Jose's opening 2 minutes, in theory,
Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury. We have a tragic story of a young mother who was on the computer while her daughter was taking a nap. She then got up and went in to check on her and found her bed empty. She became hysterical running around the house frantically looking for her. Not finding her in the house, she ran into the backyard. To her horror she found her beloved daughter floating in the pool. She jumped in and pulled her out. She began CPR. To no avail. She lay her down in the backyard not knowing what to do. She began to call her mother over and over and she would not answer.
At this point, because Casey had been on computer surfing and not attending to her daughter her mind began to race. She was afraid, that once again her mother would blame her for being a bad mother. Like she always had done. Nothing was ever good enough for Cindy.
Ladies and Gentlemen, let me now explain to you what happened in the next month. Casey's mind snapped. She finally was the worst mother in the world as her mother always opined. She went into a fugue like state. Her next actions were completely dissociated from reality. She was in a dream. She covered the whole incident up. She wrapped her daughters body up in familiar clothes and cloths from home. She had no idea about decomposing bodies and was astounded at the rapid rate her beloved daughter's body changed. She frantically placed tape around her facial orifices to keep them from leaking and placed a final kiss goodbye on her mouth in the form of a heart-shaped sticker. Then she placed in the final resting place of her beloved pets from when she was a child.
Still in a state of shock, she reverted back to the age she was before she became pregnant and delivered a child. Back to the carefree days when she worked at Universal, becoming independent and earning her own money. Back when she was happy. But then she would meet a man, slightly older than herself, with a child already. She fell in love, he only to completely reject her. She found herself pregnant, dejected, and like many a young woman in this circumstance in denial of her pregnancy. Thus, began a terrible beginning of dissociation from reality and fantasy. Universal was her first found freedom. Universal is where she found severe pain. She would later return there, one day, terribly with the police.
The next month, she lived as that young 19 year pre-mother days. Like any normal 19 year old would. She lived as she had no memory of being pregnant, giving birth, being a mother and the tragic accident and what she did to cover it up.
Facts will show that in this month she went out to clubs, had dates with boyfriends and got a tattoo. Normal 19 yr old activities. However she found herself without money, and reverting to the dissociative state, used another's checkbook to buy normal everyday teenager items.
Even when all came to light and police were involved, she actually took them to the Universal studios as if she herself still believed she worked there, like when she was 19. As police continued to question her, she went in and out of this dissociative state, not able to admit the horrific events of that terrible afternoon, finally resorting to a telling herself and her mother and the police of a of a beautiful, capable nanny that she allowed to babysit her child to cover over what Cindy would surely accuse her of being a neglectful mother. She might have even believed this nanny was real to compensate for her own shortcomings as a mother.
What we have here is a young woman, so afraid of her own mother, so insecure of her own abilities at being a mom herself that when this horrible accident occurred she completely reverted back to the days before her precious baby girl was born. She literally blocked it out because reality was too horrible for her to face.
Fellow citizens, I will show you that much like the harried mother who unwittingly left her baby in a overheated car and was later found dead, Casey is in her own personal hell and will never forgive herself. What this suffering young mother needs from you is mercy and not condemnation.