Throughout the investigation and leading up to the trial, plenty of surprising details emerged about the case that authorities were building against Casey Anthony. At trial, however, Casey's legal team, led by Jose Baez, mounted a defense that included several shocking claims. First, the core of the defense's story was that Caylee Anthony had not been murdered at all, but had accidentally drowned in the Anthony family pool, per ABC News' recap of the defense's opening statement. Casey's lawyers also argued that it had actually been her father, George Anthony, who allegedly aided in the "disposal" of his granddaughter's body to cover up the death.
According to a WFTV 9 ABC report, Baez claimed at trial that George discovered Caylee's body and said to Casey, "Look what you've done! Your mother will never forgive you! And you will go to jail for child neglect for the rest of your freaking life!" Baez also claimed that Casey's behavior after Caylee's death was a coping mechanism developed after years of abuse at the hands of her father. "Casey did what she's been doing all her life, or most of it, hiding her pain," he said, per WFTV 9 ABC. "She went back to that deep, dark place called denial to pretend as if nothing was wrong." George Anthony vehemently denied all of the claims made about by the defense during an emotional day of testimony in court.
If you or someone you know may be the victim of child abuse, please contact the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child (1-800-422-4453) or contact their live chat services.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7r7XCpKCsr5mbwW%2BvzqZmbWpian51e9OhnGaln6jBbq7Is5irqpViwam1zaCqZpmSpMK1edOhnGabkaiyunnAp6uhp56ueqSt0p5m