"Burdick's closing argument detailed Casey's history of lies and questioned who had most to gain by the child's death.
She replayed video and audio of Casey lying to her parents, a friend and law enforcement. Burdick said that back in July 2008, Casey was twice given the chance to acknowledge that her daughter's death was an accident, as her defense has claimed, but she never did.
During the closing, Casey was seen shaking her head, jutting her jaw and grumbling at her lawyers. Several jurors watched her reactions as they listened to her recorded lies."
REPORTERS ANTHONY COLAROSSI AND WALTER PACHECO; THE ORLANDO SENTINEL;
A backgrounder on this high profile Florida case can be found on Wikipedia at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Caylee_Anthony
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"Jury deliberations are now underway in the first-degree murder trial of Casey Anthony," the Orlando Sentinel story by reporters Anthony Colarossi and Walter Pacheco published earlier today under the heading, "Casey Anthony trial: Now, we wait: After 35 days, dozens of witnesses, the jury begins deliberations," begins.
"The jurors were sent to deliberate shortly after noon following jury instructions and a devastating closing argument delivered this morning by Assistant State Attorney Linda Drane Burdick," the story continues.
"Following several weeks of testimony, the 12 member jury was taken into a deliberation room, where they will spend all of their time until a verdict is reached. Chief Judge Belvin Perry told them to select a foreman to act like a "chairman" of a meeting during the deliberations.
All 17 jurors were escorted from the courtroom, but the alternates were separated from the seven women and five men who will decide Casey Anthony's fate. The five alternates will continue to be sequestered until the jury reaches a verdict.
They will not deliberate past 6 p.m. today, unless they are close to a verdict, according to a court official.
Video: Casey Anthony case
Once a verdict is reached, the judge will give a 30 minute warning to allow the state, defense, defendant and all others to gather inside the courtroom.
Impassioned rebuttal
Burdick's closing argument detailed Casey's history of lies and questioned who had most to gain by the child's death.
She replayed video and audio of Casey lying to her parents, a friend and law enforcement. Burdick said that back in July 2008, Casey was twice given the chance to acknowledge that her daughter's death was an accident, as her defense has claimed, but she never did.
During the closing, Casey was seen shaking her head, jutting her jaw and grumbling at her lawyers. Several jurors watched her reactions as they listened to her recorded lies.
In the end, Burdick left the jurors with this to consider:
"Whose life was better without Caylee?"
In making that argument, Burdick played the now infamous 911 call in which an anguished Cindy Anthony said her daughter "finally admitted" that Caylee had been missing for 31 days, and that it smelled like there had been "a dead body in the damn car!"
At that point, a photo of Casey Anthony's shoulder tattoo was shown next to a photo of her partying with friends during the time Caylee was missing in the summer of 2008
Burdick closed by saying that in the end — to answer whose life would be better with Caylee gone — all the jurors needed to do was consider Casey Anthony's "Belle Vita" tattoo.
"There's your answer," Burdick said.
Burdick started her rebuttal, which lasted about an hour, by telling the jury she doesn't want them to base their decision on emotion.
"My biggest fear...is that common sense will be lost in all the rhetoric of the case," Burdick said. "That you won't step back and look at the evidence as a whole. You've got to look at the big picture here."
She continued her closing statements by calling Casey Anthony the "most well documented liar ever seen in a courtroom.""
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The story can be found at:
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/os-casey-anthony-deliberations-20110704,0,2576629.story
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PSYCHOLOGIST FRANK FARLEY'S VIEWS (PUBLISHED ON CNN EARLIER TODAY) AS TO "WHY WE'RE OBSESSED WITH THE ANTHONY TRIAL."
Frank Farley is a psychologist and L.H. Carnell Professor at Temple University, Philadelphia, and a former president of the American Psychological Association.
"(CNN) -- Casey Anthony is on the couch, and everyone is analyzing her. It's a crowded couch that includes her family and a band of witnesses, alleged experts, one or two lawyers in need of charisma and possibly additional training, and investigators who seem to need investigation.
The jurors are beginning deliberations in this first great media trial of the 21st century, a trial that is both a psychologist's dream and nightmare. The lack of definitive, incontrovertible evidence in the death of toddler Caylee Anthony means jurors will likely rely on their feelings and subjective judgments about human behavior. These kinds of observations will probably dominate discussions. This is the old movie "12 Angry Men" remade, but with less concrete evidence and a better gender balance.
In the Casey Anthony trial, circumstantial evidence is all over the map -- and with the apparent lying, significant contradictions and flip-flops of testimony, and questionable or bizarre theories of human behavior, it is little wonder that this nation has been glued to the tube. This is O.J. all over again, but with less forensic and more psychological features. The glove didn't fit, but in the Anthony trial, few things fit.
What are the factors that, combined, explain our national fascination and obsession with this trial? Let me, in the tradition of this trial, speculate.
Uncertain behavior, where the truth is unclear and the picture is always changing, is a source of fascination.
--Frank Farley
Uncertainty: Much of our national interest falls under this factor. We are interested in uncertain outcomes -- never give away the ending of the movie! Uncertain behavior -- where the truth is unclear, the events are clouded, and the picture is always changing -- is a source of fascination, or even fear, depending on the person and the situation. It's the heart of mystery novels and crime stories. We often want to fill in the gaps, complete the picture, or find what's on the other side of the mountain or the curtain. It can lead some to take hard stands in order to get personal control over the uncertainty and the ambiguity.
Lying: This could fall under uncertainty, but for this trial warrants special mention. This trial challenges all of us to figure out who is lying. It's the central psychology of this whole courtroom experience.
Children: The body of an adorable child, the essence of human innocence, was tossed into the bushes. Nothing will engage the attention, motivate and anger Americans more than this.
Family: A family's influence is forever. The great Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy said "All happy families resemble one another; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." The Anthony family's issues include lies and allegations of abuse and adultery. We watch wondering if a meltdown is imminent. This is the train-wreck motive, involving our most important institution.
The "Perry Mason" effect: This crime and courtroom TV drama attracted a nation in the 1950s and '60s. Since then, we have seen dozens that whetted our appetite for the culture of the courtroom.
"CSI" and police TV dramas: We have watched so many, with so much interest in the detailed solving of crimes, that when it becomes real, and seemingly insoluble, we can't turn away. We find it unbelievable that it took investigators months to find Caylee's by-then decomposed body within walking minutes of her home.
The dark side: Humans have, for millennia, been interested in evil, violence, hate, and horror. We understand normal life. But why an individual will kill or deliberately inflict horrific pain on another remains largely a mystery. We have theories, some good ones, but certitude eludes us. So our curiosity compels our attention to life-and-death adjudications.
These are my closing arguments for our fascination with this trial. The nation's interest will wane as this case is resolved, probably with all the likely appeals, and particularly if the final resolution serves certainty and justice. The next spectacular media-aided court case will come along. Maybe it will be one that improves on the many problems of this one."
This commentary can be found at:
http://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/07/04/farley.casey.anthony.trial/
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at:
http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith
Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:
http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html
Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog; hlevy15@gmail.com;
