Agreed, it is difficult to take parental rights away from a mother but CA had more leverage then most gp's in a similar situation. KC & Caylee lived under CA & GA's roof, always had therefore their testimony regarding KC's "parenting" would not only be first-hand, it would be time fluent, day in & day out, not observations made on an occassional visit to her home if she happened to live elsewhere - in addition the court (DHS) wouldn't be faced with uprooting Caylee because as I stated before, she lived in CA & GA's home. I can assure you also that CA being an RN and GA having a background in LE, would also add additional weight to any claim that they made. CA sought counseling IIRC back in March/April, at which time the counselor told CA that KC (analysis by counselor would have to have been based upon CA's description of KC's behavior) was a sociopath. That also would have worked in GA & CA's favor. Testimony by the mental health couselor who CA went to for help/advice regarding their issues & concerns with KC would have also helped tremendously. Although the counselor couldn't testify to KC's issues firsthand, experience in the field & her/his own professional observation of CA's claims & concerns, being consistant with what is typically seen in a situation such as this, would further add credibility to CA's claims. You mention that you've seen much worse mother's then KC and you add, before the 16th, do you realize that murder is usually not the first assault upon the child? Do you really think that KC was non-abusive for the first 2 1/2 years of Caylee's life and then one day she just lost it AND not only did she just lose it, she had the misfortune of going as far as to kill her? ------- JMHO