Will It Be a Cookie or a Kookie Defense? Continuing.... The Justice For Caylee Anthony Saga- UPDATED

There has been talk throughout the kingdom in the mainstream media and on the internet about what defense strategy Casey's 'Ever Changing' Defense Dream Team plans to use when / if this case goes to trial in May 2011. I personally don't envision Casey Anthony agreeing to any plea bargain, but for those that do, just for the purposes of this post, let's assume this case is going to trial. :) Because of  FL's Sunshine laws, the media's extensive coverage of the discovery, and Casey's media-shy defense team we've been given more than a few clues as to possible strategies that might be used to defend "Princess Casey" from the state's evil henchmen.

It's so ironic that even though neither Cheney Mason or Jose Baez seem to miss a chance to 'court the press' from the courthouse steps, they don't like the media and public speculating about their case...... screw that.... I haven't ventured into the Anthony kingdom for a while so it's time to check in.....and I have some thoughts I want to share about Casey Anthony's possible defenses based on what we know from all those clues :)

Princess Casey's newest minion er.. advocate, Ann Finnell, filed a motion on November 23 that attempts to seal the names of the defense' mitigation witnesses (those who they would call to testify in the penalty phase if Casey is convicted of capital murder). Judge Perry ruled at the hearing on November 29 that the penalty phase witness list would be temporarily sealed until December 20, when the media could respond as they had not been served a notice of hearing . Ann Finnell noticed the media in her Amended Notice of Hearing, so her motion to seal can be heard on December 20, at 1:30 PM. I personally have no position as to how Judge Perry rules on Miss Finnell's motion, but I do hope to be able to attend that hearing in person :) I hear it's a popular Florida tourist attraction.

This past week, Jose Baez has been dancing around Judge Perry's recent order for them to disclose information to the state about their expert witnesses. Jeff Ashton felt it necessary to file A Motion For Clarification/To Compel Compliance With Order For Additional Discovery   after  Jose Baez e-mailed him a list of their expert witnesses with just their mailing addresses and "field of their anticipated testimony", purporting to Ashton he was in compliance with the court's order. The judge's ruling, in response to the state's original Motion To Compel Additional Discovery, ordered the defendant to provide, as to it's expert witnesses, " the subject matter of what they will be testifying to and their area of expertise."  Ashton's motion includes a stream of e-mails exchanged between him and Baez over the course of an hour from the time he received the first e-mail from Baez until Jose eventually wrote some snarky comments on the original email prompting Ashton to write the new motion to clarify/compel. I recommend reading the motion for yourself but here is an example from the list:
             
                                     DR HENRY LEE (criminalist: He inspected the car and was at the evidence

          inspection and inspected the scene.ALL OF WHICH YOU ALREADY KNOW)

University of New Haven

    Forensic Science Program

300 Orange Avenue

West Haven, CT 05616

Despite Jeff Ashton's efforts to remain professional in the e-mails, Baez comes off as making boyish taunts. My interpretation of what Baez is really saying , " nanabooboo......I know something that you don't and I'm going to stretch this out as long as I can because I like to see you squirm." Whatever....not the first time a lawyer acted childish, I do give kudos to Mr. Ashton for staying on task. One more thing....does anyone else find it hysterical that Dr. Lee's address is Orange Avenue? Cracked me up when I saw that, life can throw out  some funny shit! (see update below for how the court resolved this issue)

Of course the defense has no obligation to put on a "defense" of any kind. It's the prosecution's burden to prove the capital murder charges against Casey Marie Anthony, 25, for the 2008 murder of her two year old daughter, Caylee Marie Anthony. Some say the "best defense" would be to try to raise doubt about the credibility of as many of the state's witnesses as they can, whether it be the experts, law enforcement or civilians and stay away from too much of the "Casey's innocent" jazz or trying to defend her lies, that's a losing battle.

I see the defense also filed their Amended Defense Expert Witness List  last week. Strangest thing......it looks just like the list Baez sent to Jeff Ashton except instead of their area of expertise in parenthesis next to their names, on this list, it just says (EXPERT). Goodness.....they put a lot of effort into complying with the judge's order, didn't they? At any rate, It looks like Casey should have a mighty enough round table to wage this battle without having to blame someone else for killing Caylee......although I won't be the least bit surprised for the defense to go there. Their main goal should be to save Casey's life. But rumors are swirling that Casey Anthony's defense may want a win bad enough to forsake another for their beloved princess. ~ alas we shall see what the future holds ~


From the civilian portion of the state's witnesses, George, Cindy and Lee are most likely to be thrown under the bus. Actually, if damaging the Anthony's credibility is part of the strategy, gauging from the things Casey said about her family to her pen pal Robyn and Cindy Anthony's behavior in the courtroom along with the letters she's written to Casey in jail, "the plan"  has already been implemented. I do have sympathy for the Anthonys, they have suffered great losses, but regardless, I don't believe much they have to say. I just don't buy, even for a second, that Cindy believes Caylee is still alive.

I also don't see any benefit to the defense for Cindy to say that under oath other than to hurt her own credibility.....although the thought crossed my mind that the damage to her credibility may be just a bonus of claiming Caylee is alive. It seemed to me she may have even caught the defense off gaurd with that one. What occurred to me is Cindy was awarded disability payments through her job over 2 years ago because of the emotional trauma she was going through. I want to be clear it's not for me to judge whether Cindy's current mental disposition qualifies her for disability or not, that's for her doctor and whoever pays her the benefits to decide. Private LTD insurance companies  usually evaluate clients at least once a year to determine ongoing eligibility for benefits.....if they don't believe her by golly, she can just direct them to the tape of that hearing....the whole world knows she's crazy. LOL just saying...


Enough catching up, I'd like to talk defense strategy. For your convenience (and mine) I separated these defense strategies into two categories, the Cookie Defense Category and Kookie Defense Category.


 Defenses falling into the Cookie Defense Category are ones that were brought up in Casey's jailhouse letters to 'Cookie' aka Robyn Adams.
They are really excuses more than defenses but they're possibly very helpful to the defense team when preparing mitigation. I know we're supposed to believe this correspondence with Cookie is nothing more than the result of boredom and the need for human contact, but it may also be Casey's way of taking control, writing these contraband letters. I'm not saying these letters were 'intended for release' but she is smart enough to know it's a possibility......besides if they did get released.....at least she gets to talk, something Casey complained about during the last jailhouse visit with her parents. "NOBODY IS LETTING ME TALK!" A lot of the stuff Casey wrote did seem to be just bored chatter, but oddly enough, out of the many letters that Casey wrote to 'Cookie' she managed to condense most of the 'good stuff' into one eleven page letter. How convenient :)  From here out I'll just refer to those 11 pages as 'the cookie letter'.

Even though "the nanny did it" defense has been a leading 'contender' for a Casey Anthony defense since the first day Caylee was reported missing, the defense have been kinda stuck with this defense since the princess came up with that fable before she thought she "needed" a lawyer. For some reason the cookie letter seems to let the nanny off the hook.....kinda....so Zany kidnapped Caylee but according to Casey she wasn't responsible.....for something??? : ( On page 10 of the cookie letter, Casey wrote, "You want to know something? I know that Caylee's nanny, the "real" Zenaida, the girl who was my friend for 4 years, I know in my heart that she's not responsible and I don't blame her for not showing her face.

Casey continued rambling to Cookie, would you be wanting to sit here with me for something you didn't do? Considering the circumstances, you technically are and it sucks and I know this goes without saying, but outside of myself and my legal team, not a soul knows this. I was going to take Caylee and move away. Unfortunately, my plans got beyond tangled when Zany wouldn't tell me where she and Cays were. I had asked her to take Cays for a few days so I could put the rest of our stuff together, money I had saved, new clothes, new everything. That's why I waited to report her missing, because she was and she wasn't. 

See...maybe Casey wasn't lying about a Zany (She just wasn't willing to give all of the details to help get her missing daughter back?) and see.....there was a reason for not reporting Caylee missing. Jose said there would be compelling reasons for that. NOT!

Another 'Casey clue' to a cookie defense are the sexual abuse allegations Casey made against her brother Lee and father George on pages 8 and 9 of the cookie letter. Once again, I don't think these allegations are helpful as a defense in the guilt phase, but may come in handy for mitigation. Here are some exerpts from those pages:

Anthony stated in the letters that she's an emotional wreck and said she was sexually abused."I woke up night after night with my sports bra lifted over my chest or if I had a regular bra, it would be unhooked," Anthony wrote. She claimed her brother would walk into her room at night and feel her breasts."This went on for over three years before I finally stood up to Lee and told him if he ever came in my room again, I'd kill him," Anthony said she informed her mother about the incidents, but that Cindy Anthony turned on her."When I told my mom about it two years ago, she made excuses, saying that he was sleepwalking. Not only did she say I was lying, but when I explained everything, her reaction was literally like a knife in my chest: So that's why you're a whore?"  

Anthony also claimed she thought her father, George Anthony, did the same things to her when she was much younger. She wrote," Over the past few months, I've been having really vivid dreams, and it's obvious that they are dreams of things that have already happened. I think my dad used to do the same thing to me. I can see him in my room, exactly the way it was when I was in elementary school and everything gets fuzzy. But I wake up feeling both sore and sick to my stomach, the way I used to feel growing up. Maybe that's part of the reason I have so much anxiety with my parents."

I think the content of these jailhouse letters do reflect some mental illness issues but not to the legal definition of insanity.  While being sexually abused as a child doesn't excuse killing your child, this little tidbit could be compelling evidence if there is a penalty phase. Childhood sexual abuse could go a long way in mitigating Casey's promiscious behavior before and after Caylee's disappearance, an explanation that might 'soften' the defendant a bit.....make her life worth saving. Having said all that, IMO, the abuse allegations Casey made against George and Lee seem contrived to me......but then I can't think of a single instance where Casey Anthony has told the truth. Can you? It's all the world as Casey sees it.


The second category is the Kookie Defense Category.The defenses in a Kookie Defense category are those that are well....kookie!

The most popular Kookie defenses  is the "Somebody Else Did It Defense". Roy Kronk has been a strong contender for blame since he reported finding Caylee's skull and ultimately her remains on Suburban drive. At the last hearing when asked about their pending Motion in Limine, defense counsel advised the court they would make a decision that day whether they would withdraw it and refile it closer to trial. In Judge Perry's order on his rulings from the hearing on November 29,  the court advised the defense to carefully consider before withdrawing  their Motion in Limine to Introduce Prior Bad Acts and Other Circumstantial Evidence pertaining to Roy Kronk, reminding them of the established deadline for hearing motions. It's all malarky anyway. I tried without success to look up the date of deadline for hearing motions. Anyone know off hand?

When asking the court for more investigative hours, Casey's defense was forced to admit they have spent over $8,000 on a investigation (fishing expedition) to find a searcher from TES who will say they searched the exact spot on Suburban that Caylee's remains were found. If they can get someone to say they searched that area when Casey was in jail and Caylee wasn't there ....they would prove Casey couldn't have put her there.....but that doesn't mean she didn't kill her and someone else put her there. This all goes back to the battle of the experts....not some anonymous searcher.

According to WFTV,  On December 6, Casey Anthony's defense received more evidence from prosecutors in her murder case. Among the 119 pages of documents are Texas EquuSearch documents from volunteer Laura Buchanan. Buchanan is under investigation by the Orange County Sheriff's Office for allegedly falsifying documents to help Casey. She claims she and others searched the woods, three months before Caylee's remains were found there, and found nothing. Investigators say the area was under water at that time.

Judge Perry has ruled the defense must give the state a list of witnesses, as a result of the EquuSearch document review, by December 31 and any depositions of those witnesses must be completed by March 2011. Casey Anthony's defense team claims to have found 150 new EquuSearch witnesses who searched the exact area months before where Caylee Anthony's remains were found and sent its private investigator, Jeremy Lyons, to talk to them. Yep,that's where that $8,000 went, and get this.....Assistant State's Attorney Linda Drane Brudick told the judge the number of new possible witnesses was greatly exaggerated publicly by the defense."When I asked Mr. Mason about that he told me he believed there would be 6 to10 individuals that may qualify as having relevant information." More malarky!

Another person who is a strong candidate ( and Cindy Anthony's personal favorite)  for scapegoat  is Jessie Grund, Casey's onetime fiance and suspected baby daddy. I think he has been on Cindy and Casey's shit list ever since he had a DNA test done that proved he wasn't Caylee's father.....some think the reason Casey went to the Grund's home, before anyone realized that Caylee was missing, was to try and get some evidence to plant and incriminate Jessie for Caylee's death. In the Cookie letter Casey mentioned that Jose had tried to get some DNA from Jessie.....wisely he didn't comply. There are rumors swirling about other attempts to gather DNA and finger prints from Jessie but I'll leave that subject be for now, until we see what comes of the allegations. If Jessie's DNA or prints are found on the shorts and blanket (?) that the defense sent out for testing recently we will likely hear more,  until then........

The princess is growing her hair....
a back up plan in the making....
lest the jury of her peers doesn't buy....
the kookie defense her dream team is taking.   
  


update 12/ 10
There was a hearing at 5pm est for the court to clarify it's order of November 29 which directed the defense to share more information with the state about their expert witnesses. The hearing was scheduled to respond to the state's motion to clarify/compel filed by ASA Jeff Ashton yesterday, after an hour of back and forth emailing with Jose Baez. Judge Perry was a few minutes late....made them wait. He's a man of few words, he just asked a few questions and made a new ruling and the hearing was over.. His ruling, as your can see below was short and sweet:

"Since ya'll can't seem to agree and can't seem to understand what I meant the last time. This is what I'm going to do," Judge Perry said less than 15 minutes into the hearing. "Where experts have not prepared reports of examinations or tests, both the state and the defense are required to provide the following … the expert's curriculum vitae, qualifications of experts, the expert's field of expertise or medical specialty, a statement of the specific subjects upon which the expert will testify and offer opinions, the substance of the facts to which the expert is expected to testify, and last but not least, a summary of the expert's opinion and grounds for each opinion … All of this must be completed by 3pm on December 23."

Those questions the judge asked said it all.......he made certain it would be clear who had the most homework to do....and did so without engaging in the tit for tat of the matter. Kudos to the court! Why is it that every step this defense team takes turns out to be just plain 'kookie' ?

Sphere: Related Content

Stacey Barker Murder Trial Now Set To Begin Late September

At the end of September in Lancaster, CA, the scorching temperatures and wicked winds of the high desert should be morphing into pleasantly warm and breezy days; however, things may be heating up in the Michael Antonovich Antelope Valley Courthouse.

In a hearing held at the Lancaster courthouse on June 28 Superior Court Judge Hayden Zackey has again changed the date for the murder trial of Stacey Barker to now start on Monday, September 20, 2010.

Stacey Barker mugshot

Emma on her  first and only birthday

Barker is a 25 year old Lancaster, California woman accused of smothering her 18 month old daughter, Emma Leigh Barker, before dumping her body in tall grass at the side of a freeway on March 18, 2008.

Our friends, Tori, ANurse and  Ange have again taken time out of their day to attend the hearing and share the details with us. ~ thanks again ladies ~  Tori said the hearing was late getting underway. For almost an hour it seemed as though Deputy District Attorney Kelly Cromer and Public Defender Roberto Dager were playing cat and mouse, every time DDA Cromer came in the courtroom, PD Dager had just left and so she would leave to do something and he would walk in. LOL! Of course they weren't playing games, there were 3 inmate buses at the courthouse today and they have to search each one every time all the inmates get off so this took a while.

 Judge Zackey didn't seem to feel well today, he may have allergies, he's blowing his nose, holding his head and seems in a bit of a mood.....hope he feels better soon, he's a good guy. The attorneys finally settled in and defendant Stacey Barker is brought in. Barker seems subdued again today (Tori used the term lackluster) yet she has her hair up in a braid , it looks like someone helped her with it, it's very neat.

As soon as court is under way, Cromer hands Dager a disc. She says there's a wire tap conversation on the disc ( it isn't clear whose line was tapped) there are also taped phone calls  the defendant made and (most interesting IMO) are letters she has exchanged with an inmate Sutton. Judge Zackey asks, "Is that the Erin Sutton who was in my courtroom?" Cromer, Dager and another attorney (unidentified) all respond, " Yes it is your honor." Judge Zackey looks puzzled and maybe a bit shocked when he finds out it was the same guy. (Evidently he didn't make the connection at the last hearing when this was mentioned.)

Our friends actually made the connection  at the last hearing, but I didn't include the following in that post because we didn't know his first name so we weren't positive it was the inmate Sutton who had been in Zackey's court before.  Judge Zackey wasn't the only one surprised to learn that the inmate Barker has been corresponding with was someone we have talked about before. He has no relationship to this case (before now) but was in court the same day as Stacey back in September 2009. Our friends TD and Anurse nicknamed him "Devil Dude" when they saw him back then, here is how they described him at that time:

Devil dude was a very creepy guy covered in tattoos ( I love tattoos) but they were all over his bald head, on his face all over his hands and arms, he had a very evil look to him, his eyes were seriously creepy...He was brought in to the courtroom and we were all asked to clear the room...He was all shackled up, he had the handcuffs, the chain around his waist, and the bracelets around his ankles...There were I think like 3 or 4 guards in the room....I don’t know what he did, but as we were allowed back in the courtroom, he looked at everyone in the eyes, like he was getting a image of us in his head...He was just creepy, we all had shivers when he looked at us...

Erin Sutton's MySpace profile picture

It turns out they weren't too far off with the nickname. On his MySpace page , he goes by the name "Vampire". 
I want to go on record saying that you can't always judge a book by it's cover and we don't know exactly what this guy did; however, he makes mention on his MS that he was arrested and is facing life in prison because of something he "allegedly" did to a guy he took guitar lessons from, after he found out the guy was a convicted sex offender and this guy had been trying to get Vampire to allow him to give Vampire's 12 year old daughter "private lessons". He claims he is falsely accused.....but that's a story for another day. 
 Update: After further investigation we find that Sutton is in jail for felony robbery with a $2 million bail. Perhaps a third strike felony?The RSO "Vampire" mentions on his MySpace is still living in Lancaster and is listed on the Megan's law website as a child molester.

The bigger question is, how did Stacey Barker meet him and why did she choose this guy for a friend? Our guess is she met him on the bus ride to court, it's 90 miles each way. We know of at least twice that they were in court on the same day. Some think it's a protection thing. She may think other inmates won't mess with her if they are friends. I tend to think they are commiserating with each other because they are both "falsely accused and can relate", who knows??? It seems something from their communications will be used in the trial anyway. We'll see......

Ok, back to the hearing....Judge Zackey says he has spoken with both parties and everything is complete in the discovery process. He learned from Cormer and Dager that  both they and some of the witnesses and investigators have commitments near the proposed July 26 trial date, so that date will now be a pre-trial hearing.The trial will be the week of September 24. Monday the 20th will start the trial.(We're not sure if that is when jury selection starts, we'll know more after July 26.)

Zackey was very clear that there will be no more delays. Zackey addressed the lawyers," You both want it to stay in this court right? " They both said, "yes".  He said, "Alright then, there will be NO more delays unless I am in a trial, then you both agree to wait until I am finished to start the trial...the only delays will be from ME, agree?" They both said," Yes" and that was it the hearing was over. Sphere: Related Content

Jailhouse Connections And Investigations - Continuing.... The Justice For Caylee Anthony Saga -

Casey Marie Anthony  is a 24 year old Orlando, FL woman who has been held without bond at the Orange County Florida Jail since October 14, 2008 when an Orange County Grand Jury handed down a seven count Bill of Indictment . The charges brought in the indictment against Anthony  in relation to the Death Investigation of her 2 year old daughter, Caylee Marie Anthony  are as follows :

CMA #08049710

  

1 count - First-Degree murder

1 count - Aggravated Manslaughter of a Child

1 count - Aggravated Child abuse

4 counts- Providing False Information to a Law Enforcement Officer

The first degree murder charge is a capital offense and the possible penalty is Life In Prison Without Parole (LWOP) or the Death Penalty.

Casey Anthony is housed in what the Orange County Florida jail calls Level 1 protective-custody in Dorm L. When Casey was arrested for the murder of her daughter Caylee, the Orange County Sheriffs Office (OCSO) decided that she needed additional protection above and beyond what other prisoners that are housed there require. Most prisoners in a high profile case are held in protective custody, but  no doubt the public's hostility towards Casey Anthony after learning most everything she told law enforcement about Caylee's disappearance was a  lie and that she didn't report her daughter missing for a month  factored into her Level 1 Protective Custody status.

We have been told when it comes to protective custody, few people are guarded as closely as Casey Anthony. She resides in her jail cell for most of the day and is not allowed contact with any other prisoners. She is also not allowed to watch TV in her cell, but she is allowed one small transistor radio, which she bought at the jail commissary. The short time each day prisoners in protective custody are allowed out of their cell  is to shower, get books, make phone calls, or watch TV in a "community" day room  for individual use by those in protective custody (other than visits with their lawyer or court hearings). There is also scheduled visitation time (once or twice a week?) but Casey refuses all visitors.


While no contact with other prisoners is an important part of protective custody, in all of the cases I have followed ( not just in the OCJ ), prisoners find a way to break the rules and communicate. Let's face it, all they have is time to try and figure ways around the rules. This case is no exception.

During a pretrial hearing on March 18, 2010, Ninth Judicial Circuit Judge Stan Strickland unsealed an
  IN CAMERA SEALED MOTION TO DELAY DISCLOSURE   that he has allowed the State to keep under wraps for the previous month while they conducted an investigation.Judge Strickland unsealed the motion because he said that the investigation into this information has almost concluded.

The State's motion (link provided above) advised the court that the State had been informed the defendant, Casey Anthony has made a few friendships while in jail and had written and passed 50 letters to one of the inmates against jail rules, possibly with a guard's help. The State's Attorney Office (SAO) said the letters are not a confession, but appear to contain relevant statements of the Defendant. The motion also advised that based upon the past history of this case and in anticipation of accusations of misconduct by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, the State Attorney requested that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (F.D.L.E.) take over the investigation of the communications between the Defendant and these witnesses.

Under the FL Sunshine Law, once the state turns over discovery to the defense, the discovery becomes public documents, unless ordered sealed by the judge ( for example: the video in the jail medical clinic of Casey's reaction to Caylee's remains being found has been withheld ). Judge Strickland gave the defense 15 days to look over the letters and decide if they would seek to have them remain under seal.
Anthony's defense chose not to fight the release of the documents. I'll discuss what's in the jailhouse letters and my thoughts on the contents of the letters in my next post that will be titled "Muffin and Cookie Plan A Road Trip".

In the rest of this post I'd like to give you a better understanding of the physical layout of Dorm L where Casey has been bunking for most of the last two years.  I did some research so that I can give you a more complete introduction to Casey's jailhouse friends and also got some of the legal documents involved in Robyn Adams case which I have linked in this post  It also seems important we cover some of the background of the F.D.L.E.'s investigation.  Most of the information about the investigation can be found in the OCSO Supplemental Report to Jailhouse Letter


~The Investigation~

A Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigation found that Casey Anthony, Maya Derkovic and Robyn Adams became friends while they were in protective custody in the female detention center, Dorm L, which is where jail guard Silva Hernandez worked.  Here is a copy of the floor plan for Dorm L :

Orange County Jail, Woman's Detention Center, Dorm L

The dorm consists of a control center at one end of the dorm and facing the communal day room that resembles a classroom. The inmates cells are lined around the day room and consist of two levels. Inmates that are in close proximity to each other are able to communicate through the ventilation system. Robyn Adams explained it is possible for communication through the vents between any of the cells but the further away you are the louder you had to speak, so she and Casey didn't communicate "via the vents ".

 Casey Anthony was originally arrested and placed in protective custody on July 17, when she was arrested for lying to law enforcement  in the days after Caylee was reported missing. Adams was arrested on July 21 and placed into protective custody because her husband was a police officer.( I'll tell you more of the details of Adam's arrest in a bit.) Anthony remained in jail for about a month until California bounty hunter, Leonard Padilla assisted in getting her released on August 20, 2008. This is the first time when Adams and Anthony were in Dorm L together, but didn't form a relationship beyond a wave. ( For the sake of being thorough I should tell you
Anthony was arrested again, this time on economics charges on August 29 and bonded out on September 5. Anthony was arrested for more economic charges September 15 but was out the next day.) Adams wouldn't see Anthony again until she was arrested on October 14. During the time Anthony was out, Adams decided to agree to a plea deal in her case on September 25, 2008. Adams was sentenced in January 2009 and moved to a federal prison in August of 2009. Maya Derkovic was housed in the Orange County Jail with Casey Anthony during the latter parts of 2008 to the beginning of 2009.

   ~ Friends Made In Jail, May Turn Out To Be "Friends From Hell"~

Maya Derkovic mugshot

Maya Derkovic, then 18, was originally arrested on January 28, 2007 for armed carjacking. Derkovic identified herself as a full member of the 3rd World Rolling Sixties gang (a spin off of the West Coast Crips ) within minutes of her arrest.You can read more here about her arrest for the armed carjacking and how she came to be involved in and charged for the death of a 15 year old girl, who Derkovic admitted she choked
while two fellow gang members held the victim's arms in an act of crude gang justice.. "Maya is a pretty established member of this group and has been for long time," said sheriff's homicide Detective Brian Cross of the lanky, 6-feet-2 teenager with a "Daddy P" tattoo on her neck, a souvenir of her time as a prostitute in Miami. Derkovic first joined a street gang several years ago when her family lived in South Florida. Born in Bosnia, she went by the nickname "Luda," which means "Crazy" in her native language,
Derkovic's mother, who did not want to be named to protect her younger children's identity, has visited the jail regularly since her daughter's arrest. After years of trying to control her daughter's misbehavior, she said her daughter must accept responsibility for her actions, whatever they were and whatever punishment faces her. " Taking somebody's life is something I cannot imagine any child of mine doing. I can't imagine what that other girl's mother is feeling," she said. "For my child it is too late. If she did it, she's going to have to deal with herself. Someone else may learn from what happens to her."  (Hmmmmm, no comment!)
Derkovic, 21, is serving a 30-year sentence at Lowell Correctional Institution in Ocala, FL for murdering 15 year old  Jackie "Angel" Curtis three years ago.

Robyn Adams mugshot

Robyn Adams and her husband Clay were arrested on federal drug and gun trafficking charges on July 22, 2008.Clay Adams lived two lives: one as an Altamonte Springs cop of nine years, the other as a painkiller-addicted, marijuana grow-house operator who was scheming to kill a former supervisor.

That's how authorities described it when Adams, 36, and his wife, Robyn, 32, were hauled into federal court in Orlando on drug and weapons charges. Assistant U.S. Attorney Rob Bodnar sought to have the couple  (who could face up to life in prison if convicted on all charges) held without bond, noting both made threats to a police informant and others.

The 35-page Criminal Complaint describes in detail how investigators say the Adams' stockpiled weapons, sold drugs and gave sensitive police secrets to criminals.

According to the complaint,  Robyn Adams used her position at an orthopedic surgeon's office to get Oxycontin which was then sold across the state. The complaint also detailed how Adams approached an informant to partner in a marijuana-growing operation. That person tipped off City-County Investigative Bureau (CCIB) agents, who brought the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and ATF into the case. After the informant rented a home for the operation, Adams and his wife set up hydroponic equipment in the residence and provided marijuana seeds.Adams provided the informant with drivers-license photos, undercover aliases and real names of drug agents and CCIB officers, along with the descriptions of their vehicles. Adams also supplied weapons and prescription drugs to the informant, a convicted felon.
Gunning wrote, Adams told the informant that he joined CCIB earlier this year to learn investigative methods on how to detect marijuana-growing operations.

When Clay Adams was  removed from a position on an undercover unit, investigators say he snapped. Adams advised [the informant] that he will let the issue cool off for a couple of months and then 'take [the supervisor] out' when he least expects it, utilizing a .308-caliber rifle equipped with a silencer," Gunning wrote.
Both husband and wife confessed and entered into plea agreements.He pleaded guilty to five federal charges, including conspiring with his wife to grow 2,200 pounds of marijuana. Robyn Adams pleaded guilty to two charges: conspiracy and a weapons count. The pair were sentenced on January 9, 2009. She is now serving an eight year sentence at a Federal prison in Tallahassee, FL and will be on supervised release for ten years after. Clay Adams was sentenced to seventeen 1/2 years and is serving his time in a Texas federal prison.

 More Of The Investigation~

It was Derkovic who first approached law enforcement about her and Adam's contact with Casey Anthony.
In Derkovic's sworn statement, she told authorities she and Anthony would talk through the ventilation system. (I haven't been able to determine exactly which cell Derkovic was in from the floor plan, but her cell was on the same side as Anthony.) I won't go too far into Derkovic's claims about those vent talks in this post, mainly because I'm not sure I believe her and really want to devote more space to Adams and Anthony, and just how their relationship developed.


Adams told the F.D.L.E. investigator her cell (#19) was across from Anthony (#12) and they would smile,  wave and give hand signals through the window on their cell doors, or when one was out in the day room. She said it was just a way of offering support to each other. They would signal if they were ok or not, that they were praying for each other, that sort of thing was the extent of their communication at the time. Adams said that she felt Anthony came to trust her because she smiled and didn't yell taunts at Casey like the other inmates did.

Shortly after they began their communication, Adams was moved to another cell (#27) on the same side of the dorm as Casey but on the upper level. Shortly after the move, Anthony signaled to Adams (from the day room) that she would leave her a note in a green hardback book called, " Do Away With August", from then on they used that book to pass notes (same type of stuff as they had communicated by hand signals before) and eventually the letters.
.

When asked by the investigators to elaborate on how her communication with Casey evolved into talking to each other, Robyn Adams explained that the even number cells took their turns coming out for showers, day room / TV time, etc. during the day and the odd numbers were let out night. She said after a while she started helping the guards out a bit, cleaning showers, fold laundry, whatever and as much as the guards would allow her to do. When Adams was folding laundry in the day room they were able to " kinda lip talk" and hand signal as they had before, but in closer proximity.

Adams says she started asking "Shannon", (this was the name she and Casey assigned Sylvia Hernandez because her uniform said," S. Hernandez" ) " Hey, can I go give her a book? Can I, can I just go over there you know talk to her through the glass?" Adams said after a while this just became a routine when "Shannon" was working. I would say, "Hey, I can't hear her, can I just go see what she's saying? Can I go closer, that type of thing."

Adams said it never got to the point that she just took it for granted she could approach Casey's cell, and "Shannon" did not receive any type of compensation for allowing the communication between the two. There was no gain in it for her, she just treated us as "people". People in confinement for a long period of time who needed human interaction. When asked point blank if there was any type of sexual relationship between any of the three (Anthony, Adams, Hernandez) Adams replied, "I strongly believe it was strictly that she just felt bad. She felt bad. There was nothing for her to gain from it except for being human and having someone to talk to." ( I guess that means no sex. LOL)

Next the investigators asked Adams how frequently she and Anthony were allowed to spend time together, how long were they allowed to talk, and were there times you were allowed in the same cell together? Adams told them the contact with Anthony took place after the other inmates were done showering and placed in "lock". The contact took place every night that Hernandez was on shift (4-5 nights a week) and they were allowed to talk anywhere from a few minutes to hours. Their contact ranged from speaking through the bean hole (food tray slot) in the cell door to spending time in the same cell. (Hernandez allowed Adams to cut Casey's hair on one occasion. WTF?)

On March 9, 2010 F.D.L.E. conducted an interview of Sylvia Hernandez about the communication between Casey Anthony and Robyn Adams. This interview was independent of any investigation being conducted by OCSO. Hernandez told investigators she hired on with Orange County Corrections in January of 2008 and worked the "B" two shift (6pm-6am) with the standard law enforcement rotation of 3 days on 2 days off in the Female Detention Center (FDC) Lima Dorm (Dorm L).

Hernandez explained that Lima Dorm is basically a confinement dorm where you have inmates for disciplinary, protective custody, special management (medical or pregnancy), psychological  inmates for evaluation counseling and suicide precautions.There were usually 30-35 inmates in Lima dorm while Adams and Anthony were both in custody there, although they were the only two who were in protective custody status. Most inmates came and went , but Adams and Anthony as protective custody, were stationary.

Hernandez admitted she was aware of written communication between Anthony and Adams, but made no attempt to stop the communication.Hernandez also allowed Adams and Anthony to have face to face contact at Anthony's cell door, but denied allowing them to spend time together in the same cell. Hernandez admitted she allowed Adams to cut Anthony's hair on one occasion.

When Hernandez was questioned about having a relationship (sexual) she denied that but admitted she had written to Adams after she was sent to Tallahassee. She also admitted she attempted to assist Adams in retaining counsel for her case by providing her with names of local attorneys and on one occasion approached Anthony's counsel on behalf of Adams.

Hernandez told investigators that she spoke to Anthony "a few times" about her case. One conversation took place when it was being reported that Caylee's bones may have been found in the water at Blanchard park, but turned out it wasn't Caylee. According to Hernandez, Anthony told her investigators were "not looking in the right place" and it's right in their face but they're"not looking in the right place".

At the end of the report F.D.L.E.Investigators stated they thought Robyn Adams seemed to be truthful and forthright about her involvement with Casey and her role in creating and maintaining the evidence in question. Adams showed a great deal of emotion associated with her current sentence, her friendship with Anthony, the loss of Anthony's child and the moral dilemma of providing information pertaining to Sylvia Hernandez, because they had formed a friendship. The information was also consistent with the information in the letters between her and Anthony. The investigators stated in their report they think Hernandez was less than truthful during her interview but her actions didn't rise to the level of violation of Florida statutes. Wonder which one if any of them the State will use in the trial?

When Casey Anthony was arrested on July 16, 2008, little did she know even though her daughter was gone forever that she would soon have a " new sister". A sister who she could share (most) all of her confidences with and not be judged because in her own words, “We have so very much in common , both the good and the bad”.
Check back and we'll talk more about the information in the letters and the conversations between Casey Anthony and Robyn Adams, there is a LOT to talk about.
 :)
wesh
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Hanna Mack, Will this child receive full justice?

As you can see from Hanna Mack's picture, she was a lovely child. Hanna was like any other six year old girl. She enjoyed jumping rope, playing hopscotch and riding her pink and purple bicycle. In 2007, Hanna had just started the first grade at Blooming Grove Elementary School. According to her grandmother, she was excited about school because she loved books and could see her new friends every day.

A few months before school started, Hanna had moved to Navarro Mills, TX. with her mother, Dana Mack, and her two older sisters (12 and 14). Her mom met a boyfriend named Kevin Wayne Anders,32, and allowed him to move in with them.

Hopefully, nothing that you hear from here on out will sound like the life of any other six year old child.

When Dana Mack went to bed the night of September 9, 2007, she saw her youngest daughter, Hanna, sleeping on the living room couch at about 1 a.m. in the morning. Less than seven hours later, Dana Mack would find Hanna's half-naked dead body hanging from the rafters of her family's garage. That Monday morning, Sept. 10, 2007, when Hanna should have been getting ready for school, police were scouring her home trying to find clues to her murder. Medical examiners determined that Hanna had been beaten, raped and then hung.

While going through a computer taken from the Mack home, criminal investigators found the presence of child pornography. On Sept. 13 Kevin Wayne Anders was arrested for possession of child pornography. For several weeks Anders was the primary suspect in Hanna's murder; however, on Sept. 26 DNA evidence came back which pointed to Shaun Earl Arender,19, and he was charged with Hanna's murder.

Katfishponders first heard of Hanna's story several weeks ago while reading at the JurorThirteen Blog. JurorThirteen has followed this story from the start and do have a thread open for discussion of this case on their message boards.

On February 13, 2009, Shaun Earl Arender gave his confession in open court as part of a plea bargain to avoid the death penalty. He was sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole by District Judge James Lagomarsino. Under questioning by District Attorney R. Lowell Thompson, Arender placed the blame on the former live-in boyfriend of Hanna's mother, Kevin Wayne Anders, claiming he was just going along with the sexual assault of the first-grader when she died.

Katfishponders won't go into the details here but you can follow the links listed below or for the most comprehensive coverage in one stop, just follow the embedded link above to JurorThirteen (where it says followed this story), the testimony is on the lower part of the page. On the stand, Arender unraveled a sickening tale of people on the edge of society, and the consequences for the vulnerable children in their midst.

Arender’s lawyers, Kerri Anderson Donica, Mark Griffith and Monica Bishop met with Arender after the hearing, then Griffith and Bishop held a short press conference outside the jail. Griffith said he hopes that Anders is indicted on capital murder charges, adding that his client is ready to testify against Anders.

Kevin Wayne Anders remains in jail, charged with possession of child pornography, in lieu of a $100,000 bond. He has not yet been charged in connection with the Mack murder. Investigators are still working on that case, Thompson said.

Dana Mack’s other two daughters were removed from her custody after Hanna’s murder. They’re now in foster care and doing well, said Marissa Gonzales with the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. Their mother is allowed regular visits.

Hopefully, readers with children will take from this post the lesson that Dana Mack learned the hard way....the choices that you make for yourself may affect your children for the rest of their life....that is....if it doesn't cost them their life.

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