Imperfect Justice_ Prosecuting Casey Anthony - Jeff Ashton [55]
The whole episode was an unproductive distraction, one that made me question just how well thought out the defense’s approach was. This choice seemed so reckless, so unhelpful. Perhaps the greatest irony of involving Padilla was that it made Casey seem more guilty. Ever since her arrest, she’d been saying to her parents, the police—anyone who would listen—that if only she were released, then she could help find Caylee. So what happened when she finally got released? All that happened was that more people—Padilla’s cohorts—related their personal experiences in the Anthony home to whoever would listen, adding to the general opinion that Casey was doing nothing to help find her daughter. The lack of progress upon her release demonstrated just how self-serving she really was. Not only did it make her look worse, it made the defense look as if they didn’t know what was in the best interests of their client. Jose Baez’s lack of experience was showing.
Making matters worse, Jose’s decision to include Padilla saddled us with him for the duration of the case. Like some freeloading distant cousin, once he moved in, you couldn’t get rid of him. He kept hanging around, hoping to be the one to break the case and keeping his mug in the news. He caused a stir with a media-hyped search of a small river in the area, calling a press conference when something was found, which he declared was a bag containing human remains. Turned out to be nothing. Of all the opportunistic clowns I came across in this case, he was the most offensive to me.
Not even a week after Casey was reincarcerated, an anonymous person stepped in and posted her bail. We knew who the bail bondsman was, a local guy, but we never learned who had put up the collateral for her release. There was a lot of guesswork, but nothing conclusive.
Because Casey’s release hadn’t resulted in turning up anything new, the authorities began to search for Caylee’s body in different ways. Tim Miller of the nonprofit organization Texas EquuSearch brought in his team of mounted search and recovery volunteers, and they actively searched central Florida, focusing on the area near the Anthony home. They looked in the overgrown, uninhabited areas on Suburban Drive, a street that first intersected with Hopespring Drive and eventually dead-ended a short distance away at an elementary school. Curtains of air potato vines made visibility from the road into the swamps behind virtually impossible. Not only that, but the swamps were filled with water and poisonous snakes at that time of year, and dozens of EquuSearchers were warned to stay out of areas with potentially dangerous water hazards.
Other leads came from different sources. On August 11, a meter reader for Orange County named Roy Kronk called 911 from his home to say he had been working in the Chickasaw Oaks neighborhood and, after reading all the meters on Hopespring and Suburban Drives, had entered a few feet into a vacant swampy area to relieve himself. In the swamp, not very far from the road, he saw a partially submerged, suspicious-looking gray vinyl bag with a white object nearby that resembled a human skull. The 911 operator thanked him and said she would pass on the information.
The next day, Kronk called again from his home, repeating everything about the location and his sighting. He further detailed exactly where he saw the bag. Again the operator thanked him for calling and suggested he also pass the information on to the TIPS line, as they were coordinating all kinds of details such as his.
On August 13, he called 911 for the third time. This time he said he was confirming a rendezvous with someone from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office. The operator told him that if someone was planning on meeting him, to stay put and the deputy would certainly be there. He said he’d be waiting in his blue four-door Chevy Cavalier, right at the edge of the swamp. When the deputy arrived, Kronk pointed to the area where he had seen the suspicious item.
Kronk later described how the deputy walked toward