Long Road to Justice for Caylee Anthony

Casey parties after Caylee is gone

by Diane Fanning

This morning, Tuesday at 9 a.m., in an Orange County Courthouse in Orlando, the state of Florida will step to the podium to present the opening arguments in favor of the conviction of Casey Marie Anthony for the murder of her toddler daughter, Caylee Marie Anthony. 

Following that, the defense will present its arguments for a not guilty verdict. Attorney Jose Baez has promised that he will explain why Casey didn't report her daughter missing and answer a lot of other questions in the first three minutes.  Odds are he will claim the death of Caylee was an accident, or he will point the finger of guilt at a member of Casey's immediate family, or perhaps at one of Casey's friends.

The body discovery site

This day of reckoning has been delayed for quite some time. From the moment of Caylee's death in mid-June 2008, her road to justice has been long and full of obstacles. She spent days unnoticed in the trunk of a car driven by her mother, Casey Anthony. She was then dumped in the undergrowth--her location unknown to anyone but her killer.

No one else even knew for nearly five weeks that she was gone.  It was then that her grandmother, Cindy Marie Anthony, reported her missing.  Nearly six months after Caylee was last seen alive, the poor child's decomposed body, with duct tape wrapped around her skull, was found less than half a mile from the Anthony home.

Still, her mother would not admit to what her daughter had done.  She lied again and again and again. Each prevarication more outrageous than the last. And, somehow, Casey seemed to think she would be believed if only she kept lying. 

That string of lies will surely be part of the deliberations of the jury at trial's end.  They'll also consider some controversiaal evidence--the cans of air taken from Casey's car. The defense argued that allowing the jury to smell the contents turns jurors into witnesses. I did not find that argument compelling because it is only a matter of which sense is being invoked. Juries are taken to crime scenes all the time. There they use their eyes to observe. Here the state wants them to use their noses. I can't say that I've seen all that much distance between the two. But as Stacey Dittrich said on the Levi Page Show, the odor from those cans will permeate the area where they are opened. Let's hope for everyone's comfort that they are taken outside to sniff and not expected to smell the odor of decomposition inside a closed space.

Judge Belvin Perry has estimated that the trial will last six to eight weeks.  That length of time seems as optimistic an approximation as his prediction that the jury would be seated in one week; it took twice as long.  Six hundred and forty seven subpoenas have been issued to witnesses--an enormous, time-consuming number. Even if only half of them are called to the stand, it's hard to believe it could be all over before the end of July.  At this point, there is really no way of knowing how long this trial will last.

From June of 2008 until May of 2011 is a long time--nearly three years after Caylee Anthony died. By the time the trial is over, we will be near the date that would have been Caylee's sixth birthday. She's waited a long time for justice. Let's hope Caylee Anthony finds it in the courtroom of Judge Perry.

Diane Fanning is the author of the best-selling Mommy's Little Girl, the only book about the death of Caylee Anthony. Watch for updates about the Anthony case on Diane Fanning's blog, Writing is a Crime,

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Why Did a Top Jury Consultant Quit the Casey Anthony Case at the 11th Hour?

by Dr. Lillian Glass

Until jury consultant Richard Gabriel quit as the consultant on the Casey Anthony case a few days before jury selection was to occur, I was concerned. The reason? He is one of the top jury consultants in the country. He has represented some of the most high-profile cases, and he has even written a book on the topic.

So, why would Gabriel bail ship at the last minute? It is a seemingly unprofessional thing for such a seasoned professional to do. Several possible reasons for pulling out are outlined here:

1.  Maybe he already got what he wanted--notoriety and name recognition. He got the best press possible in on the highest-rated "48 Hours" show where he performed a focus group of people who ended up acquitting Casey. Mind you, it was a focus group and not a mock jury trial, which many viewers were led to believe. As a result, his name is now known and maybe that was why he took it on to begin with.

2.  The feedback from this show and his involvement was extremely negative, so maybe he wanted to get out before he actually began work on the trial. Some publicly called him a "manipulator of justice," which may have had an impact.

3.  He may have discovered something about the case as he was doing his work that made him realize Casey was guilty and,  therefore, he may not have wanted to be involved with helping get a guilty person free.

4.  He may have developed a conscience as he worked on the trial and felt he couldn’t live with himself if he helped Casey.

5.  He may have received threats and negative emails and feedback and calls from passionate people who believe Casey is guilty. Defense attorneys Andrea Lyons and Jose Baez have each reported receiving threats and hate-mail for defending Casey. He may have been frightened away for fear that something might happen to him or to his family.

6.  If he did succeed in manipulating the jury pool in  Casey’s favor and Casey was found not guilty, the hateful repercussions toward him might have been enormous.

7.  Perhaps he found out the secret location where the jury would be pooled from and realized it would be a losing battle.

8.  If Casey isn't acquitted, he might not have wanted such a significant loss on his pristine record.

9.  He may have realized that he would never get paid, even if he were promised payment at the end.

10. He may not have had the three months to devote to this trial, working for free, if he received a paying job during those months.

11. Perhaps all the press he received from the "48 Hours" piece increased his business from attorneys to the point that he has become overwhelmed and now needs to focus on his new high-paying clients.

12. Maybe he had arrangment with Jose Baez all along to only conduct a focus group that would show Casey in a positive light for the pre-trial publicity so that both he and Baez could benefit. And maybe he never had any intention of actually engaging in the jury-selection process.

13. Maybe he didn't like working with Baez or attorney Cheney Mason and didn't want to continue working on the case with them.

14. Maybe Casey tried to manipulate him as she has done with every-other man with whom she has come in contact.

15. Perhaps he realized that picking a jury would be a losing task and he might not be successful in picking a jury, especially with the Sunshine Laws in effect in Florida that make it difficult.

16. He may have believed that the media has tainted the jury pool to such an extent that he could not choose a jury for Casey.

17. He may feel that that he has been stifled in how to properly vet potential  jurors who may have a bias, especially after Judge Belvin Perry would not allow Gabriel to use a questionnaire asking jurors how they feel about the case and what they've heard about it, which could take an hour per juror.

Whatever the reason Richard Gabriel is no longer on the team, I must say I am relieved. Initially, I was concerned there would be an unfair playing field with him at the jury-selection helm. Now there is a much better chance that there will be a fair trial.

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