The Anthonys Are Bahama Bound

George and Cindy Anthony are going first class as they alighted from a stretch limo and boarded a private charter jet today at the Orlando Executive Airport heading to the Bahamas. Orange County businessman David Deese, is paying for the trip.

It appears that Casey is not the only one living La Bella Vida.

Casey Anthony's Set To Cash In With Million Dollar Deal

The Son of Sam Law is any law designed to keep criminals from profiting from their crimes, often by selling their stories to publishers. Such laws often authorize the state to seize money earned from such a deal and use it to compensate the criminal's victims.

I bring up this law simply because in light of the verdict in the Casey Anthony trial many people are concerned about Casey's ability to profit of the circumstances surrounding the death of Casey Anthony.

The Son of Sam Law does not apply to Casey Anthony because she was acquitted of the murder charges.

It's "not impossible" to expect Anthony to get an advance between $750,000 and $1 million or for her receive a cut from the sales of the book. If a TV or film studio acquires the rights to it.

It is being reported that book publishers in New York are in a bidding war to land Anthony’s tell-all book. The price tag is up to $3 million, according to ABC News.

As a matter of fact, it was reported yesterday that Casey had been offered $1 million to appear on The Jerry Springer Show.

According to these reports, not only does host Jerry Springer want Casey, he also wants her parents Cindy and George Anthony and her brother Lee Anthony.

The Jerry Springer Show claims that they have not made any monetary offer to Casey Anthony and her family to appear on the program, nor will they.

Meanwhile, Casey Anthony is not the only one who may profit from the death of little Casey Anthony. The network news divisions reported being approached by Rick French, a publicist from North Carolina, who said he represented Juror No. 6. One network executive said the fee being demanded to talk to Juror No. 6 was $50,000.

Don't Allow Caylee's Death To Be In Vain

If you go to church any length of time your priest or minister is going to deliver a particular sermon that you will find very timely as well as a gentle nudge to get you back on the right path.

My husband generally does not like to go to mass and I generally don't make a big deal about nagging him. This week was different though because he actually told me that he wanted to go to mass.

Truthfully I thought he'd tell me he changed his mind by the time Sunday rolled around but come Sunday morning he was ready to go to mass. He was hoping that he would hear something that would answer a pressing question in his mind.

Isn't it funny that the message today was a reminder to me about forgiveness.

Today's reading from the New Testament was from Matthew 13:24-30.

Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.

“The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’

“ ‘An enemy did this,’ he replied.

“The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’

“ ‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’ ”

Generally this parable is interpreted to show that both believers and unbelievers will co-exist until the end of the world and the coming of Christ. My priest though brought it back home when he said that there are times when we ask ourselves, "How can God allow people who do bad things to live among us?" We were reminded that God gives us all the opportunity for forgiveness and spiritual growth and that God will be judge in the end and not those of us here on earth.

My mind went straight to Casey Anthony. It also went straight to the internal debate I have about the death penalty. If we are all children of God, if all lives are sacred, then how can we as humans support the death penalty? On the other hand are there not cases that cry out for the ultimate punishment of death and wouldn't one such case involve the murder of a child.

Like so many others I felt that I was mourning the life of a child that was cut short and for whom many of us, myself included felt found no justice in the courts.

You could see signs of this in many people that reacted to learning of the verdict in the Casey Anthony case with numbed disbelief. You could see the pain in the eyes of people outside of the court house and at the the tribute that many seemed to be suffering an empty feeling of pain as the shock of the verdict wore off. These were the tears we cried for Caylee that we'd searched for in her own mother's eyes.

Then the frustration gives way to anger which is actually one of the normal phases of grief. Some may lash out and lay blame for the death on Casey Anthony and they release of bottled up emotion that they feel.

Some people rail against fate, questioning "Why Caylee?" You may also try to bargain in vain with the powers that be why such a thing could happen to such an innocent child.

Hopefully many of us who have been affected by this case in one way or another will find some sort of ACCEPTANCE (this does not mean condoning the crime)not and HOPE that this will never happen to another child by doing something positive so there can finally be justice for Caylee.

Please sign the petition for Caylee's law. Don't let Caylee's death be in vain.

Casey Anthony Is A Free Woman

After being acquitted of first-degree murder in the death of her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee, Casey Anthony was released last night just after midnight.

Anthony was given $537.68 in cash and accompanied by two sheriff's deputies armed with semi-automatic rifles.

Casey Anthony was greeted with shouts of 'killer' and protesters holding placards with the words 'murderer' and 'devil' when she exited the Orange County Jail.

Where Casey will go now is anybody's guess. Her father has made it apparent that she is not welcome home. There has been speculation that she might go to Puerto Rico and there was early speculation that a distant relative of her mother Cindy who lives in Texas might take her in for awhile.

What will Casey do with her life is an even more difficult question to answer. She is a high school drop-out with virtually no work experience in a very difficult economy. Putting that aside though, who would want to hire the "Most Hated Mother in America"?

Do you honestly think that a diner at Cracker Barrel would want her to take their order? Would your local bank hire her? Can you imagine anyone wanting to drop their child off at a daycare center where she would be employed?

Despite all this agents say that her story was highly marketable, despite the furor over the verdict. As a matter of fact Jose Baez is still pitching photos of Casey's first days out and an exclusive interview with her.

Casey is going to have to do something because she has a defamation lawsuit for slander by a woman who shares the name of a nanny Ms. Anthony invented. When Casey had told the police that a nanny, nicknamed “Zanny the Nanny,” kidnapped Caylee she began receiving death threats and now has difficulty securing employment herself though no fault of her own.

Texas company, EquuSearch, which helps find missing people has also sued Ms. Anthony and is asking for $100,000 in expenses it incurred in its search for Caylee.

Let's take our collective anger and turn it into a positive force by signing the petition to make it a felony for a parent/guardian to not report a child's disappearance is a timely manner.

Help make a change, people! No parent should get a free pass of 31 days ever again!

Would You Allow Casey Anthony To Babysit Your Children?

By now most of America is aware that Casey Anthony has been found not guilty. Given the fact that there is a legislative proposal in San Francisco that seeks to make ex-cons and felons a protected class, I was wondering if this might prevent you from denying Casey Anthony a position in child care.

While Casey Anthony was found not guilty on murder charges she is a convicted felon and therefore in many states this could affect her ability to find employment.

For example, as a teacher, I am required to undergo a background check. If I have ever been arrested or convicted for an act of moral turpitude a school district could chose not to offer me employment. After all, if I used to sell crack on the street to small children would you really want me teaching your kids?

That's why I'm glad that Joy Behar articulated the question I've wanted to ask Casey Anthony's lawyer Dorothy Clay Sims.

Does it really take a body language specialist to tell us that there is NO WAY that Ms. Sims would trust Casey with her cat let alone her own children?

I wonder if her hesitancy might be because she actually thinks that Casey is a dangerous psychopath and a pathological liar and a killer.

Casey Anthony To Be Free Next Wednesday

 

It's all over but the paperwork for Casey Anthony as she will be freed into society next Wednesday after having been found not guilty in the death of her child.

Before court began this morning Casey was animated, smiling and occasionally played with her hair. Her demeanor changed, however, to stone-faced when she heard she would be spending a little more time in jail.

Outside the courthouse there was increased police presence and a throng of protesters gathered near the courthouse, holding signs that said "Arrest the Jury!!" and "Jurors 1-12 Guilty of Murder."

The one source of comic relief (if comic relief can be found in the face of this tragedy) a young man held a sign asking Casey Anthony to marry him.

I was not the only one shocked as a representative of HLN actually interviewed this guy asking him just how he planned to ask her to marry him and why he wanted to marry her.

"I would date her," said the sign's holder Tim Allen. "Everyone deserves a second chance.

Speaking of jurors, one of the jurors, Jennifer Ford, told ABC News in an interview "I did not say she was innocent," Ford said. "I just said there was not enough evidence. If you cannot prove what the crime was, you cannot determine what the punishment should be. “it was because "we were sick to our stomach to get that verdict."

"We were crying and not just the women. It was emotional and we weren't ready."

I guess she was ready when ABC decided to take her and her immediate family as well as nieces and other family members for an all expense paid to Disney World in return for her interview. (May I interject her that she's a far better negotiator than Judas. After all he only got 30 pieces of silver.)

Jennifer Ford isn't the only juror who wants you to know that if the price is right the flight's tonight.

According to TMZ a publicist for the unidentified juror is sending a letter to media outlets, claiming, "Our client -- a married, college-educated, 33-year-old white male with two young children -- is willing to consider granting one or more media interviews so long as the opportunities are paid."

This just in....

According to the Orange County Sheriff Office spokesman Cpl. Susan Soto, hours after Casey Anthony was sentenced for lying to investigators about the disappearance of her daughter, lightning struck the area of a makeshift memorial where Caylee Anthony's skeletal remains were found dumped.

I found this particularly interesting because when the jury was sent home after their first day of deliberation, a storm blew in with heavy downpour and strong winds.

Am I the only one who senses there may be a message here?

Who Are The Jurors In The Casey Anthony Case?

As with any trial, the members of the jury each bring their own personal experiences, beliefs, and prejudice into the court. This is why the voir dire is so important.

During the voir dire attorneys try to gain as much information as possible from potential jurors. It is the only chance an attorney has to affect the composition of the jury. Jury selection is the only time that they can directly interact with the people who will decide a defendant’s fate.


Here is a brief description of the jurors in the Casey Anthony case.

Let us all hope and pray that at the end of this trial, there will be justice for Caylee once and for all.

Juror 1
White female in 60s
Retired nurse and volunteer counselor.
She is married with two children.
Death penalty stance: “I value life. I also value the criminal justice system

Juror 2
African American male in 30s
An IT Worker
He is married, two children: a daughter that is four and son who is nine.
Death penalty stance: Does not believe in the death penalty. “God is the one that makes the final judgment.

Juror 3
White female, age 32, who has moved back in with her mom
Student in RN program
On a scale of 1 to 10, she rates the death penalty at “a three or a five.”

Juror 4
African American woman, about 40
Occupation Unknown
Prosecution tried to preempt challenge her. Defense objected that she was being eliminated just because of her race. Judge agreed
Plays games like Farmville
Doesn’t watch news
Does not like to judge people by what other people say about them.

Juror 5
White female in her 60s
Retired Nurse’s Aid
She had a DUI in 1998, and her son and grandson both had drug problems.
Death penalty stance: “I guess I believe in the death penalty. I’d have to know a lot of facts before I really considered it.”

Juror 6
White male, aged 33
Chef
He is married with two children, ages six and 21 months.
Could vote for the death penalty; “If the law dictated it, I would be able to follow it.”

Juror 7
White female, 41 years old
Works as administrative assistance in juvenile justice welfare
She maintains that she could vote to recommend the death penalty. “It would be — gosh — a solemn decision, but it is an option under the law.”

Juror 8
White female in 50s
Service rep and former manager for Verizon
She is married with two grown sons in their mid-twenties.
She would have no problem with the death penalty if warranted, provided she had heard “all the facts.”

Juror 9
White male, aged 53
Former Logger.
Has never married.
He supports the death penalty, and could vote to recommend it “in the proper situation.”

Juror 10
White male, aged 57
Verizon Retention Specialist:
Has never married.
His sister, along with her boyfriend, committed a violent crime against their dad. She spent time in prison.
He regards the death penalty as a “necessary option.”"It's set. It's an unfortunate result of actions."


Juror 11
White male in 30s
High school Physical Education and Health Teacher
States the death penalty is a “necessary option.”

Juror 12
White female in 40s
Publix supermarket employee
She has two children and one young grandchild.
Rating the death penalty as ten on a scale of one to ten, she would have no problem deciding on Life without Opportunity for Parole or the death penalty.

Reward Offered For Caylee's Safe Return

1. Caylee Marie Anthony is two years old
2. Last seen: June 9, 2008
3. Reported missing: July 15, 2008
4. Caylee Anthony has shoulder-length, light brown hair
5. Dark hazel (brownish-green) eyes
6. Birthmark on left upper arm
7. Reward: $125,000 offered for safe return of Caylee
8. Mother: Casey Marie Anthony
9. Casey Anthony arrested and charged with child neglect and lying to police
10. According to Casey Anthony's attorney, Caylee may be in Miami, Florida, Charlotte, North Carolina, or Brooklyn, New York

Cindy Anthony, Caylee's grandmother, said she believes her daughter, Casey, when she told her the missing 2-year-old might be with her babysitter.

Problem is, so far, police have been unable to locate Zenaida or even prove that she exists. The apartment where Anthony says she left her daughter a month ago has been vacant - for five months. Anthony’s timeline is “of interest”, say investigators, and while they initially stopped short of calling Casey Anthony a suspect, her lack of interest in her daughter’s whereabouts, her emotionless responses during interviews, and her all of lies lead in one direction despite what Cindy believes.

Cindy Anthony believes that Casey's behavior, including her lack of emotion and conflicting stories, all support the idea she is holding back information to either protect Caylee or the family.

Caylee Anthony Is Still Missing

The mystery surrounding missing child, Caylee Anthony, deepens today. Caylee was originally reported missing two days ago by her grandmother Cindy Anthony. Caylee's Mom, Casey Anthony told police that her daughter had been missing for some 31 days after having been taken by her babysitter.

Investigators brought a cadaver dog back to the Anthony home around noon Friday to check a spot toward the back of the backyard, in an area where there are some bushes. The fact that the dog was on scene is a sign that they haven't seen anything yet, but sometimes the evidence in a case like this might not be visible to the naked eye.

Casey Anthony is being held without bond in the Orange County jail. She's charged with felony child neglect. She had her first appearance in court Thursday, but did not say much to the judge.

Jose Baez, Casey's attorney, said that Casey's first priority is finding her daughter, despite some sensationalized media reports. Baez filed a motion to get her bonded out of jail after a judge denied her first request this week.

Caylee Anthony Missing

This is from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Please help bring Caylee home.

DOB: Aug 9, 2005
Sex: Female
Missing Date: Jun 9, 2008
Race: White
Age Now: 2
Height: 3'1" (94 cm)
Missing City: ORLANDO
Weight: 35 lbs (16 kg)
Missing State : FL
Hair Color: Brown
Missing Country: United States
Eye Color: Hazel
Case Number: NCMC1100742
Circumstances: Both photos shown are of Caylee. She appears to be the physical age of three. Caylee was last seen on June 9, 2008 in the Orlando, Florida area. She was last seen wearing a pink shirt, jean shorts and white sneakers. ANYONE HAVING INFORMATION SHOULD CONTACT National Center for Missing & Exploited Children1-800-843-5678 (1-800-THE-LOST)or the Orange County Sheriff's Office (Florida) 1-407-836-HELP (4357)

At 8:44 p.m. today, July 15, 2008, Cindy Anthony called Orange County 911. After initially reporting that she wanted her 22-year-old daughter arrested for stealing her car, Cindy told the dispatcher, "I have a 3-year-old that's missing for a month."

The dispatcher said she was sending a sheriff's unit to the Anthony's house on Hopespring Drive, just outside the city limits of Orlando.

An hour later, Cindy called 911 again. This time she sounded panicked. "There's something wrong," she told the dispatcher. "I found my daughter's car today. It smells like there's been a dead body in the damn car." Cindy said she had not seen her granddaughter since the middle of June.

In her statement to police Casey said that on June 12 — three days after Caylee disappeared — the primary suspect, Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez, called her, yet in her written statement to police Casey didn't provide any details. "I received a quick call from Zenaida," was all she wrote about that conversation.

Casey explained that she had spent the last month cruising malls and parks, "any place I could remember Zenaida taking Caylee." Casey also said she went to popular bars and restaurants "and tried to find any information about Caylee or Zenaida."

It is very important that this child is found. Someone knows the truth. someone knows where this child is located. If you know please CONTACT National Center for Missing & Exploited Children1-800-843-5678 (1-800-THE-LOST) or the Orange County Sheriff's Office (Florida) 1-407-836-HELP (4357)