Court came back to order this morning at 9am (est). Prosecution attorney, Frank George, took charge of the early morning questioning, which consisted of former roommates of Casey's ex-boyfriend, Tony Lazzaro. There was also a young lady who was brought in as a witness for the Prosecution, who was a former girlfriend of one of these roommates. The prosecution's questioning appeared to establish that Casey Anthony lied about her job, the nanny, Casey appeared happy and fine during the time Caylee was "missing"/dead, and that no one saw Caylee Anthony after June 16th.
1ST WITNESS - CAMERON CAMPANA (TONY LAZARRO'S ROOMMATE)
Cameron testified that Casey appeared to him to be a regular, happy, normal, average 22 year old girl. He said that she brought Caylee to the apartment regularly, and that she moved in with Tony middle to late June, 2008. He met Caylee 3-4 times prior to Caylee's disappearance. He said that although Casey spent the night with Tony Lazarro, Caylee never spent the night at their apartment. He understood that Casey worked at Universal Studios as an Event Coordinator. One time she said that she was going to get Red Carpet Batman premiere tickets, but that never happened. Cameron also testified that he was in the apartment when Lee Anthony came to get Casey's cell phone, on the night that Casey left with her mother and Amy Huzienga. He said that when he had returned from school on July 15th, he heard from his Tony and Nathan (another roommate of Tony'ss) that Caylee was reported as being missing. A little later that evening, Casey's brother Lee, came to the apartment to pick up a bag of Casey's clothes. He said that he told Lee that he had heard about Caylee's disappearance and offered his help if there occurred a need.
The only question that Jose Baez asked Mr. Campana during cross-examination, was "Were you in Casey's home on June 16th, 2008 when Caylee drowned?" Mr. Campana's answer: "No". The prosecution objected to the question but was overruled by the judge. No further questions were asked of this witness.
2ND WITNESS - NATHAN LEZNIEWICZ (ANOTHER ROOMMATE OF TONY LAZARRO)
Nathan Lezniewicz (pronounced: Lez-no-vitch), was another roommate of Tony Lazarro for audio engineering at Full Sail University, but did not get any degree. He is currently a musician in a band called Kiovi. Nathan slept on the couch at Tony's apartment. Questioning for this witnessed centered around May, June and July 2008. He performed with his band, as well as going to school during this time period.
Nathan met Casey Anthony, at a party for one of his friends' birthday. He said that Casey appeared normal, talkative and got along great with Tony Lazarro. He met Caylee Anthony at his apartment two-three times. He reiterated that Caylee never spent the night at the apartment, but that Casey basically moved in with Tony in mid-to late June, 2008. She also told him that she worked as an Event Coordinator at Universal Studios.
The prosecution asked about the Red Carpet premiere tickets that Casey said she could get through her connections as working for Universal Studios. No tickets ever materialized, but this information was objected to by Jose Baez, was sustained by the judge and was stricken from the record.
His testimony included his knowledge of Casey's car running out of gas, observing that Casey was a fixture in their apartment cooking and cleaning. He spoke of Casey participating in a hot body contest at Fusion nightclub. A picture of Casey and him was shown to the jury. Jose Baez was adamant with his OBJECTION to this photograph being shown to the jury, but it was overruled by the judge. Nathan remembered that this photograph, of himself with Casey, was taken at Club Fusion, but he couldn't remember the exact date of the picture. He said that Casey always appeared to be having a good time. At no time did she appear distraught, depressed, scared, angry, worried. She never said that Caylee was missing, kidnapped, nor did she ask him for help to find her.
Moving to July 15, 2008, Nathan said that he was playing video games in the apartment with Tony Lazarro. Casey Anthony was also in the apartment. There was a knock on the door. When Casey opened the door, he saw a blond girl that he didn't recognize. Casey stepped outside and when she returned, she was followed by her mother, Cindy as well as the blond girl, identified as Amy Heizeinga. Nathan said that Casey argued with her mother and then left the apartment. He never saw her again. As this was happening, Nathan said that he was confused, but figured that it was of Casey's concern. Between 9pm and midnight, Lee Anthony came to the apartment. He apologized about his sister, saying that he'd wished that they had met under different circumstances. With Tony's help, Lee gathered Casey's things and left.
Before Lee arrived, police arrived at the apartment, stayed about five minutes, and were given Casey's cell phone by Tony Lazarro. Following that is when Lee came to gather Casey's things.
When the police came a second time, they searched his apartment. They were there about 20-25 minutes. He didn't remember if they took anything.
Jose Baez's cross-examination of Nathan:
Q: You saw Caylee how many times
A: 2-3 times
Q: Did she appear well-fed?
A: Yes sir
Q: Did you ever see Casey strike her?
A: No sir
Q: Subsequent to where we are today, you found out that during that time that Casey was living with you that Caylee was no longer with us.
A: Yes.
Q: Now, looking back at Casey's behavior there was no indication that Caylee was dead.
A: No sir.
Q: Now, where did Casey park her car? In the parking lot. She didn't park 50 yards away where no cars were parked?
A: No sir.
End of questioning
3RD WITNESS: ROY HOUSE (AKA: CLINT)
Prosecution continues their questioning of witnesses, with Roy on the witness stand now.
Roy was going to school at Full Sail University, learning Recording Arts, to learn how to record music. He did not receive a degree, and now works for his parents carpet cleaning business in Jacksonville, Florida. Roy also lived with Tony Lazarro during the months of May through June, 2008.
Roy met Casey Anthony at a party. This was also the first time that Tony Lazarro met Casey. He said that she seemed like a fun party girl. At this first meeting, he and Tony found out that she "had a kid". He met Caylee 4-5 times at the apartment. He said that Caylee never spent the night at the apartment, but Casey did start spending the nights full time around the beginning of June to middle of June, every single day and then nights. He said that the apartment was pretty crowded at that time.
Casey told him that she worked at Universal Studios. He said that she was in a hot body contest at Fusion Nightclub. She helped coach the shot girls with tidbits of information on clothing they should wear, who walk around with a tray of premixed shots and sell them to patrons of the club.
He also said that he knew of a girl by the name of Maria Kissh, who was Roy's girlfriend at the time he lived with Tony Lazarro. He said that Casey was partying, drinking, dancing, basically having a good time when at Fusion. She appeared happy, and not upset. He said that Casey and Tony seemed happy with each other. Casey would come over to the apartment, and cooked for everybody. He never saw Tony and Casey fight. He never saw Casey sad, angry, depressed, withdrawn. She appeared the same way during this time as she was when she was seen with Caylee. No change noticed after Caylee disappeared.
There was a time when Roy and Tony had a "falling out", at which point Casey texted Roy inviting him to meet up again, to try to "squash this beef and become friends again". They eventually reconciled, but it was not due to Casey's attempts. At no point was he ever told by Casey that Caylee was missing, that she was worried about her, that she needed help. Roy answered "No" to each of these questions.
JOSE CROSS-EXAMINED ROY:
Jose asked when Roy first met Casey, which was around May 24th at a friend's birthday party. He asked how many times Roy had met Caylee, which was 3-4 times. Roy spoke about how Caylee had flashcards with shapes on them, which were learning tools that Casey used to teach Caylee things. Caylee also had some DVDs and a toy drumset that she played with. She always had snacks to eat. She was never neglected, nor did he ever see Casey strike Caylee. Roy answered Jose's question that he thought she was a good mother (however this statement was stricken from the record by the prosecution).
4TH WITNESS, MARIA KISSH (FORMER GIRLFRIEND OF ROY'S)
The prosecution questioned Maria about her background, which included her testifying that she was employed helping on a county campaign. It was a paying job she held during the time period in question of May - June 2008. She was living in Kissimmee County. She was dating Clint House at that time (aka Roy).
She met Casey Anthony at Tony Lazzaro's apartment. She never was a "friend" of Casey, and considered herself more of an acquaintance. She spoke of one time coming to Tony's apartment and was greeted by little Caylee, who answered the door. When Maria entered the apartment, she didn't see Casey immediately, but she eventually came out of Tony's bedroom. She stayed out for a while and then went back into the bedroom. Maria said that she was sitting out on the apartment's balcony with Caylee for a while. When her boyfriend came out and said he was ready to leave, Maria said that she felt uncomfortable about leaving because Caylee would then be left all alone on the balcony.
It's interesting to compare Casey Anthony to Maria Kissh. Maria appeared to be much more stable and conservative than Casey. She also appears to be much more mature than Casey, even though they are the same age. Maria had a job; Casey lied about having a job. It's also interesting to hear a woman's point of view of Casey and Caylee. At one point, Casey told Caylee that they were getting ready to go somewhere, at which point Maria saw that Caylee was struggling to get her shoes on. So Maria helped her, rather than Casey doing it.
Maria said that she was made aware that Casey was staying at the apartment all of the time. Many times when she'd come over after work, Casey would be there. When she went there for dinner, Casey was there. Casey told Maria that she worked at Universal Studios as an Event Planner.
Maria said that the relationship between Casey and Tony Lazarro was casual and seemed to be "beneficial" to Tony. She went to Fusion Nightclub one time on June 20, 2008, and saw Casey Anthony there, and that Casey had entered a hot body contest. She remembered that Casey was wearing a "thin knit dress" that was blue in color. The prosecuting attorney then asked her to look at the picture that was shown to Nathan earlier, and confirmed that that picture was taken on June 20th (this was to date the picture since Nathan could not remember the exact date in his testimony). When asked if she had participated in the "hot body" contest, Maria said that no, she did not. The next morning, Maria asked Casey where Caylee was, at which point Casey answered that Caylee was with the nanny at the beach. She told Maria that she paid the nanny $400/week.
JOSE BAEZ CROSS-EXAMINATION OF MARIA KISSH
Jose's line of questioning with Maria was a little rude in that he basically accused Maria of not liking Casey, because of her living where her boyfriend lived. When Jose asked her, she said that she thought it was odd that Casey was there all the time. But she said that it "didn't bother me at all", when Jose confronted her about her feelings about Casey living where her boyfriend lived.
A "sort of" point for the defense was when Jose Baez asked Maria if she rode in Casey's car on June 16th. She answered yes she did, and she sat in the back seat with her boyfriend. The point made was that when she was asked if she smelled any bad odor while in Casey's car, Maria said "No". She also answered that her boyfriend didn't remark smelling anything bad either. Now, the 16th of June is a bit too soon for any odor to have developed if Caylee was killed on June 16th, so I don't think it's that big of a point for the defense, but it was noted by Casey's defense.
A "sort of" point for the defense was when Jose Baez asked Maria if she rode in Casey's car on June 16th. She answered yes she did, and she sat in the back seat with her boyfriend. The point made was that when she was asked if she smelled any bad odor while in Casey's car, Maria said "No". She also answered that her boyfriend didn't remark smelling anything bad either. Now, the 16th of June is a bit too soon for any odor to have developed if Caylee was killed on June 16th, so I don't think it's that big of a point for the defense, but it was noted by Casey's defense.
--- BREAK FOR LUNCH ---- NEXT POSTING WILL REFLECT AFTERNOON'S TESTIMONIES
