Sunday, July 10: The A.D.D. Detective
CASEY ANTHONY TRIAL– AFTERMATH
by Leigh Lundin
Minutes after the verdict came in the Casey Anthony case, a stunned defense team held a low-key press conference. In their statement, defense attorneys told us who killed Caylee Anthony.
Here’s how I got there.
Tricoteuses
You’ve heard of the tricoteuses during The Terror following the French Revolution? The women who knitted and gossiped and jeered watching the guillotine’s slaughter? Tricoteuses were alive and well and on-line in Casey Anthony trial chat rooms. The lynch mob seemed uninterested in acting sensibly or fair, intent only in venting their spleen at the Anthonys and the defense.
Long before the verdict, their rage was frightening. They regarded the few brave souls striving for fairness with suspicion and hostility, personally attacking and blocking. They claimed to know who was truthful (to wit, all prosecution witnesses) and who was lying (e.g, all defense witnesses). They referred to José Baez as "Bozo", "stooopid", and other names, concurrently suggesting Baez and Casey carried on an inappropriate sexual relationship.
The Gender Divide
At the courthouse, a guy (some news reports say two guys) attempted to jump the queue and found themselves beaten about the ears by women who’d waited in line from 5am, certainly understandable. Meanwhile, fellows who ventured into trial chat rooms and professed support for Casey found themselves pummeled by others.
I didn’t encounter even one woman who believed Casey Anthony was innocent, but perhaps a third of the few males on-line proclaimed she must be. Their hypotheses typically focused on George Anthony, ignoring his obvious anguish and the fact Anthony was once a homicide detective. Other conspiracy theories targeted the private investigators or Roy Kronk, the man who found the body.
Scientific Evidence
Sheriff’s detectives deserve credit for their conscientiousness. Given the limitations, detectives and inve
stigators performed to their utmost. Although scientific conclusions sometimes disagreed, all experts appeared dedicated and earnest.
As much as I like Dr. Jan Garavaglia, I was disappointed when she overreached in her testimony quoting unchallenged numbers, like 100% of child drownings are reported, without backing them up. Despite the Photoshop visuals, I’ve come to suspect the duct tape was probably used to seal the bags shut, not Caylee’s mouth.
Chloroform evidence is more problematic. You might believe Casey used dangerous chloroform to knock her little girl out so she could have undisturbed sex (still exposing her to execution under Florida law). On the other hand, you could believe she didn’t understand boyfriend Tony’s MySpace joke "Win her over with chloroform," whereupon Casey googled to see what that meant. None of the experts agreed whether chloroform levels were normal or not, but remember swimming pools are known for emitting chloroform as a byproduct.
Computer Forensics
When it came to computer testimony, I’d grade the state’s experts a D and the defense an F. I’m one of the rarified priesthood who have sufficiently deep technical knowledge to attest with certainty the ‘experts’ weren’t expert at all. It’s a matter of money, but I wouldn’t trust my life to the equivalent of a techie in Computer City.
Only one member of the Sheriff’s investigators exhibited more than casual knowledge (grade him a B+), but the others merely read spreadsheet reports without understanding the underlying implications, even when their conclusions made no sense. 84 google searches in 3.1 minutes? Not possible from a low-end household ISP, even if one could read at the speed of a hard drive.
The only moment I felt certain Cindy Anthony lied came when she testified she searched for chloroform on two given dates. Her entire demeanor changed. The lady seemed to shrink within herself and I don’t believe she’s a woman used to untruths.
Defense’s abysmal lack of technical knowledge failed to grasp a surer and more convincing way to challenge the state’s case. Desktop computers contain clock batteries, and as they age, CPU clocks become less and less reliable, even erratic. Several avenues come to mind, but I’d begin with questioning the state of the battery.
The Verdict
Florida has 400 men on death row. Four hundred. Florida can execute for such crimes as drug trafficking. Orange County is among the state’s most aggressive pursuing death penalty cases and conversely has one of the lowest conviction rates. In contrast, neighboring Seminole county doesn’t try to execute every criminal, and obtains a high conviction rate.
Including the jury itself, many observers believe the state ‘overcharged’. In other words, the prosecution opted for the death penalty when the evidence didn’t support either first degree murder option.
The Sentence Calculator
Observers were so intent upon conviction, they ignored the possibility the prosecution might derail. One of the extreme examples was the WESH TV Sentence Calculator. Enter possible sentences of the charge counts and the calculator will tell you how many years Casey would receive– or death.
Ready to pounce, hordes of followers hovered their mouse over the calculator, only to find it useless. The problem, as you can see below, is that their program made no allowance the jury might acquit Casey!
- Counts 1 and 3 (First-Degree Murder & Aggravated Manslaughter):
- Choose One…
- GUILTY: First-Degree Murder
- GUILTY: Second-Degree Murder
- GUILTY: Third-Degree Murder
- GUILTY: Aggravated Manslaughter
- GUILTY: Manslaughter
- NOT GUILTY omitted!
- Count 2 (Aggravated Child Abuse):
- Choose One…
- NOT GUILTY
- GUILTY: Aggravated Child Abuse
- GUILTY: Child Abuse
- Counts 4-7 (False Information To a Law Enforcement Officer):
- Choose One…
- NOT GUILTY
- GUILTY: 1 Count
- GUILTY: 2 Counts
- GUILTY: 3 Counts
- GUILTY: 4 Counts
Frankly, the jury got it right. That doesn’t mean I don’t think Casey’s not guilty of something, but with the evidence presented, the jury could make no other decision. If the prosecution hadn’t backed jurors into a corner demanding they find for first degree premeditated murder, the outcome might have been different.
Beyond the Verdict
I suspect Caylee’s death was an accident gone horribly wrong. If we imagine the unimaginable that she deliberately killed her toddler, we have to believe she deluded herself into thinking she could party forever or, as her grandmother once said, you have to believe Casey hated her mother more than she loved her child.
Ex-boyfriend Jesse Grund was amazingly prescient in his second police interrogation two weeks after Casey was arrested. He told detectives if something happened to Caylee, Casey could never admit it to her mother, she would have a breakdown, and she would ‘invent a new reality’. That appears to be what happened.
Jeff Ashton’s sniggers and sneers came back to bite him. A local media lawyer said he "can guarantee" Ashton’s done that before, but this time he was caught. Baez elevated himself in decorum by asking the judge not to punish Ashton. His post verdict interview was classy too. However, news reports say a Virginia woman has launched a petition in an improbable attempt to force the judge to sanction Baez for contempt of court.
How many families could have survived the scrutiny of the past three years? The Anthonys (George, Cindy, Lee) are a decent if normally dysfunctional family dumped into a horrific situation by a daughter badly in need of psychiatric help (and maturity).
The River Cruz
Given the purported criminal record (fraud, theft, attempted burglary, perjury, aliases) of Krystal Holloway / River Cruz / River Allen and her claims and denials to police, I have doubts she had an affair with George. I don’t believe for a moment a woman on welfare with two recent evictions for non-payment lent a virtual stranger $5000. George-haters believe otherwise.
The Release
Casey will never be free. She won’t be able to live in Florida again. As much as George and Cindy didn’t want their daughter executed, I can’t imagine them taking her under their wing again. No one could abide a daughter suspected of killing their precious granddaughter, and even Casey shouldn’t want to press her position in the same household.
I don’t wish her ill. I hope Casey receives treatment and grows up. Often, murderesses released don’t fare well, such as the perpetrators in the ghastly Sylvia Lickens case.
Who Done It?
In today’s opening paragraph, I said the defense told us who killed Caylee Anthony. In the main message of their press conference, José Baez declared the death penalty doesn’t work, an acknowledgement the prosecution overcharged. But if you carefully consider his statement, there was little reason to mention it if Casey was truly innocent. We don’t know exactly what, but implicit in his words is the assumption his client was guilty… of something.
Opinions expressed are those of the author. Parties not convicted of crimes are considered innocent. Thumbnails indicate images of the Orlando Sentinel.
I am not really sure why this case is getting so much attention in the U.S. (the only reason the case is getting some attention in Europe is, I suspect, that it’s getting so much attention in the U.S.), but it reminds me a bit of the JonBenet Ramsey case. You remember? A little girl was murdered, the parents were named suspects, there was a media circus of unprecedented proportions, and then the parents were exonerated. And the real killer was never caught.
That said, I’d rather see a guilty person walk than an innocent person convicted and possibly put to death. Which is, maybe, the only good thing that can be said about the outcome of this case.
Leigh,
A very interesting article, though we both know I agree with some of your opinions and disagree with others.
Fran
(smile) That’s true, Fran.
Yoshinori, people have raised similar questions asking if the mother wasn’t young and pretty or if the little girl wasn’t blonde and adorable if the case would receive the same attention. A couple of pseudo-journalists boosted their careers with the story.
Of course we’re aware of Madeleine McCann who disappeared in Portugal. In some ways that’s worse, not knowing what happened.
The not guilty verdict didn’t surprise me. The prosecution’s inability to determine how little Caylee died was the first indication to me that the jury would find Casey not guilty. Being found not guilty, however, doesn’t mean she is innocent. If she didn’t kill Caylee, I think she knew what happened and will have to live with that knowledge the rest of her life.
Being found “not guilty” also does not mean she was found “innocent.” It only means that in that jury’s collective minds the preponderance of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt was not shown.
I am (as many of you know) an attorney. I don’t really follow stories like this because I personally don’t like the idea of sensationalizing the judicial process. But the fact remains that many cases have to be proven by circumstantial evidence. The mere fact that a murderer was clever or lucky enough to exit the stage with no witnesses is not a “get out of jail free” card. The check against convicting the innocent is (as Yoshinori alludes) the preponderance standard.
So, I wasn’t on the jury, and I didn’t follow this as closely as Leigh. But having said this, if I HAD been on that jury I would have voted to fry her.
I believe Casey was somehow involved in the death of her child. A pity the jury didn’t have the option of Scottish law that provides for two acquittal verdicts: Not Guilty or Not Proven.
Momentum is growing for the introduction of Caylee’s Law, making it a felony not to report the disappearance of a child. Too late in this instance, but something positive coming from the tragedy.
Leigh and Dale: Well, we all know that no justice system in the world is 100% perfect. So in the meantime “innocent until proven guilty” should apply to everyone, I think, even to bad, cold-hearted (or just indifferent? immature? or crazy?) mothers. Otherwise, what will the world come to?
Louis, I absolutely agree with all your points. And unless Casey’s a ‘Bad Seed’, she’s forever marked, inside and out.
Dale, I don’t think the girl will ever be free, although I’m not sure she comprehends she’ll never escape.
ABA, I read there’s a petition out there to enforce what should be common sense. I’ve heard of ‘not proven’ referred to in the BBC news.
Yoshinori, it’s chilling when I hear people rage for the opposite, ‘Kill them all and let God sort them out,’, hardly a spiritual or ethical sentiment.
I’m not the only party who realized the computer forensics testimony was based upon false premises. The New York Times reports ‘Software Designer Reports Error in Anthony Trial‘.
Here’s more information from the HinkyMeter.