Closing Arguments, Attorneys Feud

The time had come for the attorneys to present their closing arguments in the State v. Casey Anthony trial, and heat really surrounded the courtroom on the Sunday at the Orange County courthouse, after lead defense attorney Jose Baez and prosecutor Jeff Ashton bickered.

Six weeks into the trial for the mother who allegedly murdered her 2-year-old Caylee Anthony, the attorneys, the judge and the jury all seem ready to done, but there was a shocking delay in the afternoon's court proceeding after Baez caught Ashton snickering at him during the defense's closing and angrily pointed towards him calling him a "laughing man" right in the presence of the jury which led to a side bar after Judge Belvin Perry Jr. sustained Ashton's immediate objection to Baez comment.

An unhappy Perry stopped the proceeding, excused the jury momentarily, to remind Ashton of the court rules about facial gestures and in order for the attorneys to view the clip portraying Ashton laughing with his hand over his mouth, after being previously warned at another point in the day when Baez confronted Ashton a first time.

Perry observed the clip and said both attorneys violated the order of the court, and demanded, "No more side bars. Enough is enough," and added that all conversations would be discussed openly in the court.

Perry explained, "There has been this accusation throughout the trial ... I don't watch you. I assume you are all professional that I don't have to watch ... Maybe I was misinformed when I thought you all were following the law."

Ashton replied in reference to the judge inquiring of the counsels wanted to watch the clip, stating, "I trust your judgment. I don't have to see it," but proceeded to doing so anyway.

After seeing the footage of his actions, Ashton made claims that he was just "smiling behind his hand," and was not at all laughing or shaking his head. "I was making sure nothing I said or did was seen by the jury," he asserted, and followed up with an apology.

Baez also apologized and said that after working with Ashton for three years, he did not wish for his colleague to be held in contempt because of the already "serious nature" of this case.

Perry concluded with a warning, "If it happens again, the remedy will be exclusion of that attorney," and the dispute will be left in the hands of their fellow lawyers.

Baez continued with his closing statements, arguing the state did not provide any proof that Casey murdered her little girl, but that everything led to her father, George Anthony, as mentioned in the opening statements.

"He refused to be upfront and honest .. He doesn't have an ounce of paternal instinct," said Baez.

He claimed that because of the photograph of Caylee opening the sliding door that leads to the outside of the Anthony home and the series of photographs of her climbing the ladder into the swimming pool, the jury can believe the cause of a death to be an accidental drowning.

Baez argued to the jury that the state wants them to speculate, saying, "We want you to base your verdict on evidence, not emotion," and adding that the state did not provide any evidence to make Casey the murderer in the case, but "pasted [her] as a slut, liar and party girl."

"They want to give the who without the how, where and the why," argued Baez.

Prior to the defense's closing, the state of Florida provided theirs initially via assistant state attorney Ashton, who started by elaborating on parenthood as he showed the last photograph of Caylee taken, on June 16, 2008, and a home video of Casey playing with the victim.

"It's easy to be a parent when you're playing with your child," stated Ashton. "But we all know being a parent is so much more than playing. Being a parent is about sacrifice."

The state alleges Casey had a choice to sacrifice between her normal life, where she partied with friends and boyfriends, or motherhood and the responsibilities of taking care of Caylee. "The choice she made was her daughter," he said, claiming Casey sacrificed her daughter for a life a freedom she so wanted greatly.

He informed the jurors that she did so by placing duct tape over the child's nose and mouth, suffocating her in order to keep her silenced from her grandparents ever questioning their whereabouts. Ashton claimed Casey's MySpace password, timer55, was a countdown from June 16, 2008 until Caylee's birthday, the amount of days Casey could stall her mother with lies.

"When Casey wants to do what Casey wants to do, she finds away," said Ashton, referring to her as smart and bright for the way she constructs her stories and her fabrications, which he named "Casey 3.0, it's a new version" of her lies.

Ashton concluded, "[Caylee] died because she could not breathe because her mom decided the life she wanted was more important."

Due to the late ending, the state's rebuttal will begin the following morning, and the jury is to be charged and deliberation will occur shortly thereafter. The verdict is expected to return on Monday. If convicted, Casey may have to face a death sentence.

(Photography by Red Huber, Orlando Sentinel)