Warren Jeffs trial, July 26, 2011

The Prairie Chicken
July 26, 2011

Having been held in the El Dorado Texas jail for three years,  Fundamentalist Mormon leader Warren Jeffs has spent an average of 3K per month on phone calls paid for by phone cards. 

 Authorities say Jeffs has received money from his followers and that he uses much of it to buy phone time to deliver lengthy and elaborate sermons to disciples in Texas, Utah and Arizona.

 According to Schleicher County Sheriff David, Jeffs’ calls indicate that he is still running his church from behind bars.

 The Texas accusations arise mainly from a raid conducted by the Texas Rangers on an FLDS ranch a few miles from El Dorado. Authorities took hundreds of children away from the ranch for over two months before allowing them to return.

During the raid, Jeffs' diaries were confiscated, which included photographs of Jeffs kissing very young girls.  Some once-trusted aides of Warren Jeffs say he has betrayed his church’s principles and lost their loyalty by openly boasting of relations with girls as young as 12 or 13.  “And he’s confessed to doing some very terrible things, including molesting his daughter and sister and others,” said Willie E. Jessop, a former Jeffs associate.

Jeffs is represented by attorney  Jeff Kearney.

Jeffs was tried in St. George, Utah, after his arrest in 2006 and he was found guilty on two charges of being an accomplice to rape.  The conviction was overturned by an appellate court on a technicality; jury instructions were found to have been faulty.  Utah prosecutors decided not to re-try the case.

Jury selection for Jeff’s sexual assault trial began in Texas on Monday. He is charged with two counts of sexual assault on a child and one count of bigamy, to which he has pleaded not guilty.

Casey Anthony gets the last laugh

The Prairie Chicken
July 17, 2011

Shortly after midnight, Casey Anthony was released from custody, having served her time for four counts of lying to the police on July 15 and 16, 2008, in the case of her missing/murdered daughter Caylee three years ago.

While I admit I would like one opportunity to bitch slap her,  I accept the judicial system, the jury's decision.  Would rather Casey does not move to the prairie, but it is a free country. 

A question, though.  If it is the State of Florida vs. Casey Anthony, why do all of the jurors have to come from the same county?  It would seem that in the case of a sequestered jury, the prosecution and defense would both benefit from a state wide draw giving the attorneys more to choose from (meaning no disrespect to the Anthony jury, I'm just sayin'...)  more costly I suppose.

Numerous news stations have covered Anthony's release from jail this morning.  Obviously most, if not all, of them must have expected a guilty verdict and then sentencing, then a follow-up to prison, and on and on, because that little 2 minute clip has been played and replayed all day long.  Good movie day.  Now the big question is where did she go?  Is she holed up at Chaney Mason's house?  At a hotel in Orlando?  Did she make the plane to Ohio? 

It was reported last week that Zenaida Gonzalez was issuing a civil suit against her and intended to have it served to her prior to leaving jail.  Tim Miller with Equusearch is also filing suit to seek reimbursement of 112k that his organization spent searching for little Caylee, when according to Casey's own attorney, Casey knew Caylee was already dead.  Leonard Padilla is suing for something,  probably reimbursement for what he spent bailing her out of jail, providing round-the-clock security for her.  Along with that, the IRS wants 78k to pay the income tax on the 225,000k she received for "licensing photo's" of Caylee.   Jose took the money as payment.  Not looking out too well for his client in that sense, huh?

It was said by one of the talking heads that Casey now wants to be a paralegal.  It immediately made me thing of what Jesse Grund said about Casey--that she would try to morph herself into what ever was going on around her, that while not particularly religious, she participated in church and prayer meetings with his family, and suddenly she was a fan of his football team.  She's had no one but attorneys to talk to for three years so now she wants to be involved in law.   Of course, she'll have to get that GED before she can start school for that.  Maybe she can work out something where she's just an imaginary paralegal. 

So Casey Anthony has a future after all.  Only time will tell if it is a good one.  I can't see a reality show in her future, since even Jerry Springer and Vivid Entertainment (XXX rated stuff) pulled their offers.  How about the next Survivor series?  Hopefully she will just fade away, never to be heard from again.  For narcissists like herself that would be the worst punishment of all.  To simply be ignored.

Casey Anthony murder trial--Not Guilty of Caylee's Murder, July 5, 2011

The Prairie Chicken
July 5, 20011

Not Guilty.  Just can't wrap my head around which parts of all that defense team crap the jury believed?

All I can say is that they don't know as much as we do about the case.  They couldn't and still say not guilty.  The jury is told what is allowed for them to be told, I guess. 

Today my heart aches for Caylee Marie Anthony, a little girl who would be in the 1st grade this year, she would know all her numbers and abc's, could have been reading already.  She and her grandma would be excited as they bought school clothes and supplies.

Where will Casey go now?  Back to her parents house?  Maybe Grandma Plesea will take her in.   After Crystal's testimony, maybe Cindy will kick George out and she and Casey can just duel to the death.  Weirder things have happened.

Are you outraged? 

Casey Anthony murder trial--rebuttal witnesses--7-1-2011

The Prairie Chicken
July 1, 2011

Sitting back, thinking about the Anthony trial this past month, it is amazing how fast time has gone by, what with it being so long.  I'm afraid that little Caylee Marie, shown here at right, just a little girly-girl, is getting lost in all the garbage (no pun intended).

There were the real nuts in the gallery.  The crazy lady who yelled out in the courtroom concerning Casey’s guilt, had a total meltdown when facing Judge Perry, and spent one or two nights in the clink.  Then just this week some arrogant little pip-squeak with a crush on Casey was photographed covering a yawn with his hands and ending with one finger giving prosecutor Ashton the bird.  Why?  Six days in jail and $660 something in fines and court costs.  Did it really seem like a good idea at the time?  Really? 

How about the difference between Dr G’s testimony and that of Warner Spitz about the autopsy procedure, and Spitz calling G’s work shoddy because she had not sawed the top off of an empty skull.   To me, those are fightin’ words.  When you follow these high profile crimes, you’ll usually find that the defense will call in one of this trio of expert medical examiners:  Dr. Warner Spitz,  Dr. Henry Lee, or Dr. Cyril Wecht.  I’ve found them all to be experts for a price.  Warner is probably supplementing his retirement with defense cases.  He was completely uninformed about the case except for what Baez had asked for—someway to discredit the first autopsy.

And what do you think of Cindy Anthony now?  On the day in court when she lied about making the computer searches, one psychologist on a talk show said she had moved her lips in the “dupers delight”, a way of puckering her lips just prior to and after telling a lie.  It's true, too, I was watching clips on HLN and sure enough, all through that bevy of lies about the searches she has a peculiar pucker.  Then today, when prosecution brought in the president of Gentiva with records that show that she was not only at work, but making entries on the work computer, she kept herself hidden behind the woman sitting in front of her, trying to make herself as small as possible.  Maybe there will be other news views.  What facial features does she use when she is caught red-handed in a lie under oath with a po'd district attorney and stern judge?    

It looks to me like Casey is enjoying her last few days of relative freedom.  When will it hit her that everyone is going to go on to something else, while she heads off to jail.  It’s not exactly going to be like spring break.   Right now she is a star.  Everyone knows who Casey Anthony is.  Soon, though, she will be a note in the back-pages of the newspaper when she files for appeal, or is denied.  Maybe she can entertain herself with imaginary vacations. 

But then I’m assuming that she will be found guilty.  Lawd knows I have been very wrong before.