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ISSUES WITH JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL

Casey`s Brother Delivers Motive?

Aired June 1, 2011 - 19:00:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HOST (voice-over): Tonight, public hysteria in the Casey Anthony trial. People are stampeding for the hottest ticket in town: to be inside the Anthony courtroom. Today, Casey`s brother Lee was on the hot seat. Prosecutors got him to repeat some of Casey`s many lies, but it was like pulling teeth.

LEE ANTHONY, BROTHER OF CASEY: She said that Caylee was missing, that someone had kidnapped her.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: But is Lee the key to the defense strategy and their claims that the Anthony family covered up Caylee`s death?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you make any further effort to locate yourself?

L. ANTHONY: I don`t believe I did.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there a reason why you did not?

L. ANTHONY: My mom asked me not to.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Plus, what about the million-dollar question? Did Lee molest his sister? Was he asked about that? I`ll have all the shocking testimony, and I`m taking your calls.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

L. ANTHONY: "Where`s your daughter?"

"She`s with the nanny."

"Awesome, that`s great to hear. Hop in the car. We`re going to go get her. Your mom is going to follow. What are you going to do?" And she just looked at me with, really, no reaction.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No reaction?

L. ANTHONY: No. Just...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did she say anything to you after that?

L. ANTHONY: Yes, she did.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What did she say?

L. ANTHONY: At that time she told me that she had not seen Caylee in 31 days, that she had been kidnapped. And that the nanny took her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight, extraordinary testimony at the Casey Anthony murder trial. Today, a seemingly reluctant -- and I would have to say conflicted -- Lee Anthony takes the stand to testify at sister Casey`s murder trial, but the prosecutor quickly discovered it was like pulling teeth trying to get a word out of Lee. Kind of makes you wonder if Casey`s brother was actually a hostile witness.

Lee Anthony didn`t make it easy on prosecutors with his one-word answers, but when Lee finally spit out the words, he did deliver several home runs for the prosecution, including Casey`s ugly reaction when the family demanded to see little Caylee. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you asked your sister, "Why won`t you allow us to see Caylee," what do you recall her saying? What did you say -- what did you tell Detective Edwards that she said?

L. ANTHONY: I told Detective Edwards that she said -- I`m paraphrasing -- "Because maybe I`m a spiteful (EXPLETIVE DELETED)."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes, a "B" word. And could you say awkward? Casey`s attorneys say Lee tried to feel his sister`s breasts when she was a young girl. That subject sure to come up, right? Wrong.

And look at this: murder trial or rock concert? Check out this wild, bizarre scene outside of the courthouse. People stampeding, literally stampeding, to get a seat in the courtroom for this trial. Can you say crazy? Did these people -- that guy`s got a neck brace, one of them. Did they get what they came for?

OK. We`re going to dissect today`s testimony. Inappropriate behavior, people. Inappropriate behavior. Call me: 1-877-JVM-SAYS. That`s 1-877-586-7297.

Straight out to ABC correspondent, Ashleigh Banfield.

Ashleigh, so delighted to have you on tonight. You were in the courtroom today. What was it like in terms of eye contact between Lee and his sister, the defendant, and also juror reaction as Lee Anthony testified today?

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, ABC NEWS: Oh, there was none. I mean, I really watched. I looked, Jane, to see if he was going to look over from the stand at his sister. She looked at him because her eye line is directly towards the stand, but he wouldn`t look over her. And there were so many long, pregnant, uncomfortable pauses during sidebar where he had every opportunity to look over and at least see how his sister was looking. I really only saw him steal a glance about once or twice, and even then, I have to be honest.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, Ashleigh, let`s face it...

BANFIELD: I can`t tell if he was stealing the glance.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Let`s face it. This guy has got to be very angry. His sister accuses him of touching her breasts repeatedly over a number of years. And yet, he doesn`t want to see his sister put to death for that. So he`s -- he`s really conflicted. He`s got to be ambivalent. He hates being there, would you agree?

BANFIELD: I would say that every one of these family members hate every part of the last three years of their lives. I think that`s a pretty fair statement, but I don`t know these family dynamics. I don`t know what`s been going on. And they haven`t been talking either, because she`s been in jail, and all conversations are monitored.

So I don`t know if Lee Anthony walked into that courtroom saying, "You know what? It`s just a strategy to save my sister`s life. It`s just a strategy to save my sister`s life." I really can`t tell you that. I can tell you, it did not look comfortable.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Now today Casey`s brother Lee finally did give the prosecution a motive for why Casey might have wanted to hurt her daughter. Lee says Casey and her mom, Cindy, were at loggerheads, at war over Casey`s parenting. Listen. This is absolutely crucial.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

L. ANTHONY: She told me that my mother had numerous times thrown it in her face, in my sister`s face, that Casey was an unfit mother for Caylee. And that Casey says, "Maybe I am." And I went on to say that my mother had also referenced Caylee as being a mistake but a great mistake, or the best mistake that Casey has ever made.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: OK. Casey Jordan, criminologist, we have been talking about when is the prosecution going to show motive? These comments about this intense friction between Cindy and Casey over little Caylee, do they speak, finally, to a motive to murder?

CASEY JORDAN, CRIMINOLOGIST: OK. Let`s be very clear, Jane, that motive is not an element of the prosecution. Never forget that.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: We all know that. But it certainly helps when you`re going to send somebody to death.

JORDAN: Right. You`re correct. Yes, I`m with you. But the prosecution is buying into the idea that the jury does want a reason. And they have painted this out. It`s kind of a multifaceted theory that they`re presenting.

She wanted this beautiful life, the bella vitae, and it did include partying and it did include having boyfriends and living apart from her parents. But to do that, OK, she has to deal with her mother, because little Caylee adores her mother, Cindy. We have heard that little Caylee began to call Cindy "Mom" occasionally. And Cindy at times was the primary caregiver.

Now, keep in mind, Casey pretends she has a job, but she doesn`t really have a job. How is she going to move out of her parents` house, pay for everything, because her parents have been paying for everything for little Caylee for almost three years, and have the life that she wants?

The prosecution is painting a picture, dot by dot. They`re connecting it all, that the only answer she could see out of breaking that jealous bond that she has with little Caylee who loves Cindy. Cindy loves Caylee, they have this bond. She may or may not have it. But she cannot support herself and get her little daughter away from her mother unless she cures this problem of what to do with little Caylee.

Now you have some motive, and I think that`s what the prosecution is slowly bringing the jury towards.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And I don`t know if they`re doing it enough, because they keep emphasizing over and over again, Mark Eiglarsh, her lies, which are extraordinary, which are pathological, which go on and on, in mind- boggling detail. But being a liar is not the same as being a murderess, and she is charged with four counts of lying to law enforcement. Those little itty bitty counts are not what their prize is. Their prize is murder one, Mark.

MARK EIGLARSH, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Yes. Those lying counts are the pit bull on her toosh, her carotid (ph), essentially. You`re going to hear from the defense exactly what you just said. Lying doesn`t equal first-degree murder. They`ve got to prove this case beyond a reasonable doubt, that it was first-degree murder.

Let me just say this. They`re hoping that you`ve got 12 people who will buy into the concept that, first, the father molested his daughter, and he also created an environment where, under the worst situation, she was able to then go to school and pretend that it didn`t happen. So they`ve got to think that she`s a little whacko to begin with, which would then explain the lies, and all the lies that are pouring in just mean that she was a good liar. What next?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes.

EIGLARSH: Was it a tragic accident? Was this first-degree murder?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I agree.

EIGLARSH: It`s on the...

(CROSSTALK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I think I`ve heard a little too much on the lies, and we`ve got to do a little bit more on the motive, even though I know you don`t have to prove it.

Joanna, Texas, your question or thought. Joanna?

CALLER: Yes. You know, this woman has just put this family through undeniable anguish. And my question is, what is the chance that the jury will come back with a "not guilty" just to keep the family from suffering any further?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, absolutely. Jean Casarez, it`s not just murder one. There`s seven charges, and four of them are lying to law enforcement, but then there`s others that include, I believe, aggravated manslaughter. Could they come back with aggravated manslaughter instead of murder one?

CASAREZ: They could. Aggravated manslaughter of a child. There`s also aggravated child abuse. But here`s what the defense is going to want to do. They`re going to want an instruction to the jury that says, "If you believe this was an accident, you must find the defendant not guilty." They want her to walk out of that courtroom.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. Well, we`re going to have to see. I never predict when it comes to criminal cases. The craziest things can happen.

And we are just getting started. We`ve got more of your calls on the other side. Do you have a question about Casey? We`ve got a team of experts. Call right now: 1-877-JVM-SAYS. Or your theories: 1-877-586- 7297,

We`re coming back with more bombshells from Casey`s brother in just seconds. Look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What was the name that you -- that you received?

L. ANTHONY: Zenaida Fernandez Gonzales.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CINDY ANTHONY, CASEY`S MOTHER: Her favorite doll was in the car seat, sitting where Caylee was at. And then I noticed Caylee`s backpack in the trunk of the car. I took Caylee`s doll out of the car.

Caylee`s doll smelled like the car so I took it out and got a Clorox wipe and wiped the face and the hands, and the body is soft so it smelled pretty bad. So I went and got some -- some Febreeze, and I sprayed the doll.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Casey`s Mom, Cindy Anthony, reliving those horrified moments when she started to realize something happened to her precious granddaughter, Caylee.

Now, contrast that with the defendant`s brother, Lee, on the stand today. Here`s my big issue. Is Lee a reluctant witness? In sharp contrast to Cindy, here is Lee, unemotional and I would have to say even somewhat uncooperative. But decide for yourself. Listen in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BELVIN PERRY, JUDGE: Are you impeaching him?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, your honor. The witness indicated that he didn`t remember and I was merely trying to...

PERRY: ... this deposition and let him read it and then ask him does it refresh his memory.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is the first thing you recall your sister saying upon entering the house?

L. ANTHONY: I don`t remember her exact words. I don`t remember.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your honor, may I approach the witness?

PERRY: You may.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you recall your answer upon being asked that question at the deposition?

L. ANTHONY: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: May I approach the witness, your honor? Do you recall the -- your sister telling you, or talking to you about your mom when you were asking her, what`s going on?

L. ANTHONY: I don`t recall.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your honor, may I approach the witness?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: If I had a nickel for every time he said, "I don`t recall." Jean Casarez, when does a witness go from reluctant to hostile? Did Lee ever cross that line, do you think?

CASAREZ: No, he didn`t cross that line. But I was sitting in the courtroom, and I was like, you can do it. You can do it. It was a slow morning. It was tough to watch, Jane.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: But he doesn`t want to do it. I don`t think he really wants to help prosecutors. That, I think, is the point of it.

CASAREZ: I can`t get inside his mind, but I can tell you the facts. He didn`t remember the things that really incriminated Casey that were said in her bedroom when he was trying to find out the truth.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Do you think, Mark Eiglarsh, that he was prepped by prosecutors? How does that work? Do they have any idea of how he`s going to react when he gets on the stand? Have they been able to prep him, given that he is the sister [SIC] of the defendant?

EIGLARSH: I don`t know if they sat down with him, but the jurors are actually instructed -- there`s a jury instruction in Florida -- that it`s entirely proper for prosecutors to discuss the case in advance with the witness.

Let me say this. I don`t think that his testimony amounts to much either way. The issue now has become, do we know the cause of death? Was this a tragic swimming accident? Drowning accident? Or was this first- degree murder by a means, again, that we have not clearly been laid out by the prosecutor? He doesn`t know.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: There are other -- but there are other issues. Why did Casey lie so much? In his opening statements, Casey`s attorney, Jose Baez, as we all know, accused Casey`s father and brother Lee, who went on the stand today, of molesting Casey. And the prosecution wasted no time at all questioning George about that. Let`s look and listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you ever sexually molested your daughter Casey Anthony?

GEORGE ANTHONY, FATHER OF CASEY: No, sir.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now, prosecutors did not ask Lee the same question today. Why not, Ashleigh Banfield? Casey has accused him of touching her breasts, or trying to.

BANFIELD: In a proffered testimony which means the jury was nowhere near. They didn`t hear any of it. When they talked about the -- the secrets between Casey and her family, about Lee attempting to molest her, this allegation, the jury didn`t hear it. So the jury didn`t know anything other than what Jose Baez has said in his opening statement.

So if I`m the prosecutor, I`m not going anywhere near that. Why bother? So far it`s not in evidence. It`s just his word and no evidence of it. And you know what? You have to go there with George, because George is being accused of getting rid of this body.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. I see what you mean. I see what you mean. They`re not even dignifying it with a question. That`s how I looked at it. The prosecution is marching along toward their destination, and they`re not going to dignify all these, what they would consider...

CASAREZ: They are not going to dignify what the jury hasn`t heard. The jury hasn`t heard it. They don`t need to dignify it. They don`t even need to bring it up. I don`t think that is ever going to see the light of day. It`s really just to preserve things for the record in case of an appeal.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Candy, Florida, your question or thought, ma`am?

CALLER: Yes, thank you for taking my call.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Sure.

CALLER: I have a question about the burden of proof. I understand that, in most cases, the burden of proof is strictly on that of the prosecution and the defense is under no obligation.

However, in a case like Casey`s, where the defense has put forth a plan B, in this case, the drowning incident, are they under obligation to out and out prove that? And how will you...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I think the short answer is -- excuse me ma`am. But good question, Candy. The short answer, Casey Jordan, is no. They could essentially make up any theory they want and present it to the jury.

JORAN: Yes, let`s avoid the word "proof," because the defense doesn`t have to prove anything. Burden of proof is 100 percent on the prosecution to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt. All Jose Baez has to do is raise a reasonable doubt that little Caylee died in accidental drowning. And if he can do that, he could get a "not guilty" verdict.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: A former member of the defense team next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now is the time to tell me, tell me that this is the story you want to stick with.

CASEY ANTHONY, ON TRIAL FOR MURDER: It`s the truth.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who is this babysitter?

CASEY ANTHONY: Her name is Zenaida Fernandez Gonzales.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you know how to spell the first name?

CASEY ANTHONY: Z-E-N-A-I-D-A.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And where did you meet her? Who did you meet her through?

CASEY ANTHONY: Through a friend. His name was Jeffrey Michael Hopkins. I met him at Nickelodeon Universal.

They showed up to the apartment, knock on the door, nobody answers. So I call Zenaida`s cell phone, and it`s out of service.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you cause an injury to your daughter, Caylee?

CASEY ANTHONY: No, sir.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you hurt Caylee and leave her somewhere and worry that, if we find that out, that we`re going to look at you in the wrong way?

CASEY ANTHONY: No, sir.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: That was Casey Anthony`s voice, her interrogation tapes played in open court, as Casey listens to her own voice. Now, they start out with Casey saying, "I`m telling the truth," and then Casey`s dodges with lie after lie after lie.

With me is Linda Kenney Baden, Casey`s former defense attorney.

LINDA KENNEY BADEN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Hi.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Linda, do you think that the prosecution`s -- how you doing? The prosecution is focusing too much on the lies, given that the defense in the opening statements admitted, "Hey, our client is a pathological liar"?

BADEN: I think they`re falling into that, Jane. They`re trying the case they thought they had, not the case that is being put forward.

And you know what? But they had to know that she lied. Look, on her testimony today that said the child -- she told them that the child went missing June 8 or June 9. That was so clearly a lie, it`s almost like when a person comes forward and says, you know, "I did this high-profile crime" and then gives a false confession. It was so clearly a lie that it was like someone saying, "This is a lie." You know, it`s like a clue that there`s something not quite right.

Well, others are saying that Casey has to take the stand because nobody is backing up her story that, "Oh, it was an accident. The reason I lied is because I was molested." She`s going to have to take the stand and sell that to the jury.

BADEN: I`m not sure she will. I don`t think that`s a decision that would have been made yet. It`s a possibility, certainly, given Jose Baez`s opening statement.

But, remember, it`s the prosecution`s burden of proof to prove how this child died, and we all remember there`s a tragedy underlying here. But you don`t want to compound the tragedy by convicting somebody of what she may not have done. If she did something wrong, convict her of what she did do wrong.

And here, they admit that there`s a drowning. And the question is going to become, is that accidental drowning accident, negligence, or is it criminal manslaughter?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Or did Casey Anthony murder her daughter intentionally and then lie again and say, "Oh, it was an accidental drowning."

BADEN: You know, the jury -- the jury is going to have to figure all that out.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Of course.

BADEN: But you know, it doesn`t make any sense, right? I mean, she`s not going to notice that the child was missing. You know, she`s going to walk around? If I cut off my left arm and I was bleeding, somebody would notice. I couldn`t say, you know, you may find it somewhere. I mean, it doesn`t make any sense.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Let me ask you about this. This trial has become a wild obsession for court watchers. You`ve got to check out these people trying to get into court, 5:30 this morning. Look at this. What is going on here, Linda Kenney Baden? Why this wild obsession?

BADEN: Well, it is because everybody that is involved in this case, all the discovery was released an, as we get into it, we find we still don`t have the answers. What happened between 7 a.m. and 1 p.m. on June 16 three years ago? That`s really what everyone wants to find out. It`s a mystery, and it`s gotten us all, because a little child has died. We all love that face.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Love you, Linda. Come back soon. More on the other side with Casey.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

L. ANTHONY: "Where`s your daughter?"

"She`s with the nanny."

"That`s great to hear. Hop in the car, we`re going to go get her. Your mom`s going to follow. What are you going to do?" And she just looked at me with really no reaction.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With no reaction?

L. ANTHONY: Well just --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What did she say after you went to this place?

L. ANTHONY: If she did?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What did she say.

L. ANTHONY: At that time she told me that she had not seen Caylee in 31 days; that she had been kidnapped. And that the nanny took her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Casey Anthony`s brother on the stand today probably not doing Casey any favors with his testimony, but still it`s obvious he does not want her to be put to death. She`s his sister, after all. And they go way back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

L. ANTHONY: CMA, I miss you; I love you. CMA, I am so proud of you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You may have your seat.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you. Please tell the court your name?

L. ANTHONY: Lee Alexander Anthony.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m assuming you were not speaking to me just now.

L. ANTHONY: Absolutely not.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I didn`t think so.

How are you related to the defendant, Casey Marie Anthony?

L. ANTHONY: She is my sister.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSE BAEZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY FOR CASEY ANTHONY: And you`ll hear evidence that Casey has a brother and he, too, wanted to follow in his father`s footsteps and on certain occasions when he was a teenager, and attempted to also touch his sister, although it didn`t go as far.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: The defense is trying to paint George Anthony as a cover-up artist who knew all along his granddaughter was dead. And we`re going to talk in a moment about whether Lee actually helped point the finger at his father George.

But first, I want to go out to Beth Karas, "In Session" correspondent. And ask, Beth, everybody is talking about will they find her guilty or not guilty of murder. But guess what, when you look at the charges, she is facing seven charges. Four of them have to do with lying to cops, which obviously I think that`s home run. But they could also find her guilty of manslaughter, aggravated manslaughter of a child and aggravated child abuse.

So I`m starting to wonder, are they really making the case for first- degree murder here? Or could this jury come back and do something that nobody has really talked about, give her aggravated manslaughter of a child, which is not the death penalty?

BETH KARAS, CORRESPONDENT, "IN SESSION": Absolutely. They could do that. That`s if they find her not guilty of the first-degree murder and any lesser charges to that because they will be instructed on lesser included charged.

But the aggravated manslaughter charge is not a lesser included charge of the first degree murder. It`s a separate count. So they could say, you know what, forget the murder and anything under it. We`re going to find her guilty of the manslaughter but there could be -- there will be a manslaughter underneath the murder as well as second degree murder.

So there will be a lot for the jury to consider. I do not think this is going to be a quick deliberation.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I don`t think it`s going to be a quick trial either. But they are moving pretty fast through the key dramatic witnesses.

Now, as I mentioned, the defense wants to prove or at least open up the possibility that George Anthony was this cover-up artist who knew all along that his granddaughter was dead because they claim he actually discovered the child drowned in the swimming pool, the family above-ground pool. And that`s why he wasn`t hysterical the way his wife Cindy was when they found out, whoa, "there`s been a kidnapping," quote-unquote.

Let`s take a look at how Cindy reacts when first hearing that Caylee has been missing for 31 days. Check it out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CINDY ANTHONY, MOTHER OF CASEY ANTHONY: Casey was on the floor crying and I overheard her tell Lee that Caylee had been gone for 31 days.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Dripping with emotion, now let`s hear what the defense got Lee to say about the reaction of his father George at the same moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When your father arrived prior to the police, he did not go into Casey`s room and say, "What is going on, what is wrong," did he?

L. ANTHONY: I don`t believe so.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There were no questions that your father asked you prior to arriving?

L. ANTHONY: Not that I don`t recall, no.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Criminal defense attorney Midwin Charles, could George`s lack of apparent upset and hysteria create reasonable doubt in some juror`s mind, which is all it takes, making them believe, well, maybe it`s possible that the child drowned and George knew it all along, that`s why he didn`t get hysterical when Cindy did?

MIDWIN CHARLES, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I doubt it. You know, I`ve always said that everyone reacts differently to trauma and to news. I don`t think that that in and of itself is going to be the slam dunk that allows the jurors to think that Jane. There`s got to be a lot more than that.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Ok. Well, is there something else --

MARK EIGLARSH, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: But it`s a step in the right direction. It`s a step in the right direction.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: It is.

EIGLARSH: Let me just say this. You`ve got --

CHARLES: It might be. It might be. But a step in the right direction is not going to get you all the way there.

(CROSSTALK)

EIGLARSH: That`s true. But you also have Lee talking about the father having another set of keys which then puts some access to the vehicle. Again, these are little pieces that they are bringing together. That his demeanor was entirely different than her, you`ve got Deputy Fletcher today, Acevedo, all testifying that George was calm, relaxed, and quiet and Cindy was upset, hysterical, asking questions. He was not.

I`m not saying that leads to an acquittal but those are pieces of the puzzle that the defense is putting together. And don`t take your eye off the defense on this one.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Right. I agree. And you just saw the video there of Lee -- excuse me -- George spraying protesters at his house with water. So we know he can get upset when he feels that he has reason to be upset.

EIGLARSH: Right.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And they are probably going to bring that video in.

Now, Jose Baez also made a stunning attempt to cast doubt on the credibility of the lead detective in this case. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BAEZ: Did you ever go by any other names other than Yuri Melich (ph)?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sustained.

BAEZ: Did you ever go by the name of Dick Tracy Orlando?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sustained. Next question.

BAEZ: Judge, may we approach?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, sir.

BAEZ: I`d like to be able to show the relevance of this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ok. You can approach.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Dick Tracy Orlando -- this is something out of a comic. Jose was hoping to bring up the fact that this particular cop had started a blog, where he wrote relatively innocuous things like, "Thank you for keeping Caylee on the forefront, we are all working for her. Please continue to keep the Anthony family in your prayers". And he used apparently the moniker Dick Tracy Orlando.

He was reprimanded by the supervisors.

Casey Jordan, Jose wasn`t allowed to go further with that but there is always a cop who does something a little idiotic in every one of these big cases. And this apparently is the one. Why would a lead detective start blogging about this case?

CASEY JORDAN, CRIMINOLOGIST: The short answer is that Yuri Melich broke his leg in three places during a training exercise and he was laid up in bed for weeks and weeks and weeks. So, what did he do? He got on the computer and he`s following the Casey Anthony case, the investigation. Of course, he`s close to it and he finds that people are blogging about this case and they are very complementary of him.

Now that`s his down fall. He gets a little bit suckered because everyone is praising him and telling him how great he is. So he jumps in and thanks them for being his fans. But all of his comments were innocuous. He didn`t give away anything confidential from the investigation.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: It doesn`t matter. It opens up -- just for him to be able to say that in court, the jurors heard that, Dick Tracy Orlando. Now they can be wondering, who is Dick Tracy Orlando?

(CROSSTALK)

JORDAN: Yes. He was reprimanded.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Exactly.

Nancy, Florida, your question or thought, Nancy?

NANCY, FLORIDA (via telephone): yes. In all of this I`ve heard everyone say that in Casey`s lies there`s a tad bit of truth on which they are all based. My thinking is that on the 16th, after George went to work, Casey took Caylee back to the house. She did get in the pool with the child. The child probably drowned at that time, perhaps was making some gurgling noises -- excuse my comment -- that maybe Casey did not know what to do, panicked, put the duct tape over the mouth and that`s when she tried to call the parents, maybe around 4:00 --

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Nancy, Florida, you`re making a good point. I`ve got to go to Midwin Charles on this. We have studied this case so we know all about the lies. People who don`t necessarily know all about the lies, I`ve talked to a lot of people who are watching this trial for the first time. They are much more likely to buy the defense argument of the accidental drowning than us hard-core Casey Anthony trial followers or case followers.

CHARLES: You know, that`s a very good question. Because I think we are all -- at least who have followed this case from the very beginning understand how much this woman lies and how everything that comes out of her mouth cannot be trusted.

I know for one, as soon as I heard that defense, I kind of was astonished because now they`re going to be married to that, at least to a certain extent. After all, they don`t have to prove that. They are the defendants here.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes, but once again, I`m going to remind everybody, I have all of the charges right in front of me. Four of them are lying to cops; and that would be a horrific defeat for the prosecution if all they`ve got was lying to cops.

Got to go back to Beth Karas; you`ve covered so many of these trials. Part of it is that we are expecting everything, like a movie, to be in the first hour and a half and then we have the whole story. How long could this thing go on, this trial?

KARAS: Well, the judge has -- we talked to the lawyers about it today and Linda Drane-Burdick (ph), the prosecutor said that they are halfway through their witnesses for this initial case in chief. So it could be at least two more weeks but then there`s a defense case and maybe state rebuttal and maybe a penalty case. So we`re still looking at three or four weeks, I think.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Ok. Stay with HLN for all the courtroom action in the Casey Anthony trial. Hear Nancy Grace`s take on Lee Anthony`s testimony. I`m going to catch it. I hope you are. Coming up at 8:00 p.m. Eastern.

And everybody, stick around because we`ve got a whole lot more to get through: some of the amazing things that Lee said about the smell of the car and, oh, the war between these two. It`s unbelievable.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

L. ANTHONY: She told me that she was in Jacksonville.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When she told you she was in Jacksonville, what was your response?

L. ANTHONY: I knew it was a lie.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you recall anything specific about the laptop itself?

L. ANTHONY: Yes. It was on but it was like a blue screen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you computer savvy?

L. ANTHONY: Yes, sir.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you saw that blue screen, what did that indicate to you?

L. ANTHONY: Virus. Something was wrong.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you attempt to reboot or to fix the computer as Mr. Lazzaro?

L. ANTHONY: I did attempt to reboot it. As soon as I did it, it went to that same blue screen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Fascinating new information from Casey`s brother Lee, being questioned by prosecutors about Casey`s laptop computer. The laptop was among a bunch of things that Lee picked up from Casey`s then boyfriend Tony Lazzaro`s house on July 15th or 16th when all hell broke loose. So obviously, the implication, Casey Jordan criminologist, is that Casey had been trying to destroy evidence.

JORDAN: That is absolutely the inference. And it was fascinating. It was something I`ve never heard before. And knowing that the police in their forensic investigation of the Anthony`s family computer at the residence, found these Google searches for shovel, neck breaking, chloroform and so on, I`m sure that laptop was of tremendous interest to the police.

But it`s interesting, did Lee find it that way? Well, I often wonder, we`ll never know the answer to this. Did he say he found it that way or did he get the computer and did he blank it out since he admits he knows something about computers?

(CROSSTALK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: You sound like you work for the defense now.

CASEY: Listen, I can play it either way. I just find it fascinating that that computer could be absolutely destroyed when Lee finds it over at Tony`s.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes, exactly. You`re right now that I think about it. It makes you wonder. And you also have to wonder what is going through Casey`s mind as she listens to her parents and her brother testify for the prosecution.

You have to check out this video of Casey from Saturday afternoon. This is after the jurors have left the courtroom for a mid-morning break and Casey has what looks like a total melt down. Look at her. She`s crying. She`s gesturing wildly to her attorney.

Now, Cindy has said she stopped looking for Zanny the nanny six weeks ago. Presumably that`s when Cindy learned about her daughter`s new defense strategy that the child died accidentally in the swimming pool and Cindy`s husband George molested her and that`s why she lied.

Is it possible that Casey is so upset right there because she had no idea what her mother would say on the stand? She hasn`t talked to her recently and maybe she was hoping that her mom would lie for her and say, well, yes, maybe I did leave that ladder down so that that little girl could have gone up there and drowned in the pool. Because Cindy says she is almost 100 percent sure she did not leave the ladder in a position where little Caylee could climb up into that pool and drowned on her own. I`ll throw that to Midwin Charles.

CHARLES: I`m still bewildered by all of this. I just don`t see a jury is going to believe -- at least, I know it has to do with interjecting reasonable doubt but this is Florida. Children tend to drown in pools all the time. In fact, it`s one of the leading causes of death for small children.

Why the cover-up? Why go through all of this if a small child really did drown in a pool? It just is not something I think the jury is going to believe.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Now, after the prosecution was done with Lee, listen to this, the defense tries to back up its claim that George is part of a conspiracy to cover up the accidental death of little Caylee.

Listen to Casey`s lawyers ask Lee about the car. Ok? George and Casey`s car. Listen carefully.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A Pontiac Sun Fire that was in the garage on the 15th, that was the car that Casey drove. Is that correct?

L. ANTHONY: Correct.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And your father had an extra set of keys to that car, didn`t he?

L. ANTHONY: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And the set of keys that would have allowed him to access the vehicle as well as the trunk? Correct?

L. ANTHONY: Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Significance -- Mark Eiglarsh?

EIGLARSH: Absolutely. You`ve got to put the keys in the hand of the guy that you`re claiming put the body in the car. Huge point -- blockbuster for the defense, I think.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Oh, please.

EIGLARSH: Oh, I just wanted to say blockbuster.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Casey is the one who has been driving around -- I know you did -- I`ll say bombshell, then. Listen, Casey`s the one that has been driving around with that car. And that`s been established. So I don`t buy it.

More, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On the date listed above June 9, 2008 after dropping Caylee off at Zenaida`s apartment I proceeded to head to my place of employment, Universal Studios, Orlando. I have worked at Universal for over four years since June of 2004.

I left work around 5 p.m. and went back to the apartment to pick up my daughter. However after reaching the apartment I realized that neither Zenaida, Caylee or either of her two roommates were home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: That was the lead detective investigating little Caylee`s disappearance reading a haunting police report. That`s Casey Anthony, ok. It was written by Casey Anthony herself and it is a statement that is totally chockfull of lies -- imaginary people, imaginary places.

And, again, you got to wonder, is the prosecution putting too much emphasis on the lying?

Bill, Virginia, your question or thought, sir.

BILL, VIRGINIA: Yes, hi. It`s good to talk to you. I had a question in reference to George Anthony; the defense is accusing him of sexually abusing his daughter. And I was wondering if he`s cleared of that and she`s found guilty can he turn around and sue the defense for defamation of character and --

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Excellent.

EIGLARSH: No.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Beth Karas, correspondent, can you address that?

KARAS: Well, I don`t believe that he can sue them, assuming they have a good faith basis for alleging it. And the statute of limitations hasn`t passed. He could still be charged with it.

But a lot of people are talking and opinions are divided about whether he actually could take action. I don`t believe he can. But there may be others who disagree with that. Casey has to get on the stand.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Actually thought at one point it was kind of, my fear is it`s a family affair because they know the prosecution doesn`t believe the defense story so that they could basically throw themselves under the bus enough to get reasonable doubt knowing that George is never going to be prosecuted for something that prosecution doesn`t think he did -- Mark Eiglarsh.

EIGLARSH: Yes. We have immunity down here in Florida and most places around the country; as long as you`re advancing a defense, no lawsuit. Yes, he still could be prosecuted theoretically, but your star witness is someone the government wants to execute. I think it`s rather unlikely.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now, a question. Is Casey`s family making money off of this horror story? Listen to what Jose Baez asked Cindy Anthony yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BAEZ: Have you sold photographs of your daughter and your granddaughter for $20,000 to CBS in this case?

CINDY ANTHONY: My old attorney, Brad Conway set that up so that he could get paid.

BAEZ: And you paid him the entire $20,000?

CINDY ANTHONY: No, a portion of that.

BAEZ: How much did you keep?

CINDY ANTHONY: I had to pay bills with that. He got 6,000.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. So they sold some pictures. I believe it was during the time that they thought little Caylee was alive and they thought maybe getting those pictures out would help her.

But TMZ is reporting that Casey Anthony herself owes almost $70,000 in unpaid taxes (AUDIO GAP) the year her daughter vanished. How would an unemployed young woman make enough money to owe $68,000 in taxes? What`s the implication? Well, there`s an old saying, you do the math.

All right. Hang on, we`re not done. More analysis in just a moment. Stay here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I guess that officially qualifies this as the trial of this new century.

I have to say, Beth Karas, you`re down there on the ground. I`ve never seen anything like this. And I`ve covered a lot of big trials in Los Angeles -- Michael Jackson, the molestation trial. I never even saw these kind of stampedes with the O.J. Simpson trial. What`s going on?

KARAS: There`s a place where people have to wait. Then at a certain time they can to rush to get into the line. And the first 50 are going to get seats in the courtroom. Now, some additional seats occasionally open up. So these people are running from one area to another to be among the first 50. It is pretty wild, though.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Don`t they realize this is a murder trial? Guys, I`m impressed by your interest in justice, but inappropriate.

Nancy Grace next.

END