Trogs, Blollops and Blomit

On Language: A Short Study

We have moved into an age when people interact more and more online and on cell phones, and less and less in person. A friend was telling me how her children text message each other from their bedrooms, right across the hall from each other. What happened to the days of person-to-person meetings? I hear tales of people texting each other while sitting at the same dining room table, if people actually do much of that anymore. Imagine that concept… eating together. Shocking! In this day and age, if you can’t make it home for the holidays, you can spend it online or on your cell phone inside a virtual village, a wireless community; replete with trimmings galore – Apps, they’re called today. The only thing missing is the aroma of a home cooked meal and real, live hugs. Don’t worry, smells can’t be far behind. Hopefully, nothing will ever replace a hug. (((HUGS))) doesn’t quite do it for me, although the meaning is clear and appreciated, especially when we are miles and miles apart.

There are new ways to communicate through language abbreviations because of texting. Is it because we live in a “now” world, where we hurry everything? Must we shorten things abruptly to speed things up? CMIIW, but texting is here to stay. Now, wasn’t that personal? Just remember, today’s toys are tomorrow’s junk.

I consider the 80s to be the beginning era of the downslide of close, personal interaction. We could have been chatting up a storm, face-to-face, when suddenly, a beeper permeated the earwaves. Just like that, our networking, as opposed to interacting, came to a screeching halt. Not just us, but everyone in the vicinity of the annoying noise stopped what they were doing to quickly look down at the little plastic box attached to their waist. “Was that yours or mine?” became the mantra en masse. Within seconds, the person who was alerted (the beepee or BP, in condensed form?) left to go to the nearest pay phone, something else that’s pretty much a relic in this day and age, along with those pesky little beepers. Nowadays, cell phones have usurped them, and alas, there will never be a beeper museum in the near or distant future. Interestingly, we went from those simple, yet impersonal alarms, which had a useful purpose in their day, to cell phones, to even more impersonal text messaging. Casey Anthony was notorious for texting back and forth with her friends. How else would we know about dead squirrels that never were? Had she made a more personal phone call, we’d still be in the dark and far from Government in the Sunshine. One of the strange byproducts of less personal interaction is the nature of the digital beast. Conversely, the less we know about each other, the more we know about total strangers.

Because of the leaps and bounds made as technology advances, I want to briefly explore the concept of new words as they become an accepted part of our culture and lexicon. A good example is podcast. Podcast originated from combining the iPod, a portable media player (of audio and/or video files) produced by Apple, with the word broadcast. It was first used by Ben Hammersley in The Guardian newspaper in February 2004, along with several other names that were vying for the description without even trying or knowing about it. Podcasting it became and the rest is history. What distinguishes such words that work their way into language is the history of how they evolve from single words. Podcast, for example, is a portmanteau word. A portmanteau word is used to describe a linguistic blend, namely “a word formed by blending sounds from two or more distinct words and combining their meanings.¹” Thus, iPod + broadcast = podcast. Had Microsoft marketed the first personal media player, we might be spreading Zunecasts instead. Years ago, I coined velvis, which is a portrait of Elvis Presley painted on velvet… velvet + Elvis = velvis. There are scores and scores of examples and they are not new to the 20th 0r 21st century.

The first known use of a portmanteau, or combination word, was coined by Lewis Carroll in Through the Looking Glass, the 1871 sequel to the 1865 novel Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, later shortened to Alice in Wonderland. He used slithy to describe lithe and slimy. As a matter of fact, Carroll came up with the word portmanteau when he described the morphing of words. According to the The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, the word portmanteau comes from French porter, to carry + manteau, cloak (from Old French mantel, from Latin mantellum). Charles Dickens also used this play on words in the names of some of his characters, the most famous one being Scrooge, which purposely came about from his combination of screw and gouge. We use countless portmanteau words in everyday language without realizing it. This blog is actually a combination of web + log. If you’ve ever had malicious software on your computer, it’s malware. Ask yourself, did the word malware even exist 10 years ago? How about spyware? I often think about words coined by advancing technology and it fascinates me to no end. The etymological study of the English language is one of my favorite pastimes… or is that past times? Nope, past time refers to time passed. History. Pastime means to make time pass agreeably. Oh, I could go on or hours, but that would bore you.

Though slithy has slipped through the cracks and is seldom, if ever, used today, it certainly describes some of the lurking trolls lolling about blog sites, especially those pertaining to the Casey Anthony case. Since I don’t like to use old portmanteaus when describing something that’s relatively new, there should be a word besides slithy to describe these lurking trolls. Maybe, we can coin a new word for them. Trogs, for instance, for blog trolls, except that it’s already a word describing something else. Several things, actually, but not trolls. Yes, it would work, but so would blollop, short for a blog trollop. I use the word trollop loosely, and not in the literal sense. I tend to fancy blollop because of the rather nonsensical sound of the word, just as nonsensical as the trolls themselves and the blomit they spew.

Anyway, I’m sorry, I rambled on my blog long enough. Hey, that could be brambling, but bramble is a thorny issue. How about blambling? We could have a lot of fun with this, but in order to reflect the times, I must cut this short. Besides, I got so wrapped up writing, I skipped breakfast. Hmm, maybe I’ll just have brunch. There’s a pretty good Tex-Mex restaurant down the street. Instead of calling to make a reservation or sending an e-mail (electronic + mail), I’ll send them a text message just to prove I’m still in vogue. Would that be Tex mexaging? Never mind. That’s a whole “nother” play on language and I’d better go before I start eating my own words.

L8RG8R!

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HAPPY CHRISTMAS

This is just a collection of images set to

three of my favorite Christmas songs…

GREENSLEEVES – Liz Story

The traditional English song “Greensleeves” was composed in its entirety by Henry VIII, the much married King of England. There is some speculation as to whether the words were inspired by Katherine of Aragon or Ann Boleyn, but although the first mention of the song in recorded history dates only from 1580, some 33 years after Henry’s death, there is now no real doubt over its provenance.

As with many folk songs, the melody is far superior to the words. It is known variously as “My Ladye Greensleeves” or “Ladye Greensleeves” but usually as just “Greensleeves.”

The song has been recorded numerous times over the years including by Jazz artists, but perhaps most memorably (with the lyrics suitably amended) in an advertisement for Dreamland Electric Blankets. (thanks, Alexander Baron – London, England, for all above)

This is a plea from a man to his bored mistress. He is still enraptured by her but she appears not to love him anymore.

William Shakespeare mentions this song by name twice in The Merry Wives of Windsor. In Act Two, “I would have sworn his disposition would have gone to the truth of his words; but they do no more adhere and keep place together than the Hundredth Psalm to the tune of ‘Green Sleeves’ “; and in Act Five, “Let the sky rain potatoes; let it thunder to the tune of ‘Green Sleeves.’ (See: SONGFACTS)

I BELIEVE IN FATHER CHRISTMAS – Emerson, Lake & Palmer

Lake wrote this as an objection to the commercialism of Christmas. He was concerned that the true spirit of Christmas was being lost in the marketing of the holiday.

Lake was the lead singer and guitarist for Emerson, Lake And Palmer. This was his only hit as a solo artist.

The part at the end is based on “Lieutenant Kije Suite” by Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev. Keith Emerson came up with the idea to use it.

Pete Sinfield, who wrote lyrics for many Emerson, Lake And Palmer songs, helped write this.

Lake was surprised this was a hit. Many people misinterpreted it as an anti-religious song, and he thought it wouldn’t go over well as a single.

Lake (from Mojo magazine): “I find it appalling when people say it’s politically incorrect to talk about Christmas, you’ve got to talk about ‘The Holiday Season.’ Christmas was a time of family warmth and love. There was a feeling of forgiveness, acceptance. And I do believe in Father Christmas.” (see: SONGFACTS)

HAPPY CHRISTMAS (WAR IS OVER) – John Lennon & Yoko Ono

A Christmas song by John Lennon, Yoko Ono and the Plastic Ono Band. It was recorded at Record Plant Studios in New York City in late October 1971, with the help of producer Phil Spector. It features soaring, heavily echoed vocals, and a sing-along chorus. The children singing in the background were from the Harlem Community Choir and are credited on the song’s single.

Although the song is a protest song about the Vietnam War, it has become a Christmas standard and has appeared on several Christmas albums.

The lyric is based on a campaign in late 1969 by John Lennon and his wife, Yoko Ono, who rented billboards and posters in eleven cities around the world that read: “WAR IS OVER! (If You Want It) Happy Christmas from John and Yoko”. The cities included New York, Los Angeles, Toronto, Rome, Athens, Amsterdam, Berlin, Paris, London,Tokyo and Hong Kong. At the time the US was deeply entrenched in the unpopular Vietnam War. The line “War is over, if you want it, war is over, now!”, as sung by the background vocals, was taken directly from the billboards.

The song’s melody and chord structure has been compared to that of the folk standard known as “Stewball”. It is possible that “Happy Christmas” was merely a re-write of the traditional standard.

The record starts with a barely-audible whisper of Christmas greetings to their children: Yoko whispers “Happy Christmas, Kyoko”, then John whispers “Happy Christmas, Julian”. The lyric sheet from the 1982 release The John Lennon Collection erroneously gives this introduction as “Happy Christmas, Yoko. Happy Christmas, John”.

The single was released in the US on 6 December 1971, but never charted on the Billboard Hot 100 charts; the UK release was delayed until the following November due to a publishing dispute. Upon release, it reached #4 in the UK Singles Chart. The song was re-released in the UK on 20 December 1980 shortly after John Lennon’s death on 8 December 1980, peaking at Number 3. (See: Wikipedia)

I hope you enjoy them, but mostly, I wish you all

A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!

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An Odor By Any Other Name

By JWG

Come, you spirits

That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here,

And fill me from the crown to the toe topful

Of direst cruelty!

- Lady Macbeth in Act 1, scene 5

The words of Lady Macbeth came to mind during the last hearing on December 11 as prosecutor Jeff Ashton described the state’s view of how Caylee Anthony died. Mr. Ashton’s imagery certainly got everyone’s attention, particularly that of Casey Anthony, who asked her own attorney Andrea Lyon not once, but twice, to make him stop.

Despite reading all of the documents released on this case, I really don’t have an opinion as to how little Caylee died. I initially thought it was an accident involving the swimming pool, and I often find myself going back to that theory. I frequently consider the possibility that Caylee died as a result of an incredibly stupid decision on the part of her mother – drugging Caylee and having her sleep in the trunk because she was unable to secure Cindy’s services as a babysitter the night of June 16. And, perhaps, the death followed the general premeditated script that Mr. Ashton described.

I just don’t know. Maybe Lady Macbeth’s words above don’t apply to Casey and the death of her daughter. Maybe they do, but what seems obvious is that once Caylee’s body found its way into Casey’s trunk, Casey was not following the mythical script that Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez supposedly handed her at Jay Blanchard Park. She was following Shakespeare’s script for Lady Macbeth.

Look like the innocent flower,

But be the serpent under it.

- Lady Macbeth, Act I, scene 5

Obviously, Casey’s actions following Caylee’s disappearance were not that of a mother concerned for her child. The evening of the 16th she was caught on a Blockbuster video store surveillance camera with then-boyfriend Tony Lazzaro renting a couple of movies. She and Tony “slept in” the following morning, causing Tony to miss his classes. Over the next month she gave her friends the impression that Caylee was being cared for by either a nanny or her parents.

Meanwhile, during that first week, Casey was driving back and forth to her parent’s home trying to figure out what to do with the dead body in the trunk. She maintained the image of innocence and freedom, while all the while cold-heartedly trying to figure out how to deal with her “little problem.”

The sleeping and the dead

Are but as pictures

- Lady Macbeth, Act II, scene 2

Interestingly, her first trip back to her parents on the 17th did not seem to be about problem-solving. Instead, it seemed to be about preserving memories, specifically pictures and videos. Computer activity as reported by an Encase report showed she spent the majority of her time online. Computer forensic evidence has been discussed in a number of places, but Valhall does a nice job of describing what we know here. In summary, it appears Casey spent most of the 17th copying files from the desktop to the laptop, likely photos and videos of Caylee. This work was interrupted by boyfriend Tony, who asked her to drive up and see a house he and some friends were looking at just north of Jay Blanchard Park. Afterward, Tony rode home with Casey in the Pontiac, the only known time another person was in her car after the 16th.

On June 18th Casey backed into the garage, just as she had the day before. This time she went next door to borrow Brian Burners’ shovel and had possession of it for about an hour. A month later cadaver dogs hit on several locations in the backyard, suggesting Casey attempted to bury Caylee on the 18th.

At some point she abandoned this plan and returned the body to the trunk. It is at this time I believe the duct tape was applied. My reasoning – which many will disagree with, I am sure – is that Caylee’s body was starting the messy process of decomposition, and fluids were leaking from the mouth and nose. The trunk by this point had already been stained, and the body was beginning to smell. Casey applied the tape – handily available in the garage – to stem that flow. She also placed the body in the garbage bags (also available in the garage) to protect the trunk from further staining. Doing so helped contain the smell, and gave Casey a brief respite of relief.

It does not appear Casey drove the Pontiac anywhere on June 19th. She did drive to Chris Stutz’s for a late afternoon visit, but this was done in Tony’s Jeep. Some have speculated that Casey transferred the body to Tony’s Jeep and dumped it before or after her Stutz visit. However, when thinking of Casey and her behavior, I prefer to keep things simple. Transferring a body in broad daylight at an apartment complex is not simple.

I believe the only reason Casey ever backed into the garage was to hide the fact that there was a body in the trunk. The 20th is the last day she was seen doing this, so I have to believe Caylee was still in that trunk. Forty-eight hours had passed since she last opened it, and I suspect that Casey was shocked at the smell coming from the bag. At this point she would have been motivated to dump the body, but was no doubt wary of picking up the trash bags for fear of them breaking. This is when I believe she put the bagged body into the laundry bag. Casey then took a quick trip up to Suburban Drive and dumped everything at the edge of the woods.

Simple and Easy.

Things without all remedy

Should be without regard: what’s done, is done.

- Lady Macbeth Act 3, scene 2

Casey probably thought she rid herself of all her problems that afternoon on the 20th, particularly the smell. She partied so hard that night at Fusion that Tony mentioned in a later statement that she stayed home the next morning because she was hung over. Her cell pings indicate she did not leave Tony’s at all that weekend.

Her car sat in the parking lot, unused.

On the 23rd Casey drove to her parents, possibly to pick up more clothing. Her trip had nothing to do with Caylee, who was conveniently discarded three days prior. On her way down she ran out of gas. She was still a hike from her parents, and the day was quite warm, so she called Tony for help. Tony picked her up as she was walking to the home and helped her break the lock on her parent’s shed so that she could get the gas cans. He then drove her back to her car.

According to Tony’s interview with OCSO, he was near the front passenger side of the Pontiac as Casey poured gas into the car. She was between him and the trunk, but she never tried to keep him from the car or the trunk. When Casey opened the trunk to put the cans away Tony had already turned to go shut the tailgate on his Jeep, walking away from the Pontiac. Tony noted that she made no attempt to keep him from the trunk, the only odd thing being (in his mind) that she wanted to pour the gas herself.

The fact that she let him near the car leads me to believe no smell had yet permeated the passenger compartment, thus Casey had no concerns. When she put those gas cans away it was the first time since June 20th that she had opened the trunk. Upon doing so she likely received a hefty waft of decomposition in the process. Imagine her surprise and horror when the smell hit her in the face. She dodged quite a bullet because Tony had begun to walk away and was “shielded” by gasoline fumes between him and the trunk.

Out, damn’d spot! out, I say!

- Lady Macbeth Act 5, scene 1

On June 24th, Casey drove to her parents to get the clothes she intended to pick up the previous day, and was surprised to find her dad home. She knew she had a problem with the odor in her trunk, and that is why she blew past dad when he wanted to get a tool from her trunk – she could not let him smell it. George did get close to the car, but never got to a point where he could see anything unusual before Casey shoved the gas cans into his hands. Given the trunk was opened just briefly before George got there and the car was parked outside, there was not enough time for what little odor escaped to register with him. Casey dodged another bullet.

Upon returning to Tony’s, Casey tried to clean the spot in her trunk – the source of the odor. She dabbed at it with some napkins and paper towels, then stuffed them into a garbage bag she grabbed from the apartment. As she got ready to toss the bag out, the thought it might be used as an excuse for the smell popped into her mind. She decided to keep the bag in the trunk in case anyone else noticed the smell, for use as an alibi.

Here’s the smell of the blood still: all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. Oh, oh, oh!

- Lady Macbeth Act 5, scene 1

Her problem only grew worse. On the 24th or 25th, during a phone conversation, Casey told Amy about a horrible smell in the car. She blamed it on her dad, who she claims ran over something and it got stuck to the car. She said the smell was coming from the engine, so by this time it is safe to assume that the odor had entered the passenger compartment.

In a second phone conversation on June 26th, Casey told Amy the smell has gotten much worse.

Casey had a big problem, because that coming weekend Tony was going to expect her to drive him to the airport in her car. He would smell it, no doubt. She needed to lose the car for the weekend.

Knowing she only had a couple gallons of gas in the tank, she was pretty confident she would run out by the evening of the 29th, thus avoiding use of the car the morning of the 30th. Of course, she would later need to get the car back after taking Tony to the airport.

I don’t think Casey had things completely worked out in her mind, but it seems her first instinct was to enlist Amy’s help to get gas for the car after it ran out. This meant she had to explain the smell in advance so as not to surprise Amy when they both showed up to put gas in the car, thus prompting two advance calls and text.

Therefore on June 27th, she laid out the framework for her odor alibi. In a text to Amy while driving north from her parents to Tony’s – before ditching the car at Amscot – Casey wrote, “There was definitely part of a dead animal plastered to the frame of my car.” A few minutes later, Casey sent another text to Amy about running out of gas. Of course she told Tony a different story – that the car had broken down and she contacted her dad, who would take care of it. Nevertheless, her plan was off to a great start.

What’s done cannot be undone.

- Lady Macbeth Act 5, scene 1

Sometime on Saturday, June 28th, Casey attempted to get her car back, but without Tony’s help. She first turned to Jesse to see if he could help, calling him around 1:30 PM to ask if she could borrow his gas can. He was on the other side of town, however, and declined.

Fast running out of options, she tried to enlist help from Amy on the 29th by text messaging her and asking if she could borrow her gas cans, but Amy reminded her they were in storage. It seems nothing was going Casey’s way.

Not to be denied, Casey showed up at Amy’s on the 30th and took her to Target around noon to get a gas can – with Amy’s money, of course. After Amy left for work, Casey drove to Amscot to put gas in the car, but upon turning the corner, she saw it was missing.

The car had been towed, but Casey had no idea where it was – or that it would soon come back to haunt her.

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ALERT! Zenaida Myspace page logged into today

Justice4All alerted me to some unusual activity. The “zenaida” Myspace page has been breached. It was logged into today. That means a real live Zenaida exists and lives in Miami, law enforcement is scoping it out, or Casey gave her password to someone with outside Internet access. I logged into my account and noticed “she” was online. I sent an IM (instant message) and the person immediately logged out.

Zenaida Myspace page

The friends she now has are undoubtedly people who submitted their names prior to today. I sent several Myspace messages out to those friends, hoping someone would bite. One person sent me a return message explaining how it transpired.

“I was accepted as a friend at 5:50 pm today. I just added her as a friend to see what would happen and see if I could find out anything.”

I will add new info as it comes in. The signup date remains the same: 06/16/2008

See also:

You want premeditation? I’ll give you premeditation! (08/04/2009)

and

Has law enforcement seized the Zenaida Myspace page? (By JWG 10/25/2009)

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Orlando’s Rockin’ Blogs – The Orlando Sentinel ORBBIES Winners

Sorry, I've always been a sucker for pretty women

There is always a risk that something online will up and disappear one day. It is especially true in the newspaper business, having spent a part of my life in that trade. Through the years, I’ve had plenty of articles and opinion pieces published in the Orlando Sentinel on the op-ed page and lots of letters to the editor, and after two weeks on the newspaper’s Web site, they are archived and only available through purchase. One of the things I learned many years ago about newspapers, in particular, was this one rule of thumb: Today’s newspaper is at the bottom of tomorrow’s birdcage. With that in mind, I think the day may soon come when this year’s inaugural ORBBIES winners will be hard to find. Therefore, I present to you each winner, including a link to their blogs.

Orlando Sentinel editor Charlotte Hall

In the coming months, I plan on interviewing and profiling as many of these blogs and their owners as possible. Meanwhile, thank you to everyone who supported me and the other winners. I would also like to invite all blogs that were nominated to contact me for a future write-up. Finally, I want to thank the Sentinel for creating this prestigious blog award.

Presenting

Orlando Sentinel ORBBIES Winners

Best Overall Blog:

The DISUnplugged

Art/DIY:

The Daily City

Business & Technology:

Real Estate Wall

Family:

Our Little Erdnuss

Foodies:

Tasty Chomps!

Humor:

Cake Wrecks

Music & Nightlife:

Orlando Nightlife Examiner

Neighborhood:

The Central Florida Top 5

News:

Marinade Dave

Out of this world:

Couponers United

Personal:

Chatterbox

Politics:

One Love: Because we all love the same

Photography:

Shutterbox

Pop Culture:

Misosouper

Sports:

Third Quarter Collapse

Theme Parks/Tourism:

Orlando Attractions Magazine

Congratulations to all!

David Hinson and Dave Knechel

Special thanks to John Kreuzer of Kreuzer’s Korner and Snoopy Sleuth for their active blogging support

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Motion Sickness

Orange County Circuit Court Judge Stan Strickland inched Casey Anthony one step closer to death today when he decided he would not block the State Attorney’s Office from seeking the death penalty. He denied a motion by her defense team that asked the judge to stop the procedure. One of Anthony’s attorneys, Andrea D. Lyon, gave a compelling argument last Friday that the death penalty violated her constitutional rights.

Judge Strickland ruled that the state may continue its quest for death and said the issue of whether Casey should face it or not should be for the jury to decide.

“While the quantum of evidence sufficient to seek the death penalty will virtually always be an issue, that matter is generally best left for the jury,” Strickland wrote in the three-page ruling.

This is the last of the motions argued last Friday and true to his word, this week the judge denied all of them. He denied a motion to dismiss double jeopardy charges of check fraud, he denied a motion to stop the Orange County Jail from videotaping meetings with her attorneys and he denied the defense’s request to destroy video of any and all visits from her family. George and Cindy said they haven’t gone to the jail to see their daughter for fear that the recordings will be released to an overzealous public while being unfairly picked apart by media commentators.

The judge also ruled that a recorded statement made by Joe Jordan cannot be released. The Texas EquuSearch volunteer illegally recorded a conversation that took place with a defense investigator without the investigator’s consent. Jordan told both the defense and prosecution two different stories about whether he searched the same woods where Caylee’s remains were discovered.

Remember, the jury doesn’t have the final say and the vote does not have to be unanimous, just a majority rule. Ultimately, the judge will decide because it will be his call, but judges usually abide by the jury’s call.

In the end, it was a bad week for Casey, her parents and brother, and her attorneys. They must be feeling pretty sick today, but they are resilient. They will bounce back. The death penalty fight is not completely over yet, but there’s no doubt in my mind that Judge Strickland made wise decisions. On every one of them.

In denial

UPDATE 5:00 PM

A fourth defense motion was denied by Judge Strickland late this afternoon. Casey will not get any special treatment in jail. Baez & Co. wanted the jail to stop videotaping Casey whenever she was meeting with her lawyers and/or her family. No dice, said the judge. Since the jail videotapes every inmate in the same situation, he saw no reason allow the motion. In his two-page ruling, he said he can’t force the jail to “cease and desist from videotaping Ms. Anthony’s meeting with her attorneys.”

Strickland ordered that he must view any videos of attorney visits behind closed doors before any of them are released to the public. He said he has concerns about their content because he has seen at least one that would impact Casey’s right to a fair trial. It is unclear what video (or videos) he was referring to in his motion.

Surprise! Surprise!

Actually, the decisions the judge rendered yesterday with no explanations were no surprise at all. First, he denied the defense’s request to destroy video of any and all visits from her family. George and Cindy said they haven’t gone to the jail to see their daughter for fear that the recordings will be released to an overzealous public while being unfairly picked apart by media commentators. True, but in my opinion, she has the same rights as other prisoners – no more, no less.

Judge Strickland also denied the defense’s request to dismiss any of the fraud charges against their client. All 13 counts against Casey will stand. She (allegedly) stole checks from her friend Amy Huizenga’s checkbook to pay for clothes and groceries. Jury selection for the fraud trial should begin this week and the trial date is set for January 25, 2010. If Casey pleads or is found guilty, she will be sentenced according to first time offender guidelines. (See: Double Jeopardy)

Finally, the judge ruled that a recorded statement made by Joe Jordan cannot be released. The Texas EquuSearch volunteer illegally recorded a conversation that took place with a defense investigator without the investigator’s consent. Jordan (allegedly) told both the defense and prosecution two different stories about whether he searched the same woods where Caylee’s remains were discovered.

Judge Strickland heard these motions, plus two more, last Friday. He should rule on the remaining two [see update at top of article] at any time. They are whether the state can pursue the death penalty and whether the jail can continue recording meetings between Casey and her attorneys. In my opinion, last week’s hearing – which I attended – will be a complete wash-out for the defense. There are no solid reasons to dismiss the death penalty at this time, and the judge cannot, nor will he, order the jail to stop doing what it does. It is up to the county because that’s the governing body that controls the jail.

Were the motions meaningless and a waste of resources? No, I don’t think so. The defense has to throw whatever it can at the wall of justice, in hopes that something sticks. The argument Andrea Lyon gave in court Friday regarding the death penalty was compelling, but it fell short of convincing me and I am just a bystander. I am positive we will hear more motions to preclude the death penalty for months to come after this one fails. In the meantime, Judge Stan Strickland rules!

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A Mother Accused

Andrea D. Lyon’s new book, Angel of Death Row: My life as a Death Penalty Defense Lawyer, is due to hit bookstores next month. An excerpt from her book has been published online at Scribd. Titled A Mother Accused, it chronicles the experience of a young mother accused of the murder of her baby girl and how the attorney, then in her thirties, handled the case. It’s a rather interesting choice, since, at first glance, it could easily be the title of the new chapter in her life – representing a young mother who stands on the edge of death for murdering her two-year-old daughter.

Before I begin deciphering the excerpt, I want to make clear my intention. I do not take kindly to name calling. Andrea Lyon did not get to her position as the Director of the Center for Justice in Capital Cases and Clinical Professor of Law, plus Associate Dean for Clinical Programs at DePaul University based on looks alone. Albert Einstein was no Cary Grant and Stephen Hawking is no George Clooney, but they are the two most brilliant minds to come down the pike in my lifetime. I have no doubt about Andrea Lyon’s credentials and attorneys do what attorneys do. If you denounce her, you must denounce the lot of them who defend murder suspects. I will assess her role in the innocent man’s spending 26 years in prison for the crime he didn’t commit, but first a little more background and a closer look at what she wrote in her book.

Lyon has tried more than 130 homicide cases in and out of the public defender’s office. She has defended more than 30 potential capital cases at the trial level and of those, she took 19 through the penalty phase, winning every one of them. Dubbed the “Angel of Death Row” by the Chicago Tribune, she was the first woman to serve as a lead attorney on a death penalty case. Alan M. Dershowitz once said that she “was born to be an angel of death row, and a devil to those who see execution as a quick fix for the social ills of our age.”

There is no doubt that criminal defense attorneys, and certainly Lyon, are dead set against the death penalty. In her very first case, as she defended the young mother, this excerpt takes a look at how her mind works…

A Mother Accused begins with Andrea Lyon’s initial revulsion upon learning that she would be defending the mother of a dead baby and how much she dreaded when that day would come. Damn. A dead baby case. She begins this odyssey with her work in child advocacy during law school, where she represented children who were subjected to abuse and neglect. She wrote that no matter what, those children still loved their parents and it was very seldom they would want to leave their homes, no matter how miserable they were. She had a problem deciding when the state should step in, so she intended to stay away from work involving abused children. OK, it was not her cup of tea. I can understand that. A decade later, she was a homicide public defender and had to represent this woman charged with first-degree murder. The mother had admitted to hitting the girl so hard in the stomach that the duodenum separating the stomach from the intestines had burst. The toddler’s own body had poisoned her.

When Lyon entered the interview room at the women’s jail, she introduced herself and began to ask questions. The “small, slender African-American woman with delicate features and big eyes” was reluctant to talk. The young mother asked if it was safe to talk to her. She wondered if she would get in any trouble. Lyon told the girl whatever she was told, she was not allowed to disclose any of it without her permission. The only exception to the rule is if the client intends to commit a crime and, by warning, an attorney can prevent it. Attorney-client privilege is a very serious matter, in other words.

The girl opened up. She told Lyon she wanted to go to her baby’s funeral. That’s what she said to the police after they told her what to say so she could go. Confess to the crime, so she did. Police didn’t chain her up, they didn’t starve her, and they didn’t lay a finger on her. Instead, they used what Lyon describes as effective police coercion. They took advantage of the woman’s emotional vulnerability to get her to confess. Meanwhile, a felony review assistant from the Chicago prosecutor’s office questioned her later and she told him what the officers told her to say. She said she had falsely confessed to the murder.

In the end, it was Lyon’s tenacious spirit and hard work that solved the crime. The young mother did not kill her baby. When she realized something was wrong, she went from the neighborhood health clinic to, not one, but two emergency rooms and it wasn’t until a nurse arrived accompanying a relative that she recognized the toddler had gone into cardiac arrest. Immediately, after hours and hours of waiting, she got help. By then, it was too late. The ER staff had administered CPR with full hand instead of fingers or the heel of the hand and that compounded the child’s problems. In the end, she died, but Lyon was able to ascertain that a babysitter was responsible, along with ER doctors. The toddler had accidentally plunged down the stairs of the apartment building. The mother and her boyfriend had saved up to go out for the evening. The stairs had no railings. It was rife with rough, splintered, nail embedded wooden steps. The little girl cried afterward, but seemed OK and the babysitter put her to bed. Had it not been for Lyon, we’d probably never know what would have happened to that young mother. Would she still be in prison or working on another appeal for a crime she did not commit?

OK, let’s get back to the matter at hand. Of course, police can’t legally coerce a confession out of anyone. They can’t really tell a gang member they’ll rat on him if he doesn’t tell them what they want to hear. Most assuredly, when word gets out on the street, that is a death sentence as sure as what the court could do. More so, and I understand how bad cops work. (See: I’d like to thank the prosecutor’s wife)

In her book, Andrea Lyon states that there is constitutional protection against a person being compelled to testify against himself. That doesn’t mean the defendant need not take the stand. What it does mean is that a confession that isn’t voluntary cannot be used. Because judges don’t want to appear soft on crime and the police would, invariably, deny coercion, this woman would spend her life in jail. My point is that we cannot always look at law enforcement as the good guys in white hats. There are bad apples in every bushel. That’s all I am saying and I am not implying it in the Anthony case, where I feel everything has been followed to the letter of the law. However, Casey’s defense may speculate on some of those tactics. Right or wrong, this isn’t about cops gone bad. This is about what a defense should do and it is to protect their client. Right now, is it Lyon’s job to defend Casey regarding her guilt or innocence or is it to keep her from the throes of death?

♦

Andrea Lyon addressed the issue of an innocent man spending 26 years of his life in prison. I understand the legal ramifications and what this is all about. However, it is not my position to take a stand on the right or wrong of her decision. I will merely explain why she did what she did, in her own words, and let you decide and discuss it. I will proffer my opinion on who else could be blamed.

She wrote about two colleagues of hers who were representing a man who truthfully confessed to shooting two police officers. The lawyers were able to avoid the death penalty, but their client would spend the rest of his life in prison. Lyon had helped with the investigation and in writing motions. At one point, the client told his lawyers – not Lyon – that he had committed an additional murder for which another man was on trial. The client could have faced the death penalty and refused to confess. The innocent man was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. Remember attorney-client privilege?  Hoping the guilty man would release his lawyers so they could reveal the truth, the man never did and they were bound by law to remain silent. Their client never relented, but the attorneys, including Lyon, drafted an affidavit early on, which she notarized, and hid in a lockbox. She said her colleagues consulted legal experts, “seeking some exception to privilege.” Each time, the answer was no, there is none. Their obligation rested solely with their client.

We all know the outcome. 26 years later, the guilty man died and his attorneys were free to divulge the truth. The innocent man was soon released, but that was no prize. He would never get those 26 years of his life back. What Lyon wrote was that while the morality of the system may be debatable, the law and legal ethics are not. She was bound by law and professional ethics to keep her mouth shut. This leads me to a question and it’s two-fold. Was it completely Andrea Lyons fault, the guilty man’s attorneys fault, or was it the state’s fault for bringing up charges against this man to begin with? What did prosecutors do to not only implicate an innocent man, but to impress upon a jury that the man was guilty, guilty, guilty? What did law enforcement do? To me, it is evident that they didn’t do a very good job, and if there is blame on Lyon, which is, technically, secondary, what caused the primary players to be so errant? Why is no one condemning the lawyers who represented the guilty man? Does anyone even know their names? Why not the authorities?

On a final note, before you condemn me for defending Andrea Lyon, understand that it is far from the truth. I condemn the death penalty, I have the right to believe in it or not, and I have the right to defend myself against personal attacks. Remember, you are allowed your own system of beliefs, too, and none of us are on trial. If you do condemn Lyon for who she represents, talk to Madison Hobley. He was on death row for a crime he did not commit. According to the book’s introduction, she has made it her life to defend clients who cannot afford a lawyer, just like him, and like Casey Anthony, they are the people many would love to see dead. Personally, I would rather see her spend the rest of her life in prison if found guilty. I will never understand how anyone could be against abortion, but for the death penalty. A life is a life is a life, whether tainted by sin or not. That is my opinion only. Who am I to play God with another person’s life? Who are we, nothing more than armchair sleuths, to decide? When did we cross the line from examining the crime to playing judge and jury?

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A lot of good lawyering today

Introduction

Let me start this post with the very end of the hearing and a little bit beyond. As it wrapped up, Judge Strickland made note that there was a lot of good lawyering in the courtroom and that included both sides. As some of you will argue against that with regard to Andrea Lyon, don’t take it out on me. This is exactly what the judge said and so did Bill Sheaffer, as I was carrying on a conversation with him after the hearing and when Assistant State Attorney Jeff Ashton approached. I reiterated Bill’s words and shook the prosecutor’s hand, telling him it was a great job today on both sides, and it was. I can say that with authenticity because, to witness an interaction like this in a courtroom, live and in person, it is much more convincing than seeing it on TV. The emotions burst out from every dimension and it’s something a television set can never quite capture. Not yet, anyway – plus there’s something more eloquent about hearing the reverberation of a strong voice that a microphone and speakers cannot convey.

The hearing started at 9:30, right on schedule. Instead of His Honor’s usual courtroom on the 19th floor, this time it was on the 12th. The last one I attended on October 16 was on the 10th. We took a 5 minute break from 10:40 to 10:50. I know it doesn’t add up, but that’s what it was. During that break, I started a conversation with Bill that continued for a good while after the hearing ended.

This time, I sat on the state’s side, but to be honest, that’s where seating was available, unlike the last time, when it was on the defense side. Trust me, there are no vantage points to either side and in hearings, in particular, it means nothing about which team you’re rooting for. To my direct left sat WFTV’s Kathi Belich. I looked around briefly and saw Holly Bristow from FOX35 behind me and WESH-TV journalist Bob Kealing next to George and Cindy on the other side. Later, I saw Tony Pipitone from WKMG. I must be tell you that Bob is my favorite and we’ve sort of developed a friendship and professional regard for each other. Another one of the good guys is Jim Lichtenstein, a producer for the NBC Today Show. We had a chance to say a few words again. Let me say there’s no way I would put myself in the same league with them, but because I live here and write a blog about this case, there is an element of respect. No one has ever accused me of being a bad writer and if you lived here, you’d be writing about it, too. I am not attempting to improperly involve myself in this case, but I have fallen into it somewhat. For those with bad attitudes, get over it. This is what I’m doing and nothing will stop me from bringing my perception of this story to readers all over the Internet. I try to tell a story from a human interest point of view while sticking to the facts. And because I am open minded, I will talk to anyone and everyone.

Soon after I sat down, Dominic Casey came in and a bailiff ushered him next to me. Poor, poor Kathi. She was coughing and sniffing up a storm. I offered her one of my cough drops and she respectfully declined. I turned to my right and exchanged a few words with Dominic. He asked me who I was. When I told him, he didn’t recognize my name until I handed him a card and said, “Marinade Dave.”

“Oh yes! I know who you are.” Someone had told him about me and he said he’s not much of an Internet person but he does read my blog. He quickly extended his hand for a firm handshake. “You’re very objective and I appreciate that very much.”

I told him I use his Web site for reference material and he said that’s what it’s there for.

Meanwhile, a bailiff brought Kathi a cough drop and she accepted. When the hearing started, we all remained quite, but during the break, Dominic and I chatted a little more and I turned to Kathi and said, “You’ve had this cold or whatever for quite some time.”

“Oh,” and she shook her head in disbelief. “It’s been a month. Remember that shooting in the downtown office building?”

I nodded yes.

“I did a live report at 10 o’clock that night and it was cold. That’s when I caught it.” I told her I was sorry. Later, when she was coughing and sniffing again, she stuck out her hand and I promptly handed her a drop. It helped a lot, she said later, and better than the first one. I am always glad to help and she needed it.

Early Motions

I guess I can walk you through the motions, as the hearing began. I can tell you what Diana Tennis, Dominic Casey’s attorney said, and how the prosecution responded, but I want to delve more into the meat of the matter today. I’ll mention there was a discussion regarding the right to assert privilege and severance of his relationship with Jose Baez, and who is bound by contract and ethics, but in the end, the judge threw it back in the hands of the state by telling the prosecution to issue an investigative subpoena. If anything else comes out, the court can address it next week, he said, which was when the initial deposition was scheduled.

Next came the matter of videotaping Casey in jail and with her attorneys and/or parents. Before you all go screaming about “private time” between Jose and Casey, remember that on either side and above the classroom where they meet are two windows with guards observing the interaction. She wasn’t asking to change any of that. Her argument was about videotaping and Casey’s right to privacy as something sacrosanct, which means, in this case, free from criticism or violation. She hammered home the nature of the Internet beast, where everyone rips their client and her parents apart. Attorneys for Orange County argued that this is policy and holds true for everyone. Orange County runs the jail, not the state. Lyon said Casey is not just any old prisoner. This is a capital case of immense notoriety. Jim McGuire, an attorney for the Orlando Sentinel, said the defense’s request that videotapes be destroyed would be a clear violation of state law. He said there’s no basis to destroy public records because someone doesn’t want them publicized. I’ll leave that for you to argue, but the judge said he will rule later today or early next week.

There was a brief discussion about Joe Jordan and whether his statement should be released or not. The judge ordered a protective order for now. This is an order that prevents the disclosure of sensitive information except to certain individuals under certain conditions. It is meant to protect a person from harm or harassment. Jordan had made an illegal recording of a conversation that recanted his story. (See also: Say hello to Laura and Joe)

Double Jeopardy

As motions were heard and argued, I could sense a building up of, well, I can’t really say tension, but I knew with each new motion, it was like climbing a mountain and we were approaching the peak. One thing I will say about Judge Strickland is that this man is all about integrity and fairness. He understands the emotions and dedication from both sides. Instead of letting each side argue this motion, he patiently waited until the right moment to gracefully interject. That’s what I really, really like about him. He’s so darn polite, yet he speaks with a firm voice. There is no getting around the fact that he is a class act and he controls his courtroom.

He is quite aware of the law, too. There is no doubt the fraud trial will be resolved before the murder case, either by trial or by plea. He will decide the double jeopardy issue today or early next week. Casey is not guilty of any priors. If she is guilty here, there will be jail time and he will treat this case like any other. I looked at Sheaffer and acknowledged that he was precisely right when he wrote about this. He nodded back. I believe it was at this time I saw Casey begin to cry. She now knows she will spend time in prison, no matter what, because she will not escape the guilt, whether she is sentenced for all charges or not. This means prison as a convicted felon.

To Preclude or Not to Preclude the Death Penalty

The Defense

Here’s the heart of today’s hearing. This is where the two sides shone. Andrea Lyon said it is the intent of the state to get as biased a jury as possible. A death qualified jury is predictable. They are there to get a conviction. This is a case built on circumstantial evidence by premeditated design.

“The death penalty is reserved for the worst of the worst!” she exclaimed. There is no evidence of an intentional murder or prolonged suffering. There is nothing that points to death in a heinous, atrocious or cruel manner; nothing proves it was cold, calculated and premeditated. All of Casey’s friends and family, the state’s own witnesses, said what a loving mother Casey was. Her daughter never showed signs of abuse; no cuts, no bruises. There was no heightened premeditation. No careful plan.

When she finished arguing, Judge Strickland queried, “Aren’t you asking me to reinvent the wheel?” She asked if the state can legally look at this as a death penalty case.

The State

Assistant State Prosecutor Jeff Ashton approached the podium and opened his salvo with one important fact; that everybody charged with first-degree murder in the state of Florida is eligible for the death penalty. What makes this one so different that the state must waive it? He said not one single person made the choice; not him, not Linda Drane Burdick, and not Lawson Lamar, from the State of Florida State Attorney’s Office, 9th Judicial Circuit. It is an issue of prosecutorial discretion. It is the job of prosecutors to be advocates for the people.

The state showed it’s hand today and this will unfold before our eyes. Cindy and Casey cried throughout, but this is where the state struck deeply into their hearts and got directly to the heart of the matter. I knew it had to come. The motion demanded it.

As much as the defense argued there is no proof how Caylee died, Ashton quickly took aim. After the body was found, there was not one, there were not two, but there were three layers of duct tape placed over Caylee’s mouth and nose. She must have known what was coming or she was chemically restrained. If she wasn’t, then she had her hands taped so she could not fight. The last thing the killer did was look into her eyes as the tape was applied and the last thing Caylee saw was her mother’s eyes. George and Cindy jumped up and ran out of the courtroom. Casey was sobbing. This was the most dramatic scene I have ever witnessed and emotions throughout ran high. The courtroom crescendo had reached its climax!

In rebuttal, Andrea Lyon said there was no proof the tape had anything to do with Caylee’s death.

In Closing

The judge said we will be here on January 10, 2010 for the fraud trial. There was some very good lawyering today from both sides. With that, the hearing came to a close.

One thing to keep in mind is that a jury selection will probably be made next week for the fraud trial. This should shed a hint of light on what strategies both sides will pursue in the murder trial. It’s something to keep in mind.

In my opinion, reality set in big time today in Casey’s mind. Today, she entered the real world and it hit her hard.

Talking to the Attorneys

I had a chance to talk to Brad Conway about a matter we discussed at the last hearing. He is a very busy man. No problem, I said. I understand. Now, remember I said early on that I am willing to talk to anyone and everyone. I will not base my decision because of closed-minded bloggers and commenters elsewhere on the Internet who choose to make up stories about who I love. If that’s the case, then I love everyone and just as much as I would talk to Brad, I would talk to Bill Sheaffer. I almost had a chance to say a few words to Jose Baez, but I was in the middle of a conversation with someone else. I will tell you upfront, if I have the opportunity to do so again, I will, because I want only to bring quality articles to this blog, not filled with 3rd-grade name-calling and lies. If Baez is willing to talk, I will be all ears.

During the break, I spoke briefly with Bill Sheaffer. I asked him if we could continue the conversation after the hearing and he said yes. Before I go on, I will tell you something I learned about the man. He is one of the nicest, warmest and most accommodating gentleman attorneys I have ever spoken with. We discussed many issues, including the rift with another local attorney. There were things we talked about I said I would keep between us. Some of those could be because I am also a gentleman and I am not going to steal the thunder out from under him. There are things he is going to want to write on his own blog, for instance, but he put me under no obligation to do so. There has never been any real animosity or jealousy on my part after he started his blog. He is a blogger who writes from a legal point of view. I am a blogger who writes from a human interest perspective. What we found today was a genuine mutual respect for each other and we hit it right off from the gitgo. It was quite evident from my first impression that this comes naturally to him.

Of primary concern to me was the problem with commenters on his site. They are ripping his blog to shreds. I said I want to stop it. I seem to be the target and it is not fair to him. I want you all to know that he never looked at me as part of the problem. Yes, he is aware of what goes on and he has asked for it to stop. He told me what I could do to help stop it. He is relatively powerless. It is run by WFTV and they control the comments for the most part. He gave me a contact name at the station and asked me to call. If it continues, I will, and with a vengeance.

In case you’re wondering, yes, he knew who I was. What I am going to do first is ask all of you, regardless of what you think of me, to treat the man with the same dignity you would any other well-respected individual. We are all aware that he cannot police his own site because he has many other responsibilities, and it’s not fair to take advantage of that by using his blog as a forum to spew hatred. He said if you want to argue with anyone, argue with him or call him names. Leave everyone else alone. He’s a big boy and he can handle it. My God, he’s wrestled with the best of them in court. I will ask everyone to please honor his request.

In closing, there is one more thing I want you to know. As we connected after the hearing ended, he extended his hand and asked me, “Didn’t you win some sort of award from the Sentinel last night?”

“Yes sir, I did. For the best news blog.”

“Congratulations!”

“Thank you very much. Coming from you, that is an honor.”

In the end, what mattered was that he is just a regular guy.

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Orlando ORBBIES

Orlando Sentinel ORBBIES Winners

Best Overall Blog

The DISUnplugged

Art/DIY

The Daily City

Business & Technology

Real Estate Wall

Family

Our Little Erdnuss

Foodies

Tasty Chomps!

Humor

Cake Wrecks

Music & Nightlife

Orlando Nightlife Examiner

Neighborhood

The Central Florida Top 5

Art/DIY

The Daily City

News

Marinade Dave

Out of this world

Couponers United

Personal

Chatterbox

Politics

One Love: Because we all love the same

Photography

Shutterbox

Pop Culture

Misosouper

Sports

Third Quarter Collapse

Theme Parks/Tourism

Orlando Attractions Magazine

Well, the first annual ORBBIES contest is history. I am going to make this a brief post because I plan on getting up very early in the morning. I was pleasantly surprised, as I mingled with the decent sized crowd, that many of them were familiar with my site. I met all of the winners who were there and I will do profiles on several of them in the near future, as news of Casey slows down. Everyone was very nice. I met and had a lovely conversation with the owner of DISUnplugged after the ceremony was over. She did win the Best Of Blog award and we joked around about how we had gone neck and neck throughout the contest. She was a very gracious winner and I was just as gracious as the second best, which isn’t too shabby for a relative newcomer on the scene.

I met a lot of really good people. One was a gentleman who writes Apps for iPods. Now, he would be an interesting person to profile. There were others. I guess this was a definite foray into networking, something I’ve never been all that comfortable with. After the ceremony was over, I had a good conversation with Charlotte Hall, the editor of the Orlando Sentinel. Soon, the Digital Media Manager of WESH joined the conversation and so did another Sentinel employee, who I will call a “reliable source” and leave his name out of it. I mentioned that with the volume of people who come to my blog now, I get some pretty nasty comments and I am dissed on other blogs because I won’t allow bashing and name calling. When I mentioned that I was called an Anthony lover for it, the editor frowned and said it was ridiculous. I mentioned to all three of them that they must get their share of nasty letters to the editor and e-mails and they said it was just amazing how people can be. That was when my reliable source – which was his suggestion – spoke up. I didn’t want to mention his name.

Since we were on the topic of hate mail, he said he got e-mails from women who hate my guts. I said, see? I told you. He said they wrote that I was cheating and I was an Anthony lover. We both got a big chuckle out of it. He didn’t think it was a very niece, I mean, nice thing to do and it backfired because in the end, those women had no clout and they looked like fools, every one of them, to the one person that mattered. You want to know why? Because I won the Best News Blog award, and that’s something to hang on my wall, something the nastys can’t take away from me. In the end, those handfuls of negative e-mails served no purpose other than to fall flat.

I want to thank everyone for voting, no matter who you voted for. You had that right and I would never deny it. In the end, the Best News category was a prestigious award because it says I write the news. I congratulate all of the winners and I did so to every person in attendance. Even if I had lost, I met some very nice people and most of all, I have some of the Best People in the World right here on this blog. This award is yours, too.

40 pages released today – Zero fingerprints found

Photocopy of WFTV video impression of Henkel Duct Tape

The state released 40 pages of documents related to the Casey/Caylee Anthony case today, adding to the more than 12,000 pages that have already been made public. Nothing of magnanimous proportion came out of the documents, although a series of black and white photocopies of pictures show Casey and Caylee, including the picture of her wearing a shirt with the phrase Big Trouble Comes In Small Packages. Fragments of a small t-shirt with the same letters were found in the woods where her remains were discovered last year. When and where the images originated was not explained.

Also released was an OCSO forensics report from October. It focused on the search for fingerprints on items found in the garbage bag law enforcement seized from the trunk of Casey’s white Pontiac. The report stated that investigators had zero results from the contents of the bag of trash, ranging from air freshener sheets to empty soda cans.

Included in the documents was a letter to the State Attorney’s Office that details information about water depths in the woods where Caylee was found, plus an employee wage sheet from Event Imaging Solutions for Casey from 2004 to 2006. During the year and a half period, she earned a little over $20,000.

Some personal observations…

When I shot a video in August of this year at the site where Caylee’s remains were found, I noticed that parts of the woods were cleared out and I made a note of it. I had no idea why until today’s documents were released and one was a report from James W. Jawitz, Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Programs at the Environmental Hydrology Laboratory¹ located on the campus of the University of Florida in Gainesville.

Of particular interest to me was something he included in his report:

This analysis indicates that for most of the entire period from 16 June 2008 to 11 December 2008, Area A was not inundated. The water level at the site was high enough to submerge Area A between 18 August 2008 and 28 August 2008. On 18 August, the average river stage was 6.94 ft, but between 18 August and 23 August, 8.17 in of rain fell in the area (measured at MCO). By 22 August, the river stage had risen to 10,99 ft (daily average), and decreased thereafter, returning to less than 9 ft (8.84 ft) on 28 August.

What this tells me is that the wooded area where Caylee was found was not inundated with water. That means it wasn’t as flooded as we may have suspected when Roy Kronk was there in mid-August, but it doesn’t mean there was no water on the ground. I saw it this year. What it also tells me is that nothing floated away as many in the public have claimed. I know from viewing the area with my own eyes that the water in those woods was stagnant.

Interestingly, Orlando Police were summoned to the area south of the woods on 10/09/2008 by two different residents on Florence Harbor Drive. Florence Harbor Drive is the development behind the Anthony’s back yard, the neighborhood I drove through and took pictures of to prove Casey did not drag Caylee out a back gate, because a gate never existed. People based their assumption on an outdated Google aerial map that showed the area was cleared, but the development was there long before Caylee disappeared.

It turns out it was an autistic child by the name of Hermes (NOI) from Hidden Oaks Elementary School yelling, but the OPD officers made an important notation at the time:

Tracy [a faculty member] provided a sworn written statement describing Hermes’ actions. The wooded area was not entered by any ground units due to its thick vegetation, and the fact that the ground is very wet and covered in deep water in some areas.

A K-9 unit was brought in at the time, but no one, including the dogs, were taken into the woods. From examining the OPD report, I have concluded that no action was taken close to where the body was found. See below.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/media/acrobat/2009-12/50978831.pdf

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/media/acrobat/2009-12/50978836.pdf

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/media/acrobat/2009-12/50978837.pdf

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/media/acrobat/2009-12/50978847.pdf

NOT GUILTY! Bustamante pleads

Alyssa Bustamante sat silently in court yesterday, cold and emotionless, before her attorney entered a not guilty plea to charges in her arraignment for the first-degree murder of 9-year-old Elizabeth Olten by strangulation and stabbing, along with armed criminal action. By doing so, she waived a formal arraignment to the charges handed down to her by Cole County Circuit Court Judge Pat Joyce.

READ THE INDICTMENT COUNTS

In the courtroom sat family and friends of the victim, all wearing pink. A handful of Bustamante’s supporters sat on the other side. Her grandmother, who is her legal guardian, was not there.

During a November 18 hearing, she was certified to stand trial as an adult. A few hours later, she stood in front of Cole County Judge Jon Beetum to be arraigned. Because she had no lawyer present, the judge entered a not guilty plea on her behalf.

Originally, the status hearing was scheduled for December 7 to see if Bustamante had an attorney. That hearing was cancelled on December 3 and the re-arraignment was scheduled for yesterday because she is now being represented by a public defender, Jan King.

“Its routine for the court to only do the arraignment when the lawyer is available with his or her client,” Cole County Prosecutor Mark Richardson said. “So, back on the 18th, what occurred actually was the judge read the charges to her, informed her of the charges, but did not conduct an official arraignment.”

He continued to elaborate why that is. “On an arraignment, the courts want to ensure that the person’s lawyer is there and available because that arraignment triggers certain time limitations to file certain motions.”

Bustamante’s lawyer has already filed one of the motions; a request that she be transferred to the Fulton State Mental Hospital for a few days for evaluation. Judge Joyce did not rule on that request because her attorney did not ask the judge to consider the motion.

Under Missouri law, when a suspect under the age of 16 commits a crime, the death penalty cannot be sought. Despite her being tried as an adult, the most she can get, if found guilty, is life in prison without parole.

While Bustamante’s case was still in juvenile court, Judge Beetum was overseeing the proceedings, Juvenile Court Lawyer Samantha Green was the prosecutor and Kurt Valentine was her lawyer. That all changed when she was charged as an adult. A lot changed in Cole County, too, after Elizabeth Olten’s senseless death – all because a teenage girl wanted to know what it felt like to kill. Today, she will remain behind bars at the Morgan County Jail because there is little room for female inmates at the Cole County Jail. There is no room in our minds for the sad and violent death of Elizabeth Olten, either. One day, justice will come. Until then, we must wait and let the wheels of justice turn slowly, just like Caylee Anthony, gone a year and a half now.

Bustamante has a status hearing scheduled for February 16, a little more than two months away.

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A couple of guys you may know

Here is a photo I took outside of the OCSO Central Operations Center last Thursday. On the left is former Sheriff Kevin Beary. He will be profiled in an upcoming article. The gentleman on the right is Sgt. John Allen. I believe most of you are familiar with him. If you wonder how and why I took this picture, I will leave you guessing until a future document dump. Meanwhile, one of the things Sgt. Allen told me was that even when the scent of death was in the trunk of Casey’s car, law enforcement never gave up hope that Caylee was still alive. Over 100 deputies and FBI special agents continued intensive and extensive searches for the missing toddler and they followed up on every lead.

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A letter from Mark NeJame

I received the following letter from a very nice person who is quite concerned about this case. She wishes to remain anonymous, but she gets full credit for this – not me. Of course, I thanked her very much. You can, too. Just call her KWM.

In her opening remarks to me, she wrote, “I read all the sites about Caylee, including yours. I enjoy your views. Like you, I try not to let my emotions get in the way of facts. I also put a lot of importance on the original motion by the defense to gain TES search records and I was also concerned about it since many of our [group] took part in the search and as a [group] we contributed financially to TES and provided food and water, etc. I was also intrigued and concerned about Conway having access to the records as was reported in the media. As this news broke in August, TES came under fire by many bloggers as it appeared that TES had given Conway information. I doubted that was the case in its simplistic sense so I wrote to Mark NeJame. He sent me this [response] on August 29.”

THE LETTER:

Thank you for contacting me and expressing your concern and the concern of your fellow members. I appreciate the professional way you approached me and your efforts to get the truth out rather than allow rumors to control the flow of information. We all know how that happens repeatedly and has happened so much in the Caylee Anthony case.

I did not specifically disclose the name of the 32 searchers to Brad Conway. I received the information on all the searchers obtained by Tim Miller and Texas Equusearch. I maintained possession of them so that they would not be compromised or leaked. There were some media reports initially that the Anthony’s and Jose Baez were claiming that the searchers had been at the spot where Caylee was found and that her body was placed there afterwards. I allowed Brad Conway to review the records in my office so that he could ascertain that none of the searchers were at the spot where Caylee was found. He was not allowed to take any notes, copy any documents or leave with any information. He tagged some of the files of those who were in the general area. I permitted Linda Drane Burdick, the prosecutor in the case to do the same thing. She reviewed the documents in my office under the same rules and conditions that I permitted to Mr. Conway . She similarly tabbed some files and reviewed the tagged files left by Mr. Conway. I also had an independent member of Texas Equusearch review each of the files and further tab files of those in the general area where Caylee was found.

Neither Mr. Conway or Ms. Drane Burdick left with any information whatsoever. No names or files were released. Despite some opinions from those who don’t know or are prejudiced because of his clients, Mr. Conway, is an ethical and good person. He wanted to confirm to his clients that nobody tampered with  Caylee’s remains. He was able to inform them that he had reviewed the search documents and that nobody had been to the specific area where Caylee was found. Mr. Conway was satisfied in this regard. I hoped that would eliminate the rumors that were started in this regard. I do believe that neither George or Cindy Anthony or Brad Conway ever made any public statements thereafter that Caylee had been placed there after the spot was searched. Obviously, Mr. Baez and his team are now stating otherwise, but they have never been privy to the documents.

It had come to my attention that the prosecution wanted to call certain members of Texas Equusearch as possible witnesses in the case. They were interested in the searchers who were in the area where Caylee was found. It was not possible to turn them over to the State without disclosing them to the defense as well. Moreover, I was very concerned that a partial release would “open the door” to the defense for all 4,000 searchers. As such, I made a strategic decision to allow the information release of the 32 searchers. I believed that the Court was going to Order this anyway. There was no expectation of privacy to these 32 as they would be deemed to have relevant information, as ground conditions of the area had become relevant. Moreover, the State wanted this information and with Florida ’s liberal discovery rules, the defense would automatically get this. I used the argument that Mr. Conway had reviewed the documents in Court to show that he had similarly determined that these were the only relevant files and searchers. Apparently, the Court agreed with my argument, as the Order entered today limits Mr. Baez and the defense and completely adopted our position. The 32 have yet to be released but they will. Texas Equusearch called most of these 32 prior to the hearing and with the exception of one moderately disgruntled searcher who found this bothersome, everyone who was reached was agreeable to the disclosure and understood why they were material. The way I had it handled prevented anyone from being disclosed or identified until the Court entered its Order. No one, to my knowledge, has heretofore been contacted by the defense, appeared on the internet or been publicly identified. The defense never had the information.

I hope this answers all of your concerns. It is important that the truth be known and I really appreciate the opportunity to fully explain. I have developed great respect and empathy for the searchers of missing people and with the close relationship I have developed with Tim Miller, I am especially sensitive to protecting Texas Equusearch volunteers.

Let me know if you need any additional information or if I can provide any additional assistance. Please share with your fellow members how much their work is appreciated and how much I respect their dedication and efforts.

Warm regards,

Mark NeJame

One year to the date

On December 11, 2008, the bones of Caylee Marie Anthony were discovered in a wooded area on the south side of Suburban Drive, in Orlando. Precisely one year later, her mother will be fighting for her own life in front of Orange County Circuit Court Judge Stan Strickland, when her defense attorneys argue that the state was wrong for seeking the death penalty.

In their motion filed in September, Casey Anthony’s lawyers claimed that state prosecutors do not have a legitimate interest or enough aggravating circumstances to recommend a penalty of death against her. This is an interesting motion because the brunt of evidence is circumstantial. However, it’s hardly precedent setting. There have been many cases where defendants have been convicted and subsequently executed based on nothing more than circumstantial evidence. Think of “Bruno” Richard Hauptmann, executed in 1936 for the kidnapping and death of the son of famed aviator Charles Lindbergh. Hauptmann’s trial took place in Flemington, New Jersey, my hometown. Called “The Crime of the Century,” I have studied the case extensively. Perhaps, it’s the reason why I have such a keen interest in what will probably be dubbed “The Crime of the 21st Century,” transpiring before me in my adopted hometown of Orlando.

Two other motions will be heard that day and they pertain to recording videos made of Casey at the Orange County Jail. Her defense wants the judge to prohibit officials from recording her visits with them. Jail spokesman Allen Moore said that these types of recordings are routine and they follow corrections policies. They are for the protection of the inmates and their attorneys.

“Our recording system in that part of the jail does not have the ability to record audio,” Moore said. “We have followed jail policies and rules very carefully and directly and we intend to continue do so. We will attempt to accommodate Mr. Baez, but never outside of jail policy.”

The visits between attorney Jose Baez and Casey are usually held in a classroom that is always digitally videotaped without audio.

In the other jail related motion, Baez asked the court to “destroy any and all video or audio tapes or reports or other records in its possession memorializing meetings between Miss Anthony and her attorneys.”

Please don’t squeeze the inmate

Sometimes, a corrections officer is stationed outside the classroom or in one of the monitoring rooms where jail personnel can only watch the meetings and this is standard procedure for all inmates. Normally, no reports are ever filed. However, in October, 2008, personnel warned Baez that he was not allowed to touch his clients after officers saw him hugging Casey. Moore said that jail policy forbids any kind of touching between visitors and inmates.

Also, if you recall, a video was shot last year on the day her daughter’s remains were found. Corrections Officer, Lt. Tammy Unger, told OCSO detectives that Casey began to breathe rapidly, her hands became sweaty and red blotches appeared on her neck after hearing the news on TV. She also requested a sedative. Her defense team didn’t want the video to be released to the media. Although it contained no audio, they argued successfully that it could be misleading and it violated her right to medical privacy. Judge Strickland concurred and he sealed the video in June.

I will attempt to go to this hearing. If I do, you will read a first-hand account of my experience.

Roger Kaputnik

When I was young, probably around 10 or 12 years old, a funny man by the name of Roger Kaputnik used to come to visit. Once a month, he came into my home and told me funny stories. That went on for a number of years until I eventually outgrew him. It was probably when my interest waned in young boy’s fantasies and I moved on to more mundane things, like girls. I can tell you with complete honesty that there’s no doubt Roger helped make me who I am today. Sometimes, he really made me think. Oh, he was quite a character, alright, and he taught me a lot about the lighter side of… well, you name it. It was something new each month. He died of cancer in 2002 at 81 years of age, but he left me with a lot of fond memories. Unfortunately, when I drifted away from my childhood, I never saw him again. I don’t know when that day came.

I remember when he told me tales about cops. He was a very vivid storyteller and he could do it in minutes flat. There was the time a lady in a fancy car got pulled over for some reason and the officer asked to see her license. Of course, this was before they had picture IDs and holograms. She rummaged around in her purse, pulled it out and nervously passed it over to him as he stood by her door.

While carefully examining the license, he said, “Ma’am, it says right here that you are supposed to be wearing glasses.”

“But I am, Officer.”

“I don’t see them.”

“You don’t understand, Officer, I have contacts.”

“What do you mean you have contacts?”

“Yes, I have new contacts.”

“I DON’T CARE WHO YOU KNOW!” And so went the humor of Roger Kaputnik. Of course, when he told that story, contact lenses were relatively new and back then, it was pretty much only the rich who could afford them.

There was another time he told me stories about neighbors. Maybe it was families or just ordinary people and their peculiarities, but he always got me laughing and some of his tales still ring true to this day. In suburbs, especially in small cities, blocks of houses were built close together, with narrow alleys that separated them. A lot of those houses had side doors. I remember when I was young, we lived in such a neighborhood for a couple of years and I can still envision that scene and the story he told…

Two children were playing with their toys in the alley, right near the side doors that accessed raised porches with steps down and facing the front of the house. It was a safe place for children to play because mothers could keep a watchful eye on them from the kitchen window. Now, remember, this was a time when most married women were stay-at-home moms. Anyway, the kids were outside playing. Suddenly, an argument broke out over whose toys were whose.

“Hey! That’s my toy!”

“No. it’s not, it’s mine!”

“Give it to me!”

“Gimme that!”

“No!”

“No!”

“MOM!”

“MOM!”

As most caring and loving mothers do in a situation like this, they raced to the side porch in their finest kitchen attire. OK, today it might be a day care center, but you get the idea. They sped out those doors to make sure their babies were not under attack.

“Hey, what’s going on?” They asked in unison.

“Mom, Jimmy stole my truck!”

“Mom, Tommy stole my truck!”

And before you could count to two, each mother firmly said they bought that one and only truck and from there it went downhill rather quickly.

“Yeah, well my husband says your house is a pig sty…”

“Yeah? My husband says you don’t know how to cook…”

“I can cook a lot better than you!”

“And, you’re a real slob.”

“You can just tell your bald-headed moron of a husband to forget about that brunch on Sunday.”

“I wouldn’t want to eat your garbage, anyway!”

“Tommy, pick up all your toys and come inside the house this minute!!!”

“Jimmy! Collect all your toys and get inside right now!”

Meanwhile, through all this commotion, with adults throwing every insult imaginable at each other, Tommy and Jimmy made peace and began to quietly play again and in a snap, their world fell apart.

♦

How sad. Those innocent children went back to being good friends, something their parents will probably never be again. And because of it, Jimmy and Tommy will not be allowed to play together for a long, long time. Sometimes, I think adults can learn from their children. Certainly, it would be my fervent wish that things get patched up because, in real life, it’s never too late.

Oh yes, back to good old Roger Kaputnik. Just like a lot of people who comment on blogs and forums, that’s not his real name. It was his alter-ego in the world of comics. His real name was Dave Berg. Dave Berg was a mainstay at Mad Magazine and I looked forward to reading his quirky stories about life every single month in his column titled, The Lighter Side of… He taught me a lot about human nature over the years. Here it is 45 years later and it’s still the same. Why don’t we put away our war of words and learn to act like kids again.

Say hello to Laura and Joe

Never heard of them? You will.

A critical part of any homicide case, for both the prosecution and defense, is determining how and when the victim died. Necessary to this determination is finding the deceased’s body and determining at what time it was placed in the location it was found. Records in the possession of TES contain information directly pertaining to this determination.

- Jose Baez and Andrea Lyon

While the Casey pundits were screaming, “They went that-a-way,” and all eyes focused on the Memorandum of Law in Support of Defendant’s Motion in Limine to Introduce Prior Bad Acts and other Circumstantial Evidence Pertaining to Roy M. Kronk, I was looking there and somewhere else. Four days after the “perverted” Roy Kronk motion was filed, another one was, too. Quickly, does anyone know what it was?

Time’s up.

I am very well aware that 11 new motions and memorandums were filed on the day before Thanksgiving, but I think because this one was quietly introduced and sandwiched between Roy and the latest round, no one noticed it. I did. I might write something about those new court filings, but until then, I’ll be content with Richard Hornsby’s explanation in response to a comment query:

All of these motions are standard motions filed in Death Penalty cases. They are necessary to preserve constitutional objections in the event the United States Supreme Court later decides that certain death penalty procedures are unconstitutional.

However, the Statement of Particulars should have been filed a long time ago. It will help enlighten us as to what exactly the State’s theory is behind the First Degree Murder charge.

Fascinating! Not only are they not stupid – as you may suspect all of the defense’s motions are – but by filing them, it may elicit information from the state pertaining to what, exactly, the state’s theory is behind the first-degree murder charge. Aha, a meaningful purpose! Hmm. Perhaps, it will provide some insight into why she was charged with premeditation, as well. What I’d like to know, like Hornsby, is why did it take them so long?

Back to November 23. It was a Motion to Modify the Court’s Order on Defendant’s Application for Subpoena Duces Tecum for Documents in the Possession of Texas EquuSearch with an attached memorandum. Before I begin, most of you should be familiar with what a subpoena duces tecum is by now. If you aren’t, it’s a writ or process similar to the subpoena ad testificandum, which means to appear and give oral testimony for use at a hearing or trial, with the difference being that the witness must bring with them or produce to the court all books, papers, and what nots, in his hands, tending to elucidate the matter in issue. In other words, it’s a command to produce documents; to cough up the goods. (see: Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.361(c)(1) )

Remember when one of Casey’s attorneys, Todd Macaluso, opened his mouth at a pretrial hearing in August, blurting out that they had proof their client was in jail when Caylee’s body was dumped in the woods? Yup, this is what it’s about.

“There is substantial evidence that we’ve found … that the body or remains of Caylee Anthony was placed there after Casey Anthony was locked up. It proves that somebody else placed the remains in the area.”

Do you recall that, because of it, everyone immediately jumped on Joy Wray’s case and assumed she was just that person who would testify for the defense? Who else could it be? Well, you’re wrong. It’s not her and I asked people on my blog to leave her out of it for this very reason. During a motion, memorandum and certificate of materiality of an out-of-state witness application filed back in July, Anthony’s attorneys asked Judge Strickland to allow them to interview Tim Miller, the head of the search-and-rescue group Texas EquuSearch. They claimed his testimony would provide proof that it would have been impossible for Casey Anthony to dispose of Caylee’s body. That was the key that led me to believe it would be more than Wray because she was readily available, regardless of Tim Miller and EquuSearch. Duh. She lives here.

Because this motion filed on November 23 is a request to modify a court order, what was the original order and what does this motion seek to modify? In the original motion and later memorandum of law, the defense asked the court to certify Miller as a material witness, or at least force him to supply documents in the possession of Texas EquuSearch. TES had responded that “none of the thousands of searchers who volunteered with TES were ever at the exact spot where Caylee Anthony’s remains were found.” It went on to assert that, upon going through the documents from thousands of volunteers, TES identified only 32 who “searched the area between Hidden Oaks Elementary School and around where the remains were found.”

On August 29, Judge Strickland ordered TES to disclose to the state and defense those documents relating to the 32 people who performed searches in those areas.

In the recent filing, this is where it starts to get tricky and it gets to the crux of the matter…

The Defense, through its own independent investigation, has interviewed several TES searchers who not only searched the area where the remains were found, but who were not among the thirty-two (32) identified by TES.

Yes, you read that right. In this motion, the defense claims it has statements from TES searchers who were left off the list the court ordered Tim Miller to supply. Of course, Miller did supply the 32 he was ordered to release. What does all this mean? It means that, according to Baez & Co., more than 32 people searched the area between Hopespring and the elementary school along Suburban Drive and they signed statements saying so. The defense, through it’s own independent investigation, interviewed several TES personnel who not only searched the area, they were left off the list. The memorandum further states that none of the persons who searched the area where Caylee Anthony’s remains were later found reported anything unusual. They did not find a body, they did not notice any smells associated with a body, and they did not see any unusual animal or insect activity which might be indicative of a decaying body.

It accuses TES of being inaccurate because there were, indeed, searchers in the area where the toddler’s remains were found. It also accuses TES of withholding information that is most relevant to the defense. It asks the court to revise the previous order and to force TES to disclose all materials relating to the searches it conducted.

OK, just what and who did Miller omit and is it really all that relevant to the defense? I know for a fact that land east of Orlando is prone to flooding. How do I know? I lived there and I say so. I went to Suburban Drive on numerous occasions and shot video footage that chronicled each visit. I made it a point to go to those woods at key times of the year. I went in mid-August (see: Driving Miss Casey Part 1) and that represented the date when Roy Kronk first called 911. The woods were swampy and uninviting. When I shot my last video there (see: Suburban Drive Same Time Last Year) on November 17, the woods were quite dry, so somewhere between August 12 and November 17, the woods were clear enough to walk through, but remember, last year, the brush was higher, denser and no foliage had been removed. Were those woods clear enough to search in early September, 2008? I don’t know.

According to the memorandum attached to the motion:

On September 1, 2008, Joe Jordan, a volunteer for TES, along with approximately 30 other TES volunteers went to the Suburban Drive neighborhood to search for Caylee Anthony. Of those 30 volunteers, approximately five or six, along with Joe Jordan, searched the area near the wooden stockade fence on the south side of 8750 Suburban Drive. Along with Joe Jordan, and the other five or six searchers, were two dog handlers with dogs, Danny Ibison and a Panama City Sheriff’s Deputy. The area they searched was within feet of where Caylee Anthony’s remains were ultimately found. Joe Jordan documented his search in detail forms specifically provided by TES and submitted those forms to TES officials. Joe Jordan’s name was not among the thirty-two (32) searchers identified by TES and none of his reports were disclosed to the defense.

If true, this is some heavy stuff that we cannot just shrug off or take lightly. The memorandum further states:

On September 3, 2008, Laura Buchanan, a volunteer for TES, along with the team to which she was assigned, searched the area on Suburban Drive near where Caylee Anthony’s remains were ultimately found. The group searched the area for three to four hours, and Laura Buchanan personally searched near the wooden privacy fence and worked her way towards, and beyond where Caylee Anthony’s body was ultimately found. She did not notice anything unusual. There were no strange smells or any unusual animal or insect activity. It is Laura Buchanan’s opinion based on her observations that Caylee Anthony’s body was not there at the time of her team’s search. Laura Buchanan was not listed among the thirty-two (32) searchers identified as having been on Suburban Drive. Furthermore, no documents among those disclosed by TES, relate to a search on September 3, 2008.

There are 2 attached exhibits that back-up the defense’s claims, but it does not stop there. At issue is still the question of whether services provided by TES are legally considered services rendered and subject to Florida’s long-arm statute (see: Steel Joist Institute, Inc. v. J.H. Mann III, Inc.) by acting as an agent of law enforcement through its efforts to locate the missing child and were, therefore, conducting business within the state of Florida.

The test for determining whether private individuals are agents of the government is whether, in consideration of the circumstances, the individuals acted as instruments of the state. To determine whether a private individual acts as an instrument of the state, courts look to (1) whether the government was aware of and acquiesced in the conduct; and (2) whether the individual intended to assist the police or further his own ends. (quoted from: Florida Criminal Law Opinions, State v. Moninger)

The defense claims in its motion that the documents in question are kept in Florida at the office of Mark NeJame, counsel for TES, and thus subject to the powers of the court. It accuses TES of misrepresenting to the court – and Judge Strickland – the contents of the documents it possessed.

“[T]he items requested by the Defendant, through her counsel, would be immaterial and irrelevant. None of thousands of searchers, who volunteered with TES, were ever at the exact spot where Caylee Anthony’s remains were found,” emphasis added. The response then goes on to state that members of TES have combed through the thousands of documents and identified only thirty-two (32) volunteers who searched the Suburban Neighborhood. TES did not object to turning over the paperwork of these thirty-two (32) volunteers it identified, however, stated that disclosing documents pertaining to any other searches “would be immaterial and irrelevant to this issue.”

Here is where it really gets to the point:

1. The signed statements from Joe Jordan and Laura Buchanan, included with this Memorandum of Law, indicate that there were several people who searched the Suburban Drive neighborhood but were not among the thirty-two (32) names disclosed by TES. (see Exhibits A & B below.)
2. TES has not shown sufficient bar to requiring full disclosure.

One of the arguments the defense claims is that TES was in opposition of full disclosure based on a perceived “chilling effect” that would hamper the ability to obtain volunteers for future efforts. In other words, allowing the disclosure of searchers’ identities would subject them to media scrutiny and deter people from volunteering in the future. OK, that sounds reasonable, but the defense struck back by citing several volunteers that were willingly interviewed by the media, disclosing their names. Is that really an argument? The ones who did give their names were responsible for their own decisions to do so, not TES. On the other hand, people don’t volunteer on the condition that they are assigned to areas that will be relevant to a future criminal case. In a capital crime, and the defendant stands to die at the hands of the state, is a volunteer’s identity all that sacred?

Is the court obliged to satisfy the defense because of “inaccurate representations” by TES? The defense certainly thinks so and it’s asking the Honorable Judge Stan Strickland to revisit his previous order because of new and compelling information, only now, the defense is asking for ALL of the records. Of course, I could ask you for $100. Does that mean you’ll give it to me? I doubt it, but you might be inclined to give me $20. Or Joe Jordan and Laura Buchanan.

Exhibit A

Exhibit B

The Orangutan and the Hound

Weezie sent me this. Please kick back and take a little time out to watch the following video. We could all learn a lot about love from this heartwarming story. If we could only get along like this, there would be no name calling and insults flung back and forth on blogs and forums about Casey, Caylee, George, Cindy, Lee, Jose Baez and the biggest one in the news lately, Andrea Lyon. We wouldn’t pick on each other and there would be no murder.

We can wish, can’t we?

Thanksgiving Dinner 2009

Menu du Jour a la 33rd

This is the actual Thanksgiving menu for all inmates at the Orange County Jail. My IP address hacker buddy and go to spy guy got caught stealing names and personal information off of certain blog comments. He sent many of those commenters a virus that will worm its way into all of the files, too. Fortunately, he didn’t turn me in, but the FBI is working on it. Keep this between me and you, OK?

Happy Thanksgiving