On Day 6, the state asked the judge to be allowed to introduce Casey Anthony's six prior felony convictions. The state contended that the defense elicited statements that Anthony made to witnesses for the purpose of showing her statements were credible; as a result, the state was entitled to rebut her credibility with her prior convictions.
There was to be a hearing Wed. morning regarding the matter, but the state told the court if the defense was trying to show Anthony was lying (vs. trying to show her statements as credible), then the state would drop the matter (for now, anyway).
Judge Perry cautioned the defense that they were walking a very, very fine line that if crossed could be devastating for the defense. When a defendant's statements to others are elicited by defense for the purpose of showing defendant to be credible, it opens the door for the state to use anything they'd use against any other witness to prove them not credible, including convictions.
Cross exam of Amy Huizenga by Jose Baez.
Baez established that Casey and Amy were really good friends only from February til July and that the majority of their communication was via either text message or phone call; that they "lived by their phones," as he put it, "like most young people.
Baez asks if Amy actually knows Casey's motivation for turning down invitations to go out with Amy. She agrees she can't know that (I guess she could only go by what Casey told her).
Baez asked if she received only one text from Casey about the smell in the car and she says yes. (I guess other conversation about it was via phone call). Baez then asked if it were fair to say that her memory during that time period was "fogged from drinking quite heavily." Amy says she wouldn't call it heavy drinking, same as most others her age.
Baez asked if she'd been drinking when she wrecked her car. She said she'd had drinks earlier, but the last one was about 3 hrs before she drove home. She claimed she was just tired and nodded off on a boring stretch of road. Baez then has her read a text message she'd sent: "I hit a guardrail. I'm okay. Thank God I didn't get a DU--" Objection by state was sustained. (Pretty sure the jury could fill in the letter "I" without further help, though.)
She totaled her car and the airbag deployed. Baez asked if she sustained a head injury. She said just her nose, and it wasn't much of anything just a little "crusty" blood. She'd never been hit with an airbag and didn't know what to expect, she said, so she asked people to call her every few mins til she knew she was okay.
Baez tried to run with that and imply she'd suffered a head injury (I guess so he could claim anything she testified about that occurred after that date might be suspect because she got knocked silly?) Amy clearly said she was fine, just (barely) a little bit of a nose bleed.
Baez: "You never saw a doctor, so you don't know what the full extent was of the airbag hitting you, do you?" Yes, seriously, he asked that. Guess he knows better than she does that she had an untreated, undiagnosed head/brain injury. Amy looked at him like he was crazy. "Ummm....no.."
He then moved on to Casey's boyfriends. "You met Jesse on July 15, and you later went out with him?" Amy: "We struck up a friendship." Baez: "Any other boyfriends of Casey you went out with?" Objection/sustained.
So, that's the way Casey treats a best friend. And Casey's defense has the nerve to paint Amy as a lying, brain-damaged lush who wanted Casey's boyfriends and revenge.
Of course, what the jury didn't get to hear was how Casey robbed Amy blind, stealing her cash and checks, depleting her accounts...and that Casey was convicted of six felony charges as a result. Nope, what the jury heard was the implication that poor little Casey is a victim of Amy. Amy was nothing but good to Casey and got nothing but pain in return...and three years later, nothing's changed
Dee Snider's got nothing on Lee Anthony in the Twisted Sister department.
Lee Anthony is questioned by Frank George for the state. Lee said that on July 3, 2008, Cindy made him aware that Caylee and Casey had not been home in some time. Lee tried to investigate and find them on his own. Via clues on myspace and Facebook, he thought she might be at The Dragon Room in downtown Orlando that evening. He and a friend met his girlfriend, Mallory, there. When Casey didn't show at that club, he tried to text her to find her.
Lee tried on/off for about an hour with text messages and then tried phone calls, some of which Casey answered. He asked her to meet up, but she said she was busy with friends. During one of the calls, she told Lee she was in Jacksonville. Lee knew it was a lie and questioned her about what she was doing there. She told him she was out with a friend at a country western bar.
He called her on the lie, told her he knew she was in town and asked where she was, to no avail. She told him Caylee was being watched while she was out with her friend. Lee told her she needed to talk to the family was worried about her and Caylee. She told him everything was fine and she'd call Cindy the next day. Casey eventually hung up on him. He made numerous subsequent attempts to call her, but she wouldn't answer.
Lee stayed on a stretch of Church St. (apparently a strip with lots of bars), figuring he'd catch her coming out of one of them and she'd have to talk to him. But he never found her. Cindy told him not to continue to pursue it.
On July 15, Lee got a call from George that his mom needed him; asked him to go to the house. When Lee arrived, his mom and Casey weren't there yet. He went into the house through the garage. The first thing he noticed was a smell from the car -- the windows were rolled down and their was writing on the car from the two yard. Lee said the smell was very potent and strong, an offensive smell. When asked if he approached the car, Lee said he had to walk past it to get into the house, but not by choice.
When Cindy and Casey arrived, they went inside. Casey was very combative, saying she didn't know why she bothered since no one was listening to her anyway. Cindy was equally, if not more, combative. Prior to that night, Lee said he didn't know Casey used a nanny. Cindy was asking her about Caylee and Casey kept saying she was already asleep at the nanny's and she didn't want to disturb her "routine." She told them she'd go get her in the morning.
Lee couldn't understand why they couldn't go get Caylee. He offered to go himself, send his friend, someone else to pick her up. He felt it just didn't make sense for Casey to put them all through this (including having LE called on her) when they could just go get Caylee and be done with it.
When Frank George asked Lee what, specifically, Casey told them about why she wouldn't allow the family to see Caylee, Casey said, "Maybe because I'm a spiteful bitch." (I guess she is capable of telling truth every once in a while.)
Lee tried to talk to and reason with Casey while his mom was outside the room. She told Lee that her mom had thrown in in her face many times that she was an unfit mother. "Maybe I am," she said.
Lee was getting extremely frustrated with Casey -- nothing was making sense. She eventually told him that Caylee had been taken by Zanny 31 days before. That was the first time he'd ever heard the name Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez. Lee said Casey was very specific about the 31 days.
Cindy heard the conversation and came into the room, yelling at Casey, "What did you do? We could have found her!" Lee asked Casey where she'd last seen Caylee, and she told him Sawgrass Apartments, when she dropped her with ZFG. She told him she'd been staying at Tony's and trying to find Caylee herself; that she camped out at ZFG's apartment and watched it; that she went places ZFG might take Caylee -- stores, parks, etc.
Casey claimed she'd gotten a call from Caylee -- that very day, as a matter of fact. She talked to Caylee for a moment, then asked Caylee to put an adult on the phone and the line went dead. Lee immediately went into search mode. He went to Tony's. He told Tony what was going on and picked up Casey's belongings (laptop, duffel bag, backpack). The computer was on, with a "blue screen" showing, as if it had a virus or the system were corrupted. He tried to reboot it, but it wouldn't boot up.
Among Casey's belongings that Lee retrieved were 19 receipts. Within a day or two during a family sit-down with LE, they were offered the receipts and anything they wanted from the items he'd picked up. There were no items belonging to Caylee in any of the bags he got from Tony's.
Interestingly (and oddly, since Baez seems to want to do the cross of every single witness), the cross of Lee is passed off to Dorothy Clay Sims, who practically whispered her questions. (My theory is Lee knows something about Baez's handling of the case that he didn't want to take a chance of being blurted by Lee if he questioned him; or, he's too chicken shit to face Lee after claiming Lee wanted to "follow in his dad's footsteps" and molest his sister.)
Sims elicited that Lee wasn't in Chicago July 3/4; that his dad had a set of keys to Casey's car; that at one point during evening of 15th, Lee was whispering to Casey; that his mom's focus was "why didn't you tell us."
Then Sims tried to implicate Tony Lazzaro in some sort of wrongdoing. She asked if Lazzaro packed Casey's bags. "Is it almost 100% your firm belief..." Objection/sustained. Rinse/repeat. Then she asked if Lazzaro might have caused the blue screen on Casey's computer.
Lee said the things from Tony's had no odor to them. He agreed his father is the car detailer/maintenance provider in the family. On re-direct, Lee said his focus became finding Caylee as soon as Casey alleged a kidnapping. He also testified that LE's focus was not on Casey but on finding Caylee.
Brendan Fletcher, first officer to arrive on scene.
Fletcher said the initial call was for a stolen vehicle and altercation between the caller and her daughter. He saw George and Cindy immediately upon entering the home, but not Casey. Cindy was very upset, trying to convey information. Within 10 mins or so of arriving, he talked to Casey. She came out of her room, didn't really say much, not very forthcoming.
At some point, Casey told him she'd left Caylee with the nanny who had kidnapped her. Fletcher contacted his supervisor, Sgt. Reginald Hosey, who arrived and began running the scene.
Flecther drove to Sawgrass, while Deputy Acevedo and Casey followed in another car. CA pointed out a second floor apartment, #210. The blinds were open, and from what he could view, the apartment appeared to be empty, no furniture.
Baez asks if he noticed odor from car, and Fletcher says he can't say he did. Baez asked if anyone else told him about an odor (hearsay objection sustained). Baez asks if another officer tells him something, does he put it in his report. Fletcher said it just depended since it might be included in the other officer's report instead.
Adriana Acevedo, Deputy who drove Casey to Sawgrass.
Acevedo transported Casey in the back of her patrol car to Sawgrass to identify the apartment where she claimed to have dropped Caylee. She was not handcuffed for the ride and Acevedo took steps to ensure Casey knew the ride was voluntary and that she didn't have to go if she didn't want to.
Baez asked about Cindy's demeanor - "upset." George's demeanor - "calm, quiet." Casey's demeanor - "quiet." Just like her dad? "Yes." She noticed an odor; didn't know if it was garbage or the car. She told LDB on redirect that she didn't have much experience with human decomp to distinguish from garbage.
Amanda Macklin, Manager of Sawgrass.
Macklin testified that apartment 210 at Sawgrass was vacant; it was the leasing model, no one lived in it. There was never a ZFG who lived at Sawgrass.
Lieutenant Reginald Hosey, officer in charge July 15 2008.
I lost my live stream during direct, but he basically testified that he arrived on scene that night and directed LE to take Casey to Sawgrass to ID the apartment and to go to Lazzaro's to talk to them, search the apartment.
Hosey realized there was a situation between Casey and her mother. He asked Casey if she'd walk with him, and they went outside and walked and talked a bit. She told him Casey was with the nanny. She wanted to prevent Cindy from seeing Caylee because she thought Cindy might try to take Caylee away from her. Hosey contacted Yuri Melich of the missing persons unit to assist.
On cross, Hosey testified that he doesn't recall Anthony being handcuffed that night or telling other LE to uncuff her. He was advised in talking to state attorneys after his deposition that Anthony was cuffed, but he doesn't recall seeing her in cuffs. He said Anthony was put in the "cage" (back seat) of Acevedo's patrol car for transport to Sawgrass. That's standard procedure.
When Casey got back from Sawgrass, he walked into the house with her. There were 3 or 4 other officers on scene, but they were in and out. On redirect, LDB emphasizes that at that Hosey believed, based on what Casey told him, that Caylee was a live and well and with the sitter, who she wasn't able to contact.
He said that other people in the house with the "armed" deputies were George, Cindy and Lee. He made no effort to restrict the movement of anyone. None, including Casey, indicated they wanted to leave. All appeared to be cooperating to find Caylee.
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Still working on my posts for Melich's testimony, the recorded jail visits and LE/forensic testimony. Will publish those once I finish up. There was much to cover in the second week!
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