to copy any of it over from a PDF format. I could not find when/if it was granted though.

Hope this can point you in the right direction.

http://www.ninthcircuit.org/news/Hi...nt has a History of Lying and or Stealing.pdf

 

[heidisams]

I'm not sure this is what you are hunting for.

I found a motion in limine from the defense dated 12-21-10 to exclude evidence of the alleged history of Defendant's lying and stealing but don't know how to copy any of it over from a PDF format. I could not find when/if it was granted though.

Hope this can point you in the right direction.

http://www.ninthcircuit.org/news/Hi...nt has a History of Lying and or Stealing.pdf

The defense claimed her history of lying and stealing was too prejudicial... JP disagreed... Half they time I don't understand or agree with probative/prejudicial rulings... I think her reaction to the news of Caylee's body being found should've come in, as well as stealing AH's checks, Gpa's nursing home money, CA's bank account/credit cards, Caylee's piggy bank money... IMO it was all relevant to her motive, and it discredits many of the amazing mom, CA and fca bff claims, etc, etc... Poor, innocent abused fca was a lying thief, who lied because she was lazy and greedy, not because she was abused... I don't think it was too prejudicial at all, but necessary to show she wasn't the victim here... I would really hate for her to look too guilty!

JP ruled on 02/10/2011...

Perry's orders denied defense motions to exclude testimony that Casey Anthony had a history of lying or stealing and to prohibit the use of MySpace references attributed to Casey Anthony under the so-called "Diary of Days."

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com...6_1_casey-anthony-caylee-marie-suburban-drive

 

[eve80]

Reading the prosecutor's book , you could tell that they anticipated JB to go with the accidental drowning story. I thing they should have better prepared to defend the point that it was not a drowning. According to what we heard from the "jury" they got hung up on the cause of death because the drowning somehow made sense to them. The prosecution should have gotten prepared to show that it was not an accident.

 

[watcher9]

I think the prosecutors knew they had such a solid case with so much damning evidence that showed FCA was guilty of murder, they weren't worried about an outlandish silly claim JB was going to put on about drowning. They just didn't know the jury would take that claim as fact and dismiss the real evidence as insignificant and/or junk science.

 

[Intermezzo]

I'm not sure this is what you are hunting for.

I found a motion in limine from the defense dated 12-21-10 to exclude evidence of the alleged history of Defendant's lying and stealing but don't know how to copy any of it over from a PDF format. I could not find when/if it was granted though.

Hope this can point you in the right direction.

http://www.ninthcircuit.org/news/Hi...nt has a History of Lying and or Stealing.pdf

Yes, that is one and I think there is another Motion to Exclude Hearsay

The Defense was saying that the evidence was prejudicial to Casey

This Motion they argued that her history of lying and stealing were irrelevant to Charges in the case.

IIRC only if the Defense said certain favourable things about Casey could the Prosecution use the evidence they had in rebuttal...LDB was ready with the huge stack of papers with the evidence of Casey's stealing.

 

[Beach_Bound]

Rushing jury selection.

Huge mistake. I'm sure I'm not the only one who got a very bad feeling about how this would end up while this *selection* was going on. I was no fan of the judge from that point on.

That being said...I am also of the opinion that the Anthony clan was in on the whole defense. The entire thing. I believe everything they said and did in court was designed with one goal in mind..to get her off. I think I remember reading that the jury didn't trust George Anthony. That is about the only thing I agreed with them on. Of course this is only my opinion...

 

[ZsaZsa]

Reading the prosecutor's book , you could tell that they anticipated JB to go with the accidental drowning story. I thing they should have better prepared to defend the point that it was not a drowning. According to what we heard from the "jury" they got hung up on the cause of death because the drowning somehow made sense to them. The prosecution should have gotten prepared to show that it was not an accident.

IIRC JA went to great lengths to explain that family member of victims of accidental drownings do not behave like the A's - concoct elaborate lies to make it sound like a kidnapping/murder- they dial 911 and take it from there. Dr G also emphatically explained why it was homicide, and not accidental drowning- that in all her years of dealing with accidental drownings, in EVERY instance the family called 911 and tried resuscitation.
All of that fell on deaf ears.

 

[thedeviledadvocate]

The media, from the very start, took on the role of the prosecution, the judge, the jury, and the executioner. They played these roles so well, that Casey became the most hated woman in America, and a majority of the general population was convinced she did it, and would be convicted, without ever even considering what the defense would present in court.

The PT seemed to buy into the media hype, and presented their case accordingly. The difference between a case being tried in the media and the case being tried in a courthouse is that the jurors are presented with both sides of the story, and the states evidence (that in the media was portrayed as undeniable fact,) is cross examined, and may not always meet the, it was proven beyond a reasonable doubt requirement.

The PT seemed to underestimate the DT's closing that emphasized the meaning of reasonable doubt.

While it may not be required by law to prove, when someone was murdered, where someone was murdered, why someone was murdered and how someone was murdered, if you are going to expect 12 people to agree to convict someone of murder, answering those questions with evidence that is proven beyond a reasonable doubt, would go a long way in acquiring a conviction.

The why (Casey wanted to party), the how (maybe chloroform, maybe duct tape, maybe both), the when (unknown), the where (unknown), and the who (Casey because she was allegedly the last person to see Caylee alive), along with 84 times, a convoluted explanation of chloroform in the trunk, the inexcusable response by LE to RK's initial 911 calls, the towyard operator and GA not calling LE immediately when they both smelled the unmistakable smell of death, LE at the Anthony's home for 16 plus hours before securing the car that had the unmistakable smell of death coming from the trunk, a white garbage bag containing maggots and yet no food thrown into a dumpster for many hours before being picked up by LE, a trace of an adipocere like substance, a trace of butyric acid, the heart shaped sticker residue, and the "hope" that Casey used the chloroform before the duct tape so Caylee didn't suffer, all added together seemed to create so much reasonable doubt for the jury that they couldn't convict. Throw in the controversial superimposed duct tape video, and the DT closing highlighting the meaning of reasonable doubt, and it really isn't all that mind boggling that the jury came back with an acquittal.

As always, my entire post is my opinion only.

 

[Aedrys]

The prosecution vastly overestimated the jury. They thought the jury was like us and would be able to put the pieces together. And their annoyance with Baez, especially JA's, showed too much. The jury had no idea what Baez had put the prosecution through up until and even during the trial. Baez came off as the likable defense attorney and the prosecution came off as unlikable. Who knows, maybe that was Baez's strategy - wear down the prosecution so much that when it came time for trial, Baez could do his hokey stuff and get the jury on his side. I'm really starting to believe that now. I think the whole defense was acted out farce designed to help Casey get out of prison.

Also, the prosecution was damaged anyway since they couldn't prove the argument or how much Casey resented Caylee because her whole family was on her side, not Caylee's. They were totally in on her defense and freeing her from prison, which hurt the prosecution immensely. Also, trying to get other people to talk about it would have gone into hearsay territory, unfortunately. So they couldn't talk about the biggest motivation for Casey getting rid of Caylee, and that hurt the prosecution's case a lot. People understand hating a parent so much that a daughter or son would do something bad to hurt them - at least understand that that could be a strong motive for murder. They don't understand a daughter that seemingly had no responsibilities and whose daughter was well cared for wanting to get rid of her daughter. Proving Casey was a liar just wasn't enough.

And I hate, hate, HATE that non of her stealing could be brought up either. I think there was a motion that it couldn't be brought up, or maybe it was because she had felonies stemming from her stealing. I can't remember, but I do remember it could not be brought up in court. That hurt the prosecution's case too.

Basically, the prosecution was in a no win situation, and then didn't present the case in a way that the jury could clearly understand and connect the dots. I hate to admit that, but I do think it's true. Since they overestimated the intelligence of the jury, the jury, I believe, was overwhelmed, and that's why they didn't consider any of the evidence.

Plus, I've seen people lying about or bringing up abuse over the years as a sympathy ploy. More people are willing to believe that someone was abused and therefore not responsible for what they did or how they reacted than someone who wasn't abused and killed a child. I mean heck, she's living off of people that believe she was molested. It's just sick, but I think all the jury focused on was the abuse, and that easily let them absolve her any wrongdoing in Caylee's death even though there was no evidence whatsoever that she had ever been abused.

I do think that HHJP and jury selection may have played a role, but I think it is more minor role than what I've talked about above. I don't seem either of them as big of a factor as the prosecution, the things they weren't allowed to bring in, Baez playing the nice attorney up against the big and bad prosecution, and the jury being an unintelligent and more willing to sympathize because of unproven abuse than convict Casey of murdering her child. I think any jury might have been overwhelmed and HHJP was in a lot of hard spots and was getting a lot of pressure about this case. I'm sure he would do a lot of things differently now, though.

It makes me sad to admit all of this after I defended Ashton and the prosecution so vigorously, and even tried to defend HHJP, but I can't deny it anymore. And I just want to throw things when I think about the prosecution missing "foolproof suffocation" searches.

 

[Spice]

Missing the "Fool-Proof" Suffocation search that was made at the home on the day that Caylee died while it was proven that George and Cindy were at work at that time.

That proves premeditation, intent, guilt, AND it throws the ludicrous drowning theory out the window.

I still cannot believe that they missed that and did not go over every SINGLE search with a fine tooth comb.

Makes me ill.

 

[Just Jayla]

The prosecution vastly overestimated the jury. They thought the jury was like us and would be able to put the pieces together. And their annoyance with Baez, especially JA's, showed too much. The jury had no idea what Baez had put the prosecution through up until and even during the trial. Baez came off as the likable defense attorney and the prosecution came off as unlikable. Who knows, maybe that was Baez's strategy - wear down the prosecution so much that when it came time for trial, Baez could do his hokey stuff and get the jury on his side. I'm really starting to believe that now. I think the whole defense was acted out farce designed to help Casey get out of prison.Amen. This jury merited low expectations, a result of the rushed and otherwise odd selection process. I don't know if this jury had enough presence of mind to care about Baez or Ashton, really...but of course it was a farce, Casey's whole existence is a farce.

Also, the prosecution was damaged anyway since they couldn't prove the argument or how much Casey resented Caylee because her whole family was on her side, not Caylee's. They were totally in on her defense and freeing her from prison, which hurt the prosecution immensely. Also, trying to get other people to talk about it would have gone into hearsay territory, unfortunately. So they couldn't talk about the biggest motivation for Casey getting rid of Caylee, and that hurt the prosecution's case a lot. People understand hating a parent so much that a daughter or son would do something bad to hurt them - at least understand that that could be a strong motive for murder. They don't understand a daughter that seemingly had no responsibilities and whose daughter was well cared for wanting to get rid of her daughter. Proving Casey was a liar just wasn't enough. In order to show the resentment, the state would have to have been allowed to show prior and prejudicial evidence of Casey's lifestyle, and how that contrasted with involved motherhood. This barrier and the hearsay barrier are familiar to any attorney, and they needed to do a stellar job of finding and shaping testimonies to demonstrate KC's intentions in the face of these legal obstacles.

And I hate, hate, HATE that non of her stealing could be brought up either. I think there was a motion that it couldn't be brought up, or maybe it was because she had felonies stemming from her stealing. I can't remember, but I do remember it could not be brought up in court. That hurt the prosecution's case too.It definitely would have added some granularity to KC's character. But in true sociopath fashion, no one really knew all there was to know about KC except KC (although Websleuths pretty much mapped her out from top to bottom). With her parents lying for her, it would be difficult to find one witness who can link her teenagehood (during which we know there were issues), her stealing, her feelings about pregnancy and her intentions to be rid of Caylee. Ryan Paisley might have been helpful on that front. There was no doctor able to take this info and diagnose KC's personality disorder-which stealing, looseness and murder can be traced to-and testify to what kind of monster freak show she is and how her collective actions are a result of being a psychopath.

Basically, the prosecution was in a no win situation, and then didn't present the case in a way that the jury could clearly understand and connect the dots. I hate to admit that, but I do think it's true. Since they overestimated the intelligence of the jury, the jury, I believe, was overwhelmed, and that's why they didn't consider any of the evidence. They would have been in a far better position if they never promised a 6 week trial and laid every bit of everything out there for this jury, no matter how long it took. To associate the length of the case with money was another ugly issue, especially considering the amount of time and money WASTED in the three years leading up to the trial.

Plus, I've seen people lying about or bringing up abuse over the years as a sympathy ploy. More people are willing to believe that someone was abused and therefore not responsible for what they did or how they reacted than someone who wasn't abused and killed a child. I mean heck, she's living off of people that believe she was molested. It's just sick, but I think all the jury focused on was the abuse, and that easily let them absolve her any wrongdoing in Caylee's death even though there was no evidence whatsoever that she had ever been abused.

I do think that HHJP and jury selection may have played a role, but I think it is more minor role than what I've talked about above. I don't seem either of them as big of a factor as the prosecution, the things they weren't allowed to bring in, Baez playing the nice attorney up against the big and bad prosecution, and the jury being an unintelligent and more willing to sympathize because of unproven abuse than convict Casey of murdering her child. I think any jury might have been overwhelmed and HHJP was in a lot of hard spots and was getting a lot of pressure about this case. I'm sure he would do a lot of things differently now, though. With 84% Floridians in an Orlando Sentinel poll stating KC was guilty of premeditated murder, I would argue that the jury selection was critical, that JB gained a massive head start there. The state likely did miscalculate this jury, because their general sense of things was that a large majority of people thought the murderer was a murderer, and this jury would be no exception. Logistically, any jury has to be won over, and the experienced state attorneys know that all jurors should come with a stamp of impartiality. But, impartiality and ignorance are far different things.

It makes me sad to admit all of this after I defended Ashton and the prosecution so vigorously, and even tried to defend HHJP, but I can't deny it anymore. And I just want to throw things when I think about the prosecution missing "foolproof suffocation" searches.

Red by me. I agree, too, with others who suggest that chloroform was better left as an honorable mention, not a weapon of paramount importance. In previous hearings, Jeff Ashton made it clear that duct tape was his go-to, so I think Dr. Vass shaped his thinking a bit. Dr. Vass is very affable and his work is amazing and necessary, but he should have played a walk-on role, not a part of the central cast. Dr. G was more effective on that front.
I understand your disappointment. My disappointment is not so much with the players, but with the turn of certain legal events:
-The jury was instructed that this was guilt-innocence phase, not punishment time, no? Why then was there any discussion of KC's punishment in the jury room as Jennifer Ford indicated there was? This instruction should have been read three times to this dumb jury.
-IIRC, the jury was instructed that method of death (or absense of that info) should not be a sole determination of guilt/non-guilt. Yet, first thing out of their mouths in the interviews is that they acquitted because they couldn't figure out the method of death.
-Local, state and national debt trends that put a state in a position where they cannot provide a basic, fundamental function such as jury selection, without linking the whole process to foreclosures and threatening the attorneys with homeless people. That jury selection was like a trip to Timothy Leary's pad. WTH? Yet no mention of the waste of time and money that were Andrea Lyon's attempts to scoop Florida's death penalty laws into her carpetbag and throw them into the sea. Or the hearings where Jose was supposed to be ready for something but he would show up and not be ready, and would proclaim he was getting ready to be ready.
-Allowing perjury to happen in a court of law and letting it go should not have been cool with anyone in that room who holds a JD. Cindy's testimony was worthless and disjointed anyway. Toss it, toss her, and send a message to the jury about who the lying pack of Anthonys truly are. Did that dopey jury even realize Cindy perjured herself?

Yes, you're right, the jury will never know those good times leading up to the trial. Nor should they. The state must simply put out a concise but all-inclusive, compelling case that might take 10 weeks, not 2 or 4 or 6. Concise= No cross examination of Mallory "Amaaaaazing" Parker-Anthony (useless dribble) and maybe skip the 84 times thing and go straight for the foolproof suffocation thing....oh yeah, guess that was impossible since THEY DIDN'T HAVE IT!

One last thought, most important thought I have, which doesn't amount to much but here goes:

THIS JURY DID NOT REQUEST TO REVIEW ONE SINGLE PIECE OF EVIDENCE, NOR REQUEST ONE REVIEW OF TESTIMONY. NOT. ONE.
They had no question in their mind that George was bad, KC was a bimbo, Caylee drowned and disappeared for a while and then popped back up in a swamp because the meter guy had her. They didn't feel KC was neglectful of Caylee in any way. Conversely, they would have to believe that the detectives and the medical examiner were liars or that Roy Kronk duped them all. So, why no request to review any testimony or evidence about Roy? About George's whereabouts after her swept Caylee's body away from Casey? Nada? Really?

 

[coco puff]

I honestly feel like if the procecution team had presented the total amount of time over the life of Caylee, she had spent on-line and texting, the jury could not have thought her a good mother. Also, Why the heck couldn't they introduce the my-space comment to FCA by her mother? Talk about the case in a nut-shell from the mouth of the very person who would/should have known exactly what kind of mother she was. She created the acct for the sole purpose of communicating her thoughts to her daughter. The post and the reply were the last realistic pieces of communication we ever had. You can't count the chillaxing letters to the inmate.

 

[SheRa]

While there were errors all around, the BIGGEST mistake made (apparently twelve times over) is that the jurors' parents, or perhaps their school system, failed to teach them BASIC COMMON SENSE:

-why would someone cover-up a common household accident in Florida via claiming something WORSE than that accident (that's like covering-up an income tax mistake by inventing a bank robbery, or covering-up a flat tire by telling an elaborate story about drinking and driving!)

-why would duct tape EVER be on the mouth of an accidentally-drowned child??? Anyone?!? Jurors??????????

-Joyous party pics after "accidental" death of child = smoking gun. Yes, we all grieve differently, but not THAT differently.

-The fact that not only did Casey clearly party after the death of her child, but she chose to do so in the exact manner (nightclubbing) she'd never be able to do WITH a child. What a coincidence, right jurors?!?

-The jailhouse tapes where Casey says "what a waste." There is no mental defect strong enough to make someone interpret those tapes as anything but clear evidence of someone who does. not. care. about their supposedly recently-deceased child.:banghead:

 

[krkrjx]

IMO, the prosecution should always have every bit of evidence possible before going to court, specific to this case would be ALL computer activity of the fateful day and days surrounding it. They should also charge the accused with every possible charge available by law. I believe some other charges could have and should have been included in this case, specifically dealing with not reporting a death and with hiding a body. IMO more charges should have come in once Caylee was found in the condition she was in.

Also, potential jurors who state they do not believe in the death penalty and "would vote against it" if they had a chance should never be allowed on the jury in a death penalty case. A judge can badger a person into saying what he wants to hear but that does not mean he has effectively changed their philosophy on the issue.

At start of trial, Judge Perry stated in no uncertain terms that certain types of behavior would not be allowed in his courtroom and anyone displaying such behaviors would be removed from the courtroom, "no matter who you are." But then some of those behaviors were displayed and the only one to be admonished was Jeff Ashton. IMO the defense (including the defendant) got away with much that should not have been allowed. That those behaviors were not seen for what they were and went completely over the jurors' heads is not the real issue; the real issue is that the behaviors went unnoticed or were ignored by the judge. IMO.

 

[robcee12]

While there were errors all around, the BIGGEST mistake made (apparently twelve times over) is that the jurors' parents, or perhaps their school system, failed to teach them BASIC COMMON SENSE:

-why would someone cover-up a common household accident in Florida via claiming something WORSE than that accident (that's like covering-up an income tax mistake by inventing a bank robbery, or covering-up a flat tire by telling an elaborate story about drinking and driving!)

-why would duct tape EVER be on the mouth of an accidentally-drowned child??? Anyone?!? Jurors??????????

-Joyous party pics after "accidental" death of child = smoking gun. Yes, we all grieve differently, but not THAT differently.

-The fact that not only did Casey clearly party after the death of her child, but she chose to do so in the exact manner (nightclubbing) she'd never be able to do WITH a child. What a coincidence, right jurors?!?

-The jailhouse tapes where Casey says "what a waste." There is no mental defect strong enough to make someone interpret those tapes as anything but clear evidence of someone who does. not. care. about their supposedly recently-deceased child.:banghead:

As far as the duct tape comment you made lets just for fun entertain the idea that yeah maybe Caylee drowned and FCA panicked and came up with the kid nap plot rather quick ( I really believe she drove around with Caylee for a day and a half then backed into the driveway and bagged her up then drove around with her like that til the 24th gas can incident with her Dad) I feel like if its true then wudnt she just use 1 piece of tape to cover her mouth? The fact that there were 3 overlapping each other to me means it was put there so that it cudnt be pulled off..If she was dead already and she wanted to make it like a kidnapping then 1 piece wudve been sufficient but what do I know

 

[Dignity4Victims]

As far as the duct tape comment you made lets just for fun entertain the idea that yeah maybe Caylee drowned and FCA panicked and came up with the kid nap plot rather quick ( I really believe she drove around with Caylee for a day and a half then backed into the driveway and bagged her up then drove around with her like that til the 24th gas can incident with her Dad) I feel like if its true then wudnt she just use 1 piece of tape to cover her mouth? The fact that there were 3 overlapping each other to me means it was put there so that it cudnt be pulled off..If she was dead already and she wanted to make it like a kidnapping then 1 piece wudve been sufficient but what do I know

You may be right of course, and it certainly wouldn't surprise me in the least if FCA did suffocate Caylee to death with the duct tape. Any mother heartless enough to murder her own baby daughter isn't going to suddenly be 'caring' on how she accomplishes that task.

But there is another possibility and sorry to be gruesome, but since we know by other evidence that Caylee was riding around in that trunk, deceased, until she had started advanced stages of decomposition in the Florida heat, FCA's purpose for the multiple layers of tape may also be that she had a difficult time getting the tape to stick on a wet, purging surface; Caylee's darling face.

That would also why the strips were torn longer and longer each time, and why FCA chose to encompass Caylee's hair into the tape, to make it stick better.

 

[Dignity4Victims]

Chloroform should have been left out ...

Why?

There was more than enough evidence that FCA used Chloroform - tested at high levels in that trunk, so I'm wondering why you feel this should have been left out?

 

[Darly314]

Going for the Death Penalty.

Exactly; 2nd in Florida, plus multiple agg. child abuse/neglect, controlled substance counts; the wretch could have pulled life, easy. Premeditated when 'it' had sucessfully drugged the toddler in the past? State overreaching, yet again.