By Martie Hevia | Blue Beach Song™

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Day 6 – May 31, 2011 – Tuesday

The Prosecution’s List of Witnesses for May 31, 2011

• First Prosecution Witness: Cindy Anthony – Casey’s mother
• Second Prosecution Witness: Amy Huizenga – Casey’s close friend and theft victim

The Prosecution’s Witnesses:
Mother & Friend

Cindy Anthony was back on the stand today. The Prosecution finished their direct examination, but not before trudging through a great deal of tearful territory for Mrs. Anthony, including the day she found out Caylee had been missing for 31 days, and called emergency 911 three times. Cindy Anthony was overcome with grief on the stand, burying her head in her hands on her lap, and asking Judge Perry for a break. Her face and eyes, red and swollen, as she testified through periods of crying. The Defense completed their cross-examination of Casey’s mother, which consisted mostly of a review of all of “Casey’s imaginary friends,” as defense attorney, Jose Baez, referred to them.

The day closed with the Prosecution calling Amy Huizenga to the stand. Things got testy, once again, between Judge Perry and defense attorney, Jose Baez, when he objected, and during discussions outside the presence of the jury, Mr. Baez asked for a delay until the next day. He claimed that he was told that Ms. Huizenga was in Barcelona. The Prosecution stood up and said they notified Mr. Baez that she would be back this past weekend. The Judge looked at Mr. Baez, and then he added that he didn’t have his files with him. Judge Perry reprimanded him, reminding him that he had given to the Defense team a secure place in which to store their files and they have not used it. Mr. Baez said he had been working over the weekend and his file was in his office. The Judge told him this would be the last time he would make any delays for him because of his missing files. The Judge decided to allow the Prosecution to complete their direct examination of Amy today, and allow the Defense to do their cross-examination tomorrow.

Cindy Anthony (Back on the Stand)

The prosecution returned to the time-line they were building, asking Mrs. Anthony about July 3rd, the day she posted her emotional plea to her daughter, Casey, on MySpace.

July 3, 2008
In the evening hours, Cindy Anthony verified that she had posted a paragraph on MySpace. The Prosecution asked Cindy if she had spoken to Casey about the feelings expressed in her MySpace posting, and she said she had spoken to Casey, possibly a day or two after posting it. Casey expressed her anger with her mother for posting it on MySpace, and told Cindy that she needed time away, time to sort things out. Casey said that seeing Jeff again rekindled a lot of emotions in her. She told her mom that someday Cindy would have to go through that empty nest syndrome. Casey told Cindy that she was not trying to punish her mother by not letting her see or talk to Caylee, she just needed space right now.

Cindy said she realized she was being selfish and backed off. She got the impression that Casey was trying to pursue a relationship with a Jeff Hopkins. The prosecutor asked Mrs. Anthony about the feelings of jealousy she attributed to Casey, jealousy of Cindy, in her MySpace posting. Mrs. Anthony said that it was Casey’s ex-fiancé, Jesse Grund, who had mentioned Casey’s jealousy of Cindy to her. Cindy Anthony said she talked to Casey about her feeling jealous of Cindy and about leaving without warning, which is why Cindy was upset. She could not understand why Casey would just leave like that, given that Cindy was the one paying all her bills, and caring for Caylee. Mrs. Anthony was hurt that Casey had lied to her.

Fourth-of-July Weekend – July 4-6, 2008
Mrs. Anthony mentioned that she learned to text during those days, just so she could continue to communicate with Casey. She still tried to call, hoping one of those times she would get to talk to her granddaughter, Caylee, but she never did. Casey always had a ready excuse for Cindy, either Caylee was napping, or she was with Jeff’s mom and Zachary, or she was on a boat, or at the park, or at the beach, or any number of places. Based on those conversations, Cindy believed that Casey would be coming home after the Fourth-of-July weekend.

Week of July 7-11, 2008
Casey told her mother that there was something wrong with her car and Jeff was going to take it to his mechanic, and she was going to have the gas gage and brakes done. George asked everyday for updates on Casey, and Cindy would update him, but told him to let her be. [During this week Cindy stayed in touch with Casey, was never able to talk to Caylee. Meanwhile, Casey lets her believe that Caylee is with her, Jeff Hopkins, and his little boy, Zachary in Jacksonville, as the her car is getting fixed.]

Saturday, July 12, 2008
Cindy expected to see Casey the weekend of July 12th, but Casey texted Cindy that Jeff’s mother, Jule, who was in the hospital dying of cancer, was going to get married – an impromptu wedding – at the hospital chapel. And, so, they were going to stay the weekend in Jacksonville.

Sunday, July 13, 2008
On Sunday, July 13th, George and Cindy were working on the front yard, planting new sod and weeding, when Cindy noticed that there was a postal note on the door. Cindy said it was difficult to see the note taped on the door because the colors were so similar. Her impression was that the postal carrier had placed the note there on Thursday or Friday, the 10th or 11th of July. The prosecutor once again took the opportunity to review the fact that both George and Cindy primarily use the garage door to come and go from the house. [The reason is probably because the Defense insinuated a nefarious reason as to why they did not find that note earlier.]

Cindy mentioned that it was a notice to advise that they had a certified letter from ‘Johnson’s’ at the post office to pick up. Since they didn’t know anyone named Johnson, and they didn’t know that Johnson’s was a towing company, George said he’d pick it up the next day, on Monday, July 14th.

Monday, July 14, 2008
The prosecutor asked Mrs. Anthony if she saw Casey that day, but she said that Casey explained that she was in Jacksonville, and Jeff was going to come back to Orlando with her. He was packing up her car to come down and they would be in Orlando on Tuesday, July 15th. In the meantime, George was not able to get away from his new job, his first day on the job, to go to the post office to pick up the letter. Cindy did not get to talk to Caylee that day either.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Cindy was scheduled to work on July 15th and George was scheduled to work from 3:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. Sometime around noon, George picked up the certified letter and upon reading it realized that Casey’s car was not in Jacksonville with Casey, it was in a tow-yard a mile away. He called Cindy to tell her Casey’s car was in Orlando, at the tow-yard. So, Cindy called Casey and told her that she had a lot of explaining to do, telling her that her car had been towed. Casey did not explain why her car was towed, or why she had told her mother that the car had been getting repairs in Jacksonville, when all that time the car had been sitting in a local tow-yard. Cindy told her that she needed to come home to talk this out.

Meanwhile, George Anthony went straight to the tow-yard, he found out they had to bring $488 in cash, and since both of their names were on the title, they both had to be present to pick up the car. So Cindy left her work to meet George at home around 12:30 p.m. and they both went to the tow-yard. George drove Casey’s car around to where Cindy was waiting in their car. She said it was raining, a misty rain, and George indicated the car stunk and he just wanted to get back home. He parked Casey’s car in the garage to air it out. As soon as Cindy walked up to the car she could smell a horrific smell and asked George what what was wrong with the car. Cindy said it smelled like something had died in the car. George mentioned that they had found a bag of garbage in the trunk, and perhaps it was related to that.

Nursing Background
The prosecutor asked Cindy about her nursing background and any experience she might have with the kind of smell they detected in the car. Cindy mentioned that she has experienced the smell of rotting flesh from amputees, as well as her nursing-student experience where she had to go to the morgue and smell bodies that had been dead awhile. But at that point she did not assume someone had died in the car, because of the garbage bag that had been in the trunk. She was asked if George took any action with the car, but Cindy said he had not, other than taking the battery out, and she knew this because she was in the garage the whole time George was home, and shortly after arriving George went inside to get his things because he had to go to work.

In fact, she encouraged George to get ready for work because it was already 2:30 p.m., he had to be at work by 3:00 p.m., and it was only his second day at a new job. The only thing he did to the car was take the battery out of the car, because they both wanted to make sure that if Casey came home while they were not there she would not be able to take the car. They wanted to talk to their daughter and find out where their granddaughter was, all the more so after they saw, in Casey’s abandoned car, Caylee’s things.

Car and Things
Cindy looked through the car and noticed that Casey’s purse was on the front seat. Caylee’s favorite doll was sitting where Caylee should have been, in her car-seat, and Caylee’s backpack was in the car’s trunk. [Cindy was crying through this part of her testimony, barely able to speak.]

She removed Casey’s purse, Caylee’s doll and backpack, and a pair of Casey’s slacks, which were also left in the car. Caylee’s favorite doll smelled like the car, and Cindy wiped the doll with a Clorox wipe, but the doll’s body was made of a soft material and smelled especially bad. She sprayed Febreeze on the doll and all through the car. It smelled so bad she sprayed the front and the back, using an entire bottle of Febreze. Cindy was asked if she vacuumed the car, but she did not, she just sprayed Febreeze and threw away a couple of pieces of debris.

The prosecutor showed Cindy a series of photos of the car for identification: the back, the front, each of the sides, and the inside of the car. Cindy identified the photos as that of the Pontiac Sunfire Casey had been allowed to use as her car. As the prosecutor asked her about the things she found in the front passenger seat of Casey’s car, when they brought it back from the tow-yard, Cindy mentioned seeing her steak knife… and the Defense called an objection and asked for a sidebar. When they returned from the sidebar, the Judge instructed the jury to disregard the mention, by Cindy Anthony, of one of her steak knives being on the front passenger seat. Cindy was asked and stated that she gave the Sheriff the items she found in Casey’s car.

Cindy went to work, having left the car hoods open, the windows rolled down, the sunroof open, and the garage door closed. She tried to get a hold of Casey, but was unsuccessful. When she returned to work, she explained to her co-workers why she had to leave suddenly, and she discussed the condition of the car, and how it smelled like something died in it. She then tried to get a few things done so she could get out of work. Her immediate supervisor told her to just go home, but she had a few things to do on a big project, and it was her director who came next and told her to go home. Her co-workers knew she had not seen Caylee in over a month, because they always talked about Caylee. After an hour-and-a-half, she left work and went straight home.

After Cindy returned home from work, she made efforts to call Casey again, but she still would not answer. She decided to look through Caylee’s backpack, picking up her toothbrush and other things, just to hold them for a moment and put them back. She went through Casey’s purse and found a yellow envelope with resumes of a friend, Amy Huizenga, and her contact information. She thought it was strange that Casey would have Amy’s resumes in her purse, but she decided to contact Amy, someone she did not know.

Cindy Finds Casey
Cindy got a hold of Amy, introduced herself, explained what happened earlier in the day, and asked Amy if she would take her to see Casey. Amy agreed and let Cindy pick her up at the Florida Mall. Cindy explained to Amy that she had not seen Caylee in a month. Amy directed Cindy to Tony’s apartment. Cindy had never met Tony before or even heard of him. Once they got to Tony’s apartment, Amy knocked on the door and Cindy stayed out of view so Casey would answer the door. Amy motioned for Casey to come out and that’s when Cindy popped out and asked Casey what she was doing there and that they needed to talk.

The prosecutor asked Cindy if she saw Caylee, but she did not. She asked Casey if Caylee was there with her, but Casey said that Caylee was with the nanny. Cindy said to her daughter that they had to go get Caylee. Amy had already gone downstairs and was waiting by Cindy’s car. Casey reluctantly agreed to go, putting on her flip-flops, but refusing to take her things with her, not even her cell phone, she insisted she was going back to Tony’s. Cindy told her that was fine, but not until Cindy sees Caylee and they have a chance to talk.

[Throughout this testimony, Casey stares at her mother with an angry look on her face.]

Cindy drove, Casey sat in the passenger seat, and Amy sat in the back. Cindy did not question Casey too much with Amy in the car because she did not want to embarrass Casey in front of Amy, but she did ask where Caylee was. So she waited until after she dropped Amy off at her complex, and then she told Casey that she needed to start answering her questions. Casey told Cindy that she would take her to see Caylee, and they drove around for quite some time, with no specific directions from Casey. Then, Casey changed her tune and started making excuses as to why it was not a good idea for Cindy to see Caylee. Cindy managed to ask a number of questions while they drove, like, why the car was in the tow-yard, but Casey had no good answers, according to Cindy.

Since Casey would not take her to wherever Caylee was staying, Cindy stopped at the next police station she saw and told Casey she was going to get answers. Unfortunately for Cindy, the police sub-station closed at 5:00 p.m. and it was a few hours past that time. She told Casey, as they sat parked in the police sub-station parking lot, that this was her last chance, but Cindy was not getting the answers she needed, and she dialed 911 from inside the car.

The 911 Emergency Calls
The Judge instructs the jury that the 911 recordings are true and accurate representations of those calls, however, they are not to consider Cindy’s mention of other crimes she accuses her daughter of committing in those calls.

The jury listens to the first 911 call Cindy made that night. She tells the operator that she has a twenty-two-year-old person in her car, her daughter, whom she wants arrested for grand theft, for stealing her car and money. Cindy is told that she lives in the jurisdiction of the Sheriff’s department, not the Orlando police department, and she is transferred to the Sheriff’s department. As Cindy waits to be connected to the Sheriff’s department, the phone call is still being recorded, and we can hear as she tells her daughter that if she has to, she will get a court order to get Caylee. Casey asks for another day, and Cindy tells her that she has already given her a month. (Listen: Cindy’s First 911 Call)

Cindy is told by the 911 operator to go home or go to the side of the road to wait for a Sheriff, so she went home, seeing as it was only a mile or two away. She says she did not call George or Lee from her car, however, when she got home Lee was waiting at her house. Lee said that his dad had told him to go home because something was going on. Casey immediately got out of the car, ran past her brother and into the house. Cindy told Lee briefly what was going on, and that she urgently needed Casey to take her to Caylee. She was going to immediately call the Sheriff, but Lee told her to let him talk to Casey for a few minutes and see if she might open up to him.

Casey had run into her room and Lee went in to talk to her. Cindy hovered around the hallway, hoping to hear any snippet that might tell her where she could find Caylee. She could overhear Casey insisting that Caylee was spending the night with Zanni, saying that Caylee was sleeping and didn’t want to wake her up. Cindy didn’t care, she would skip work the next day to stay with Caylee, if need be. Casey continued to refuse to take her mother that evening to see Caylee, telling her to wait until the next day. Cindy gave Lee a few more minutes to reason with his sister, but she got frustrated waiting, she was getting no answers, and she made a second 911 call to the Sheriff’s department from her home.

The Judge reads the same stipulation to the jury and they play the second 911 call for the jury. (Listen: Cindy’s Second 911 Call)

In the second call, Cindy states that she has someone in her home that needs to be arrested, she mentions that she has a three-year-old that has been missing for a month, and a daughter that needs to be arrested for stealing her car and money from her bank account. The 911 operator asks and she tells her that her daughter stole her vehicle on June 30th, she adds that her daughter is 22 years old and her name is Casey Anthony.

[In the courtroom, Cindy sits on the witness stand, with her hand to her mouth, crying, and rocking back and forth. Casey is without emotion, although she occasionally wipes with a tissue invisible tears..]

Cindy goes on to tell the operator that she found Casey after a month, but still cannot find her granddaughter and Casey is not telling her where her granddaughter is. The operator tells her she is sending out Sheriff deputies. At this point the prosecutor asks her if the car she mentioned in the 911 call is the same one Casey has permission to drive, the Sunfire, and Cindy answers that it is. The prosecutor asks her if the Sheriff arrived, and Cindy, barely audibly, answers, “Not fast enough.”

Mrs. Anthony describes pacing between the hallway to her daughter’s bedroom and the garage while she waited for the Sheriff. As time passed, she felt herself getting angrier, Casey was on her bed, Lee was leaning on her dresser, and they were still talking. The prosecutor asked Cindy if she overheard her daughter making a statement to her brother about Caylee’s whereabouts, and Cindy begins to recount how one of the times she walked back toward Casey’s room she heard Casey tell Lee that Caylee had been missing for 31 days and that Zanni had taken her. (Cindy is crying very hard as she tries to testify, barely able to talk) Cindy went into Casey’s room, yelled at her daughter, “What do you mean she is missing?! What did you do?!” and ran out of the room and called 911 a third time.

The judge once again reads the stipulation with regard to the third 911 emergency call and the jury is allowed to listen to the recording. (Listen: Cindy’s Third 911 Call)

Cindy is crying and audibly upset on the 911 call, she says she just found out that her granddaughter has been missing for 31 days and that the babysitter took her. (As this 911 call is playing, Cindy has her head in her hands, doubled-over, crying on the stand, her head barely visible over the witness stand, her body shaking as she cries.)

On the 911 recording we hear Cindy telling the operator that they found the car and it “smells like there has been a dead body in the damn car!” Cindy is so distraught, crying and yelling, making it difficult for the 911 operator to understand what she is saying, that the 911 operator asks to talk to Casey. In contrast, as we hear Casey’s voice on the recording, she sounds completely calm and unemotional as she tells the operator, that her daughter has been missing for 31 days, and that the babysitter has her. She tells the operator that earlier that day she got a call from the babysitter, and that she was able to talk to her daughter for a minute, but now the number is disconnected.

The operator asks Casey for the name of the babysitter, Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez, and tells her that she has been her daughter’s nanny for two years. The operator asks why she didn’t call during those 31 days. Casey tells her that she has been looking for her daughter, and going through other resources to find her. Casey tells the operator that the officers are there.

[At this point, crying, head in her lap, body shaking, face and eyes red and swollen, Cindy Anthony asks for a break from the judge, who grants a short recess. As Mrs. Anthony begins to leave the courtroom, she collapses into her husband’s arms.]

After the short break, the prosecutor asks Cindy about George. She states that he got home just seconds before the Sheriff’s deputies arrived. She was on the phone with the 911 operator and shouted down to him from the house. George had to park on the street because of all the cars on the driveway, and yelled out to him that Caylee has been missing 31 days. She explained to him what was going on and he looked shocked. They held each other. Shortly after the police arrived, they separated everyone and everything became a blur after that. Cindy walked the deputy sheriff into Casey’s room so he could talk to her. They all gave the police a written statement.

The prosecutor asked and Cindy stated that she turned over to the police the vehicle, the things from the vehicle, the desktop computer, Cindy’s laptop, and anything that she thought the nanny might have touched. Later, she also turned over her cellphone, and she gave them a DNA sample. She did whatever she could to assist the police in locating Caylee, her family set up a tip-line so people around the country could help find Caylee, they also set up a community command center to help get the word out and organize efforts to find Caylee.

July 16, 2008
On July 16th, in the evening, Cindy received a phone call from the Orange County Jail where Casey was booked that night. Casey’s call is accepted by her mother. The Defense objects, but the Judge allows it to come in and the call is played. (Listen: Casey’s Call from the County jail)

After Cindy answers the call, Casey sarcastically tells her mother that she just saw “your nice little cameo on TV. You don’t know what my involvement is? Because I don’t know where she fucking is!!” All that Casey wants is for someone to give her Tony’s cell phone number, her mother tell her she doesn’t have it, and then Casey asks to speak to Lee. She tells Lee that she wants Tony’s number and adds, “oh, I don’t want any of you to come up here for my hearing, just fucking don’t.” Lee tells his sister that he is not going to put everyone through what she has been putting their mother through. He tells her that they are all going to find out eventually, it’s all going to come out, so, he asks her to just tell them now. Casey wants Tony’s number, but Lee is reluctant to give it to her. And puts on Casey’s friend, Christina.

In response to her friend, Christina, starting to cry worried that something may have happened to Caylee, Casey says to her that “calling you guys was a fucking waste.” She tells her friend that her family, “all they care about is finding Caylee, they don’t care that I’m in jail.” Finally, Christina gives Casey Tony’s number. She mentions that she has been with the officers since 9:00 p.m. the night before and has been up until today when she was booked into the county jail at 8:30 p.m. “The absolute truth is that I don’t know where Caylee is.” And Casey hangs up.

The Prosecution has no further questions, and the Judge breaks for lunch.

The Cross-Examination by Jose Baez of Cindy Anthony
Mr. Baez asks Cindy if she raised Casey to be a good person, to be caring, loving, to always tell the truth, and Cindy answers that she thought she did. Mr. Baez asks Cindy Anthony to tell the jury what kind of a mother Casey is (present tense), and Cindy says, in the past tense, “Casey was a very loving mother, with maternal instincts, so natural with Caylee. They were great together. Caylee adored her mom, she never wanted to sleep without her mother.

The defense attorney, Jose Baez, wants to delve deeper into when it was that Cindy and George knew that Casey was pregnant. Cindy says that she found out Casey was pregnant on June 30, 2005, and Casey found out a few days before that at the doctor. [I’m not sure the jury is going to care too much about this issue.]

Jose Baez asks Cindy about attending her brother’s wedding on June 7, 2005 and he shows Cindy Anthony a photo of her and Casey taken at the wedding reception, and although Casey looks pregnant in the photo, Cindy says she did not believe at her brother’s wedding that Casey was pregnant.

Cindy says that Casey was sedentary during that time, working a desk-job in human resources at Universal Studios, where before that she used to walk all around the park taking photos. Mr. Baez asks Cindy if she is aware that Casey has been spending 23 hours a day in jail for the last three years, and wouldn’t that be considered sedentary? Cindy says she knows Casey doesn’t eat much in jail, and she doesn’t know what kind of activities she is engaged in there. Mr. Baez wants Casey to stand so that Cindy can see her better. Cindy steps down from the witness stand and looks at her daughter.

The Defense asks, “Does your daughter appear to have a protruding belly?” Cindy Anthony responds that she does not. They talk in great deal about Casey’s menstrual cycle, when she finally went to see a gynecologist, and Cindy’s concern about Casey having an ovarian cyst. The Defense attorney tried to make a point over Casey not seeing a gynecologist before the age of 19, but Cindy said that it was a traumatic experience for her and she didn’t want to put Casey through that. [Perhaps, the Defense is trying to insinuate that Cindy did not take Casey to a gynecologist when she was younger because they were trying to hide the sexual abuse the Defense alleges took place.]

Next, the defense reviewed with Mrs. Anthony all of Casey’s imaginary friends, which is what the Defense called all the people Casey had made up over the years. They asked Cindy Anthony if she had ever met any of them, spoke to them, or saw their photos. Across the board, Mrs. Anthony knew the following cast of characters based on what Casey had told her over the years, intricate stories about their non-existent lives. Repeated opportunities when Cindy was told by Casey that she would get to meet them, opportunities that always seemed to be cancelled at the last minute. The Defense incredulously asked how she could not know that they were imaginary, but Cindy said she didn’t know.

Imaginary Friend: Eric Baker
After DNA tests proved that Jesse Grund was not Caylee’s father, Casey told her mother that the father was Eric Baker. Cindy never met Eric Baker. But Casey told her he was two years younger than Casey. Eric was a one night stand, and then he got back with his girlfriend. One or two weeks after Caylee’s 2nd birthday, Casey called her mother hysterical saying that Caylee’s father died in a car accident.

Imaginary Friend: Jeff Hopkins
Jeff Hopkins was a wealthy man, who worked with Casey at Universal Studios. He had a little boy, named Zachary. Based on what Casey had told Cindy, he seemed like a nice young man. Casey talked about Jeff from 2006 through 2008. Jeff was Zanni’s boyfriend, he introduced Casey and Zanni and recommended Zanni as a babysitter. Jeff found out he was Zachary’s father when his former girlfriend died and he got custody of Zachary. Casey and Jeff later developed a relationship with Jeff and had told her mother that Jeff could be someone with whom she could settle down.

Imaginary Friend: Zachary
Cindy never met Zachary, Jeff’s son, but she says she saw a photo of Jeff and Zachary on Casey’s phone. Casey had him listed as ‘boyfriend’ on her phone. Law enforcement looked for Jeff and Zachary, but no such Jeff Hopkins worked for Universal. Casey told Cindy that Zachary was about a year older that Caylee and they sometimes had play-dates.

Imaginary Friend: Jules
Jules was Jeff’s mother. On one occasion, Casey had set up a girl’s day at the mall, for Cindy and Jules to meet, as well as an opportunity for Zachary and Caylee to have their photos taken with Santa. Although they waited at the mall for Jules and Zachary, they never showed up. Cindy said she was never able to meet Jeff’s mom, and never spoke to her. Something always came up. In July 2008, Casey told her mom that Jules had cancer, and that Casey was going to extend her stay in Jacksonville to attend Jules’ impromptu wedding at the hospital chapel.

At this point, the Defense points out to Cindy that Jeff and Casey both had toddlers; that both of these toddlers’ other parents were deceased; that there were many plans for them to meet Jeff and his family and it never happened, always getting cancelled the day of the event, even after Cindy had gone out and bought food, expecting to meet them, they never came, and then Mr. Baez asks: “Did it ever occur to you that these people were not real?” “No sir.”

Imaginary Friend: Juliette Lewis
Juliette Lewis was one of Casey’s co-workers at Universal Studios Hard Rock Café. She had a little girl, a toddler, named Annabelle. Casey described Juliette to her mother in great detail. On one occasion, Casey had volunteered Cindy to help Juliette with a fund-raiser, and she waited for Juliette at a parking lot, but Juliette never showed. The Defense asks Cindy Anthony if she had any proof that Juliette was real, and Cindy said that her daughter would talk to her on the phone.

Imaginary Friend: Annabelle
Annabelle, Juliette’s toddler daughter, seemed to spend time with Caylee on occasion, especially through work-related events. Cindy noted that sometimes she would ask Caylee if she had fun with Annabelle, and Caylee would repeat the name as if she recognized it, so she assumed Caylee had met her. Cindy, however, never met Annabelle, and did not witness any of their play-dates.

Imaginary Friend: Raquel Ferrel
Raquel Ferrel was Zanni’s roommate. Cindy never met Raquel or spoke to her. She was the lady Casey told her about that was in the car accident with Zanni that happened on the way back from Tampa sometime in the second half of June. Cindy never saw a photo of Raquel. Cindy doesn’t know where Raquel worked.

Imaginary Friend: Zanni the Nanny
Zanni the Nanny, Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez, was supposedly Caylee’s babysitter and kidnapper. Cindy never saw a photo of her, never spoke to her, never dropped off or picked up Caylee from her place. The first time Cindy heard of her was around the same time she heard of Jeff Hopkins, some time around February 14, 2006. Casey told her mother that Zanni was Jeff’s girlfriend, and offered her as a babysitter to Casey. Cindy said she had no idea Zanni was not a real person.

Casey described Zanni to Cindy as having long black hair, very attractive, a perfect 10, a beautiful person, on the inside, as well as the outside. The Defense asked Cindy if Zanni was Hispanic or did Zanni speak Spanish? And Cindy answered, possibly. The Defense asks if perhaps Zanni taught Caylee the count in Spanish from 1-40. Cindy mentioned that Casey took three years of Spanish in high school and she thought that perhaps Caylee learned to count in Spanish through Casey, Zanni and Dora the Explorer.

[Here, I believe, the Prosecution misses an opportunity. There is a lady by the name of Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez, who filled out contact information to go look at an apartment at Saw Grass Apartments. ]

Imaginary Friend: Gloria
Gloria was Zanni’s mother and she had heart issues that required her other son and daughter to care for her. Cindy never met Gloria.

Imaginary Friend: Samantha
Samantha was Zanni’s half-sister, about whom Cindy did not find out until after July 15, 2008. Samantha was older than Zanni. Samanatha was either married or lived on her own with kids.

The Defense asks Mrs. Anthony how felt knowing that all these people were imaginary? She replied that she had just found out that they were imaginary.

Searching for the Kidnapper
Up until six weeks ago, Cindy and George were looking for Zanni the Nanny, the kidnapper, ever since Caylee was missing. Cindy and George made every effort to find the lady their daughter had told them had kidnapped Caylee. They looked up every Zenaida and variation of her names in Florida, New York, and the Carolinas. George and Cindy went to New York to follow up on on a tip about a Zenaida at an apartment there. They went to California to meet a couple that was sure they had seen Caylee in a restaurant. And, so forth.

The rest of Mr. Baez’s questions were objected to by the Prosecution and sustained by the Judge.

The Anthony Home
Mr. Baez shifts gear and wants to talk about the Anthony’s home. He mentions the photos they have seen of the Anthony home and he noted that the sliding glass door had no bar, no safety lock. Mr. Baez asked Cindy Anthony if she ever testified that Caylee could have gotten out easily and that she could have drowned in the pool? Cindy replies that she never put those two things together.

Cindy is asked whether the pool ladder was attached to the pool and the gate open on June 16th. She could not recall if that was exactly the date. But she remembers one day coming home, around that time-frame, and going to the backyard to let the dogs out, when she noticed that the ladder was attached, and the gate was open. She called George and told him about it, asking him if he swam in the pool and left the gate open, but he had not. Cindy told a couple of co-workers that she thought someone had been swimming in her pool, because she saw the ladder was attached and gate was left open.

Mr. Baez asks Cindy about her swimming with Caylee on June 15th, and how she said she recalled taking the ladder off, but was she 100% certain she took the ladder off, and she replied, “Yes, as much as I can be.”

Mr. Baez asks Mrs. Anthony if she was aware her daughter made six attempts to call her on June 16, 2008, around 4:00 p.m., and Cindy explained that she was in a meeting and was not able to take those calls, but didn’t know there were six.

The Defense points out to Cindy Anthony that on July 15, 2008, she did not mention that the car smelled like a dead body in the first nor the second 911 calls, only in the third 911 call. “Did you ever say that the reason you told them the car smelled like a dead body is because you wanted them to get there faster?” She replied, “Yes, I wanted them to get there faster.”

George Anthony
The Defense plays a short portion of Cindy’s third 911 call. Cindy can be heard yelling out to someone (George) that Caylee was missing for a month. You only hear a faint ‘what’ and nothing more. Cindy was on the phone by the house, looking out, she saw George pull up, park on the street, and tried to yell out to him what happened. [The Defense is trying to make the point that George Anthony was not shocked by that because he knew Caylee had drowned.]

Next, Jose Baez wonders why George Anthony never questioned Casey when he got home. Cindy explained that George arrived just when the Sheriff arrived, and George never had the opportunity to question Casey, because once the Sheriff arrived they were all separated.

Cindy Anthony
Mr. Baez asks Cindy Anthony a number of questions about her work and financial situation. She is a registered nurse, but she is not currently working, she is on disability right now. The Defense states that the she has a financial interest in this case. She started an organization by the name of the ‘Caylee Marie Anthony Foundation’ and she had her attorney trademark Caylee’s name,

The Defense asks her if she made any money off of this case, and she replies that has lost a lot of money because of this case. She is asked if her former attorney, Brad Conway, set up a deal to sell some of her photos for $20K. She affirms that is true, the attorney got paid $6,000 and they used the rest to pay bills. Mr. Baez mentions how Cindy Anthony, George Anthony, and Brad Conway, their former attorney, all went to NY to negotiate a book deal on the case, and how she is attempting to make a living as Director of the Caylee Marie Foundation. Mrs. Anthony says, “No.” Jose Baez asks her if she is engaged in fund-raising for this foundation, and she says, no, to that as well.

He asks about flying to New York to make a deal with CBS and 48 Hours to do interviews, and she affirms that she did those interviews when Caylee was missing in an effort to help find her.

No further questions by the Defense.

Re-Direct: Cindy Anthony
In reference to the Defense’s line of questioning about Caylee always being well-fed, clothed and sheltered, the Prosecution asked Cindy Anthony who provided Caylee with clothing, food, shelter, and healthcare, “Isn’t it true that all of those things were provided by you?” “Yes, I did.”

The prosecutor buttons up a few other issues:

• Mrs. Anthony is asked if her daughter’s weight has fluctuated while she has been incarcerated. “Yes it has.”
• Cindy is asked if she told her husband, George, that according to Casey, Caylee’s father was Jesse Grund. “Yes.”
• Cindy is asked if she remembers the day the gate was left open and the ladder was on the pool. “Just vaguely.”
  She is asked if she remembers telling her co-workers that the gate incident happened a few days before the gas can incident? “Yes.” The gate can only be locked from the inside and you didn’t unlock it? “No.”
  You called George and he didn’t unlock it? “No ma’am.”
  Caylee is too short to reach it, so that leaves Casey. “Yes, ma’am.”
• Cindy Anthony is asked if she had said to her co-workers that ‘the car smelled like a dead body,’ and these were the same words she used with law enforcement,. “Yes.”
• The prosecutor asked Cindy, if, during her 911 call, George looked upset when she told him that Caylee was missing. “Yes.”
• Cindy is asked if the trademarking of Caylee’s name is to prevent the exploitation by strangers of her granddaughter. “Yes.”
• The prosecutor asked Cindy about Zanni, Jeff, and other elaborate lies Casey told her, which seemed to begin after Caylee was born. “Yes.” The prosecutor added, that the elaborate lies seemed to have something to do with who would care for Caylee, Casey’s employment, or why she wouldn’t be home. “Yes.”

Defense Re-Cross: Cindy Anthony
Jose Baez tried to make a couple of points that seemed to backfire. When he asked Cindy about her statement that the car smelled like “something completely different than what she had ever smelled before,” I’m sure he hoped she would stop at “Yes.” but she continued with, “the closest thing it smelled like was rotting flesh.”

Next, when Mr. Baez asked about Mr. Anthony’s reaction to being told by Cindy that Caylee was missing, Mr. Baez pointed out that you could hear her reaction on the recording, but not George Anthony’s reaction. Cindy answered that he was visibly upset and they were weeping and hugging. But you could not hear his reaction, because he was down by the street where he had to park. (By this point Cindy had handed the phone to Casey.)

The final point Mr. Baez tried to make was about Casey’s graduation, and how they had planned to have a big party, and to attend her graduation, but the day before graduation, the Anthonys found out from her counselor that Casey was short half an English credit. He asked Cindy if it had not been for the counselor calling them, they woud have gone to the graduation, and she answered, they would have gone. “And that was before Caylee was born?” “Yes.”

[This last point was a good point for the Defense to make, because the prosecutor had implied during her re-direct that Casey started lying after Caylee was born, as if it were a new problem, but the Defense was able to show that Casey had been lying before Caylee was born. The Defense, during their re-cross-examination, missed one opportunity, they could have asked about Lee, the brother, who also had a key to the house, and may have left the gate open and the ladder attached to the pool, but they didn’t.]

Amy Huizenga, 26

Amy Huizenga met Casey on New Year’s Eve 2008 and by February 2008 they had become fast friends. She is also good friends with Ricardo Morales, one of Casey’s ex-boyfriends. Ms. Huizenga is asked and describes her work in the theater, on cruise ships, and as a waitress. She understood, from Casey, that Casey was an event coordinator at Universal Studios and at some point Amy emailed Casey her resume, hoping Casey might be able to pass it along to someone in human resources at Universal.

January-March 2008
Amy talked about how they used to see each other once or twice a week, but would text each other daily, or talk on Facebook.
During this time, Amy lived with Troy Brown [who testified last week] and she, Casey, Troy and their group of friends would often go out after work.

Amy is asked if there were times when Casey could not go out with them because no one could watch Caylee, and she remembers that there were increasingly more times when Casey could not find someone to watch Caylee, so sometimes she would come with Caylee anyway, put her to sleep, and then they would hang out. Apparently, between January and March 2008, at least once a week, Casey would not be able to do go out with them because of Caylee and she seemed to be getting more and more frustrated with her mother for not watching Caylee when she wanted.

May 2008
Casey and Ricardo’s break-up was off-again and on-again through May 2008, according to Amy. During this time Amy was still living with Troy Brown, but in mid-May she learned that Troy’s house was to be sold, and she would need to find a place to live. This is around the time that she and Casey made plans to move in together.

Amy said there were numerous times that they talked about specific places, Casey would do the research, but then for whatever reason Casey would say that it was not going work out. At one point, Casey told Amy that her parents were going to leave her the house, and said she was going to take over her parents’ mortgage payments in late June or early July, and they could be roommates.

Amy said she wanted to meet Casey’s mom, and she thought Cindy would want to meet her, too since she would be living with her daughter and granddaughter in her home. But somehow that meeting never came about. [She did meet Cindy, however, on July 15th to bring her to where Casey was staying with her boyfriend.]

Amy noticed that when Casey’s mom would not be able to take care of Caylee, Casey would get extremely upset with her mother, and this happened more frequently in mid-May and early June. She noted that Casey grew increasingly more frustrated when she had to keep cancelling plans to go out with their group of friends.

In May 2008, Amy notes that this is a recurring theme of Casey having to cancel plans because her mom could not watch Caylee. An example, is a text message on May 3rd, timestamped 11:30 p.m., which Casey sent Amy, and which was submitted into evidence, where Casey writes: “Downtown tomorrow. My Mom owes me. This week I’m there. No way I’m staying home.”

Amy is asked and says that the relationship between Casey and her mother is strained, to the point where, according to Casey, Cindy told her that she was an unfit mother. Amy said that Casey always told her that Cindy was crazy. Casey talked about needing space and didn’t understand why her mother could not accept that.

June 2008
On June 6, 2008, Amy moved in with Ricardo Morales, she had wrecked her car and he lived close to where she worked. This was Richardo and JP Chatt’s place.

Casey had agreed to give Amy a ride to Jacksonville on June 13th so she could buy a car from her uncle. Amy texted Casey to make sure that she had not overslept, but Casey texted back that she would not be able to take Amy because she was going to the hospital with her dad. Amy rented a car and went up to Jacksonville by herself. Casey later called Amy to let her know what had happened with her dad, George. Later the same evening, Casey called and invited Amy to go to Fusion, but Amy declined.

Although Amy and Casey did not see each other for about three weeks during this period, the two of them stayed in touch via text messages. During this time Amy learned that Casey had problems with her car. Casey told Amy the problems included: running out of gas, several flat tires, and an extremely bad smell coming form her car.

The prosecutor introduced into evidence the following text message:
6/27/08 – 11:34 am “There was definitely part of a dead animal plastered to the end of my car”

Amy added that Casey said there was an extremely bad smell coming from the car and the smell had gotten worse. Casey thought maybe her dad had borrowed the car and ran over something. There were other text messages introduced where Casey mentions running out of gas on a couple of different occasions. Casey had also told Amy about having to leave her car at the AMSCOT parking lot, and hoped that her car would not get towed.

Casey started staying with Amy at Richardo and JP’s place on June 30th. She showed up at the door early one morning and stayed for a week, she didn’t ask if she could stay, she just stayed. Amy felt uncomfortable because it wasn’t her place to give Casey permission to stay. She did notice that Casey came driving her boyfriend’s car, saying that her car was in the shop, and her boyfriend was out of town for a few days. For the most part, Casey kept her clothes in Tony’s car.

According to Amy, Casey was not happy with her mother, who kept insisting on seeing Caylee, but Amy said that Casey told her that she was keeping Caylee away from her mom, because Cindy and George were having problems at home, they were thinking of getting divorced because her dad had cheated on her mom, and Casey wanted to keep Caylee away from the unhappiness at home.

Casey talked often about wanting to have her space, away from her parents, and move out on her own. Casey and Amy had made plans to move into Casey’s house several times, but something always happened at the last minute. Once in June, Amy had looked into reserving moving trucks, but Casey cancelled on her at the last minute. She said George wanted to fix the landscaping before they gave them the house to move into. Then in early July Amy was supposed to move in to Casey’s house, but then Casey said that Cindy had gone back on the deal. And so it was in July that Amy first heard that they were not going to move in together.

Fourth-of-July Weekend 2008
Amy had helped her friend, William Waters, plan a Fourth-of-July party at his house and she invited Casey the week before. Initailly, Casey said that she would not be able to come because of Caylee. Amy told her to bring Caylee, after all, kids have fun at barbecues.

Amy said she didn’t have to ask Casey where Caylee was because Casey would just volunteer it… Caylee was at the beach, at Bush Gardens, at the park, basically doing a tour of Florida, with the nanny or her mother.

July 5, 2008
On July 5th, Amy woke up to the sound of Casey typing away on her laptop. Casey was extremely happy because Tony was coming back that day. So, Casey hung out with Will that day, and then picked up Tony at the airport.

July 8, 2008
Between July 8 through July 15th, Amy went to Puerto Rico with Ricardo, JP, and Troy. Casey had wanted to go with the group, but after they left, they found out that Casey was not going to be able to go. Casey said she had to work out who would watch Caylee, and she was unable to find anyone to watch Caylee.

July 15, 2008
On July 15th, Amy and her friends returned from Puerto Rico and Casey agreed to pick them up at the airport using Amy’s car, a red Toyota Corolla. [Amy didn’t know, at this time, that Casey had been driving Amy’s car while she was gone and that Casey had stolen her checkbook, which Casey found in the car.] Because Amy’s car was too small to bring everyone back, Amy drove Casey back to Tony’s place and then went back to the airport to pick up the rest of the guys. Later on she went to mall with JP. While she was at the mall, in the afternoon, Amy got a call from Cindy, whom she had never met. All she knew was that Cindy, according to Casey, was crazy, so she was being cautious talking to her.

However, according to Amy, Cindy sounded “very, very, very scared.” Mrs. Anthony asked if she could pick Amy up at the mall and have her take Cindy to where Casey was staying. Cindy had recounted what had been happening in her life during that time and Amy agreed to help. Amy directed Cindy to Tony Lazzaro’s apartment, knocked on the door, as Cindy stayed out of view. Someone said to come in and Amy opened the door and saw Casey sitting on the couch. Amy motioned for her to come out, and she did. Cindy was out of view on the landing and when Casey came out, so did Cindy.

Cindy was confrontational and angry, “a massive explosion of mother and daughter” erupted and Amy escaped the first chance she could, waiting downstairs by Cindy’s car. The first question Cindy asked Casey, that Amy heard before she left, was, “Where is Caylee? Casey told her mother that she was with the nanny. Casey reluctantly, after awhile, agreed to take her mother to Caylee. Casey’s demeanor with her mother was “defensive in a confrontational manner,” giving as good as she got. Casey did not want to leave that apartment and insisted she was going to come back.

When they got back to the car, Amy sat in the back, Casey in the front passenger seat, and not speaking, Cindy asked again, “Where is Caylee?” and Casey answered again, that she was with the nanny. Casey said she and Caylee needed their space. It was the same conversation over and over again, according to Amy. Casey was angry with her arms crossed, “like a little girl who was caught doing something bad.”

To which the Defense objected. There were no more questions by the prosecutor, so the Judge excused the jury, the witness and court was in recess until tomorrow.

Morning Hearing – Outside the Presence of the Jury
In the morning there was a hearing where the attorney for the Anthonys asked for Lee to also be exempt from the law that keeps a witness from being able to attend the trial. The Anthonys want the right to attend the trial as members of the family of the victim, Caylee, and Lee as well. The Anthonys’ attorney asked the defense attorneys if they had already deposed Lee and they said no. The Prosecution said that they had deposed him. The judge asked if the Defense team was present when the Prosecution deposed Lee Anthony, and the Prosecution said yes. The judge read the transcript section where the Defense questioned him. The Defense said they were afraid that her brother would color his remarks before his testimony by sitting in the courtroom. [Why is the Defense afraid that he would color his remarks against Casey. Shouldn’t the Prosecution the one to be afraid that he would color those remarks in her favor?] Judge Perry said that there was no evidence to suggest that his testimony would be colored, since his deposition was already taken, so the Judge will allow Lee to be present in the courtroom.

Afternoon Hearing – Outside the Presence of the Jury
The Defense does not want Casey Anthony’s six felony convictions to be entered into evidence, the Prosecution does. However, the Judge will instruct the jury that they will be told that the defendant has been convicted of 6 prior felonies; for purposes of judging her credibility.

The second matter involved, Jose Baez wanting to postpone Amy’s testimony, because he thought she was in Barcelona. The Judge said that if we leave early today, I will make you work on Saturday. To which Baez said that was fine, he’ll be here. Judge Perry reminded him that the jury is sequestered and away from their families; that they had wanted to work on Memorial Day and he (Baez) did not want to. The prosecutor said they told Defense she would be back this past weekend. Baez, then changed his story and said that he forgot his file in his office. The Judge reprimanded him because he had already given him a secured closet/hallway in the back of the courtroom in which to store his files, given previous occasions when Mr. Baez did not appear to have his files with him, but for whatever reason, Mr. Baez is not using the closet. Hence, the Judge sternly told him that he will not stop the trial anymore for him to go get his files. However, Judge Perry will allow him to do his cross-examination of Amy Huizenga tomorrow.

Final Thoughts

My lasting impression today was one of contrasts.

As we saw photos of Caylee’s things that were left in the car, her favorite doll, her car-seat, her backpack, the three things Caylee would always have with her… and then as we listened to the 911 calls, especially the last one Cindy made upon finding out her granddaughter was missing… we see Cindy crying so hard she is doubled-over on the witness stand, her face and eyes, red and swollen; while at the same time we see Casey sit at the defense table, listening, sometimes looking angry at her mother, sometimes looking like she was listening to events that had happened in someone else’s life.

The last 911 call itself memorialized this contrast between Cindy and Casey best. We hear a distraught, scared, anxious Cindy Anthony, screaming urgently to the 911 operator that her granddaughter is missing, and then the operator asks to talk to Casey, and we hear someone who is without emotion, calm, talking about how her daughter has been missing for 31 days after being kidnapped by her babysitter. There is no crying, no emotion from Casey, and yet Cindy is inconsolable.

Cindy’s face told a story today of a broken and exhausted woman, her body collapsing into her husband’s arms at the end of her testimony, her daughter staring at her sobbing mother without emotion.

The contrast between these two women was chilling.

What are your thoughts?

Casey Anthony Trial | Day 7 – Daily Updates (Thoughts & Observations)

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