Imperfect Justice_ Prosecuting Casey Anthony - Jeff Ashton [91]
“These are questions only the jurors will be able to answer in this case. One thing we do know is this: If we have gotten to this stage, those same jurors have already decided that the face that Caylee Anthony saw in those final moments of her life was her mother’s face. Anyone who contends that no juror could find that these conclusions call for a sentence of death is only fooling himself.”
As I was reading these remarks, the courtroom was silent as a tomb; all I could hear were movements at the defense table. Casey was in the courtroom when I read my remarks, but I was looking directly at Judge Strickland. I was told by observers that she had a dramatic reaction to my comments, so I reviewed the video of the hearing later. At the beginning of my statement and through the portion where I referenced someone administering the chemical substance, Casey looked angry. Her jaw locked in a scowl. Jose then leaned over and rather forcefully whispered something to her. Within five seconds, her demeanor changed. She began to shake her head no and cried, then continued crying for the remainder of my remarks.
In my opinion, for those first few minutes we saw the real Casey Anthony, the one who was angry with me for telling the truth. The transformation from that Casey Anthony to the crying, grieving mother was amazing to me, but it didn’t compare to the performances we would see in the years to come.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
LYING TO THEMSELVES
While Caylee’s remains impacted everyone involved with the case in different ways, no one was more upset than George and Cindy Anthony. The find confirmed all their worst fears: their precious granddaughter was not missing, she was dead, and making matters worse, now more than ever before the finger appeared to point to Casey.
It didn’t take long for us on the prosecution to begin speculating about how George and Cindy would react to the news. For so long, everything about their public personas had been singularly devoted to the idea that Caylee was alive. Now that everyone knew for sure that she was dead, none of us could say how that would change George and Cindy’s attitude toward their daughter. Our hope was that they would suddenly wake up to the reality of the situation and choose Caylee over Casey. Of course that was a pretty small hope.
While law enforcement was searching their home on December 11, Cindy and George had just stepped off a plane from Los Angeles where they’d been guests on Larry King Live the previous evening. They’d used the appearance to proclaim that Caylee was still alive and to criticize investigators for persecuting Casey. When they landed, they were whisked away to the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Orlando, which was paid for by an unknown benefactor. While searchers with warrants combed through their home for evidence, they joined Jose Baez and a few other supportive people for dinner at the hotel restaurant. The search proceeded smoothly.
Our first indication that little in their attitude was going to change occurred when the searchers returned to their house on December 20, and the Anthonys were borderline hostile. They were annoyed at the mess and chaos the prior search had caused, but more importantly, they seemed angry that now Casey was the only suspect. As far as they were concerned, yes, Caylee was dead, but their daughter didn’t do it. The search had brought the investigation to their doorstep, but they were still of the opinion that a stranger had killed their precious angel.
Over the next several months, we prepared for the depositions of Cindy, Lee, and George. The stretch of time seemed only to entrench their attitudes. During those months, both Cindy and George remained obstinate toward the investigators and the prosecution. Cindy continued to make statements about Casey’s innocence or offer her latest theory about what was going on. Ultimately, we didn’t speak with Cindy directly until we scheduled a deposition with her during the summer of 2009.
On July 28, 2009, Cindy