The State's Closing Rebuttal Argument (LDB)

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Dedicated WS member Ms.Heather did a masterful job at transcribing Linda Drane-Burdick's rebuttal argument. She sent this to me and asked me to post it as soon as possible so everyone could read them. I will be posting them in 6 parts.

Thank you again, Ms. Heather! :tyou:

 

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Part 1
Transcribed by and posted courtesy of WS member, Ms.Heather.

Good Morning Ladies and Gentlemen.

When Judge Perry took that break. for 15-20 minutes I kinda felt like that guy that gets called out on the field. To kick a last minute field goal once his teammate has taken his ball down to the 20 yard line, and of course I'm ready to go and the other team calls a time out.

So there are some advantages and disadvantages I suppose to be the last person to have a say on this subject. The advantage of course is the obvious one that no one gets to say anything after I sit down except for the judge on the law. Disadvantage of course is that you've been sitting here listing to attorneys tell you what they think the evidence shows for 5, 6 maybe even 7 hrs to this point and I recognize that you're all ready to begin your job that you've been here doing... for almost 2 months. On May 9th we packed our bags and spent two weeks in Clearwater. you have made a greater sacrifice for packing your bags and spending weeks here, and as everyone else before me has indicated I thank you. But I ask that you do indulge me for a few moments to get our final thoughts on the issues that have been presented in this case. I promise that I won't be dragging out evidence or posters or pyrotechnics... if anything thats not my style.

When I came up here in May and stood in front of you for a little over 2 hours and told you what the evidence in this case would show. I meant what I said. I didn’t make promises to you that the state didn't keep.I meant what I said.

 

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Part 2
Transcribed by and posted courtesy of WS member, Ms.Heather.

Through Testimony of dozens of witness, hundreds of exhibits the state of Florida in this case has proven every element of every charge in this indictment against Casey Marie Anthony.
Mr Baez, defense council. Started his closing argument explaining what his biggest fear was for this case, and that it was that you would be making decisions based on emotion. I would never ask you to do that. Co-Council has not asked you to do that. The judge will instruct you that you cannot do that. And although this case is certainly emotionally charged, we won't ask you to make decisions on the facts of this case based on anything but the testimony that you have heard from the witnesses, and all of the exhibits that you would be able to consider once you begin the job of deliberating this case. Wanna know what my biggest fear is? My biggest fear, and I do not under any circumstance mean this as an insult. My biggest fear is that common sense will be lost in all of the rhetoric of this case. That, you wont step back and take a look at the evidence as a whole. Gotta look at the big picture here. Co-Council in his opening argument to you yesterday talked about rabbit holes, and after he sat down...

Objection
Sustained.

My fear is that you won't see the big picture. We spent 2 weeks in Clearwater, questioning all of you... Looking for people who would still be able to see the forest thru the trees.

Objection
Overruled



In his closing remarks Mr Baez used words like liar, perjurer, fraudulent. A trial in a criminal case is supposed to be a search for the truth. The truth is what is the cornerstone of the criminal justice process both for those who are accused and for the victim. It is lying that prevents that process. So during an argument where the most well documented liar ever seen in a courtroom accuses everybody of perjury of fraud of lying the irony is rich indeed.

Objection
Overruled.

As we have come to find out. Accusing others of lying is classic Casey. When Casey Anthony wants to divert attention away from herself she accuses others. As we have heard from the evidence., Ms Anthony has spent years lying. Had spent 31 days. Mr Baez in his argument to you suggested that those 31 days mean... nothing...
A lie told convincingly is still a lie.

 

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Part 3
Transcribed by and posted courtesy of WS member, Ms.Heather.

The defendant through council has accused Yuri Melich, Jason Forgey, Geraldo Bloise, Dr Vass many many of the witness that have come forward in this case... of being liars. In his statement he indicated that the Orange County Sheriffs Office is desperate, or was desperate in this case... and if there was anything that the individuals of working for the Orange County Sheriffs Office were it was desperate to find a little girl
In July of 2008 whether or not she was alive or dead the men women of Orange County Sheriffs Office labored for hours in efforts to find her. They were joined by the FBI, law enforcement agencies from all the country, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Teas equasearch , citizens , people who had no other motive than to find Caylee Marie Anthony. But it was a lie, it was all in vain. Even the defendants parents and brother were searching in vain.

False Allegations of child abductions are nothing new and invariably as in this case turns out that the perpetrator is a family member. the allegation of a false abduction diverts resources away from the perpetrator diverts attn away from the perpetrator. buys the perpetrator time. remember one of the things that Casey Anthony said to her mother when she picked her up at her boyfriend Tonys apartment was that she just wanted another day. She wanted more time. she wanted more time. when she told her brother about the kidnapping she was trying to buy time. Time to concoct another lie, another story and to divert attention away from herself. In his arguments council put up pictures of all of the LEO that were at the Anthony home that night suggesting there was no smell in the car...that first night. July 15 of 2008 the police did not think Caylee Anthony was dead. At that point they had no reason to believe that Caylee Anthony was dead. there was no reason to connect any smell in the car to Caylee Anthony being dead. the defendant was telling them she was alive, she was somewhere else. she was asking for their help in finding her... So much so that this episode that Mr Mason talked about of MS. Anthony being handcuffed was ended like that (snap hands) because the members of the ocso were there to help... they weren't there threatening her to give a statement they were there to help. the next day at universal studios there were 3 long term detectives who were there to help. If you listen to statement again, they say to her... you have 3 detectives here who want to help you, who will expend the resources to find your daughter... why are you lying to us? Those aren't involuntary statements as coucil suggested that you can just throw out these are statements suggesting the consciousness of guilt on Ms. Anthonys part. she was buying time like she done with her parents ...her brother ….her friends.

31 days are really meaning less. did i hear that? did i hear a version of that?????council suggested that the detailing of what Ms. Anthony was doing during these 31 days had more to do with the state trying to prove that she was a *advertiser censored*? did i hear that? nothing could be further from the truth.

 

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Part 4
Transcribed by and posted courtesy of WS member, Ms.Heather.

Initially the Orange County Sheriffs Office in effort to help her was trying to backtrack and find out where she was and what she had been doing because she told them she was conducting her own investigation. REALLY? They were using her cell phone records to track down this Zenaida to find Caylee Marie Anthony.. to help the defendant. But as they backtracked as you found out. it had become more and more apparent that the defendant was lying about everything.

If you go back and look at her 4 page written statement the ONLY true statement on there is that Caylee Marie Anthony was born August 9th 2005. Thats it! ...every other statement on that form is a LIE.

You heard during this trial and its been suggested to you in closing argument by the defense that everyone grieves differently. That may certainly be true everybody does grieve differently. responses to grief are as varied as the day is long. but the responses to guilt are oh so predictable.
What do guilty people do? Well..
They lie.
They avoid.
They run.
They mislead. Not just their family but the police. They divert attention away from themselves and they act like nothing is wrong. That's why you heard what happened in those 31 days. not to try to convince you to hate Casey Anthony but to show you that what she was doing during those 31 days was in no way indicative of grief. It was in no way the response of someone whose child has died by accident.

Council said well, why didn't she hop on a plane and leave jurisdiction.> the classic signs of running away. Ms. Anthony did not have options. In those jail video tapes, you will hear her saying this was a time of desperation it was for her. her father was like desperation... what are you talking about desperation? She had no option to go anywhere. except away from her family. That’s who she ran from cause those were the people who would be asking her all the questions... the friends are easy to placate. They aren't really paying attention to her life. If shes telling them my moms crazy... or my parents are getting a divorce, or my dad had a heart attack....

Objection:
Sustained.

She was running from her family during those days the people who would want to know more than a passing reference wheres Caylee?

The defendants action and responses during those 31 days answer for you the only real question left at this stage of the proceedings ...and that is who killed Caylee Anthony.... the question is no longer where is Caylee. You remember in my opening statement I asked over and over again where is Caylee Marie Anthony. we know where Caylee Marie Anthony is. the question is no longer what happened to Caylee Marie Anthony we know what happened to Caylee Marie Anthony. the question is who killed Caylee Marie Anthony?
For the longest time Caylee was alive. Nobody killed Caylee , Caylee is alive.... till her remains are found. As I told you as I warned you about in openeing statement as the facts and circumstances changed over the course of time the defendants lies changed.They got bigger, they got better, they involved more people. Mr Baez in his Closing statement would have you believe that there must be something wrong with Casey Anthony because she has quote, unquote "imaginary friends." those weren’t imaginary friends, those were lies. every one of em was a lie... ask yourself a lie designed to do what? A lie designed for a specific purpose... to get Casey out of a jam. So for the longest time Caylee is alive... until her remains are found... and then of course the lie cant be Caylee is with the nanny... shes alive ...shes been kidnapped i had nothing to do with it..

May we approach?
No.

 

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Part 5
Transcribed by and posted courtesy of WS member, Ms.Heather.

The lie must change. I told you in opening statement that it would. So now the theory....... is that there was some sort of accident. well. you know. you know from the evidence that Caylee Marie Anthony death was no accident. First off the Orange County Sheriffs Office purposed to Casey Anthony on 7/16/208 maybe your baby died by accident.

play tape of yuri/allen universal interview../

Taped:
I had to sit down with mothers who ran over their babies accidently, I’ve had to sit down with mothers whose kids that drowned in swimming pools,I’ve had to sit down with mothers who boyfriends who beat their kids to death... who felt horrible about what happened, and tried to help them explain it to their family. ok. and I’ve also had to deal with peoplel who have done horrible unspeakable things to children and lied bout it and lied about it and lied about it ok. and i bet you somewhere in there i probably know somebody who maybe made a mistake, but continued to lie about it...maybe they werent such a bad person... maybe the world didn't see them that way, maybe their family didn't see it that way...lie about it... finally decide to come forward..you told me you lied to me for the last time. I don't want to listen to what you have to say. don't talk to me ok.

In his closing statement to you council suggested Orange County Sheriffs office had "murder on their minds" they didn't want to consider this was an accident. you heard right there...
Was this an accident basically. I've dealt with tons and tons and tons of people. I've seen it all.. WAS THIS AN ACCIDENT? Noooo, Caylee is alive. The defendants mother suggested the whole accident scenario involving the pool specifically on August 16th 2008

Play tape: Jailhouse video 8/16/08
Cindy: Someone just said that Caylee was dead this morning. that she drowned in the pool. thats the newest story out there
Casey: surprise surprise.

end tape.

Surprise surprise. So when Caylee Anthony is found dead on Dec 11th 2008.... surprise surprise.

No person would ever make the accidental death of a child look like murder. The defendants action during those 31 days and her response to this are completely inconsistent to with what people do 100% of the time. You heard Dr G. say 100% of the time when a child is involved in accident. Somebody tries to save them... they want them to live.... they call 911... they anguish over the death of a child especially ...especially...if you want to accept this testimony that ms Anthony was an"amazing" mother. Who did you hear that from? How was that defined. from her friends? people who don't have any kids, that have other lives that have seen 2 seconds of interaction. The questions in support of Casey Anthonys relationship with her child were things like did caylee run to her mother??? OF COURSE SHE did. Every baby loves their mother. they have every reason to... their love is unconditional of course she is gonna run to her mother just like she ran to her Grandparents.

So Casey provided.. food , shelter clothes for her Caylee that makes her a GREAT mother... NO that makes her a mother ....maybe an adequate mother. But in reality the food, the clothes,the shelter are provided by her Grandparents.Thats why Caylee was healthy and happy and well fed and well taken care of and nicely dressed look at her room.... look at their backyard.
What amazing parent acts with complete indifference to the "accidental" death of their child? You heard from the defense own expert an example of an amazing parent---a woman of a child who died and she wanted to go to that child's grave site because that child had never been in a storm in the dark alone. That’s an amazing mother. A mother who tried to protect her child even in death.... If this truly was an accident in the pool Caylee Anthony would have been found floating in pool not found floating in a swamp down the street. if this was an accident that George Anthony knew about he told you we wouldn't be here today. I wouldn't be here, they wouldn't be here, she wouldn't be here, you wouldn't be here.

Objection
Overruled

…. if he was home when they suggested when there was an accident in the pool he would have called 911. he would of tried CPR.... he would of never scooped up his Grandaughter and put her in a bag and throw her in the woods. NEVER. No paternal instinct? Did we watch the same jail videos. Mr Ashton has covered this. Did we watch the same videos. Mr Anthony said he would trade places with his daughter in a second.

Objection
Sustained

This argument cannot be followed to any logical conclusion. The way these remains were disposed of shows complete complete indifference to the child. It speaks volumes on how the person who disposed her really felt about her.

(showing photo of Caylees playhouse)

This is how George and Cindy Anthony felt about their Granddaughter. built her a play house in their backyard. George Anthony landscaped it,. A little mailbox out there for her with her name on it... put a stone base under that playhouse so that Caylee wouldn't have to sit on ground in case it was wet. So that Caylee wouldn't have to sit on the ground where an insect could crawl on her.On those jail videos you heard Mr Anthony over and over again trying to get Casey to talk to law enforcement, sheriffs dept, fbi.... if he was so diabolical that he was trying to cover up something why would he want his co-conspirator to talk to the cops? It makes no sense... I’m trying to engage in a cover up but I want you to talk to the cops. Not only does the disposal of those remains speak volumes about how Casey Anthony felt about Caylee. The phone call ...to her parents... the night that she was arrested July 16th of 2008.

((Play phone call asking for TL number))

 

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Part 6
Transcribed by and posted courtesy of WS member, Ms.Heather.

When you use your common sense you can listen and hear that there’s nothing that’s wrong with Casey Anthony that can't be explained using two words. Pathological liar.Shes not grieving the accidental death of her daughter. Her focus in that call is where it had been for that day and the 31 days proceeding it... and that is with Tony Lazzarro. Thats all she wanted to do when she called her parents... aside from cuss em out. I want Tony’s number.You have learned during the course of this trial that Casey Anthony is the only person who had access to every single piece of evidence discussed by Mr Ashton, today and yesterday.
the duct tape.
the laundry bag.
the blanket.
the shorts.
the car.
There’s no evidence that anyone other than Casey Anthony was driving around in that car that began to smelled to the point where she is texting her friend Amy Huzienga “I think my dad has run over a dead animal". She texted that to Amy Huzienga about 15 minutes before her boyfriend Tony picked her up at the Amscot. So you would if your car smells because of a dead animal plastered to the frame of it... maybe you check the trunk. Maybe you see if there is a garbage bag or a trash bag in the trunk. That trash bag was placed there as a decoy. You heard testimony from Catherine Sanchez. that that car was backed into that spot by the dumpster. Why the dumpster? guess why? because in addiction to the bag of trash the dumpster was a decoy to keep people either away from the car or thinking that was the source of the odor. The Anthony’s didn't have access to that car. George didn't know where that car was. ms anothy was on the way to her bf that her parents didn't even know exisited how would they know how to find the car? She. told her mother she was in Tampa or Jacksonville... or somewhere... they didn't know where she was or where the car was.And finally the shirt. big trouble comes in small packages. they do. Cindy Anthony told you that shirt was not one she was familiar with. She did the laundry ...that shirt was not kept in the anthony house on Hopespring Drive...that shirt was kept in the car in a diaper bag or backpack. because we saw it on 2 different occasions at Ricardo Morales apt. in January 08 and again in March.
Someone in that house killed Caylee Anthony. They want you to believe that it was George who was involved in a cover-up of an accident... that did not happen. Even George Anthony did not have access to all these things. only Casey Anthony did. No one else tried to cover-up and lie and lie and lie and lie and I could on a dozen or more times. Where were George and Cindy?. Lets throw Cindy in the mix too as a possible perpetrator because Casey Anthony would have you believe its her mothers fault anyway because she left the ladder down.... lets Twist the knife in my mom a little more. the cover-up is her dads fault lets twist the knife in him too. What were George and Cindy Anthony doing in June & July 2008? They are living at home, they are going to work. and their missing their Grandaughter. Whats Casey Anthony doing? Wheres Casey Anthony? Well, shes not where she normally is ...at home. Shes at Tonys' cause thats who saw her,. she tells her mom shes in Tampa, Jacksonville... wherever.... shes not where shes supposed to be. and wheres Caylee? Caylees dead in the woods.
At the end of this case all you really have to do is ask yourself the simple question whose life was better without Caylee. Was Cindy's life better?

((Play 911 call...theres something wrong.... smells like a dead body in the damn car)

Was George Anthony’'s life better? Mr Ashton went over what George Anthony's life was like as a result of losing his beloved Granddaughter... Whose life was better? That’s the only question you need to answer considering WHY Caylee Marie any was left on the side of the road .Dead.

Shown party pic of Casey at fusian in blue dress dancing and her bella vita tattoo side by side.

There's your answer.