Right after lunch break, Casey Anthony's defense team tried, unsuccessfully, to prevent testimony coming in from the Anthony's neighbor, Brian Burner, regarding the shovel that Casey Anthony borrowed from him. They cited that it was irrelevant to this case (WTF?), but Judge Perry denied the objection.
Moving on...
NEIGHBOR'S TESTIMONY (BRIAN BURNER)
Next up is one of the Cindy/George & Casey Anthony's neighbors, who also lives on Hopespring Drive, is a truck driver and lives with his wife, two sons and 10 year old daughter. He testified that on June 16th he came home from work and was starting his week-long vacation. While inside his home, he saw Casey backing up her car into the driveway, and then into the garage. Although he'd never seen Casey do this before, he didn't think it was odd to back up a car into a garage. On the 18th of June, he was outside in his front yard doing some gardening. Casey approached him around 1:30pm and said she wanted to borrow a shovel to dig up a bamboo root. He gave her the shovel and then she walked back into her garage. About one hour later, Casey returned the shovel to him. Casey appeared normal, not upset in any way. She never mentioned Caylee, nor that she was missing.
Then on either the 19th or 20th of June, around 3pm, he saw Casey's car backed into the garage again.
Other than the shovel incident, this neighbor has never had any contact nor conversation with Casey Anthony.
JOSE BAEZ CROSS-EXAMINATION:
Jose started by saying that this neighbor gave his statement given to law enforcement on July 17th, 2008, right when the media attention started. Do you recall that you gave this statement on the 17th? Jose said that during his initial statement to police, he said that he wasn't sure when he had seen Casey's car backing into the garage. Jose tried to get the neighbor to say that police influenced his statement regarding the date he saw Casey's car. The neighbor denied it. Jose had the neighbor admit that he didn't always watch to see how Casey parked her car. He asked the neighbor if Casey was sweaty, like she was trying to dig a ditch. The neighbor's answer was no, she didn't.
PROSECUTION RE-DIRECT:
The prosecution had the neighbor testify that he witnessed another incident, for which he saw some unknown vehicle that he saw parked in the Anthony driveway. He heard a male's voice around 1pm, and when he looked out his window he saw Casey but didn't get a clear view of the male. The neighbor remembered that this particular incident happened the week after June 20th.
NEXT WITNESS, JAMIE REALANDER
This young lady is 22 years old and is moving to Indiana to work at a hotel. Her testimony also centered around the months of May - June 2008. At that time she was working at Rosen Hotels, at the Golf Clubs in Shingle Creek.
She met Casey Anthony through a friend at Fusion Nightclub. She was introduced to Casey by her friend Jenna Prentiss. When she first met Casey in late May, she found her to be happy and nice. At one point she was employed by Fusion as a "shot girl".
On June 20th, she was not working as a shot girl. On June 27th she was working as a shot girl. She saw Casey Anthony and understood her to be the one to go to if any of the shot girls had any questions. Questions such as where to go, what stations to report to, etc. On June 20th, she did attend Fusion, but not as a shot girl. She remembered the "hot body" contest that night. A photograph was shown of this witness, shown leaning over, close to Casey Anthony as Casey was on stage dancing with another girl. Jamie was unaware that Casey had a daughter, but was aware that Casey was involved with Tony Lazzaro.
ON JULY 15TH, Jamie spoke to Casey on the phone. She told Jamie that she was preparing to leave work to go to Universal and then she was going to pick up her daughter. She also said that her daughter's birthday was next month, and that Jamie was going to be invited to her daughter's birthday party.
When asked by the prosecution, she confirmed that Casey never told her that Caylee was missing, that she was kidnapped, etc.
JOSE BAEZ CROSS-EXAMINATION:
Jose asked Jamie if there was any mention of Caylee on the night of the hot body contest at Fusion. Jose had her confirm that Casey was nice, made sure that the shot girls were ok, and Casey was a protector to prevent bad things from happening to the girls. Other than that, she had no information on how Caylee died.
NEXT WITNESS: ERICA GONZALEZ
Erica is a 22 year old mom who used to work at Fusion nightclub, as a shot girl, during the time of June 2008. (Note: Jose Baez objected to the photos of Casey at Fusion again, and it was noted but denied). Erica met Casey at Fusion via Jenna Prentiss. She knew of Casey's relationship with Tony. Casey was considered the shot girl's manager, and if anything happened to the girls, Casey protected them.
The only time that Erica heard that Casey had a child was one night when she associated taking care of the shot girls was similar to her taking care of her child. Erica never heard anything else about Casey's child; never heard her name, age, etc.
One time Erica did speak with Casey on the phone about meeting up, but she was heading to the airport to pick someone up. After learning that her child was missing, Erica offered her help to Casey and proceeded to make flyers at her job for 'Have you seen Caylee'. Casey said that the last time she saw Caylee was with the nanny.
Then the prosecutor asked if Erica could give him her phone number. She said yes, and then rattled off her phone number. That ended the questioning. Jose objected, but the judge told him to move it along.
JOSE BAEZ'S CROSS-EXAMINATION
He had her restate that Casey was a nice, helpful person. And that she could not tell the jury how Caylee died.
--- BRIEF RECESS ---
Judge Perry read a note from the jury, that said: 'To whom it may concern... We have no objection to working on Monday, Memorial Day, and in fact we'd prefer to.'
ANTHONY LAZZARO'S TESTIMONY
Anthony is 24 years old and now lives on Long Island, New York. He lived in Orlando while he attended Full Sail University. He graduated with a Bachelors degree in Music Business.
He is currently working at Best Buy and is interning at a record label.
During the months of May - July 2008, he lived in an apartment complex called Sutton Place.
(Side note: Every once in a while the camera focuses on Casey, who looks a bit coward... a look I've never seen on her face before. It wasn't really obvious, but I saw a definite change in her demeanor from when the others were testifying. It appears that Tony still has an affect on Casey, even after all this time).
He explained how he DJ'd and started a small company with his roommate Clint, focusing on making money from the nightlife, as DJs and promoters. They called their little company: DBC Entertainment. Their first engagement was with Fusion, which started at the end of May, 2008. Anthony owns a 1997 Jeep Cherokee.
In May 2008, he met Casey Anthony initially on Facebook. When he saw her picture on Facebook, he found her attractive and initiated contact. The first time they met in person was at his friend's birthday party at the end of May. He made it a Facebook "Event" and invited Casey along with a lot of other Facebook friends. When he first saw Casey, he thought that she appeared to be a pretty girl and they "hit it off". He continued that they started to see each other more often. He said that she would come to his apartment, initially a couple times a week. She would bring Caylee with her to his apartment, but at no time did Caylee ever stay overnight.
On June 2, they went down to the pool at Anthony's apartment complex.
One time there was a party for Troy Brown, on the 4th of June, at Club Voyage. Casey drove Anthony and two others to the party.
Casey told him that she worked at Universal Studios as an Event Planner. He remembered seeing her come in from "work" wearing a Universal badge around her neck.
At the beginning of their relationship, Casey told him that Caylee's babysitter was called "Zanny". He said that Casey told him that Caylee was cared for by both her mother and this Zanny babysitter, but he couldn't recall any set schedule for times when either person cared for Caylee.
Questioning then centered around Fusion nightclub activities. A photograph of himself and Casey Anthony, seated together. Casey was wearing a black top. This photograph was taken on June 13th (Jose objected and asked for a sidebar regarding photographs being shown; Judge Perry overruled Jose's objections).
On June 13th, Anthony said that it was the first night that Casey spent the night at his apartment. On June 16th, he went to Blockbuster Video with Casey. Prior to the video which was taken at Blockbuster Video, Judge Perry read a formal letter that was provided by Blockbuster Video corporate that the video was taken by a Blockbuster Video on July 16, 2008 at 19:54 hours (Jose Baez objected to the video being shown and was overruled by the judge). The video was shown, which showed Casey and Anthony walking into Blockbuster Video. Anthony had his arm around Casey and they strolled over to look at videos to rent. He described Casey as being happy, happy to see him, "having a grand ol' time". just as she had been any other day. She never acted scared, nervous. She never said that her daughter was missing, not that anything had happened to her; nothing was different this time than any other time he had seen her. Casey stayed over that night, and then every following night after that. He never saw any of Caylee's clothes nor toys after that time. On this night, he didn't remember her speaking of Caylee. He said that he cared for Casey, and he felt that the relationship was going well. He spent the following day with her, he played hooky from school, and decided to spend the day with her. They stayed in his bedroom on June 17th. She appeared happy to be with him that day. She never indicated that there was anything wrong with her, nor her daughter. She didn't call anyone that day (in his presence). He said that on the 18th, he went to class. He wasn't sure what Casey did that day. He understood that she had a job.
Casey told him that she was going to either live in the Anthony home with Amy Heizenga, because he heard that her parents were moving out, and if that didn't work out, they were going to move into an apartment. Casey never mentioned her relationships with her parents. On June 20th, he went to Fusion, where there was a "hot body" contest. It was a last minute decision. When he got there, there were enough people to have the hot body contest. Casey was asked to participate in the contest by someone other than Anthony. When she told him that she was going to participate, he hesitated for a bit, but said that "hey if you want to do it, do it". His role in this showcase was to make sure nothing got out of hand; basically head security. He did not entertain.
A photograph was shown of the hot body contest as it was going on. Casey is seen wearing a blue dress, smiling as Roy House is singing in a microphone (Jose objected to the photograph being shown; he was overruled... again). When asked, he said that Casey's demeanor was the same as it had been all the other times before. She never said that there was something wrong with her or Caylee. Afterwards, Casey went home with him.
On June 23rd, Casey informed him that she had run out of gas. He was at home. When she called him she didn't sound frantic, scared. He went to get her and picked her up as she was walking on a street. She was wearing a backpack. After picking her up, she asked that he drive her to her house to get some gas. When they got there, he parked his green jeep in the driveway. They went into the garage and they went into the backyard, but he cannot remember being inside the Anthony home. They went to a shed. When they got there, they had to open it up and there was a lock at which point they broke the lock with a tire iron from his truck. He had concerns about breaking the lock, and asked if she was sure it was ok to break the lock, and she said it's ok because it was her shed. They took the two gas cans, put them inside his truck and then drove to where her car was.
When they reached her car, Casey put the gas in her car. She put the gas cans in her trunk. When she opened the trunk, he could not see inside the trunk. Afterwards, they went to his apartment. Her mood was ok, and they spent the rest of the evening together.
Whenever Casey answered a phone call, she always went outside to talk. He found it a little odd that she always took the calls outside. He said that there were times that she said that she was going to call the babysitter, but she always went outside to make calls.
On June 27th, Casey ran out of gas again. It was mid-day. She was at an Amscot, at the end of Golden Rod Road. He went to pick her up, never getting out of her car. She had bags of groceries with her. She got into the car, saying the car broke down again. When he asked if she wanted him to take a look at her car, she responded by saying that her father was going to take care of it. After picking her up, they went to his apartment. They went to Fashion Square mall, and went to JC Penney's.
Judge Perry read a letter: The copy of the video surveillance taken on June 27th at JC Penney's is a true and accurate representation. It should be considered true in your deliberations. Jose objected but was overruled and the video was admitted into evidence. The video showed Casey buying merchandise and paying with a card.
After going to the mall, he never saw Casey's car again.
Another picture was shown, with him and Casey, and he recognized that it was taken on June 27, 2008. Casey is standing in front, wearing a low-cut black dress, and she had a long necklace. Anthony was standing behind her. Casey had a big smile on her face. She didn't appear sad, angry, no change in her demeanor. She never indicated that Caylee was missing.
On June 30th, Anthony took a short trip home. Casey drove him to the airport. She also drove Cameron to the airport, as he was going to visit his home in Ohio. Casey was driving Anthony's jeep. He never expected her to use his car while he was gone. When he asked about her car, Casey said that her father had taken it to get it fixed at a car dealership or repair shop. When asked, Anthony pointed out Casey sitting at the defense table. Casey and Jose Baez stood up for the identification. Anthony came back from his trip on July 5th.
JOSE BAEZ CROSS-EXAMINATION
First questions to Anthony by Jose Baez was whether he realized that Casey was standing trial for a first degree murder case. Anthony answered yes. Jose continued with the question of whether Anthony knew that Casey was facing the death penalty. Anthony answered yes. After the second question, you could see Anthony's demeanor change a bit from one of being confident to being a bit saddened. The prosecution quickly stepped in and objected, at which point the judge sustained their objection, but the damage to Anthony's mood had been effected.
Trying to diffuse the photographs and videos shown, Jose referred to each photograph or video and then he asked questions like: Did Casey tell you that she was planning to murder someone. Answer: No. He asked if she had gathered any weapons. Answer: No. Guns? No. And looking at this other photograph from Fusion, did she talk about murdering Caylee? Did she wear a gun? Did she borrow any duct tape from anyone? Did she borrow anything that indicated that she would use to murder someone? At JC Penney, did she buy any weapons? No. Did she go to the Sporting Goods section and buy any guns? No. And at Blockbuster, did she buy any guns? No. Did she talk about murdering someone? No. Did she buy any duct tape? No.
Then Jose asked Anthony whether he observed Casey being a good mother to Caylee. He answered yes. Did she ever discipline Caylee? One time when Caylee got too close to the pool, Casey disciplined Caylee with "Stop, Stop".
At one point Jose Baez asked if Casey had told Anthony that her father had abused her. Before the prosecution objected (and it was sustained), Anthony said "Yes". It remained sustained because it was deemed to be "self serving" by the judge.
Jose pointed out that Anthony was very cooperative with law enforcement. He wouldn't speak with the defense, unless at deposition. He cooperated with their every request. He wore a wire, allowed the tapping of his phone. He gave numerous sworn statements (five to be exact). However, he NEVER sold any photographs nor made money off of anything from this case.
When Jose asked if when Anthony went to get the gas cans from the shed, he did that because Casey couldn't. Anthony's response was that no, she could have broken the lock in his opinion, but she was a girl and he was the guy, and he's the one who should have been the one to do it. So he did it for her.
Jose then asked to introduce a photograph, which has not been shown to the prosecution, stating that it would be a hardship to Anthony Lazzaro, who now lives in New York, to come back to Orlando to testify again. Side bar was called and both sides are seen arguing their positions, about this last minute evidence, to the judge. Oh how I wish I could be a fly on that wall! Jose brought in Cheney Mason to help with their reasoning to bring it in at the last minute. It looks like the judge is a bit perturbed, but then Cheney looks to be reading from something. Linda Drane Burdick jumped in to see if she could help, but was shoo'd away by Jeff Ashton from the prosecution. This is a long sidebar argument. To me, this looks like a clear case of ambush, but let's see what the judge decides... It looks like the defense submitted two photographs into evidence, but was not allowed to be shown to the jury at this time.
Jose made Anthony admit that when Casey's car "broke down" on June 27th, it was not a case of the car actually broken down, but had merely run out of gas.
At this point in the questioning of Anthony Lazzaro, Jose had another 20 minutes of additional cross-examination questions, so the judge recessed the court until tomorrow morning at 9am est.
Good night.
When asked, he could not remember his phone number, because he's changed it so many times.
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