Imperfect Justice: Prosecuting Casey Anthony

OK, so if you, like me, followed this case closely, saw the TV movie, watched network reporting, then you already know a good part of this book. But there were additional details that made me feel a renewed and deeper disgust for Casey. I also gained additional insight into the case. Since there are no spoilers here, here is my take:JURY: Yes, the jury got it wrong. This circumstances in this case were so overwhelming as to make a not-guilty on all charges verdict laughable (or cry-able in this case.) Casey was responsible for the care of her daughter. However she did it, she caused the death of her daughter and then covered it up, which is why she told one lie after the other and Caelee was found in a swamp near her home. I like how Ashton explains this. The jury did not need the details on the method of murder or manslaughter in order to hold her responsible. If it was an accident she would have no consciousness of guilt and called the police. So, shame on the jury. Ashton hazards a couple guesses here, but remains incredulous, like most sane people, at the 'off scot free' verdict. Disgusting. They said that Caelee's life meant nothing.CASEY: Is a 10+ narcissist and pathological liar extraordinaire. Like severe NPDs, she lives in a reality of her own making. She appears to have a sociopathic mind that has no regret or remorse. People are here only for her use. But, as irresponsible as she was towards Caelee, no way was she going to let her parents take custody. So, vengeance was hers, and she smiled about it. There are some extra details in the book that show she was even worse than we thought towards most people in her life. The details are chilling.ASHTON: I feel for Jeff Ashton as he worked hard alongside Linda and the team for 3 years to get a conviction. That being said, he can be 'arrogant and off-putting' to say the least. That cost the team points. Juries need to at least respect the prosecution; feel they are not just out for bloody vengeance; that want to prove their point with facts and a well laid out theory of the case. Sarcasm and unprofessional behavior is not helpful. An appeal to the basic rational mind should have been made; telling the jury they were too smart to fall for the lies and cover-up.JOSE BAEZ: I am not one of those people who makes lawyer jokes. I know some are criminals themselves, too many who behave unethically, but Jose showed us a new low that reflects more on him than it does on Casey. (but they are a pair.) To rage loudly about a completely false allegation (which he only brought up only to shock and distract) about 'a penis in her mouth' as the reason Casey is who she is, was both wildly unethical and a new low in courtroom dramatics. He should have been disbarred or at least suspended. I found his 'high school drop out, long and difficult road to J.D, and difficulty being granted a license' background very telling. He is a performer, unethical, no holds barred fighter and without regard for the lives he ruins--much like Casey.Judge Melvin. I really liked him. And he was beyond qualified to manage this case, but his patience was his strength and then his weakness as he let it be abused by the unconscionable Baez.. When you have a bad child who continually ignores your orders, that child needs a consequence, not repeated threats of a consequence. So, the judge is at fault for letting Baez stay out of jail for repeated contempt of court. As any parent knows, one has to nip that limit testing in the bud. The judge was far too accommodating, which impacted the case.Again, lots you do know, but some things you don't. It was interesting to get Ashton's take.Cindy Anthony: While I cannot imagine being in the position she was in, she had to know that her daughter killed her granddaughter. But her daughter had a long history of bad behavior and using/lying to her parents with minimal consequence. I mean, not knowing Casey had not worked in 2 years; refusing to acknowledge her obvious pregnancy? C'mon. I ended up not liking her. She should have supported her husband more than she did.George Anthony: Of all the people in this story, my heart brakes for this man, up against these two women--one a pathological liar and bad actor; the other a denier and enabler. His heart was clearly broken. He felt he had failed Caelee by not standing up to these two dysfunctional women. Yes. But men know what this is like. No win; you are made out to be the bad guy.

The book is well-written, but I suspect this is a reflection on the co-author, Lisa Pulitzer. There is quite a bit of information in this book that anyone interested in the Casey Anthony case needs to know about. I was not aware, for example, that the source of the DNA sample taken from the duct tape that excluded both Casey and Caylee came from FBI employees who mishandled it. As well-written and fact-filled as the book is, it hardly makes up for the total lack of objectivity displayed by the author. The whole book reeks of sour grapes, page after page dripping with jealousy over the fact that Ashton lost the case of the century. He explains how the prosecutors played good cop-bad cop with Jose, and how he volunteered to be the bad cop with Jose. He states "My role in the prosecution was to do battle with Jose." (page 187) And again on the same page, "I must begin this portion of the story with a disclaimer, an admission of bias: I genuinely dislike Jose Baez." Ashton fails to even get Jose's biographical information correct; he got his undergraduate degree (criminology) from Florida State, not from the University of South Florida. This sets the tone for his description of the entire defense team, most of whom he regards as shysters and fame-seekers. He seems to want to be more generous in his description of Cheney Mason, but has to add that he too is in it for the limelight, and that Jose brought down his ethical standards.I was amazed to read that Ashton "was so disgusted" with Casey for selling photographs of herself and her child to ABC - as if Casey had any other assets with which to provide for her defense. Baez has explained publicly on the tv program Frontline that this money was used to double check the forensic evidence, otherwise only the state's interpretation of the evidence would have seen the light of day. Baez did apparently take a fee of $89,000, and the rest of the $200,000 was used for Casey's defense. (page 192) Ashton apparently made an issue out of this, prompting Judge Strickland to officially inquire into whether Baez was acting without Casey's permission. Predictably, Ashton's suspicions turned out to be as unfounded as all the allegations made to the Florida Bar. Sadly, this book turns out to be a slam on Team Casey, and Jeff Ashton's final attempt to get in a rebuttal after losing the most high profile criminal case in history.Jeff Ashton calls Casey's claim that George was involved in a cover up and possibly murdered his granddaughter, "the nuclear lie" that went "beyond even our wildest imaginations." (page 206) I think it is noteworthy that the scenario went beyond the presecutor's feeble imagination. Ashton then goes on to describe the sealed depositions that he was not legally supposed to be writing about. The depositions I refer to are, of course, those of the shrinks who examined Casey. (Incidentally the doctors were initially called in by Judge Strickland, not by Team Casey.) The issue with the depositions revolves around the fact that the doctors' testimony was not helpful to the prosecution; in fact, Casey tested negative for sociopathy and psychopathy and even tested negative on her ability to trick their tests. Ashton comments that he had known Dr. Danzinger for twenty years and that he held him in high esteem even though they had often been on opposing sides. Please note that Ashton has been known to call Danzinger as a witness for the prosecution. This is not someone who testifies strictly for defendants. Ashton would have liked to find contradictions between what Casey told Dr. Danzinger and what she told Dr. Weitz, but in reality all he found was that Weitz had been given more detailed information than Danzinger. (page 212)I was absolutely blown away by Ashton's account of the depositions and the rationale for why they were not made public and why the physicians did not testify in court. He alleges that the Baez decided not to put them on the stand because he had threatened to get his own expert: "If the defense was going to offer mental health testimony, we had the right to have Casey submit to an examination by our own expert." (page 214) When Judge Perry agreed to the state certified evaluation, Baez and Mason huddled privately; and when they got done discussing the matter, the state was "informed that they were pulling both psychologists from their witness list." (page 215) The depositions were sealed supposedly because they were "too sensational" and would further stress out George Anthony. This whole account astonishes me for its lack of accuracy (read lack of honesty). To hear Ashton tell it, Jose was trying to keep him from asking the doctors questions. Yet if you read the transcripts - which are now public property - you will see that Ashton was sarcastic with the doctors, and Jose felt they were being harassed through the depositions. When he insisted that the doctors appear in court to testify, so that he could object to Ashton's inappropriate comments, Baez was informed that the state would "seek cost" for the psych evals they paid for if he insisted on having them testify in court.In other words, Team Casey was blackmailed as a means of suppressing evidence, something Ashton was accused of doing earlier in his career. Talk about nuclear lies! Are you sure you believe him when he says that he saw duct tape over Caylee's mouth? The duct tape that no one thought to photograph??? You know, the duct tape with the heart shape on it, supposedly from a sticker Casey put on the tape. And the heart-shaped impression mysteriously vanished before the forensic expert could cross the room and come back with her camera to take a picture of it. Also of great importance here is the revelation that the prosecution got all this psychiatric data with testimony about molestation and cover up just a few weeks before the murder trial started. Ashton even admits that he was overwhelmed by the amount of data he now had. All this tells me that the state did not have time to seriously evaluate Casey's allegations when they were made - at which time they were firmly committed and publicly committed to their claim that Casey was a killer. I think they were wrong.FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE CASEY ANTHONY CASE GO TO standingupforcasey dot com.

Not what I expected. I was hoping for a more in depth analysis and probe into the events, and facts related to the crime and Casey's actions - a true crime story. I followed the trial and media coverage of it all and Jeff seems to leave out a lot of the details. This book is written more from his own perspective as the prosecutor (as the title suggests, and which I guess I didn't take at face value), and he tends to get quite caught up in legal proceedings inside and outside of the courtroom. Whole chapters are dedicated to legal technicalities, and I found it rather dry and boring. I also don't think that he gave an honest analysis of the prosecution's failures. Had they not pursued a first degree murder case with the death penalty with mostly circumstantial evidence, and failure to prove a cause of death, if they had pursued a lesser charge then the jury most likely would have convicted her. We all know that she did it, but the prosecutor and DA should have recognized the weaknesses in their case and prosecuted it accordingly. Casey IS guilty and they failed to prove it which is extremely unfortunate, as justice was not served for this precious little girl. He was too confident then and still doesn't turn a critical eye upon himself and his team.

Having followed the story, watched the trial and interviews with DR Phil, it amazes me how the jury came to the not guilty verdict. Although this was a great book to read I truly believe the prosecution let themselves down by not being more prominent and professional. If this case was handled properly then Casey Anthony would have been found guilty and rightly so. As for the O.J Simpson case, usually trials that are given so much media attention usually end up making the headlines for all the wrong reasons. what is more frustrating is that after reading the book, you still have no idea what happened to Caylee Anthony other than your own hypothesis! A good read, worth the money and excellent for those wanting a glimpse and understanding of a very ordinary yet dysfunctional family

Felt like the book was just one pity lap for this guy. It really didn’t tell anything about the case that showed any other perspective.I found it sad that he didn’t bother to disguise his contempt for the defence team and didn’t see the job through to the end by assisting his team at sentencing. His colleague Linda by comparison showed dignity & even congratulated Baez. If you want a book that is pure bias then this one is for you.

This book was easy to read, but i was annoyed at the self congratulating style of the book and the blaming the verdict on the jury.The prosecution didn't do their job and are the reason Casey got off. So to read a book where all he does is mock the defense, blame the Jury and talk about how great all the prosecution did their job seems a bit self serving.

Have been waiting for months for this book, read most of it yesterday and it is great to get a real insider knowledge of what happened at the trial - before and after. Other books can only guess at what went on behind the scenes. It was also good to get information on Jeff Ashtons history. Recommended.