Casey Anthony Trial

[Ally]

I doubt this one is getting much exposure outside of the US but since it is happening right in my backyard, I have to admit, I have been completely suckered into watching it every day. I find this woman fascinating, I have never seen a pathological liar at work on a consistent basis, and it truly is one of the most interesting things I have seen. Heartbreaking for her family as she does everything in her power to destroy them, true, but fascinating nonetheless. And her lawyer is such a complete POS that it makes me wonder if they will end up married with little psycho babies--they seem made for each other.

Anyone else been completely sucked in?

[sdreid]

I'm not completely sucker in and I dropped my cable so I don't have an opportunity to watch the trial and probably wouldn't even if I had the chance (I didn't watch OJ even when I had cable). The case is an interesting one and is destined to be a classic no matter what the verdict. I hope she is found guilty but who knows with juries. She is a sociopath and may become a serial killer if she gets the chance in my opinion.

[Ally]

She really is fantastic in regards to a perfect case of sociopathy. The way she completely has tossed her father to the lions in an attempt to save her neck...

Considering she lived with her parents before being arrested, on the off chance she is acquitted, where is she going to go? She has tried to implicate everyone in her life, if she hasn't burned her bridges with her parents, her parents are idiots.

[Magpie]

I haven't been watching the trial, but recaps have been on every night so I'm keeping half a track on it.

Finally, something that Bill O'reilly and I agree on.

[Ally]

I have actually watched Nancy Grace the last two nights. Usually I would rather gouge my ears and eyes out than watch her but her team does come up with the best "little moments" that other people seem to miss.

[quasar]

This case has some how triggered an instinct in me that we are seeing a repeat of the Madeleine Mccann case. I see only 2 possibilities here.
Possibility 1. (least likely). She has deliberately murdered her daughter because she interfered with her social life of hard partying.

Possibility 2. (most likely). She has accidently killed her daughter while sedating her so she could persue her social life. Since this charge of manslaughter still carries a penalty of incarceration,which she still feared, she decided to go for broke and plead complete innocence.

Iether way, this trial will be a farce if she is not found guilty of iether murder or manslaughter for these reasons alone:
1. She has lied from woe to go, and no one trusts anything she sais now.

2. Both trained police man and cadaver dog gave positive result ie. There was a body in her car.

3. The body was found a stones through from her address.

4. Can you think of any mum who would be clubbing, and not panicing, a week after her 2 YO went missing.

I am suspecting a repeat of what the Mccanns did. The police in Portugal said absolutly there WAS A BODY IN THIER CAR!.I believe they made a mistake trying to sedate Madeliene and accidently killed her(with no prospect they did it deliberately).But they knew this carried a penalty of incarceration still, and went with the abduction story.

[Ally]

I would like to take all the lawyers involved in this and beat them with bricks. Gack. /end rant

[Zodiac]

I would like to take all the lawyers involved in this and beat them with bricks. Gack. /end rant

Hi Ally,

I agree, that would be a very good start, but it is really going far too easy on them!!! Based on my own personal experience, Sorry!!! I mean, allegedly, based on my own, or somebody/anybody elses, personal experience, as per legal advice, the best cure is simply to stuff Sparrows down their throats, till the beaks stick out through their stomach walls!!!

Best wishes,

Zodiac.

p.s. we all know where their lawyers are headed!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91DSNL1BEeY

[kensei]

Random thoughts on this case and trial-

In a country of 300 million people, there are any number of cases at any given time of parents accused of killing their children. They are all horrible and tragic, but what is it about this one that makes it worthy of being singled out as a national story? Morally and ethically they all should be, but why this one?

I don't have cable tv but I go to a blood plasma donation center twice a week where they have the trial on in their waiting area. I know that real trials are not like episodes of "Law and Order" and that the exciting moments are few and far between, but with what little I've gotten to see it would be more fascinating to watch grass grow. Entertainment it is most definitely NOT (and nor should it be made to be).

Bizarre, crazy, and unlikely things do happen all the time, and what seems obvious isn't always. Do something that is just grossly irresponsible that results in the death of a child, then try to cover it up and fail, and God help you in trying to convince the nation that you're not evil incarnate. This woman is probably guilty of something, but maybe she killed her daughter and maybe she didn't. The fact that she is a pathological liar and has muddied up the case by being insistent on getting off scot-free no matter what her real role was means that we will never know what really happened no matter what the verdict is. It was the same with Scott Peterson. Did he really kill his wife Lacey? Probably, but we'll never really know. One thing I do know about when he tried to run is that that was not incriminating, because if anyone was reasonably sure that they were going to be convicted of a capital crime they didn't commit, I guarantee that running would at least cross their minds. Guilty or innocent, I think Peterson was desperate but not an actual pathological liar. Casey Anthony unfortunately is, and I have some experience with that. I knew someone with that affliction once (and it is an affliction, i.e. a mental illness labeled either "mythomania" or "pseudologia fantastica") and she too was a criminal who embezzled money from a law firm and swore she was framed. She also faked being pregnant and having cancer, spread lies about me and impersonated me online resulting in friendships being ended, and told people that her husband had five mistresses and multiple STDs as reasons for her divorce when the real reason was that she'd been stealing from his mother's law firm. And that's just a sampling. It was years ago yet she created so much confusion that there are unanswered questions to this day and probably always will be as to what really happened. That's what these people do, and that's what Casey Anthony will do no matter how things turn out. People throw around the term "pathological liar" a lot as a general insult, but it is a specific thing, only partially understood psychologically, part mental illness and part character flaw. If Casey does a Diane Sawyer interview ten years from now, don't believe a word she says. These people never get better. So if their condition contributes to them committing crimes, do they have an excuse? Of course not, but the conflict that brings up is just one more maddening thing about the condition. Whether to put them in prison or a mental hospital is up to people with far more expertise than me, but hey, as long as they're off the streets. I think that people who've been horribly wronged often don't want to accept that the person who did it might be guilty not because they're evil but because they're sick. My personal nemesis (who was a very loved friend for a time believe it or not) is currently free and clear and married a second time.

Wow, that turned into a rant, didn't it?
Blessed Be, little Caylee Anthony. Embrace the angels.

[Ally]

In a country of 300 million people, there are any number of cases at any given time of parents accused of killing their children. They are all horrible and tragic, but what is it about this one that makes it worthy of being singled out as a national story? Morally and ethically they all should be, but why this one?

Oh that's easy. It was the "missing" girl angle that gripped the nation for months. When an adorable big eyed little toddler goes missing, the primal instinct is aroused. So you add that, wall to wall coverage, Amber Alert everything, and then you find out, she's been missing for 30 days, and the mother who supposedly was looking for her, information starts dribbling out about her lifestyle over the last 30 days while her daughter was "missing".

It has all the elements of a humungous soap opera drama. If the little girl had just been found dead, it wouldn't be nearly the story. It's the missing, combined with the sociopathy, combined with all the bizarre behavior of the family.

I don't have cable tv but I go to a blood plasma donation center twice a week where they have the trial on in their waiting area. I know that real trials are not like episodes of "Law and Order" and that the exciting moments are few and far between, but with what little I've gotten to see it would be more fascinating to watch grass grow. Entertainment it is most definitely NOT (and nor should it be made to be).

I guess it depends on your definition of "entertainment". I personally like watching the trial, I like seeing the wheels and deals, and of course the absolute hilarity of the defense team fukking things up left right and center. Of course, some people think it's exciting to watch men in shorts chase a ball around the grass all day, so to each their own.

As for the idea that it shouldn't be entertainment, bollocks. Justice has always had the element of the theatrical in it, that's why there's galleries for the audiences, that's why executions used to be public and trials still are.

I think that people who've been horribly wronged often don't want to accept that the person who did it might be guilty not because they're evil but because they're sick.

Doesn't matter to me if she was evil or sick. Even if she was sick, she wasn't sick enough. The fact that she hid the body meant that she knew whatever it was that had occurred was wrong. Period. That does not meet the legal or my own personal criteria for not guilty by reason of insanity.

[ChainzCooper]

Why is this trial taking so long? A trained monkey can see that she is guilty and should get the electric chair. What a gigantic waste of money and time. I mean ,seriously, these types of trials should last about 3 days. Day one Prosecution , Day two Defense and Day three verdict. And like my man Dennis Miller says there should now be three verdicts 'Guilty', 'Not Guilty' and (in this case) 'You gotta be f'n kidding me'
Jordan

[cappuccina]

The scary thing here is that the defense "lawyer" is sooo bad that I am afraid a mistrial will be called or she will get off on some technicality...

[kensei]

Why is this trial taking so long? A trained monkey can see that she is guilty and should get the electric chair.

Not sure if anyone still uses the chair. Isn't it mostly all lethal injection now? Anyway, even if she gets the death penalty it won't actually happen for 20 years.

[Ally]

I personally don't think they will impose the death penalty on her and I am not even entirely sure she'll be convicted of murder in the first.

If they do convict her of 1st, it will be purely because of the absolute distaste the jury feels for her as a person, not necessarily based on the evidence.

However, they also have a juror who said flat out in her voir dire that her religious beliefs would cause her to have a difficult time convicting (thereby judging) anyone else. The prosecution asked that she be excused but it was refused because..get this..there weren't enough black applicants. Supposedly her body language showed no interest throughout the prosecution case, and yet she has been actively scribbling notes during the defense.

[ChainzCooper]

Not sure if anyone still uses the chair. Isn't it mostly all lethal injection now? Anyway, even if she gets the death penalty it won't actually happen for 20 years.

I thought Florida's was called 'Old Sparky'. But maybe they use the gas chamber now. I know North Carolina used to have the gas chamber but now uses lethal injection, I've actually been to Death Row and seen where they do it. Its really weird because in NC Death Row is like the nicest part of Central Prison since its renovation. Fresh paint, state of the art equipment, nothings to nice since we're going to kill you. Anyways, if anyone deserves it its her hate to say it
Jordan