“I think part of me was naive enough to think I could handle this on my own. Obviously, I couldn’t.” Casey Anthony
On the 15th of July, 2008 is a date that sticks in your mind (like maggots on a rotting corpse) as you watch the Casey Anthony trial. Each and every word, each and every image of that day in the life of the Anthony’s is worthy of agonizing scrutiny by both the prosecution and the defense.
Therefore, it also should elicit careful study and an intelligent response, or analysis (if you will) from the jurors, and ultimately precise scrutiny from the massive audience, whose attention is captured uninterrupted. (Pristine focus is guaranteed for millions!)
Yesterday’s trial proceedings had more dull moments than exciting ones, but I would say the most important testimony came when Detective Yuri Melich read out loud to the court Casey’s handwritten statement, penned in her own family bedroom on that day (7/15/2008), when the furies of hell seemed to break out of their sepulcher, where they had been incarcerated for 31 days.
Yea, I know, that day again. It’s odd (isn’t it?) the way the light bulb suddenly switched on in everyone’s head on July 15th. George and Cindy, Lee, Amy, Tony, the Orange County Detectives. Everyone saw the light (or better yet, the DARKNESS) on that mid-summer day in Orlando, Florida. What was the trigger for this enlightenment?
It’s all about the foul-smelling Pontiac Firebird. What a compelling piece of evidence. That reminds me, Jose Baez questions Yuri Melich about the now infamous car, and he said no effort was made initially to secure the evidence surrounding the car, which would later provide the best evidence for detectives to charge Casey with her daughter’s murder.
Curious! Anyway, we’ll want to look again at this handwritten statement hopefully, the document will be archived somewhere so we can take a closer look at it. I’ll check on the Orlando Sentinel page first, because they are archiving many of the exhibits. By the way, the tape of Casey talking to Detective Yuri Melich is Part 9 of Day 18 on WFTV.com 9.
It occurred to me, this interview is happening at 4 in the morning on July 16, 2008. That means the detectives had been there for 12 hours already. My goodness, this must have been tense, possibly surreal, and yet Casey is cool, calm and collect, as she weaves a tale of an evil nanny who kidnapped her child. Her story is pretty convincing as a first impression.
I suspect she must have thought it through carefully in the 31 days preceding her having to tell it all. If you have time, listen to part 10, where Melich tells of visiting the Sawgrass Apartments and the Conway Townhouses with Casey. Ms. Anthony wasn’t under arrest yet, but goodness gravy, it was 4:30 AM and they had been drilling her all day. She must have known the gig was up by then.
Also significant is Jose Baez’s cross-examination of Yuri Melich. This is contained in Part 11. One thing, Yuri says to Baez he didn’t yet consider Casey to be a suspect, when he came out to the Anthony home to question her. It was just another missing person’s case, according to Melich.
And yet if you listen to the tape, it sure seems like he’s treating her as if she’s a suspect. In fact, other detectives had already driven Casey by these Sawgrass Apartments. I believe he did consider her to be a suspect, and yet as Baez pointed out, he never read her her Miranda Rights.
I feel as if Baez scored some points with the jury yesterday in the way he undermines the credibility of Detective Melich. Yuri had been blogging about the case the following September, and that’s an obvious no when you are the lead detective.
Another point Baez makes, is that while the Sheriff’s Department was out there more than 12 hours, they never inspected the swimming pool and didn’t even sequester the Firebird, even though it stunk to high heaven with decomposition! Duhh! Overall, the defense won Day 18!
