Re: Defense Testimony ~State vs. Casey Anthony ~ Thread #1 (June 16 - June23rd)The defense starts presenting its case Thursday, June 16, 2011 ~ exactly 3 yrs to the date Caylee allegedly died. Cindy Anthony claims she is the one who made computer searches

[lisette]

Well, grandson is finally in the bed..I'm going to watch afternoon's testimony now. I caught a little of it, and it sounded more like the state's case than the defense....

[Nama]

Not sure if this is what you are asking for....

June 9, 2011

Forensic testimony continued Wednesday in the Casey Anthony first-degree murder trial – beginning in the morning with talk of a canine, and ending the day with tales of a computer. First, jurors learned that a second cadaver dog also alerted to the possible presence of human decomposition in the backyard of the defendant’s home. Then, the jury heard from a series of forensic computer experts who discovered a history of Internet searches on the Anthony family computer – searches that all concerned the subject of “chloroform.”

Kristin Brewer, a sergeant with the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office, is the handler for Bones, a cadaver dog. On July 17, 2008, she and Bones were requested to report to the Anthony family home in Orlando. After sniffing the entire backyard, Bones alerted to the possible presence of human remains in an area near Caylee’s playhouse and play area – this was more or less the same area where Gerus, another cadaver dog, had previously alerted. The following day, after dirt in this area had been disturbed, Bones did not alert. Brewer acknowledged a cadaver dog could alert to decomposition of some substance from a still-living human, such as blood, “as long as it’s out of the body.”

Next on the stand was Sandra Osborne, a computer forensics analyst with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office. Osborne examined several items of evidence in this case. She was given the defendant’s Nokia cell phone and was unable to find any reference to anyone named Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez. Osborne found video of Caylee Anthony on a Nikon camera; the video was time/date stamped June 15, 2008.

Osborne also received the Casey Anthony’s Compaq laptop and the Anthony family’s HP desktop computers for examination. The HP computer had two user accounts, “owner” and “Casey.” Osborne was able to retrieve an Internet search history from one of the HP’s three browsers. Osborne was asked in late August 2008 to do a key word search for “chloroform.” She also identified photographs of Casey and Caylee Anthony that were recovered from a laptop computer belonging to Ricardo Morales. Those photos were time/date stamped January 28 and March 19, 2008. Osborne acknowledged that just because there are only two user profiles on the HP computer doesn’t mean that only two people could have used it. She also conceded that the “Win Her Over With Chloroform” photograph was present on Morales’ laptop, even though a key word search for “chloroform” had yielded no positive results.

Kevin Stenger, a forensic computer analyst and head of the Orange County Sheriff’s computer crimes unit, supervised previous witness Sandra Osborne in her attempt to recover information from the HP desktop computer recovered from the Anthony home. Stenger located a history of Internet searches for “chloroform” on March 17 and March 21, 2008. The files he recovered had been deleted, and were in the “unallocated space” section of the computer’s hard drive.

The day ended with John Bradley, the owner of a software development company and former Canadian law enforcement officer, on the stand. Bradley developed the Cache Back computer program which helps locate computer files and present that information “in a law enforcement-friendly way.” He was asked by previous witness Kevin Stenger to examine the Internet history files that had been recovered from the hard drive of the Anthony family’s HP desktop computer.

Stenger found multiple search results (Google, Wikipedia, etc.) for “chloroform” on March 17 and March 21, 2008. Whoever initiated the searches often misspelled the word as “chloraform” – one search, from March 21, was the question “how to make chloroform?” Bradley also found searches on those same days relating to such subjects as “alcohol, inhalation, death, self-defense, hand-to-hand combat, head injury, ruptured spleen, chest trauma, and internal bleeding.” He acknowledged that many of the “chloroform” hits appeared to be fairly brief, often only a matter of seconds. However, because Bradley had access only to the history of searches and not to the full text of the search results themselves, it’s impossible for him to know exactly how long any of these results were monitored. In all, there were a total of 84 searches for the word “chloroform” on the Anthony computer through this particular browser.

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[Guest]

In the testimony already given by the computer expert no certain dates were given except to say sometime in March of 08. It would be interesting to hear more about what was found on the hard drive of the home PC and the lap top KC used.

[Nama]

Also part of the new evidence is the hard drive taken from Casey Anthony's home computer. Prosecutors say they took another look at it after the defense disclosed its theory that Caylee drowned on June 16, 2008.
“There was substantial computer activity that would rebut a lot of what Mr. Baez said in opening statement,” Burdick said.
The defense objected to the new evidence, especially the hard drive. But Judge Perry said the defense has had access to it for more than two years.

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[Nama]

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[Nama]

LM.....search for chloroform has dates

Stenger found multiple search results (Google, Wikipedia, etc.) for “chloroform” on March 17 and March 21, 2008.
one search, from March 21, was the question “how to make chloroform?”

[Guest]

I did hear all of that this morning. Which confused me because of the testimony the computer experts already gave. Which were vague on dates etc. But they have something obviously that has not already been disclosed.

[Nama]

Geraldo Rivera, not one for self-censorship, was quite blunt about his opinion regarding Casey Anthony, the Florida woman suspected of killing her daughter, Caylee.

During a Fox News report outside the Orlando courthouse where the headline-making Anthony case has been unfolding for some time now, Rivera noted that, in the weeks following her daughter’s death, Anthony had a tattoo done featuring the phrase “Bella Vita” (“The Beautiful Life”):Now, the question at play here, beyond whether it’s ever appropriate for a news anchor to refer to a woman as a slut during a report (Which is particularly glaring in this case since it appears that Rivera is passing judgment on Anthony based on…. her choice of tattoo? Is that really Rivera’s call?), is, you know: How does this compare to MSNBC’s Ed Schultz’s recent use of the word “slut”? Shultz, you’ll recall, was briefly suspended from his nightly show after referring to conservative radio host Laura Ingraham as a “right-wing slut” and then as a “talk slut” during his own radio show.

Rivera’s segment aired on the 14th of this month with nary a peep. What message does this send? That it’s ok to call a woman a slut if some feel she “deserves” it? If she’s suspected to be a bad person, is it ok to label her with a gender-specific slur? Is it permissible to publicly pass judgment on a woman based on her sexual history during the context of a serious news report? No, no and no. This sets a horrible precedent and presents a woefully ugly image.

Rivera’s commentary was out of line. While Anthony’s actions and, to a certain degree, her behavior following her child’s death are certainly fair game for analysis and criticism, her private, personal sex life (or the perception of what her actions say about her sex life) isn’t on trial here, and calling her names based on her decision to have a tattoo done seems… juvenile? Unprofessional? Pointless?

Rivera’s audience can come to their own conclusions regarding what Anthony’s choices say about her character and her state of mind; it isn’t Rivera’s role as a reporter, in this particular instance, to feed viewers his own bias and his personal judgment calls about this woman. That only serves to damage his credibility as someone who is here to give us information and not, rather, a brief diatribe on morality as seen by one Geraldo Rivera.

Furthermore, Rivera’s statement has specific misogynist implications that have no place in a news report, or even in an op-ed piece. It isn’t about censorship; this is about behaving in a professional manner that does not leave the national discourse wallowing somewhere in the muck. This is about realizing that words have meaning, that slurs carry judgment calls, and that using inappropriate and potentially harmful language isn’t the most enlightened course of action to take when addressing your audience.

It is my hope that Rivera takes it upon himself to apologize to his viewership for using hateful language and for tarnishing his own image and that of his network. Not only was he offensive, he was wildly unprofessional. This is why Schultz was appropriately chastised for his comment, and it’s why Rivera should, at the very least, apologize directly to his viewers for using this unnecessary, judgmental and sexist word.

[Nama]

Today’s testimony by botanist Jane Bock was a disaster on many levels. She appeard confused and contradicted herself. The “legal analysts” focused on her testimony that the bones could have been in the woods for a long time, as opposed to the two weeks she raised as an estimate.

But all that became background noise when prosecutor Jeff Ashton brought up Caylee’s hip bone, which was buried under four inches of muck. Asked how it would be possible for that to have occurred in two weeks, Bock raised the possibility of a dog burying it.

An incredulous Ashton accepted this gift, quickly indicated to the jury through his manner and tone how ridiculous it was, and walked away. He handled it brilliantly, leaving that statement as the one the jury would go to lunch contemplating.

Lawyers like to talk about the legal points scored in trial. I look at it from a perspective of persuading people.

The dog buried the bone. The dog ate my homework. This is how people think. Their excuse for the unexplainable is to blame it on the dog. With that one line, Bock completely discredited not only herself, but contaminated the entire defense.

This was followed by Judge Perry spanking Jose Baez for breaking the rules on evidence sharing.

And then we learned Baez didn’t even do a thorough search of the hard drive of Casey’s computer. He tried to blame the prosecution for not detailing which parts of the hard drive it would use. Huh?

You can not sentence someone to death because of Baez’ incompetence in mounting a defense. And that is what this trial is turning into. We have two excellent prosecutors shredding a complete amateur. It is a one-sided drubbing that has made a circumstantial case appear much stronger than it should.

I have to wonder at some point if Judge Perry simply can call a sidebar, tell Baez to take second chair, and turn the case over to Cheney Mason.

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[artgal16]

Well, speaking of Cheney Mason - he is the death penalty certified attorney why isnt he taking more on? What is his point of even being there-

[artgal16]

Wow listening to Dr Weiss - he completely screwed Baez! He gave a glowing review to Dr Vass! I think Dr Weiss disliked Baez and Baez
tried to impeach his own witness by asserting he might benefit from the sniffer invention! Im so shocked that Baez would try to discredit his own witness. Didnt he talk to Dr Weiss before he decided to use him?
Is Baez really this stupid - Answer yes!

[Wrapitup]

POSTED: Tuesday, June 21, 2011
UPDATED: 7:17 pm EDT June 21, 2011

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Day 24 of the Casey Anthony murder trial extended to nearly 6 p.m. as lead defense attorney Jose Baez tried to get a research chemist to discredit a colleague who had testified for the state.

The defense called Dr. Marcus Wise, a research scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory specializing in analytical chemistry.
Wise’s questioning became increasingly heated as Baez question research methods used at the laboratory.

Wise is a colleague of Dr. Arpad Vass, who was called as a state witness to testify about the smell of human decomposition and high levels of chloroform found in air samples taken from the trunk of Anthony’s car.

Baez questioned Wise about Vass’ qualifications, as well as whether the researchers or laboratory would benefit financially if technology they created to detect decomposition in air samples was successfully used in court.

Wise said the device, called a labrador, was designed for use by law enforcement and the military, and he would earn no royalties from its use. He said the labrador was only in the development phase when the Oakridge National Laboratory was performing tests on samples in the Anthony case.

Wise testified that the presence of chloroform in Anthony's trunk is unusual and he could not confirm it was the product of common products.

Anthony's murder trial resumed Tuesday morning with a forensic botanist being called to the stand a day after the judge abruptly called for an early recess.

Day 24 began with attorneys from both sides arguing whether a defense witness would be able to testify about DNA in the case. Judge Belvin Perry ruled that the witness would not be able to testify about the DNA of decomposition fluid in the trunk of Anthony's car. Perry, however, said he would be willing to hold a hearing later and revisit the issue.

The defense, for the first time since Saturday, then called a witness to testify. Jennifer Welch, an Orange County sheriff's crime scene investigator, was called back to the stand and questioned by defense attorney Dorothy Clay Sims.

"Did you take photographs of the scene (where Caylee's body was found in 2008) after the vegetation had been cleared?" Clay Sims asked.
"Yes," said Welch, identifying a photo of the cleared scene.
Some photos were placed into evidence and shown to the jury before the witness was cross-examined by state prosecutor Jeff Ashton, who asked Welch if she could identify exactly where the remains were based on one of the photos.

Welch said she could not without looking at her library of photographs of the scene.

After being asked about catalog numbers of the photos during re-direct by Clay Sims, Welch was excused.

The defense then called Dr. Jane Bock, a forensic botanist, to the stand.

"I have looked at photographs taken by the medical examiner and the Sheriff's Office crime scene investigators and visited the recovery area and read documents about the case," Bock said.

Bock told jurors that she believed the roots could have grown through the bones, skull and a laundry bag in two weeks.

Prosecutors have said Caylee's remains had been in the woods near the Anthony family home since the summer of 2008.

While pointing to a photograph in front of the jury, Ashton asked Bock if she measured the amount of "leaf litter" in a certain area.
"No. Did anyone else?" Bock said.

"The neat thing about this is that you don't get to ask me any questions," Ashton joked.

Ashton pointed out that Bock said in her deposition that she couldn't say when Caylee's remains were placed in the woods. Bock then admitted that it's possible that Caylee's remains were in the woods for more than two weeks.

Ashton also said that Caylee's hip bone was found buried in 4 inches of muck, implying that Caylee's skull was likely in the woods for longer than two weeks. Bock suggested a dog or another animal could have buried the hip bone.

The defense then called DNA expert Dr. Richard Eikelenboom.
Ashton said Eikelenboom originally only submitted a half-page summary of his findings that contained no significant opinion, but now wants to present two written pages and 45 PowerPoint slides to jurors, which Ashton says is a clear violation of Perry's court order for all expert witnesses to submit detailed reports.

Eikelenboom told Perry he was not told he needed to render an opinion in his reports.

After hearing from Ashton and Baez, Perry decided that by not informing Eikelenboom that he needed to report his findings with a complete statement of opinions for the state, the defense's discovery violation was willful.

Perry ruled that Eikelenboom could not testify about DNA analysis of decompositional fluid found in the trunk of Anthony’s car until a Frye hearing on the matter is held to decide what scientific evidence is acceptable. Perry said the hearing will be held next week.

Perry informed the jury that Eikelenboom had stipulations for what topics he could testify about.

Eikelenboom said he performs trace DNA recovery. The prosecution objected to Eikelenboom being considered an expert, but Perry allowed it.

Baez asked Eikelenboom if duct tape were placed on human skin, if skin cells would be found on the sticky side. Eikelenboom said yes, and went on to say even in damp, summer conditions, he would expect some DNA to be found on the sticky side of the tape if it had been placed on skin.

Eikelenboom said chloroform can be used to extract DNA and would not degrade DNA.

During cross-examination, Eikelenboom said heat and moisture have a detrimental effect on DNA. He also said he did not ask for tape found on Caylee's skull to be retested for DNA. FBI experts testified that the only identifiable DNA found on the tape was that of an FBI lab tech who had handled the tape previously.

Another sample of DNA was found on the sticky side of the tape, but it was so degraded that it could not be positively identified.

The defense is trying to prove that the duct tape found on Caylee's skull was placed there after her body decomposed, not while the toddler was still alive or just after she died.

OSCO lead investigator Yuri Melich was then called by the defense.
Melich was one of the first law enforcement officials to question Casey Anthony regarding Caylee’s disappearance.

Melich testified that no chloroform or products used to make chloroform were found in the Anthony home when it was searched in August 2008 or again in December 2008.

After sending the jury to lunch, the Baez said he was just handed computer evidence from the state, which he thought violated the discovery order.

The state said it gave all the information from the Anthony family computer to Baez two years ago, but Baez argued there was too much information and he did not know what to focus on. Perry noted that the obvious important days in the case were June 15 through 17, and it was up to the defense to look at the important dates.
The state could use the computer evidence to rebut claims Baez made in opening statements.

The state said instant messages send from the computer negate the defense's theory that Caylee died the morning of June 16, 2008. Someone using Casey Anthony's screen name had a conversation via instant messaging at 8 a.m.

Court is expected to recess early Wednesday due to a prior commitment for Perry.

On Monday, Perry called a recess before 11 a.m., with the jury never having been seated in the courtroom. The recess followed a half-hour argument by attorneys about evidence disclosure.

Attorneys for both sides argued over what prosecutors said was a failure by defense lawyers to disclose all the material an upcoming witness intended to testify to. The defense said the state was engaging in legal maneuvering. Perry lectured them for wasting the court's time.

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[Nama]

Will the prosecution, during rebuttal, call 'bombshell' witness, computer store owner Jim Thompson, the man who claims he saw Casey and Caylee at approximately 4 PM on June 16, 2008?

Why did Casey Anthony’s legal team decide to ditch their computer experts from their witness list? Experts who could testify to activity on the Anthony family home computer on June 16, 2008, the date Casey’s lead attorney Jose Baez–during his opening statement–claimed Caylee Anthony accidentally drowned?

In the midst of a WESH news report on what occurred during Tuesday’s court session during the Casey Anthony trial, the rather curious news Casey Anthony’s defense team ‘did not have their experts analyze the Anthony’s home computer, specifically for activity on June 16, 2008′. The key phrase, ‘did not have’ which raises several questions about the defense and June 16, 2008, the date Casey Anthony’s lead attorney Jose Baez, during his opening statement, claimed Caylee Anthony ‘accidentally drowned’, ‘in the early morning hours’, ‘early afternoon’, and, ‘we don’t know’.

From a live news report filed by WESH:

‘Out of the presence of the jury Jose Baez admitted the defense apparently did not have their experts analyse the Anthony’s home computer, specifically for activity on June 16, 2008.’

Jose Baez: ‘After determining that we would not be in need of a computer expert we withdrew them from the witness list.’

In his statement, Baez admitted the defense, initially, had computer experts on their witness list. Individuals who were struck off the list after a ‘determination’. Which raises the question, when and why was the ‘determination’ made? A chat with Casey Anthony if she used the Anthony family computer on June 16, 2008? Or, a determination a computer expert may reveal evidence against his client? At the very least, a computer expert should provide evidence which contradicts a prosecution rebuttal computer expert’s testimony. According to the prosecution, they’ve got computer activity evidence they may use during rebuttal, evidence which contradicts some of Baez’ opening statement claims.

WESH News: ‘That decision has now blown up in Baez’ face. Prosecutor Linda Drane Burdick told Judge Perry they may use that information to answer Casey’s claims that Caylee drowned on the 16th.’

Burdick: ‘There were substantial computer activity that would rebut a lot of what Mr. Baez said in opening statement.’

Listed on the state’s witness list who may testify during rebuttal, computer store owner Jim Thompson. During a 2009 interview with WESH 2 News, Thompson swore he saw Casey and Caylee at approximately 4 PM on June 16, 2008. Thompson claimed he recognized Casey and Caylee leaving a Cassleberry Walmart.

WESH 2: He (Thompson) says Caylee was a good ten feet behind and had to open a heavy door by herself. For Thompson, that said it all about Casey’s attitude.’

Thompson: ‘She had better things to do. You know she’d almost rather having the child not tagging along with her, she was in the way.’

WESH 2: ‘Thompson said he saw Caylee alive at around 4 PM that day, cell phone tower pings show that Casey was at or near her boyfriend Anthony Lazzaro’s apartment at around five PM, that’s less than four miles from the Cassleberry Walmart.’

WESH 2 reporter to Thompson: ‘You will swear in a court of law…

Thompson: ‘Absolutely!’

WESH 2 reporter: ‘She’s going to be on trial for life if this if what you saw.’

Thompson: ‘I will swear in a court of law that’s exactly what I saw.’

Thompson recognized Casey and Caylee after Casey and Caylee visited Thompson’s store to talk about purchasing a computer monitor ‘a week before Caylee Anthony disappeared’.

Rebuttal witnesses who may be called or recalled to the stand, Casey’s former boyfriend Anthony Lazzaro, former friend Amy Huezinga and Casey’s former fiance Jesse Grund, three people Casey Anthony’s cell phone records reveal Casey had phone conversations on June 16, 2008.

ClickOrlando.com:

At 1 p.m., Anthony made a 14-minute call to her boyfriend, Tony Lazzaro. At 1:44 p.m., she made a 36-minute call to her then-best friend, Amy Huizenga. At 2:52 p.m., there was an 11-minute call with ex-fiance Jesse Grund. All of the calls used cell towers that can be reached from her parents’ home, Pipitone said.

But at 4:11 p.m., Anthony began trying to reach her mother, Cindy Anthony, making four attempts in two minutes, according to records. Anthony then traveled north from her parent’s home and called Lazzaro for one minute at 4:19 p.m., Pipitone reported. Two minutes later, she talked to Grund for a minute, and tried to call her mother again at 4:25 p.m., Pipitone said.

There was no other communication from Anthony’s cell phone until a call was made to Lazzaro’s apartment at 5:57 p.m., records show.

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[cherylz]

So if the computer store guy gets on stand under oath and testifies he saw Caylee w/ KC at about 4 PM that TOTALLY blows the Def. story out of the water!!

[jeanne1807]

I think if that fellow was to get on the stand and say he saw Casey and Caylee he would need some backup..at this point in the game. I hope that store had surveillence cameras.

Regarding Geraldo Rivera I think in the "news" department he is known as Jerry Springer.

Not much respect and they kind of look the other way regarding anything and everything. His shows have always been iffy.Never made the "respectful" list.


He has tried for years to fly with the big boys but you know what they say.

"You can take the boy out of the country but you can't take the country out of the boy."

[Guest]

George and Cindy Anthony are in the courtroom. per news13

[cherylz]

Reading over at Blink. Don't like what I am reading.

[Guest]

Really? What don't you like?

[Guest]

Ashton gets Bottrell to say it's impossible to conclude whether Casey's shoes were ever at the remains scene

[Guest]

Well this is the 2nd witness of the day from the FBI. In my mind a waste of time as JA can explain after 6 months, hurricanes, tropical storms and extreme heat no DNA or drugs would show up upon examination.

[Guest]

This witness is Michael Sigman, chemist at University of Central Florida. He used to work at Oak Ridge National Lab.

[cherylz]

She spoke w/ Nejame and he says he is afraid that a guilty verdict may be overturned. Blink stated it may be quite a possibility after yesterday, esp. in regards to the hard-drive issue. (paraphrased)

[Guest]

Dr. Vass has referred Sheriff's Office to Dr. Sigman. He asked Vass what he wanted and what kind of methodology. Tedlar bags used for collecting air samples.

[Guest]

She spoke w/ Nejame and he says he is afraid that a guilty verdict may be overturned. Blink stated it may be quite a possibility after yesterday, esp. in regards to the hard-drive issue. (paraphrased)

I can see why you did not like what you were reading over there. I feel differently. If KC is convicted appeals take a long time. A conviction is very hard to over turn. Besides Baez had those records for at least 2 yrs.

[Guest]

Sigman: Pulled air from Tedlar bag using syringe and pumped into mass chromatograph mass spectrometer to test sample.

[Guest]

CM: Did you find tetrachloroethylene? MM: On subsequent samplings (which also included chloroform).

[Guest]

Chemist says gas, chloroform, and three other chemicals were present in air sample from trunk. Gas most prevalent

[Guest]

With the gas chemicals being present it makes me wonder did they find internet searches for how to destroy DNA in the computer searches? Or did someone that already had the education on how to destroy DNA. Gasoline will do it.

[Guest]

We all know the car was cleaned before LE took it in to evidence. CA testified to some of what was done to the car. Will the defense question GA on who cleaned the car up before it was taken in to evidence?

[Guest]

Sigman opined that, based on the air samples he tested, he could not say conclusively that there had been human remains in the car trunk.

[Guest]

A 15 minute morning recess. JA cross should be very good after a break.

[artgal16]

Is the prosecution witness on the stand now saying there was decomposition in the trunk? Regarding Caseys phone calls on the 16th - when did Caylee die then?
After she made all those calls or before? Because we know from the 16th on she was never seen again. Im back to believing Casey took off the night of the 15th and killed Caylee but I dont know the timeline is off with these calls. It doesnt make any sense that she killed her immediately after George left and then got on the phone and starting making phone calls - any thoughts on this?

[artgal16]

Casey's Roommate Tells All
In her first interview, the woman who lived with Anthony after her 2-year-old was reported missing tells Diane Dimond about her “crazy” eruptions, romantic interests—and quest for fame

As the defense team in the Casey Anthony murder trial presents a muddled case of fits and starts, punctuated by several slap-downs of lead defense attorney Jose Baez, a more compelling, never-before-told story about the defendant is unfolding thousands of miles away from the Orlando courtroom.

In an interview with The Daily Beast, Tracy Conroy, of Sacramento, California, is speaking out for the first time about her experience with Casey Anthony in the days immediately following news that her daughter, Caylee, was missing.
Click here to find out more!

For nine days and nights in August 2008, Conroy lived inside the Anthony home and saw firsthand what she described as the “completely narcissistic world” in which Casey operated. “It was always all about her... and when she spoke of Caylee she talked about her in the past tense,” says Conroy. “It was clear to me she knew her daughter was already dead and [the search for Caylee] was all a big game to her.”

Conroy is a longtime employee of television bounty hunter Leonard Padilla, the man who orchestrated a $500,000 bond for Casey on August 21, 2008. As a condition of helping free their daughter, Padilla got parents George and Cindy Anthony to agree to allow his colleague, Conroy, to move into the Anthony home for 24/7 protection. (Conroy’s cohabitation ended after Casey was re-arrested on bad-check charges nine day later.) Padilla also came to Orlando from California with cameras in tow. Case watchers strongly believe that he, along with his employees, would like nothing better than to get a new TV show from their notoriety.

A source familiar with the Casey’s defense tells The Daily Beast that the defense team reluctantly agreed to the arrangement with Padilla by imposing a strict set of rules. First and foremost: Casey was never to be left alone with Conroy. This source believes that under the watchful eye of her parents, her defense team and their security guards, she never was.

“Frankly,” this source says, “I think the defense found Tracy to be just another part of the Padilla circus.”

“

Casey always seemed to bounce back to her “It's-all-about-me, happy place.”
”

Nonetheless, Conroy was the only outsider to have had constant, early access to all the major players in this Anthony family drama. And she claims she was an eyewitness to some startling behaviors.

Her final conclusion about the woman now facing a possible death penalty in Florida? ”She’s crazy, always exaggerating,” Conroy tells The Daily Beast. “She didn’t have a babysitter, she had a nanny. The smell in her car wasn’t from one dead squirrel but two. She didn’t graduate from high school but she told people she was working on not one but two degrees. It wasn’t just her father who molested her but also her brother. She’s not of this world. She’s a sick woman.”

Tracy Conroy allowed The Daily Beast to read lengthy contemporaneous notes she took during her time inside the Anthony home. Of her first meeting with Casey she wrote: “Casey walked into the room and said, ‘So you’re the babysitter?’ To my amazement, she gave me a hug and she was very upbeat and talkative. I thought there would be a few tears or at least some sadness displayed in her nature. There was no mention of the child—no tears for Caylee.”
Casey Anthony Trial

Red Huber / AP Photo

One of the most intriguing thoughts found toward the beginning of Conroy’s 2008 notes involves a central issue at the 2011 trial. Casey, she wrote, “mentioned twice that the media had stated [her brother] Lee could be Caylee’s father. I had not heard that. The second time she told me, it was a bit odd because she just stared at me as if to judge my reaction. I said I thought that was sick.” Conroy had no way of knowing at the time that Casey Anthony’s allegations of incestuous sexual abuse by both her brother and her father would become the centerpiece of her criminal defense. Today, Conroy says she wonders if Casey hadn’t been gauging her reaction as a trial balloon. “She got a thrill out of saying outrageous things.”

Conroy has spent nearly 20 years getting to know all manner of odd human behavior as part of the bail/fugitive recovery business. From the get-go, Conroy says, she thought Casey’s lack of emotion was suspicious. And inside the home, she says she immediately detected a strange dynamic between the parents and their daughter.

Because Casey’s father had been a former police officer, Conroy says, “George got what a liar she was and he really couldn’t handle it like Cindy could. The mother had such hope that everything would be OK. Cindy would dance around (cooking and cleaning) thinking if everything was normal Casey would open up,” and reveal where their little granddaughter Caylee was.

From Tracy’s contemporaneous notes: “My first night at the Anthony home, I awoke to George and Casey arguing. He had started questioning her. I really couldn’t make out much of their conversation until he exploded, screaming, ‘Don’t f\'ing lie to me anymore! I am sick of your f\'ing lies! You have to know where she is! What did you do with her?’ She told him to ‘quit acting like a scumbag f\'ing cop and that he needed to act like a father.’” In the heat of the argument, Casey and Cindy told George to leave the house immediately and he complied.

Early in her stay, Conroy got to meet Casey’s older brother Lee and his girlfriend Mallory during a family dinner. Also in attendance: defense attorney Jose Baez, who brought a strange gift with him—a taped copy of an ABC 20/20 program. The segment was about another Florida family that had endured the public scrutiny of a missing baby.

According to Conroy, Baez wanted the Anthonys to learn a lesson from the story of Steven and Marlene Aisenberg, whose five-month-old baby Sabrina had disappeared from her crib in 1997. As 20/20 reported, the Aisenbergs became suspects, in part, because of their lack of publicly displayed emotion. Also, investigators had surreptitiously placed bugs in the Aisenbergs’ home to try to trap them in incriminating conversations—Baez, says Conroy, warned the Anthonys about speaking freely in their own home. (The source close to the defense team confirmed the family was, indeed, shown the videotape as a way to hammer home the seriousness of their situation.)

“Casey was sniffling” a bit, Conroy says. “I expected there to be a distraught sense coming from the family but there was nothing. They treated the 20/20 episode as a learning experience, an example of their tactics to come. Not like a grieving family.”

Yet Casey always seemed to bounce back to her “It's-all-about-me, happy place,” says Conroy. She remembers a day Casey looked outside at the gathered media trucks and then up to the thunderstorms overhead. “Well, no helicopters today,” she said with an exaggerated pout. According to Conroy, Casey loved all the attention.

Even though suspected of foul play in the disappearance of her daughter, Casey thought it was hysterically funny when Conroy—who is about the same height and build—played decoy with the media during the daily trip to Baez’s office. As cameras rolled, Conroy darted out the front door of the home with a jacket over her head and raced to a waiting car. They even fastened a man’s black sports watch around Conroy’s ankle to look like Casey’s court-ordered electronic monitoring device. Meantime, Casey snuck out the back and into brother Lee’s car.

Casey’s focus was on garnering attention, Conroy says, but she refused to talk to Tim Miller, head of EquuSearch, the group which had come to Florida and volunteered to look for Caylee. “I told Casey she should talk to him, but she said, ‘I will not speak with them. It would be a waste of time.’ I thought that was very strange.”

And this instance straight from Conroy’s notes: While watching TV news coverage of Baez shielding her from the media onslaught, Casey told Conroy she thought Baez was the best lawyer ever because when asked by a reporter what his client had whispered in his ear at that moment, “he told the media that Casey stated, ‘I’m innocent, I want to walk out of here with my head high.’ Casey revealed what she had actually said was, ‘Get me the f**k out of here!’”

Late one night Conroy heard what she thought was Casey finally breaking down in her bedroom. She knocked on the door to comfort her only to find Casey, not crying, but laughing at a Facebook message from a stranger, “a hot guy who said he thought she was ‘gorgeous.’” With a whoop and giggles, Casey, the mother of a still-missing child, waved Conroy in to take a look at his message and picture.

On another occasion, while looking at a book of baby pictures of Caylee, Conroy remembers cooing a compliment about the child. “Suddenly, there was Casey with her own book saying, ‘Yeah, but look at my baby pictures!’ And she plopped her book on my lap, covering up Caylee’s.” One night while getting ready for bed, Tracy brought up the missing child and Casey responded by baring her new shoulder tattoo which read “Bella Vita” (Italian for ‘Beautiful Life’) and declaring she’d gotten it in honor of her daughter.

“This before anyone even knew Caylee was already dead,” Tracy tells The Daily Beast.

Tracy Conroy told this story to police and the FBI on September 19, 2008. So, why hasn’t she been called to testify? The source close to the defense team said simply, “Clearly, the state has a problem with her credibility.”

But Conroy counters that by saying, “I think the prosecution had enough about [Casey’s] demeanor from all her young friends.” And, will the defense call her? “They are worried about what I might say.”
source:
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[artgal16]

I understand JP has something to do and they will recess early today - anyone hear that?

[Guest]

Artgal thanks for posting that. I wonder if she will be called during rebuttal or saved for the penalty phase.

[Guest]

Remember, Judge Perry has state court budget meeting this afternoon, so court will end around noon today. per Trial Notes

[Guest]

Sidebar before jury is brought in.

[artgal16]

Gosh after all the delays I would think that JP would have tried to put his meeting off for a while. These delays are ridiculous. I dont know about Tracey being called at all but I think her testimony would have been really valuable as she saw Casey directly after she was released from jail and she could report to her demeanor. I dont think her friends testimony is as strong as someone who actually lived in the house with Casey

[Guest]

Jeff Ashton is cross examining Michael Stigman.
Sigman: Did not inspect trunk and didn't know liner had been removed before testing air. Trunk liner & spare tire cover had been removed 4 days before Sigman took his sample. Sigman didn't know that

[Guest]

Budgets are a huge issue every where right now. KC's trial has been very expensive and lord knows when this might be handed to a jury for deliberation. The $$$$ from this trial keeps going up beyond JP budget.

[Guest]

You said chloroform can come from reaction of bleach & certain organic components? Correct.

[Guest]

JA is doing a wonderful job as usual.

[Guest]

Ashton: Any support in literature of chlorine being cause by swimsuit thrown in trunk? Sigman: Not aware of any.

[Guest]

JA: Find anything to lead you to believe chlorine came from some sort of inadvertent reaction between bleach/compounds?

[Guest]

Sigman: We simply know they're there, we don't know the source.

[Guest]

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[Guest]

The witness is excused.

[Guest]

Susan Mears is called to the witness stand by the defense team.

[Nama]

She is the crime scene supervisor at the OC sheriffs office.

[Guest]

Mears: Collected Cool Blue Gatorade bottle in Disney bag from site of Caylee's remains.

[Bombshell]

ok, what was that all about.... she just got on stand to say the Disney bag was 6 inches from skull with gatorade bottle. What does that prove? NOTHING.

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