17 May 2011

Casey Anthony Trial - Day 8 - Afternoon Session - Part I

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Juror #3158 is the first up after the lunch break. He saw some coverage when the case first broke, then again when moved to Pinellas for jury selection. Coworkers/friends have discussed case and expressed opinion of guilt. He, himself, has formed an opinion of guilt but says he can set it aside.

Juror tells Drane-Burdick that he recalls a baby was killed and discarded and that there was no remorse. Says the lack of remorse was his own opinion, but tells LDB he can set all that aside.

Baez asks if he's had to set aside personal opinion before. Juror says yes, as a baseball umpire. Juror tells his opinion might be with him, but he can separate that from jury service. In response to Baez's question, juror says he presumes Anthony guilty as she sits there today.

Perry moves on to the death penalty portion of questioning. Judge asks if he can presume Anthony innocent. Juror says, "I cannot presume her innocent." Judge is clarifying to be sure he understands. He repeats that he can't presume her innocent. Juror is excused. (So why did he say earlier he could set his feelings aside and judge fairly? Doh!).

Juror #3015 is called in. She recalls hearing about the case early on but doesn't recall any details. She says she believes George & Cindy are relatives. Has not been around others who discussed the case or discussed it herself other than to mention that she saw it on the news. She has not formed an opinion about Anthony's guilt.

Ashton for the state. Juror tells him she gets most her news locally. Has seen cable news occasionally, on vacation -- nothing about this case, though.

Juror tells Baez her preferred news is Fox 13. Has no Facebook account. Tells Baez she remembers when Anthony was arrested, but didn't follow the info. Says there are unfortunately so many missing children that she doesn't follow them all. She recalls when Caylee found they did some DNA testing. Says she doesn't think the news is always accurate; that you have to take it with a grain of salt and use your common sense. Baez is done.

The judge now talks with her about presumption of innocence/burden of proof/right of Anthony not to testify/mitigating & aggravating factors and application to DP vs. LWOP. Juror says she is capable of voting for DP if warranted by the law and, likewise, LWOP if that's appropriate.

The juror tells Ashton she has 2 boys close to Anthony's age. While she wouldn't substitute them in place of Anthony when making a decision on DP, she would want anyone judging her boys to be fair, and she'd extend that to anyone else on trial.

Ann Finnell goes over her death penalty talking points and questions with the juror. The juror says she is a 5 on a scale of 1-10 for death penalty. The juror says she can consider age, background and character of someone convicted as a mitigating factor. Agrees she would not let victim impact statements influence her decisions.

Ashton with general voir dire. Juror works for Verizon as a service rep, has managed up to 25 people. Husband is retired, owned a BMX store. Her two sons are ages 27 (coast guard) and 23 (lives at home, works PT). Neither are married, no grandchildren. Her father was in LE in New Jersey. She was a victim of a house break-in but wasn't home at the time. No bad experiences with LE. Ashton is done.


Cheney Mason for the defense. Juror's father lives in Orlando. Her son went to college there. Only met 2 of his friends (neither name Tony Lazarro, apparently). Agrees not to give more weight to LE testimony. Juror was also a juror in federal Genovese crime family trial in federal court in NJ.

No challenges from either side. There are 12 jurors again. The judge tells the clerk to bring them and he will swear them in! Don't jump for joy too soon, though. Baez objected to procedure and said Anthony ought to be able to go through every remaining juror in pool and take her pick. Judge disagreed, was ready to get the 12 sworn in. Baez exercised peremptory strike against Juror #3397 (the stock trader with the bad back).

So we're back to 11 again.

Juror #3042 is being screened now. She's heard a bit about the case -- child missing, Anthony and her parents going back and forth, child being found. Has heard others discuss. Has no opinion as to guilt.

Juror tells Mr. George she recalls seeing grandparents on the news but can't remember if they were being interviewed. Recalls seeing news when Caylee found, but no details. Her friends/coworkers talked about the case, wondered how a mother could do that to her child. Juror says she felt all the information/facts weren't known. Juror says she's seen Grace's show but not about this case. She watches daytime court-shows (Judge Mathis) and has seen 48 Hrs before.

Juror does not have a computer at home. She checks email and news on the internet at work. She visits the SP Times site. Has not seen anything on that site about this case that she can recall. She did see something in a magazine, but can't recall which one...just saw defendant's picture. She thinks it may have been People magazine; didn't read the article.

Juror becomes weepy, says she's been praying for Anthony, for mercy for her, and she wouldn't want to be a part of judging her. (WTH didn't she tell this to the judge in the beginning and save everyone some time.)

Judge asks her to step out. State challenges her for cause. Defense, naturally, has no challenge to this juror. ;-)  The judge excuses her for cause. Another one bites the dust.

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