Defense attorney Jose Baez displayed a vicious streak of cruelty in the courtroom Wednesday during the Casey Anthony trial. He seemed to suppress a bubble of diabolical glee as he tried to trip up his client's father. The direct examination brought to mind someone stabbing pin after pin into a voodoo doll representing his enemy.
Baez mocked George's suicide attempt, ridiculed his emotional responses to Caylee's disappearance and death, and accused him of child sexual molestation.
Baez's questions were tricky, like the old stand-up comedy line, "When did you stop beating your wife?" He used that tactic again and again. Baez pointed to George's July 2008 statement to police where he described his experiences smelling decomposition for 10 years when he was a law enforcement officer. Baez zeroed in on the event in the woods, where a volunteer team searched. Then he asked George how he knew his granddaughter's body would be found in the woods.
Baez referred to the Anthony's many media appearances and asked, "All those media appearances stopped when the allegations of abuse came up, didn't they?" George fired back. "I believe, sir, that was done by you, sir."
At another point, after George denied sexually abusing his daughter, Baez asked, "You, of course, would never admit to molesting your child, would you?" George denied abusing his daughter.
Throughout the ordeal, George Anthony cried over his granddaughter Caylee. And he stood up for her. When Baez asked him about this public protestations and belief in his daughter Casey's innocence, George told the court he did not want to believe, at that time, that his daughter was capable of killing her daughter.
George insisted that he wanted to talk to media about his missing granddaughter and other missing children. He said, "Unfortunately, it seemed, every time the media came around, the focus was on my daughter and not on my granddaughter Caylee."
Before George took the stand, Casey's mother, Cindy Anthony, demonstrated a change of attitude, too. It seemed to surprise Baez that Cindy was no longer willing to lie for the defense. She denied ever knowing anything about her son Lee visiting Casey's bedroom at night.
Maybe they now both clearly understand that the most important matter before the court is justice for Caylee.
Fanning is the author or Mommy's Little Girl, the first book released about the Anthony case.
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14 comments:
Baez' job is to establish as much doubt as possible thus making it impossible for the jury to convict Casey beyond any reasonable doubt. He can of course do this by discrediting the evidence and witnesses of the prosecution, but putting blame on other people for the alleged crime works too.
Btw. I disagree with your conclusion ms Fanning. Justice for Caylee is "not" the most important factor right now because she is in a different place and beyond caring. If George wanted to save her he missed his chance years ago. His granddaughter is gone for good and no amount of legal procedures will bring her back.
However his daughter is still alive and currently fighting for her life and freedom. So maybe he should consider toning down the self-pity a bit and be a man for his own little girl. "The time when our children need our love the most is when they deserve it the least", as the saying goes...
Self Pity? Are you serious? Casey took the life from Caylee, she denied her parents the joy of having a grand child. She denied Caylee the joy of growing up.
Casey should not be fought for by George. She sits in court, and laugh at him while he is crying over his grand child. She accuses George of molesting her! Why did she never confront him while the jail tapes were on?
Casey deserves to pay for what she has done. She broke the whole family in pieces, and the Anthony family will NEVER recover from this tragedy. Not even if Casey is found innocent.
Anonymous,
I have often been criticzed by some for stating that justice for Caylee is of paramount importance. Maybe it's an idealistic attitude, but I have approached the writing of all ten of my true crime books with a simple philosophy: the most important person is the victim.
I will always feel that Caylee is more important than Casey.
If you recall, in the first part of the questions with Cindy on the stand.How come Casey was never taken to a GYN even with her period problems that began at a very early age ?. Cindy testified that Casey started her period when she was 10 years old. She said Casey had to go to the doctor very few times as a child because she was a nurse and handled a lot of things at home.How convenient.But she also eluded to Casey having some very serious female problems with her menses. Anyway, that would explain how one would hide the scarring of a child’s molestation. Casey went to a gynecologist for the first time in her life at 8 months pregnant. I know several people that have been abused in a home environment that went to school and lived life as a happy normal person, a face they learned to put on to please others, inside they were torn and shattered to their core. Some people that are abused take that secret to their grave and never ever tell. Some wait until adulthood when they are safe, and some never realize that the abuse is wrong. Some people will still defend their abuser no matter what. Abused people have a weird way of relating to their abusers. Just like Jaycee Dugard and others. If that girl was not noticed by an outsider, she would still be living in the conditions she was accustomed to. Jaycee was also of an age that "technically",a non abused person could say.. she knew better, could have escaped, etc…and that was with a complete stranger, this is Casey’s family. Point is, abused people do not always sell out their abuser. And can lead what appears to many as a normal person, when its not really the case behind the scenes.I saw Casey show her contempt for her Dad yesterday, because IMHO, he robbed her of her emotions and happiness most of her childhood. All, JMHO
Mrs. Fanning,
I agree that justice for Caylee is very important and I find it disgusting all the lies KC made just to save her own skin, she is a monster, evil, evil! KC threw her parents and brother under the bus, they are "victims" in all of this, I feel sorry for them, it's a horrible situation to be in.
I am looking forward for the sequel of "Mommy's Little Girl"! I just loved your book.
@Hebby - Casey "would" deserve to pay if she had done it - I agree. However so far the state has shown no real evidence but has instead built a circumstantial case based on a concocted story filled with assumptions. Casey is clearly being thrown under the bus for convenience and to appease the public.
I can honestly say that I'd take a bullet for my daughter, if it ever came down to that. I wouldn't hesitate for a second. As parents we are obliged to be there for our children in their time of need - that's part of the job description - and Casey has probably never been in more dire need of help than she is now. Even if she's too bratty and full of herself to realize it. And what does her dad... her "rock" and protector do? Sorry, but I'm not impressed.
@Ms Fanning - True, the victim is important. However two wrongs doesn't make a right and in the middle of this witch-hunt stands a living and breathing girl who can be hurt and - if the state gets its wish - killed. Caylee's sad fate is written in stone by now and cannot be changed, but the fate of her mom still hangs in the balance. In other words Casey is the most important of the two because we have the power to do something for her or to her.
I disagree. We have NO power. The jury does but we have none. Since we are not the jury, we can have opinions about the case before the trial ever began.
I have reviewed the forensice reports, among other things. After that review, I reached the conclusion in 2009, that Casey murdered her daughter and used duct tape as a murder weapon.
Casey is, by the defense's own acknowledgement, a liar. Her story about the drowning and the abuse are just more in her long, long string of lies. She does not care who she hurts as long as she gets her way. She is a malignant narcissist, in my opinion.
I wonder if anyone on the jury will feel as I did yesterday when the cameras showed Casey's complete lack of emotion as her father cried. Suddenly I changed my mind from my earlier hope that for her family's sake she would get life. I looked at her face, called her a heartless bitch, and now hope she does get the death penalty.
It's not that I care about George. I could give a shit about him or Cindy or anyone in that crazy family. But regardless how crazy they are there's no excuse for Casey partying it up and lying about where her child was. And how dare she stare down anyone else, shake her head and act judgmental.
Hope she burns in hell.
George Anthony is every bit as much a liar as his daughter. Cindy is a liar too. They've been caught in so many lies, the jury's heads must be spinning. These two liars should never have been allowed to sit in the courtroom and listen to all the testimony since they were witnesses.
As for George's crying act, that's all it was--a self-serving phone act by a grifter and con man. He's a complete phoney.
Frankly, I think Casey has probably had more time to deal with her issues in prison than she did in that nightmare of a home. I am a survivor of sexual abuse, and I am convinced Casey is too. That doesn't absolve her of any crime, and certainly not of child abuse. But it helps explain her behavior.
Casey very likely killed Caylee and should spend the rest of her life in prison if she did. But I sure would like to see some direct evidence of her guilt.
After today, I do not believe the duct tape was the murder weapon. Knowing that Kronk disturbed the evidence, there's plenty of reasonable doubt about that.
Thank you for all your efforts and research. I know I sound angry, because I am. I want to see justice for Caylee, but with all the lies that have been told in court, she will have a long wait for real justice. Next
I'd love to see you write about a young man who kills his child (it happens regularly) be treated as Casey has been. You won't have an easy time finding an example of that though.
BB62
Hebby wrote: "Casey took the life from Caylee, she denied her parents the joy of having a grand child."
Cindy talked a 19 year old girl into keeping a child she didn't want. Because Cindy wanted a child. And George being in the delivery room? How sick is that?
I'm a developmental psychologist, so maybe I'm seeing all this through the prism of family systems and child development. But I don't see how anyone can argue that this was a healthy, functional family. All I see is dysfunction.
BB62
No crimes perpetrated on yourself give you excuse for any behavior.
I could honestly care less if Casey was sexually abused or not, if her parents lied all the time or not, etc. They didn't KILL Casey.
I have a gut feeling had Caylee been allowed to grow up she probably would have become a stripper or other profession in the same vein, given the role model in her life.
Why is this such a problem for some people - giving credit where it's due and giving Casey the death penalty? Casey is a monster and deserves to die.
"I have often been criticzed by some for stating that justice for Caylee is of paramount importance. Maybe it's an idealistic attitude"
Or maybe it's just demagoguery and profiteering off of other people's misery.
I am surprised and shocked at the verdict announced today and looking forward to a blog article here about it.
It made me ill to hear, after the verdict was rendered, the defense attorneys in their formal statements pretend their client was 'innocent' because the jury came back with a not guilty verdict--two very different realities, and then criticize those who evaluated evidence available to the public and thought she was guilty.
The sad thing is that, after receiving a not guilty verdict, Casey Anthony will now be eligible to make millions off of the story of her daughter's death and her trial.
I can't believe a lot of the comments here. Just like the OJ trial, unethical lawyers pander to idiot jurors. LIke the OJ trial, a killer walks free. Caylee is dead, the jurors ignore the obvious and Casey walks free. No amount of people who suddenly decide she is innocent for the sole purpose of being "right" will change the fact that the simplest explanation is usually the correct one. No one throws their child in the bushes in a plastic bag if she died by accidental drowning. No one. If it was an accident, there would be no reason to lie or throw away three years of your life. As for seeing this "dysfunctional" family thru the lense of being a therapist - you must be aware that all families are dysfunctional in some manner. The non-dysfunctional family does not exist.
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