Tomorrow, on May 24th, Casey Anthony goes on trial for the murder of her 2 year old daughter. Opening arguments are supposed to open tomorrow morning. know that Paul Lentz is planning to attend a couple of days of the trial, and I thought it would be interesting to discuss the trial. I am quite interested in the trial, and I suspect that some other members of TFB are as well.

Based on some of the things discussed in court today, it is rumored that is Casey Anthony will admit to "accidentally" killing Caylee during opening arguments. The defense is claiming that they will answer everyone's questions about Casey's actions up to now in the first 3 mins of their opening statement.

Currently, there are 238 witnesses that have been subpoenaed for the case.

I do believe that Casey Anthony is guilty, but I hope that I am reasonable enough to be attentive to the evidence.

Does anyone think that the defense may claim that Casey has Dissociative Identity Disorder (aka Multiple Personality Disorder) and that one of her alters killed her daughter? Casey Anthony has been accusing her father of sexually abusing her throughout her early childhood and I think she is claiming that her brother sexually abused her as well. These accusations would be necessary to set up a DID defense; DID only develops when a child is exposed to severe trauma.

So, comment away, my TFB friends! If anyone has good media coverage to recommend, I would love to know about it.

Opening Statements on live now on TruTV (formerly Court TV)

I know you have computer limitations but for those who don't, and want to listen to what goes on after 3 EDT (when that horrible station cuts off and goes to stupid reality shows), here's a good live feed : http://www.wftv.com/caseytriallive1/index.html

Thanks, TF.

I admit to being morbidly fascinated by this case. Didn't Paul Lentz say he planned to attend? I see that the jurors were asked about mitiganting circumstances being a reason to not give the death penalty by the defense.

He said he planned to attend a few days. I think he has a real job the rest of the time.

Jurors are always questioned about mitigation in the process of getting a "death qualified" jury. Of interest to me is Linda Kenney Baden running around giving interviews and shooting her mouth off about this case. She was, for a time, a defense lawyer. AFAIK, she skeedaddled when the $$ was no longer forthcoming. I think she is walking a very fine line since she has continuing obligations to her former client.

Wasn't there a rumor that her brother was the baby's father?

Edit: As far as accidental killing, didn't the body have duct tape on the mouth?

There have been all kinds of rumors. But LE did DNA testing and it ruled out both the Defendant's father and brother as a parent of the victim. I've been listening to the defense's opening statement, and I gotta say, I have never heard such insanity in my life.

Me too. Also. And I agree with your conclusion.

Good God, the defense attorney is saying the baby died in the swimming pool. I've missed part of it, is he saying the grandparents knew?

The commentator called it a "powerful opening statement." I call it now you have to put the defendant on the stand, cuz George is not going to admit to all the BS the defense spouted. Now, if they put George on the stand and he takes the Fifth, another story.

The defense attorney is making his opening statement -- with a lot of argument, but so was the prosecution's -- and it is completely preposterous. Trying to convince the jury that the little girl drowned in a pool and her mother partied blithely afterwards because she was the victim of abuse from her father and her brother demonstrate a level of desperation that must have arisen from the State's refusal to plea bargain.

I haven't been following the trial, but from all your comments it sounds like this case is going to involve a bona fide twinkie defense.

The State put the Defendant's father on, first witness. He denied all of the abuse bullshit, and told the same story he's been telling for the past three years. So, it appears that the only person who is going to tell this ridiculous story is the Defendant, whose very horrible lawyer already told this jury is a pathological liar. Ineffective assistance of counsel anyone?

Nah. What other defenses does he have? (Speaking as someone who hasn't followed the case, mind you.)

I am finding Baez, the defense attorney not only not very good, but really kind of creepy. Some very inappropriate smiles.

Poutine: reasonable doubt. There's always a reasonable doubt argument. Since the Defendant threw her toddler daughter in the woods, like a bag of garbage, (after she murdered her) much of the evidence has deteriorated, and one can always find some mistakes or oversights by law enforcement. But when you throw all of this disgusting bullshit out there as a defense lawyer, then the burden shifts to the defense (in a sense) to prove some of the bullshit. And of course, he can't. This clown doesn't even know how to try to impeach a witness with a prior inconsistent statement. I'd be really pissed if I was a Florida taxpayer, and I'd been footing the bill for idiot lawyers like the Defendant's lead counsel.

Did the court appoint Baez as the defense attorney? He sounds (from the prior comments) like the Dogbite Jensen of criminal defense attorneys.
I haven't followed this trial, but it reminds me of those who attend Orly's hearings to see the legal trainwreck
"The first hopeful spectator arrived about 4 a.m. Brett Schulman, 51, of Ocoee, said a deputy told him that he was the first person to arrive...He said he was excited to have the opportunity to get a first-hand look at what he describes as Florida's biggest ever criminal trial."This is bigger than the Super Bowl," he said
"Law students eager to see the trial unfold and others curious to catch a glimpse of Anthony were thrilled..."These cases don't come by often," 20-year-old University of Florida law student Justin McConnell said. "I'm interested in the defense."

I am not sure how Baez was initially brought into this case. I first remember seeing his mug when the Defendant was first arrested, for lying to the police, IIRC. He may have been hired by the Defendant's parents at the time. When she was charged with murder, I think she sought to be declared indigent and wanted Baez to keep representing her. When the State upgraded to capital murder, it became a problem, as Baez is not death-penalty qualified. Since then there has been a revolving supporting cast of lawyers, but Baez has always been the "lead" attorney. From what I've read, he offices in a strip mall with two other lawyers. From what I saw today, that location may be fancier than his skills merit.

Thank you, thank you, thank you! I don't have cable, so my options were also limited.

WFTV's Index of info on the Casey Anthony Trial

WFTV's evidence records

The "truth" according to the defense:

Casey Anthony is claiming that Caylee drowned in the family swimming pool; Casey and George Anthony discovered Caylee in the pool. George is said to have yelled at Casey, saying that she would go to jail for the rest of her life for child neglect. Since Casey is a poor, abused child, she went along with her father's plan to cover up the death. Supposedly, it is Cindy Anthony's fault that Caylee fell into the pool because she forgot to pull up the pool ladder, which allowed Caylee to climb into the pool. Cindy Anthony wasn't told about Caylee's death in the pool.

George Anthony put the duct tape on Caylee's mouth so that if Caylee's body was ever discovered, Casey would be blamed for the death of Caylee and he wouldn't be linked to Caylee's death and disappearance of Caylee's body. The meter reader who discovered Caylee's body was the one who put Caylee's body in the woods ... then he "discovered" the body later.

What a freaking bizarre story. I am disgusted....

This weekend I heard a lawyer hypothesize that once the defense learned of the prosecution's strategy during jury selection, the only defense that might work would be to claim that this death was accidental. Thus, the creation of the drowning death and the blaming of George Anthony on the scheme to hid Caylee's death.


WFTV article about today's trial events:



So, the police botched the job because rather than guessing that Caylee drowned in the pool, they believed Casey and George Anthony's story that Caylee was missing. Somehow the police were supposed to investigate a drowning without the body of Caylee Anthony.

This is getting more and more bizarre by the moment.

Good lord; the defense's opening argument is making me sick.

We are going to see "signs" of sexual abuse throughout the trial. Is this the entire crux of the defense? Caylee Anthony accidentally drowned, and because Casey Anthony was sexually abused, all Casey could do was lie about the death of her daughter because as an abuse victim, all she can do is lie in an attempt to hide her pain? Seriously? Casey was an excellent mother but her abuse history also made her a pathological liar who was living in an alternate reality that was less painful than her real reality? How can a good mother be a pathological liar living in an alternate reality?

So, rather than getting a job, Casey allowed her daughter to live with her father who sexually abused her and brother, who tried to abuse her? Casey was so abused that she was incapable of leaving her abuser and allowed her daughter to live with her abuser? Casey left her daughter alone with George Anthony on a regular basis!

I can't believe that Casey is throwing both of her parents under the bus like this. Unbelievable.

Not that I condone this sort of behavior, but facing the reality of the death penalty probably makes people do all sorts of crazy shit.

Which is one of the reasons that criminal defendants hire lawyers. Because the criminal defendant's judgment is skewed. The lawyer is supposed to be the objective, cool headed one, with judgment.

Very true. In this case, the clown Jose Baez, is hoping to make a name for himself and perhaps move out of his law office in a local strip center. IIRC, the Florida Bar would not admit him for a period of time because he was a deadbeat dad, or something like that. There is, in fact, a death penalty qualified lawyer on the defense team, but he seems past his sell by date and is apparently just along for the ride.