Imperfect Justice_ Prosecuting Casey Anthony - Jeff Ashton [28]
The K-9 team then went to the Anthony residence on Hopespring Drive to continue working. George had discovered a newly dug shallow hole near the shed, five inches deep and about twelve inches long, that concerned him. Gerus didn’t care about that, but showed special interest in the playground and playhouse areas. A second K-9 unit was brought in from neighboring Osceola County to confirm Gerus’s findings. The second cadaver dog was interested in three areas of the backyard, the same ones Gerus had alerted us to, plus the ground near the patio porch. Investigators checked all three locations for human remains but found nothing.
The house next door to the Anthonys’ on’ the left was 4929 Hopespring Drive. It belonged to Brian Burner, and was where investigators headed next. They had been made aware of a potential piece of evidence there. The owner had a shovel in his garage that Casey Anthony had borrowed on June 17, the day after Caylee was last seen alive. Burner said that Casey had told him she wanted dig up some bamboo in her yard, although an hour later, when she returned the shovel, it did not appear to have been used much, if at all.
WITH MELICH SIFTING THROUGH CASEY’S lies and the crime scene investigators taking apart the car, the case began to take shape. For most of the next week, investigators continued to piece together what they knew and the story of how Casey had spent the thirty-one days that she did not report Caylee missing. Meanwhile, everyone in Orlando seemed to be on the hunt for little Caylee. Nothing brings a community together like a missing child, and though confidence still seemed high that they would be able to find her, the results from the cadaver dogs were concerning.
The investigation had a bit of a split personality. On the one hand the sheriff’s office was aggressively following every possible lead in an attempt to find Caylee alive, but at the same time they were investigating what was coming to look like a homicide. While the Anthonys were eager to do whatever they could to assist in the missing child investigation, they were less thrilled when the investigation turned to murder and their daughter’s possible involvement in it.
Such was the state of affairs for Casey’s bond hearing on July 22. Jose Baez was in court representing Casey before Judge Stan Strickland, while Linda was on the other side representing the state of Florida. I had worked with Judge Strickland in 2001 as the lead prosecutor assigned to his division, and during that time I’d found him very easy to work with. He was one of those judges who encouraged lawyers to work out cases rather than take them to trial; we all liked him, but he didn’t exactly strike fear into the hearts of attorneys who appeared before him. On the bench, he was pleasant and usually made the correct ruling, but he didn’t have much experience with big cases or with capital homicides. To my recollection, he had handled only one other high-profile case before Casey stepped into his courtroom.
At the hearing, Detective Melich and canine handler Jason Forgey were called to testify about their findings. Melich explained the circumstances that had led law enforcement to be called to the Anthony home on July 15, 2008, the tale Casey had woven that night, the trip to Universal Studios, the lies she told, and the attempts made thus far to confirm any of the details Casey had given. Forgey testified as to the background and qualifications of Gerus, his examination of the car, and the significance of Gerus’s alerts on the trunk and in the backyard.
Cindy, George, and Lee all took the stand to testify about Casey’s life history. They all testified that she was a good mother to Caylee. If she couldn’t post bond, they would do it for her. Cindy broke down in tears when she saw her daughter for the first time since her arrest. During her testimony, Cindy defended her daughter: “I know Casey as a person. I know what she is as a mother. I know there is only one or two reasons