Imperfect Justice_ Prosecuting Casey Anthony - Jeff Ashton [159]
After levying yet another attack on the cops, Baez then went on to make what was probably his biggest rhetorical leap of the day, but also the one that got me into trouble as well. Baez returned to make this ridiculous argument that George’s report of the missing gas cans on June 24, and the use of the duct tape at the Find Caylee search command post, had been an attempt to frame Casey for the crime. There was no evidence to support this in the slightest, yet Baez found himself making this argument in such an animated way that his voice went up a couple of octaves in pitch, giving him an almost Mickey Mouse–like quality. I began to smile, both at the sound of his words and the absurdity of their content. Aware that the situation was getting the best of me, I covered my mouth with my hand to hide it from the jury.
Glancing over, Baez saw my reaction, and it infuriated him. He seized on that moment to accuse me of being smug and disrespectful. Now, I can say unequivocally that my reaction was not what it should have been. As a lawyer and as a prosecutor, I demand better of myself. However, Baez also overacted to the situation.
Furthermore, what I will say in my defense is that I’d spent the last three years listening to all manner of flack from Baez. I’d taken numerous personal insults and attacks. I’d heard him spew baseless accusations at me, at my team, and at the hard-working men and women of the Orange County Sheriff’s Office. None of them were justified. None of them were deserved. None of them were true. But perhaps, most important, none of it was professional. So the argument that somehow Baez had become an arbiter of professional decorum in court was simply one I was not willing to listen to so I smothered my chuckle. What I did may not have been right, but given the absolute absurdity of what Baez was arguing and the total lack of respect he’d shown me during our time as adversaries, I have forgiven myself the moment of weakness.
After calling me out for my reaction, Baez continued on George, bringing up the painful suicide note, a letter that to me marked just how wounded George had been by his granddaughter’s death and his daughter’s apparent involvement. Instead Baez used it to say that George had only written it and had only attempted suicide because the cops had searched the Anthony home and were closing in on him. Of course, only one half of that was actually true. The cops had indeed searched the Anthony home, but the only places where George was ever an actual suspect were the minds of Baez and Casey.
As Baez prepared to relinquish the floor to Mason, he began to thump his chest out of passion for his argument. I’d learned my lesson this time and kept my composure, but I couldn’t help but wonder what impression this would leave on the jury. When Mason took the floor, he spoke mainly in vague platitudes about the U.S. Constitution, and brought in little that Baez had not already said. In all fairness, though, Baez had thrown so much out there that it would have been hard for Mason to find something that Baez had not discussed. I think Mason, who had been largely silent throughout the case, just wanted a moment in the sun. In the end Mason’s contribution to the closing, like his contribution throughout the trial itself, was brief. It was unclear what, if anything, he’d said that would sway the jury one way or the other, but the defense had officially come to a close.
BECAUSE BAEZ’S CLOSING LEANED SO heavily on attacking the forensics, Linda asked me to handle part of the rebuttal. Though we’d all wanted to have Linda handle it, she knew that to do this rebuttal properly she would have to address the forensics and George, two areas that were mine. I knew it was a hard call to make. At the end of the day, this was Linda’s case, and after everything she’d put in,