2011.05.12 - Sidebar Thread (Jury Selection Day FOUR)

[Quiche]

AZ keeps indicating that the jury will NOT have this kind of field trip. The following is copied/pasted from a March 2011 exchange on the Verified Lawyers thread:

Ynot: OK, a day late and a dollar short as my grandma used to say, but AZ refreshed me on why the jury will likely not take a trip to the Pontiac:

Quote:
Originally Posted by AZlawyer View Post
Basically because (1) the smell has likely dissipated to some extent so the SA is unlikely to ask, and (2) the jurors are presumably not all familiar with the smell of human decomposition, so what information would it provide to them? It is more helpful for them to hear from people who can compare the car smell to the smell of human decomp.

Today the SA stressed that the reason is to have the jurors smell the decomp in order to compare with the small sack of garbage the DT insists is the cause. mo

 

[4realtho]

I'm kinda hoping that Caylee's great-grandma, Shirley, might give a victim's impact statement. Maybe's George's parents???

I think it would be terrible if no one gave a victim's impact statement for Caylee. :frown:

I think it would also be wonderful, if the great-grandpa gave a victim's impact statement via video and follow that up by showing the nursing home video of Caylee sitting in his lap with her head on his chest. Especially the part when she asked him if he was tired.

 

[Leila]

Still have round 3...for those that made it thru round 2.

At the rate they're going, I think it's going to be difficult to have a jury seated by Tuesday.

As of right now there's 4 that will go on to round 3 which HHMP has scheduled for Saturday. I can't imagine they will get enough through round 2 tomorrow to have enough for round 3.

 

[Leila]

What do they do for round 3? I've asked several times but it gets lost with 800 peeps... lol

Also, do both DT and SA get 10 strikes?

From what I understand, round three just reviews and covers some of the same territory that was covered in round 2, and at that time each side makes a decision of whether to keep or dismiss. That's why the pool of potential jurors for round 3 should be high enough for the two sides to make their selections and what's left will make up the jury.

 

[4realtho]

Just had another thought, aren't we all victims? This has touched all of us in some way or another. We have all stepped up and taken on the task of making sure Caylee gets justice in this case because unfortunately Caylee's immediate family members have not. Can't we send our own personal letter to the Judge at the approperiate time to state how it has effected our individual lives and how we can now move forward knowing that justice will be served?

 

[MissJames]

At the rate they're going, I think it's going to be difficult to have a jury seated by Tuesday.

As of right now there's 4 that will go on to round 3 which HHMP has scheduled for Saturday. I can't imagine they will get enough through round 2 tomorrow to have enough for round 3.

Judge Perry is limiting their time for questions tomorrow.The state said they would need 15 minutes and the DT said 30.

I seriously wondered if the DT was passive aggressive today. Not only did they have to repeat themselves,but they talked slowly.
Lots of talking :crazy:

Judge Perry has had a lot of experience with DP cases ,so he knows how long this SHOULD take.

 

[Paintr]

I can't think of ONE person who is going to do the victim impact statement, not one.

How tragic is that.

I believe at this point George, Cindy and Lee will give statements for the mitigation part and ask that ICA's life be spared and the reasons why their daughter/sister should not be killed.

I do not think GA, CA, or LA will hesitate. IMO they will give victim impact statements for Caylee in front of the judge, the Law, and the whole world. They staged an elaborate memorial for Caylee that had little to do with Caylee herself. Why should victim impact statements be any more difficult?

 

[shelbar53]

I was reviewing different videos from the past few days and noticed Casey's walk and general mannerisms around the defense table seemed weird. Then it hit me, watch her hands, she always keeps them above waist level and she "shows" they are empty. She must be made to keep hands where they can always be seen in jail. She has developed that habit now. See officer, no weapon or contraband in my hands.

 

[4realtho]

Judge Perry is limiting their time for questions tomorrow.The state said they would need 15 minutes and the DT said 30.

I seriously wondered if the DT was passive aggressive today. Not only did they have to repeat themselves,but they talked slowly.
Lots of talking :crazy:

Judge Perry has had a lot of experience with DP cases ,so he knows how long this SHOULD take.

The Judge decided that both sides would be allowed 30 minutes for questioning tomorrow.

It's so obvious the DT is stalling and using any trick they can. They are only making fools of themselves.

 

[A_News_Junkie]

Todays caps!
For some reason my last two slideshows are gone.
So, the easy way is click this link and then click view as slideshow on that page.
http://s158.photobucket.com/albums/...ay 11 2011/May 12 2011 Day 4 Jury selections/
As always, captions are only my thoughts and do not represent WS nor anyone else but me.

 

[Atlanta PI]

Yes. I was not watching but I was listening to the trial while multi-tasking at work when a co-worker came in and started a conversation with me. Now he could clearly hear the trial and could clearly see that I was consumed with listening to it but he stood there anyway talking to me about nothing. I ignored him hoping he would get the hint and leave but you know the type, they just don't get it. Well, I finally had enough so I turned around and gave him the biggest eyeroll that you can imagine. I didn't even know I had that in me, I'm sure I looked like a crazy psycho...It was so big it caused my head to start hurting. I almost feel as though I should apologize but my goodness, how rude is it to stand behind someone and keep talking. If I do decide to apologize, it will be after the verdict. Hopefully, he will spread the word to the rest of the office so I don't have to do my deadly-psycho-eyerolling again.

How are you guys able to get away with watching this stuff at work? No compliance department? At my office all websites for social networking and blogging, etc., are blocked. Maybe I work at the wrong place...

 

[Leila]

AZ keeps indicating that the jury will NOT have this kind of field trip. The following is copied/pasted from a March 2011 exchange on the Verified Lawyers thread:

Ynot: OK, a day late and a dollar short as my grandma used to say, but AZ refreshed me on why the jury will likely not take a trip to the Pontiac:

Quote:
Originally Posted by AZlawyer View Post
Basically because (1) the smell has likely dissipated to some extent so the SA is unlikely to ask, and (2) the jurors are presumably not all familiar with the smell of human decomposition, so what information would it provide to them? It is more helpful for them to hear from people who can compare the car smell to the smell of human decomp.

Thanks...........that makes sense. I hadn't thought about the fact that most of the jurors wouldn't know the smell of human decomp. As of right now, the only one that does in the woman who is a crisis counselor and said she was a nurse prior to being a counselor an has smelled decomp before.

 

[lemon]

I can't think of ONE person who is going to do the victim impact statement, not one.

How tragic is that.

I believe at this point George, Cindy and Lee will give statements for the mitigation part and ask that ICA's life be spared and the reasons why their daughter/sister should not be killed.

I think the victim impact statement will be GA and CA saying losing Caylee was devastating, just like a normal VIS. But they'll go on to say that losing KC would make it worse, ie make them victims twice. I also think they'll say that Caylee wouldn't want her mother dead, no matter what. Basically I think they'll do a VIS/mitigation combo.

 

[ynotdivein]

Thanks...........that makes sense. I hadn't thought about the fact that most of the jurors wouldn't know the smell of human decomp. As of right now, the only one that does in the woman who is a crisis counselor and said she was a nurse prior to being a counselor an has smelled decomp before.

Leila, I have to add that I REALLY wanted the jurors to smell that car trunk! But AZ is right--what would it really add to their deliberations?

I think Cindy's 911 call, the dog hits, and the outline of Caylee on that trunk liner will be more than enough for the SA. There is not a doubt in my mind about the verdict in this case, no matter how long it takes to select a jury.

 

[darnudes]

I do not think GA, CA, or LA will hesitate. IMO they will give victim impact statements for Caylee in front of the judge, the Law, and the whole world. They staged an elaborate memorial for Caylee that had little to do with Caylee herself. Why should victim impact statements be any more difficult?

Because a victim impact statement, generally speaking, would not help the defense team one little bit and could possibly make things worse for ICA, so I'm guessing they won't do it.

 

[Brattigirle]

She managed to drive around in that car for days when it must have stunk of decomp. Whether you believe she kept the body in the trunk +/- 3 days, or up to the 24th/gas can encounter with GA, she lived with that smell. Lee spoke to her in the garage on 7/16/08 and reported that he had to keep leaving the garage and coming back in.

I hate to say it, but IMO if she is confronted with that smell again, she will not flinch.

With all due respect, I think she would flinch. Smell can trigger memories very well. Also, it is one thing for her to put up with the smell on her own but if the whole room gets a wiff of it I think she will flinch.

 

[Leila]

Leila, I have to add that I REALLY wanted the jurors to smell that car trunk! But AZ is right--what would it really add to their deliberations?

I think Cindy's 911 call, the dog hits, and the outline of Caylee on that trunk liner will be more than enough for the SA. There is not a doubt in my mind about the verdict in this case, no matter how long it takes to select a jury.

ITA.........I too really would like the jury to see and smell that car. Even though the odor would dissipate over the past almost three years, I'm sure that being closed up and just sitting for all this time, the odor would still linger. But, the jurors would have to know what decomp smells like first of all in order to identify it. They would have to have the opportunity to smell decomp in the courtroom with an air sample or the sample used for training cadaver dogs.

My only reasoning is that it would confirm for the jury that there was, indeed, a dead body in Casey's car.

 

[Paintr]

Because a victim impact statement, generally speaking, would not help the defense team one little bit and could possibly make things worse for ICA, so I'm guessing they won't do it.

But the senior Anthonys (especially CA) seem to have no problem saying that black is white and expecting to be believed by everyone. I am sure that CA believes anything she would say in a statement would be accepted and adopted by the jury. After all, she is Cindy Anthony. GA and CA's lawyer has already stated that the senior Anthonys are on both sides of this. I think they will make statements as grieving grandparents and as wronged parents....wronged by the system, of course, not their darling daughter.

 

[ynotdivein]

ITA.........I too really would like the jury to see and smell that car. Even though the odor would dissipate over the past almost three years, I'm sure that being closed up and just sitting for all this time, the odor would still linger. But, the jurors would have to know what decomp smells like first of all in order to identify it. They would have to have the opportunity to smell decomp in the courtroom with an air sample or the sample used for training cadaver dogs.

My only reasoning is that it would confirm for the jury that there was, indeed, a dead body in Casey's car.

Brattie, you may be right--she might flinch. But as Leila points out above, I do see why the SA wouldn't roll the dice on taking a field trip to the car, or giving them a sniff of the sealed paint can with the carpet sample in it.

Worst case, the jurors stand around the trunk, the trunk is opened for them, they put their noses down into it, they come back up and say, "yup, that is sure stinky, but is it decomp, I dunno, 'cuz I have never smelled human decomp before. That smells nastier than anything I've ever smelled, but I do not know if it's decomp or not."

Nope. Let's not take that chance. Let's let Cindy's 911 call, and Dr. Vass's testimony, and the cadaver dogs, do the talking on this one point... :cow:

 

[cluciano63]

I do not think GA, CA, or LA will hesitate. IMO they will give victim impact statements for Caylee in front of the judge, the Law, and the whole world. They staged an elaborate memorial for Caylee that had little to do with Caylee herself. Why should victim impact statements be any more difficult?

But the victim impact statement is done before sentence is imposed isn't it? Are her parents going to give a statement that will harm possible appeals down the road, especially if Casey never admits to anything?