And he explains why: he had no idea where his granddaughter was and was going to extort that information out of Casey Anthony’s friends. It never seems to occur to those who report the testimony that there might be a reason for this suspicious act other than the one offered by the actor himself. And the headline reflects the bias: “Looking for Answers, [George} bought a gun.”, rather than just reporting the fact, e.g., “[George] bought a gun shortly after his granddaughter went missing.”
And in a bravura performance on the witness stand, George sobbed under friendly questioning, but not when he was being questioned by his daughter’s attorney, where he became combative. Not to mention the repeated use of “sir” when addressing the hostile attorney. That is standard prosecution witness preparation dogma. To a trained observer it looks forced and dishonest, but it often sells well with juries, who don’t know that the witness has been coached to say that.
Police officers like George Anthony are experienced witnesses in any event and lie very well on the witness stand if they’re of a mind to. Every defense attorney knows this. But others are overwhelmingly taken in.
Now, in the clips I saw I did not find George Anthony credible at all. And I think it is particularly incredible – indeed, possibly sinister – that he is orchestrating this sort of “Well, now that I’ve seen the evidence in the trial I think my daughter is guilty.” impression, which is being made to seem like some sort of dramatic development when in fact George Anthony has been pointing the finger at his daughter from the very beginning, all the while pretending to be nice to her.
George’s behavior and testimony, coupled and contrasted with known facts, are highly suspicious. But no one is suggesting that, other than defense attorney Baez who in fact brought out some of the oddities of this behavior, like the contrast between George’s interactions with police (where he used the occasions to focus them on his daughter) and the interactions with his daughter (where he communicated only affection and support. No one, other than me from what I can tell, is facetiously suggesting that George is a “good actor” when he blubbers on the stand; yet the defendant gets that accusation when she hasn’t even testified yet.
There was never a hint from Casey implicating her father in her daughter’s death until quite recently. Think of the treachery and perfidy of this man if the defense opening statement is true.
He who accuses first accuses best. The people in the system know that rule really well. Especially cops.
One last thing for today’s post: without even seeing the trial other than a few clips here and there, it is quite clear even from news reports that the judge has effectively sabotaged the defense’s case by cutting it up into an order different that the defense had planned on presenting, interrupting constantly, holding special sidebars every few minutes which are always made to seem like the defense created the problem and probably a million other little subtle things. The prosecution was not subjected to anything like that.
Now, an extraordinary jury or juror might be able to see through all the judge’s dishonesty and keep a healthy skepticism of the prosecution’s witnesses – especially George Anthony.
But they or he or she would have to be just that: extraordinary.
Lawyers on Strike 
I agree with you %100! Watch George’s sobbing carefully…no tears…just wipes.
LikeLike
No you are not alone! I am infuriated after watching George testify. But far worst then him, is the judge. I think the whole Anthony family is very sick… they all lie. Perry should SEE that and seek the truth. But he chooses not to give the accused a fair trial and to protect the state, the police, bozo “Dick Tracy Orlando”, the FBI and who knows who. In my humble opinion, if Casey gets the death penalty it will be because of him. He has manipulated the jury since day 1. Baez hasn’t been able to ask his most pertinent questions to prove his case and he is the only one that makes sense here. He speaks with reason and logic. Baez thought the jury would see though all the web of lies. I think he was wrong. He overestimated the human nature. It has nothing to do with logic and reason. It has to do with the ugliest side of man.
LikeLike
Baez seemed to think it was to get Casey back to jail. I dunno. The thing I noticed today is that the Mother never took Casey to the OBGYN until age 18. Is that unusual? Could it cover up abuse. This family is really Whacko. I would like to see a hung jury and a redo. This trial seems skewed and unfair in so many ways. There is something so suspicious about George. The Judge is waiting to rule on the Death Qualified Jury motion until after the defense rests that seems Biased. They will have to decide if Casey takes the stand without the knowledge of how he will rule.
LikeLike
Courtney Mullin said ” Out of the thousands of persons who commit homicide each year, only a symbolic few are selected by prosecutors for the death penalty. The public assumes that standards have been established to assure fairness in determining which cases meet specific requirements for exposure to this penalty. This is not the case. Initially, only the subjective judgment of prosecutors determines who faces death as punishment”.
In other words JP is waiting for the state to tell him what to do.
LikeLike
I feel, after listening to the ridiculous “legal” analysts on TV, that I am not watching the same trial as everyone else.
LikeLike
I feel exactly the same bluebird. Sadly,the media is a monster capable of controlling the masses. And who’s behind the media you think?…. I was watching the trial live today and couldn’t believe what Bill Schaffer was saying. He looked and sounded brainwashed. I had to mute him so he wouldn’t pollute my mind.
LikeLike
I know. Especially on HLN. Some of the hype there is so ludicrious….from these alleged criminal lawyers and prosecuters. People will sell their soul for money sometimes. Like the fever “she has to get on the stand to testify” or “the defense has not proven any of their allegations and the jury is going to hold them to that?” I thought the defense had no burden of 1) proof, and 2) the jury would get instructions on how to decide this case. Good grief! I get that it is somewhat like reality TV. I have heard some sensible comments especially on George’s split personality and outright lying. Geraldo on fox has an interesting take on the case sometimes. I go the Christian Science Monitor or this blog now to keep away from the shrills.
LikeLike
Let’s just pray the Judge is not really allowing the jury to be influenced by the media. I have lost so much faith in the legal system, first working in it for 24 years, and now this judge’s bias just tops it off. To cut the defenses witnesses and exhibits after the start of trial, and for the stupid and unethical reasoning in doing so just pretty much cinches the future of our legal system as it plays out as okay in the media. If the jury doesn’t come back not guilty… I totally give up. I would rather live in Iraq and have my head cut off than allow this type of government put me through the suffering they are putting Casey through.
Her parents need to go before a judge in Iraq.
LikeLike
The judge is definitely bias. I just hope that if she is found guilty the appellate court disagrees. There are a few of us who’s sees through George’s crocodile tears. Hopefully there is at least one on the jury, but they will be rushed so they can be home by the 4th, another reason for appeal.
LikeLike
ON GEORGE:
-If I were unfairly accused in front of the whole world of molesting my own child, I would be more vehement in denying it when the time came in court to do so. I would make sure the world heard my denial loud and clear. What did we get? “I would never hurt her in that way”…is that the best he can do?? Where’s the passionate denial of an innocent man?
-Suicide? So he is capable of murder then. Murder of himself, maybe, but it’s still murder, pre-meditated and cold-blooded. It’s illegal for a reason.
-Buying guns? Allegedly bought to exact the truth from Casey’s friends about Caylee’s fate? Caylee’s John Wayne to the rescue! I don’t buy it. Casey was the one who wouldn’t say anything – did he try the gun on her? If not, why not? He’s nuts enough to end his life to go “be with” Caylee, so what’s a little more gun-waving? (Suicidal, and buying firearms at the same time? Oh, dear. I thought you needed to be sane to buy firearms.)
-Having affairs? Or at least heading over to a vulnerable woman’s home in his free time? How is this different from Casey’s form of release? Shopping, drinking… this is normal distraction from pain. She’s young and dumb and from a family of liars – any behavior is possible.
-I’ve never heard of a man killing himself because his granddaughter died. I’m surprised by how many people are buying his pathos like it were the gospel. He wanted to die to be with his granddaughter? Yeah, right. He wanted to die because he was afraid of what the future held for him. And he’s willing to say sorry, Cindy, woman and partner of my life, have a note. See ya, first born. I prefer to be with my granddaughter in the afterlife – it sounds like a better time. I also can’t believe how many people sympathize with him and don’t think he is weird and abusive in wanting to ditch his live wife to go be with a deceased little girl.
-If he did abuse Casey, Casey’s lack of compassion for him as he bawled on the stand would make perfect sense. He seemed to me to be crying out of guilt, and fear for himself.
.
ON CINDY’S TESTIMONY:
Maybe she googled this and that, but she denied googling the most incriminating bits, like neck-breaking. So many commentators’ reactions were to excuse her for lying in court to “save” her daughter from death, but she didn’t claim the neck-breaking, so she didn’t really do the saving. Cindy was willing to lie about the lesser evil, but drew the line with the most evil – that she wouldn’t claim to save anyone. The question still remains, who googled neck-breaking?? I do not hear any remarks about this from the media
ON BAEZ: How did it happen? How did he get this job? How did he pass the bar?
There is no definitive proof that Casey killed Caylee, only suspicion, yet Florida might very well end a young woman’s life to satisfy a damning public.
If the USA would let the world see us sanctioning the murder of a young person who obviously has major psychological problems, we should have made sure that that young person had a defense team that argued at least as well as the defense lawyers we see in movies.
LikeLike
Yeah, I forgot to mention: suicide “attempts” are generally attention seeking and manipulative. If you really want to do it it’s not that hard. When you call everyone to “say goodbye” you’re not really serious.
LikeLike
Even when his suicide attempt was reported in the news, I thought, “what a bunch of baloney.”
LikeLike
In the beginning, both parents seemed to blame Casey. Both complained of the ‘smell of death’. Later, they both seemed to want to cover for her. They both changed it to smell of trash. Now, George changes it back to smell of death. If he is framing her now, at least there was a time when he wasn’t framing her.
LikeLike
I think they are both framing her at this point.
LikeLike
That’s not a fair characterization of George’s conduct. He was always pointing the finger at his daughter, and this is based on indisputable evidence, starting with calling the police about “stolen” gas cans on or about June 24, 2008 when he himself admits that he thought at the time that Casey was the culprit. In other words, he was calling the police to accuse his daughter of a crime. That’s 8 days after the child’s death, 8 days after he claims he last saw her. He has been helping law enforcement make a case against his daughter since at least then. It is very difficult to see this as anything other than highly suspicious behavior designed to make sure a police investigation would focus on his daughter.
You often ask in regards to Casey Anthony, what sort of mother….etc. But what sort of father does what George has done?
LikeLike
[He was always pointing the finger at his daughter, … ]
But I just pointed out to you an instance in which he apparently tried to protect her by claiming smell of trash.
[starting with calling the police about “stolen” gas cans on or about June 24, 2008 when he himself admits that he thought at the time that Casey was the culprit.]
I don’t understand the significance of the gas cans allegation. If he thought Casey stole them, why couldn’t he complain to the police? If we believed him, he didn’t know Caylee was dead or missing at the time. Casey told him Caylee was with the nanny or something.
[He has been helping law enforcement make a case against his daughter since at least then.]
In the beginning, he could have been trying to get the police to crack Casey so she will reveal where Caylee is or what happened to Caylee. At the same time, he was sweet talking to his daughter during the visits. That was also probably with the intention of getting her to talk. In the beginning, both parents mentioned ‘smell of death’ to the police, and Casey had to know they suspected something happened to Caylee. During one of the visits, Cindy even asked Casey if Casey thought they will find Caylee. That is a pretty direct question – is Caylee dead already?
[You often ask in regards to Casey Anthony, what sort of mother….etc. But what sort of father does what George has done?]
I don’t remember asking that specific question, but framing any innocent person is a terrible thing to do, let alone a daughter, if that is in fact what he did.
He didn’t have to imply he now believed in his daughter’s guilt when he was on the stand the other day. It seemed to me he may not have done it if Baez didn’t go after him hard. It looked like Baez got under his skin, and George blurted it out in annoyance.
LikeLike
The guy that was jailed today for pointing the finger is my hero 🙂
What a sensational day it was for the defense. First the mistress who was completely credible to me and then the pet cemetery shocker! The fact that Casey at 4 years old was witnessing some kind of wacko funeral ceremony in her backyard is so CRAZY! All these dead pets in her backyard. The Anthony’s need to be institutionalized.That’s beyond twisted… it gives me chills!! And for Lee to have the final word saying it was his parents doing the burial was just so powerful … If this doesn’t create reasonable doubts, plus all the purgers, the botchy investigations etc. But what made me really conclude that in my eyes Casey is not guilty, was when the grief expert explained yesterday how one can feel when living in a house of shame, denial and secrets. Casey was weeping like I have never seen her.
I have a question for any attorney on this blog: if Casey is found guilty, can Baez pursue his investigation on George? Would it be legal to do so?
LikeLike
Forgot to say one thing… do you find it suspicious that the jury won’t be able to smell the famous air samples? If it did smell like decomposition – this smell that is so unique, so powerful that George himself can still smell it now, so awful that it is like nothing you have ever smelled before in your life and that it has nothing to do with the smells of trash bag or food decomposition – JP would have jumped on that. If he ruled against it, it is because they just don’t smell like decomposition.
LikeLike
I’m not sure the smell of decomposition is that critical because it only points to a dead body in the trunk. But, in the prosecution’s case, during the month of June, Casey had friends in the car who never smelled anything. Consider the experts that talked about how quickly a body can start the decomp process producing bacteria that cause the stink–no smell in Caseys car until she abandons it. Has the state connected the dots here where Casey hid the body, or briefly buried it, and then recovered it. Did I miss that? I hope Baez dicusses this point and that when the car began to stink, George also had the keys to the car. But, the body in the car suggests only that car contained the body, not evidence of cause of death, or murder, or anything really.
LikeLike
George trying to commit suicide because he “wants to be with Calyee” is pathetic. I thought Baez made a good points on George’s alleged suicide like: He called EVERYONE and told them essentially GOODBYE FOREVER (oh, and i’m at motel 6 if you need to reach me :-); a six-pack and blood pressure medication. What a lethal combo. Why didn’t he just use the damn gun? Good grief! I think Baez destroyed him.
LikeLike
The suicide letter is so creepy. He refers to Caylee as she was his lover. That he can’t live here on Earth with his wife, son, & daughter and prefers to be with his her. Its so disturbing… Plus his comments on how is handwriting is worsening all throughout is pathetic and says clearly that he had a clear mind while writing it. If he was so drugged up, he wouldn’t comment on that or even be aware of it. And he managed to even call Baez to tell him he was about to commit suicide. One thing I know about suicide is that the ones who are serious about dying don’t tell anyone for the exact reason that they don’t want to be found before they have died.
LikeLike