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NANCY GRACE

Lee Anthony Takes the Stand

Aired June 1, 2011 - 20:00:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


NANCY GRACE, HOST: Breaking news tonight in the case of 2-year-old Florida girl, Caylee. Six months of searching culminate when skeletal remains found in a heavily wooded area just 15 houses from the Anthony home confirmed to be Caylee. A utility meter reader stumbles on a tiny human skeleton, including a skull covered in light-colored hair, the killer duct- taping, placing a heart-shaped sticker directly over the mouth, then triple bagging little Caylee like she`s trash.

The murder trial of tot mom Casey Anthony under way. Tot mom`s lawyer tells a stunned courtroom she has nothing to do with Caylee`s death, but her own father, ex-cop George Anthony, shows up with Caylee`s dead body, and instead of calling 911, George hides the body, leaving it to rot. Tot mom also claims father George and brother Lee both sexually molest her. And her lover reveals when Caylee goes missing, tot mom spends the whole day laid up in bed with him.

Bombshell tonight. Brother Lee Anthony on the stand for hours today, describing his odyssey trying to find 2-year-old Caylee, dragging to late night bars, on-line sleuthing, going to tot mom`s lovers` apartments, her imaginary friends and her overall web of lies. But never once was Lee Anthony questioned about tot mom`s claim he molested her. Then, lead detective Yuri Melich takes the stand, and the courtroom is up for grabs!

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you first opened the garage door...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The garage.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Smell.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you recall about the smell?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was very potent, very strong.

CINDY ANTHONY, CASEY`S MOTHER: It smells like there`s been a dead body in the damn car!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was it an offensive smell?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Powerful.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Difficult to stay in the garage with that odor?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you cause any injury to your child, Caylee?

CASEY ANTHONY, CAYLEE`S MOTHER: No, sir.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Her demeanor when she came into the home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Combative.

CASEY ANTHONY: No!

CINDY ANTHONY: I don`t know what your involvement is, sweetheart.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why won`t you allow us to see Caylee.

LEE ANTHONY, CASEY`S BROTHER: Because I`m a spiteful pitch.

CMA, I miss you! I will never forget.

She said that she was with the nanny.

CASEY ANTHONY: Her name is Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Caylee was missing.

CASEY ANTHONY: I show up the apartment, knock on the door. Nobody answers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Casey was an unfit mother. Casey says, Maybe I am.

CASEY ANTHONY: I was scared that something would happen to her.

LEE ANTHONY: What are you going to do? And she just looked at me with really no reaction.

CASEY ANTHONY: I just want my daughter back.

LEE ANTHONY: She had not seen Caylee in 31 days.

CASEY ANTHONY: My daughter has been missing for the last 31 days.

LEE ANTHONY: The nanny took her.

CINDY ANTHONY: Caylee`s missing!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What record evidence is there that the victim drowned? The answer is none.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) smell?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. Bombshell tonight. Brother Lee Anthony on the stand for hours today, describing his odyssey trying to find 2-year-old Caylee, dragging to late-night bars looking for tot mom, on-line sleuthing, going to tot mom`s lovers` apartments, through her imaginary friends and her overall web of lies.

But never once in all the hours he was on the stand today was Lee Anthony questioned about tot mom`s claims he sexually molested her. Then, lead detective Yuri Melich takes the stand, and the courtroom is up for grabs!

We are live in Orlando taking your calls tonight, camped outside the Orlando courthouse. Straight out to Jean Casarez, legal correspondent, "In Session." I don`t get it. In the opening statement, tot mom`s defense drops the bomb, the stinkbomb in the courtroom that not only her brother, Lee Anthony, but her father, George Anthony, both molest her.

And then they have him on cross-exam and they don`t even mention it? Nobody touches it with a 10-foot pole? What the hey, Jean Casarez?

JEAN CASAREZ, "IN SESSION": Nobody touches it at all. And you remember with George Anthony, it`s the prosecution that led with it. They asked him directly to George Anthony, but they didn`t touch it today with Lee Anthony. The defense didn`t, either.

But the prosecution got a lot out because Lee Anthony testified that when he was with his sister in that small, little bedroom that night, July 15th, 2008, he said, Why won`t you let the family see Caylee? She said, Maybe because I`m a spiteful B-I-T-C-H.

GRACE: Hey, Jean! Jean!

CASAREZ: That`s what he had to testify to.

GRACE: Jean!

CASAREZ: I don`t want to say it!

GRACE: (INAUDIBLE)

CASAREZ: I don`t want to say it!

GRACE: She said, I`m a spiteful bitch. OK, explain to me when tot mom said that.

CASAREZ: She said it the night of July 15th. When Lee Anthony arrived at the house, he went into her bedroom and he said, Look, one on one, Casey, talk to me. Tell me, why won`t you let the family know where Caylee is? That was the response, Because maybe I`m a spiteful bitch.

GRACE: Now, let me ask you something, Jean. We`ve all been sitting in the courtroom, watching tot mom as this evidence pours in from the witness stand. Describe her behavior when that came in. And what did the jurors do?

CASAREZ: Well, her demeanor was different with Lee than it was with her mother. She didn`t have that anger. She didn`t have that hatred in her heart that I saw when her mother was on the stand. But when Lee testified to that, jurors seemed to just look, and then they looked at Casey. And Casey started to cry.

GRACE: Take a listen to what happened in court in the last hours.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you asked your sister, Why won`t you allow us to see Caylee, what do you recall her saying? What did you say? Or what did you say -- what did you tell Detective Edwards that she said?

LEE ANTHONY: I told Detective Edwards that she said -- I`m paraphrasing -- Because maybe I`m a spiteful bitch.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEE ANTHONY: CMA -- CMA, each day, you continue to teach me about life and about the way it should be lived! Each day, you give me the ability to be strong or to be weak. It`s been so long since I`ve been able to see you, to hug you, or to tell you how much you mean to me. CMA, I miss you! I love you! CMA, I am so proud of you. I hope you`re proud of me, too. I need you to know that I will never forget the promise that I made to you. I will never forget.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you asked your sister, Why won`t you...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Clearly, those messages at the memorial for Caylee Marie Anthony, CMA, were directed to Casey Marie Anthony, CMA. Explain, Natisha Lance -- explain to me, explain to the viewers Lee`s dedication to Casey Marie Anthony, tot mom. And from that memorial, where thousands of people were there and he knew this was going to be transmitted at the jail and tot mom would be able to see it, he spoke to her in code, breaking down in tears, talking about how proud he was of her, hoping she was proud of him, crying and saying he would never forget the promise he made her. Tell us, Natisha.

NATISHA LANCE, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Well, Nancy, even back at that time, CMA, Casey Anthony and Caylee Anthony had -- both have the same initials. But it does seem today during Lee Anthony`s testimony that he was conflicted.

We know from further testimony, earlier testimony, that Casey and Lee have had a very close relationship. And he had trouble today remembering things that happened in the past. Over and over again, the state had to remind him or bring up to him his depositions to say, Do you recall this, Lee? Do you recall that? And once he looked at them, then he did recall.

But he wasn`t offering up any information. So perhaps, maybe that was the promise that he was making to CMA back then at that memorial.

GRACE: Take a look at tot mom during her brother Lee`s testimony, the man, the brother that she accused of molesting her -- stone-faced!

We are taking your calls. Out to Judy in Idaho. Hi, Judy. What`s your question?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, Nancy. God bless you for carrying this case...

GRACE: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... and keeping it so close to our hearts because you`re the only one giving that little girl the justice that she deserves.

GRACE: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But my question is, do you think that Cindy Anthony broke down on stand so hard because maybe she had an epiphany at that point, Nancy, that her daughter did nothing but lie to her her entire life?

GRACE: You know, Judy in Idaho, that`s an excellent question because in prior proceedings, she has cried, but nothing like what happened on the stand yesterday. Nothing at all could compare to that. She was doubled over in pain. Her body was wracking with sobs as she tried to testify.

And I know for a fact through our sources and my sources in Orlando that up until very recently, a few weeks before trial, she was still trying to find Zenaida Gonzalez, still trying to believe Caylee could maybe alive. And then look at what happened.

Or Judy in Idaho, it may be because she was being forced to recall the day she learned Caylee was gone, forced to look at Caylee`s favorite doll, forced to look at her backpack there abandoned in the car.

You know, to Caryn Stark, psychologist joining us tonight from New York. Caryn, a lot of times, murder victims -- which I`m calling the Anthonys -- they don`t want to think about it, and then when they`re forced to think about it, it`s brutally painful.

CARYN STARK, PSYCHOLOGIST: It`s brutally painful. That`s absolutely correct, Nancy. But there is an important other part to this, and that is that her daughter has done probably not just the worst that she could imagine, but her daughter has testified against her father and her brother. So this woman is not just recalling the death of her granddaughter, but maybe she`s come to realize just how disturbed her daughter really is, and that really, all along, she had killed her and made up the whole thing. And those realizations would make her sob and be wracked with tears, as you described.

GRACE: We are live in Orlando, camped outside the Orlando courthouse, bringing you the latest in the trial of Casey Anthony, tot mom on trial for the murder of her 2-year-old little girl, Caylee.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you getting frustrated with your sister?

LEE ANTHONY: Very.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why are you getting frustrated? Or why are you frustrated with her at this point?

LEE ANTHONY: Nothing was making sense to me.

CASEY ANTHONY: You don`t know what my involvement is in stuff?

CINDY ANTHONY: You`re not telling me where she`s at.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEE ANTHONY: Mom has thrown at my face many times before. Casey was an unfit mother.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) a missing child.

CINDY ANTHONY: I can`t find my granddaughter. There`s something wrong!

CASEY ANTHONY: Oh, my God. Calling you guys? A waste.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was an unfit mother.

CASEY ANTHONY: I told you that from day one.

LEE ANTHONY: Maybe she`s right, maybe I am.

CASEY ANTHONY: I don`t want to have to cut this (INAUDIBLE) stop it!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) of mother and daughter.

CASEY ANTHONY: Sheer (ph) waste.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What was your sister`s state?

LEE ANTHONY: Combative.

CASEY ANTHONY: I`ve already told you, Mom!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How about your mom?

LEE ANTHONY: Equally or moreso combative.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Swore at her, hit the bed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was extremely upset about that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You`re more afraid of your mom`s reaction than you are (INAUDIBLE) see your daughter again?

CASEY ANTHONY: I know my mom will never forgive me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: We are live outside the Orlando courthouse, bringing you the latest in the case against tot mom, Casey Anthony, in the alleged murder of her 2-year-old girl, Caylee. Today, brother Lee on the stand. Amazingly, after hours on direct and cross, no one ever asked him about the bombshell allegation he molested his own sister, or so she claims, in opening statements to that jury.

We are taking your calls. Out to Drew Petrimoulx with WDBO. Drew, thank you for being with us. At one point, Lee Anthony described the overwhelming smell emanating from tot mom`s car trunk, where the state says she hid Caylee`s body. He describes the conversation with tot mom there in the garage. OK, how awkward is that, trying to talk to the woman who won`t tell you where your little niece is, and you smell the smell of a human corpse in the garage and they`re having this conversation -- they could hardly talk because of the smell?

DREW PETRIMOULX, WDBO: Yes, he said that was definitely a very distinct smell coming from that car in the garage. He said when he walked by, the windows were down and it really caught his mind as he walked through, walked into the house to begin that conversation with Casey Anthony. Of course, him, unlike his father, George Anthony, who was a former police detective, and other detectives involved in this case, he had no prior knowledge of what a dead body smelled like. But he did say that that smell really stuck in his head.

GRACE: And of course, Ellie Jostad, we see tot mom laying the groundwork to explain away the stench coming from her car with texts to her best friend, Amy Huizinga. Explain.

ELLIE JOSTAD, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Right. She told Amy that she thought there was -- that George Anthony had borrowed the car and run over an animal. She actually sent Huizinga a text that said, There was definitely a dead animal plastered to the frame of my car.

GRACE: Back to Drew Petrimoulx, WDBO. Lee Anthony on the stand -- how stunned was everyone when no one asked him about the sex molestation bombshell? Tot mom claims he and George molested her as a child.

PETRIMOULX: Yes. She first made that claim in some jailhouse letters to a friend. It was very interesting that the defense didn`t bring that up today when he was on the stand. But they did say that he will be subject to recall. You have to think this is something that the defense has previously discussed, that they wouldn`t ask him at this time.

Of course, the defense still has its case to present later on. You have to think that they`re going to call him back and ask him about this abuse because according to the defense, that is the entire explanation for the bizarre actions of Casey Anthony after what the defense says -- after the drowning.

GRACE: We are taking your calls. Out to Brenda in Texas. Hi, Brenda. What`s your question?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Hi, Nancy. I have one quick comment and one quick question.

GRACE: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think the -- I think that George`s reaction is probably normal as to what was going on at the time because he was supporting his hysterical wife. He also knew that the police was coming, that Lee was with Casey. And he was probably suppressing his anger and his urge to beat the truth out of Casey. And my question is, do you think that Casey instructed her defense team not to question Lee about the molestation charges because he is the only ally she has?

GRACE: To Bill Sheaffer, former prosecutor, WFTV legal analyst. What about it, Bill? You were in court, too.

BILL SHEAFFER, WFTV LEGAL ANALYST: It`s more simple than that. The state did not bring out on direct examination any evidence about this alleged abuse. That means that the defense can`t cross-examine on that issue because it was not brought out on direct.

And every time the defense, by the way, tries to go beyond what the scope of the direct is, they run the risk of this prior six convictions coming in because they raise issues they shouldn`t raise.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who is this baby-sitter?

CASEY ANTHONY: Her name is Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Prior to July 13th, had you ever heard that name before?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Never.

CINDY ANTHONY: I just found her today, but I can`t find my granddaughter!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What was your sister`s state at that time? How would you describe her demeanor when she came into the home?

CASEY ANTHONY: Nobody`s (EXPLETIVE DELETED) anything that I`m saying!

LEE ANTHONY: Combative.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How about your mom?

CINDY ANTHONY: It smells like there`s been a dead body in the damn car!

LEE ANTHONY: Equally or moreso combative.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The fact there`s a family out there now that has no knowledge.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What did you tell Detective Edwards that she said?

CASEY ANTHONY: I was naive enough to think that I could handle this myself.

LEE ANTHONY: Maybe I`m a spiteful bitch.

Casey was an unfit mother.

Each day, you give me the ability to be strong!

Nothing was making sense me.

I don`t recall.

We`re going to find out something, whatever`s going on, it`s going to be found out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: We are taking your calls live. I want to go to Jean Casarez. Let`s see the Target video of tot mom before she`s arrested for the murder of Caylee. There she is in Target, and she is using her friend Amy Huizinga`s credit card -- excuse me, checks -- to buy beer, lingerie, push- up bras, clothing, sunglasses.

It was decided by the state that they would not seek to introduce her conviction, as we predicted last night, that the evidence itself is going to come in, this video, but not the conviction. Explain what happened, Jean.

CASAREZ: At this point, they decided to withdraw that. We`ll see what happens. And it`s because Mr. Baez yesterday on cross-examination with Cindy was focusing on these imaginary people, but then he focused on the alleged father of Caylee, gave a name, that he was deceased or he wasn`t deceased. That`s where it came into issue.

GRACE: To Thomas Luka, former attorney for Lee Anthony, joining us tonight out of Orlando. How do you think Lee did on the stand?

THOMAS LUKA, FMR. ATTORNEY FOR LEE ANTHONY: I thought he did fine. I think he testified in complete corroboration with his deposition testimony. Keep in mind, he was on the -- he was in deposition for well over six hours, answering a number, a host of questions, much more than he answered today. So it`s not unusual that people would forget something that they maybe...

GRACE: Maybe a lot (ph).

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She`s the brightest little star.

LEE ANTHONY, CASEY ANTHONY`S BROTHER: CMA.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She is the light for our day.

CINDY ANTHONY, CASEY ANTHONY`S MOTHER: We`re talking about a 3-year- old little girl.

L. ANTHONY: CMA.

AMY HUIZENGA, TOT MOM`S BEST FRIEND: Unfit mother.

L. ANTHONY: Spiteful bitch.

CASEY ANTHONY, MOTHER OF CAYLEE ANTHONY: Oh, my god. Calling you guys, a waste. Huge waste.

L. ANTHONY: Casey was an unfit mother for Caylee.

CINDY ANTHONY: I overheard her tell Lee.

L. ANTHONY: She told me that she had not seen Caylee in 31 days.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anything about this story that you`re telling me is untrue or is there anything that you want to change or divert from what you`ve already told me?

CASEY ANTHONY: No, sir.

L. ANTHONY: That the nanny. CMA. I miss you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why didn`t you call prior to today?

CASEY ANTHONY: Fear of the unknown. Fear of potentially Caylee getting hurt and not seeing my daughter again.

L. ANTHONY: CMA. I love you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you recall noticing?

L. ANTHONY: The smell. The smell was so (INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you cause any injury to your child Caylee?

CASEY ANTHONY: No, sir.

L. ANTHONY: What are you going to do?

(LAUGHTER)

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

NANCY GRACE, HOST: On the stand today, grueling testimony for hours, devoted brother Lee Anthony undergoing cross-examination while tot mom, Casey Anthony, sits by just as you`re seeing her now, stone-faced, as her brother recalls his odyssey of trying to find Caylee.

To you, Ellie Jostad, explain how he even -- pretend role play after Caylee -- Casey tells him, tot mom tells him, well, maybe I`m not letting you see Caylee because I`m just a spiteful bitch. He does a role play as if he`s a cop.

ELLIE JOSTAD, NANCY GRACE CHIEF EDITORIAL PRODUCER: Right. Well, he was trying to get some answers out of his sister. He said OK, you know, so your story is that she`s with the babysitter. All right. Well, let`s imagine I`m a police officer and he`s going to ask you, OK, the baby is with the nanny. Well, let`s go get her. Let`s get in the car and go get her.

He said, you know, he was trying to explain to her this story isn`t going to fly and he said she just sat there blank face, no reaction.

GRACE: And isn`t it true, Jean Casarez, that during that time is when Cindy Anthony overhears her telling Lee, OK, OK, she`s been gone 31 days. Cindy goes nuts. Starts screaming. Beating the pillow of the bed. Beating on the bed. Goes out and calls 911. That`s how that rolls out.

JEAN CASAREZ, LEGAL CORRESPONDENT, "IN SESSION": Yes. You notice she didn`t say she hit Casey, she hit the bed. She said, Nancy, that`s right between the number two and number three 911 call. So that`s why that 911 call, the third one, is so important.

GRACE: Look at that family photo we were just showing you, the Anthony family. Had no idea what would lay before them.

Joining me right now special guest out of San Francisco, Marc Klaas, president and founder of KlaasKids Foundation.

You were there, Marc. You were in a courtroom just like Lee, George and Cindy Anthony, describing the disappearance and death of their little Caylee when your little Polly went missing.

How hard is it for a family member to take the stand and undergo cross-examine like Lee did today, like Cindy did, when they suggested she and George were trying to make money off Caylee -- not true. Like George did when he was suggesting, with him sitting on the stand that he had molested, forced tot mom to have oral sex when she was just a little girl, and they underwent all that in the last few days.

MARC KLAAS, PRESIDENT AND FOUNDER, KLAASKIDS FOUNDATION: Well, first of all, we didn`t go through any of those kinds of charges. But I can tell you that taking the stand to deal with the death of your own child, in the murder trial, becomes one of the most emotionally charged events of your life because as has become obvious they had everything invested in this little girl.

And now it`s becoming increasingly clear that the defendant, the loving daughter, had a life that was based on lies, dark fantasies and bitter resentment towards her family. So I think that -- you know, Nancy ultimately it`s going very difficult for the jury to believe anything that comes out of the defense because Casey`s life was based on lies, and everything that she says is a lie.

So when does the lying stop and when does the truth begin? One begins to believe that it never does.

GRACE: We are taking your calls live. Unleash the lawyers. In addition to former attorney for Lee Anthony with us tonight, Thomas Luca in Orlando, Bill Sheaffer, former prosecutor, WFTV legal analyst, at the Orlando courthouse. Joe Jackson, defense attorney, New York. Pilar Prinz, defense attorney, family law attorney, Atlanta.

First of all, Joe Jackson, why didn`t the defense question Lee Anthony about their allegations he molested tot mom?

JOEY JACKSON, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, I think they had an opportunity to do it. I thought that the prosecution did ask, did you molest, thereby opening the door and allowing them, you know, to make it a subject of cross-examination. And furthermore it would go to credibility, it would go to whether you`re a sexual abuser.

So I think it`s a lost opportunity and it`s a mistake and it`s something that perhaps they should have explored. However, they will have an additional opportunity later on to re-examine that issue and I suspect they will do it in some detail.

GRACE: Pilar, the state did not bring it up on direct. The defense brought it up in their opening statements about Lee. They did not hear it on direct by the state. And, of course, the defense can always call him as their own witness during the defense case if they want to, Pilar.

PILAR PRINZ,, DEFENSE ATTORNEY AND FAMILY LAW ATTORNEY: Well, that`s exactly right, Nancy. The state -- why would the state bring it up? It`s not their case. It`s the defense`s case. I mean the state has their explanation of this murder and none of it has to do with Casey Anthony being molested by anybody.

GRACE: You know what I think about that, though? Out to you, Sheaffer. I think if I had been the state I would have gone ahead and brought it up. It`s there lurking in the courtroom. And if they don`t have anything to hide, which I don`t believe they do, I would say you must know by now that it was brought out in opening statements, you molested your sister. Is that true?

I would have brought it out. I believe I would have asked it myself. Why wait on them to bring him on as their own witness?

BILL SHEAFFER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY, WFTV LEGAL ANALYST: I think that what`s important that they asked George that question because he is the hub to this conspiracy. I think it`s less important to have asked Lee about this.

The state got what they needed out of Lee. It was like extracting hen`s teeth. It was like moving mud uphill. But he said three things that they absolutely needed. Two of which was, I`m a spiteful bitch, and you know what, I may be a bad mother as my mother says I am.

GRACE: To Jean Casarez, legal correspondent, "In Session", who was in the courtroom all day long today, now she`s camped outside the Orlando courthouse.

Jean, then lead detectives Yury Melich takes the stand. The courtroom is up for grabs. We hear about him confronting her.

Is this really your story, you`re really telling me that this nanny, Zenaida Fernandez Gonzalez, took your baby and you kept a lid on it for 31 days? Doing your own private investigation? At bars? You sure you want to stick with that statement? She`s like, uh-huh.

And the way they played that, Jean, he`s asking all these questions like, well, do you have your friend`s phone number that recommended the nanny to you? And tot mom goes, you know, I don`t have that right now but I can get it for you.

Like she`s in the middle of an interview for a secretarial position at the library. It`s not -- it`s as if her daughter is dead or missing at all.

CASAREZ: Nancy, her mind was clicking so fast. And I mean to even to remember to recite the facts she gave, the fact she lost this phone, the SIM card wouldn`t go in the other phone, that this girlfriend she worked with at Universal, she told her all about it, but yes, she doesn`t work there any more. She moved up north.

(CROSSTALK)

GRACE: Hold on.

CASAREZ: But she`s from the south.

GRACE: Jean, hold on.

Liz, let`s see the video of the interview where tot mom was answering in this manner.

Jean, was this played in front of the jury, the tot mom --

CASAREZ: You better believe it.

GRACE: What did the jury do when they saw this?

CASAREZ: You know, Nancy, it`s too much to write notes on. This jury doesn`t really write notes. Maybe a little bit here or there. But they listen. They listen so intently.

GRACE: OK, let`s take a look at what the jury saw in the last hours.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CPL. YURY MELICH, ORANGE COUNTY INVESTIGATOR: Basically if you`re trying to fabricate a story to kind of make something look a little bit better, now is your time to tell me. Are you telling me that this is the story you want to stick with?

CASEY ANTHONY: It`s the truth. It`s the story I`m going to stick with. Yes.

MELICH: OK. In your own words, let`s go back. Your daughter`s name is Caylee, C-A-Y-L-E-E?

CASEY ANTHONY: Yes.

MELICH: Marie Anthony? She was born August 9th.

CASEY ANTHONY: 2005.

MELICH: OK. And according to your statement back on August 9th -- I`m sorry. Back on June 9th, 2008, you took Caylee to a babysitter`s house?

CASEY ANTHONY: Yes.

MELICH: And who is this babysitter?

CASEY ANTHONY: Her name is Zenaida Fernandez Gonzalez.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Jean, when the jury heard this and it goes on and on, tot mom talking as if nothing has happened. It`s like they asked her what time it was.

CASAREZ: You know, it put the lies front and center. And the lies were so strong. They were so confident. And they got faster. But she got tripped up and I saw right then and there she was lying in that statement. It was very obvious. Has been obvious --

(CROSSTALK)

GRACE: When do you believe it shows she was tripped up?

CASAREZ: When? When she said that her girlfriend at Universal who she worked with right now, she had told everything about it, do you have the phone number, no, she moved up north. I thought she worked with you at Universal. She used to.

GRACE: Julia Louise. Right.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MELICH: On Monday, June 9th, 2008, between the 9:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m., I, Casey Anthony, took my daughter, Caylee Marie Anthony, to her nanny`s apartment.

L. ANTHONY: At one time I specifically asked where she was.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What did she tell you?

L. ANTHONY: She told me she was in Jacksonville.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When she told you she was in Jacksonville, what was your response?

L. ANTHONY: I knew it was a lie.

CASEY ANTHONY: I got off of work. Left Universal, driving back to pick up Caylee like a normal day. And I show up to the apartment, knock on the door. Nobody answers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you getting frustrated with your sister?

L. ANTHONY: Very. Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why are you getting frustrated? And why are you frustrated with her at this point?

L. ANTHONY: Nothing was making sense to me.

CASEY ANTHONY: I want my daughter back.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would you raise your right hand for me? Do you solemnly swear what you`re telling me is true?

CASEY ANTHONY: Yes.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: We are taking your calls. Out to Brenda in Texas.

Hi, Brenda, what`s your question? Excuse me, Robin in Missouri. Hi, Robin.

ROBIN, CALLER FROM MISSOURI: Hi.

GRACE: Hi, dear, what`s your question?

ROBIN: Well, I have a comment and a question. And my comment goes back to the opening statement when the defense was explaining how the baby`s body had been found in the bag, and Casey sat there and she stayed stone-faced, but the minute they started talking that she could get the death penalty then all of a sudden she breaks.

I mean I don`t get that.

And then second, the question is there seems to be lot of focus on the little girl drowning. But if she had drowned then why when she was found there was duct tape across her mouth and across her nose? If she had already been drowned at that point she wouldn`t need that and then the chloroform that was found -- or smelled in the car, the residue around this or whatever was found.

GRACE: Robin in Missouri, I think that is going to be the state`s closing argument.

But to you, Drew Petrimoulx, WDBO, what is the defense`s theory that she drowned in the pool and that George Anthony duct-taped her mouth and nose to make it took like a murder?

DREW PETRIMOULX, REPORTER, WDBO RADIO: Well, no, Nancy. In the opening statement the defense never really laid out exactly what happened after George discovered the body. Yes, the defense said that he was the one that want disposed of it, but where exactly and how exactly it happened, did he put the body in the trunk, what -- how exactly he did it is not explained.

Then of course it picks up with Roy Kronk, the meter reader, finding the body, keeping it, storing it, trying to get this potential reward. So there`s definitely some holes in the story that the defense has laid out in its opening statement.

GRACE: To Dr. Vincent Dimaio, former chief medical examiner, Bear County, forensic pathologist.

Doctor, thank you for being with us. Would there have been any evidence of chloroform left in her -- excuse me, chlorine or pool water left in her body if she had drowned in the pool?

DR. VINCENT DIMAIO, M.D., FORMER CHIEF MEDICAL EXAMINER, BEXAR COUNTY, FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST: No, unfortunately not, because all they had was bones. And so you really can`t do anything with bones.

GRACE: Let me ask you something about the chloroform. Chloroform found in high levels in tot mom`s trunk, there was chloroform there at the scene where her body was found, I believe, still in a syringe.

Isn`t that right, Jean? Wasn`t it -- like in a container there?

CASAREZ: There was a Gatorade bottle with some liquid and a syringe and there were very small amounts of chloroform in that bottle, yes.

GRACE: Dr. Dimaio, how is chloroform administered?

DIMAIO: Well, essentially, what they used to do was just put a little cloth over the face and just brought the chloroform drip by drip on to the cloth. You inhale that and you lose consciousness within, you know, five or 10 seconds.

GRACE: And how does it actually kill you? You just -- it just slows your breathing down so much you just stop breathing?

DIMAIO: Right. It`s a respiratory depressant. It`s like giving a person an overdose of a drug. You just shut down the ability to breathe and the person just asphyxiates.

GRACE: To Michael Sapraicone, former NYPD detective, president of Squad Security, Inc. I know that you have watched the videos of Yury Melich.

Let`s see that video again if we can.

He questions and questions tot mom over and over and we actually have video of the detectives questioning her. What do you make of him trying to ask her, are you sure? This is the statement you want to give?

MICHAEL SAPRAICONE, FMR. NYPD DETECTIVE PRESIDENT OF SQUAD SECURITY INC.: I think, Nancy, a lot of times another thing to do with detectives during an interview, an investigation, now he`s trying to lock her into that lie to make sure he has that lie correct, and she`s saying yes, this is my story. This is exactly what happened.

And he wants to confirm that lie. He wants to be able to show the lie. If he`s not getting that confession he wants to be able to show -- because he knows it`s a lie -- exactly what she said and make sure she`s aware of what she said and she can explain, yes, this is what I thought, this is what I said happened. And he can lock her into that.

I think that`s what he`s doing at that point.

GRACE: And then, Jean Casarez, the defense cross-examines Yury Melich. They try to attack him about some posting he did under the name Dick Tracy Orlando. I believe it`s on websleuthing.com?

CASAREZ: Yes. He actually blogged in 2008 in the fall when he`s recuperating from a broken leg. And the defense wanted to impeach him with it. But the judge said according to case law he has to show -- he had to showcase bias toward Casey Anthony, toward the case. The judge said there was no bias shown in the bloggings so the jury isn`t going to hear it.

GRACE: Well, what was he blogging about?

CASAREZ: He was blogging about let us remember Caylee Anthony, let us pray for the Anthonys, let us try to find this little girl.

What the defense wanted to enter was that a missing person`s case is merely and many times a murder case, but you don`t yet have the body.

GRACE: Well, so? That`s what they`ve got against Melich? They`ve got to do a lot better than that, Jean Casarez.

CASAREZ: Well, and I think they will look through these blogs and try to find something that shows his bias toward Casey. But so far, they haven`t found it, they can`t bring it in yet.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRACE: We are live at Orlando, bringing you the latest in the case on tot mom, Casey Anthony, on trial for the murder of her 2-year-old little girl, Caylee.

Back to Jean Casarez. Lead detective Yury Melich on the stand. Today I heard from the owner of websleuth who said Melich posted a few thank you posts to our members that we`re thinking of him when he had a broken leg. He did not hide who he was. He answered a few general questions about the whole case, very general.

She says Melich was asked to stop posting by his boss and he was not reprimanded as has been reported.

CASAREZ: That`s an interesting local report --

GRACE: And mostly he asked people to -- mostly he asked people to pray for the Anthony family, according to this woman who wrote me.

CASAREZ: And that`s what I said. He did do that. But that`s interesting. Local reports have said he was reprimanded, but, Nancy, he is now with the Professional Standards Division inside the Orange County Sheriff`s Department, which is Internal Affairs.

GRACE: Which means he had a spotless record, as I understand, where he`s working.

CASAREZ: Right. You wouldn`t go to that division if you had done --

GRACE: Yes, you know what?

CASAREZ: -- too bad of things.

GRACE: Maybe Baez will cross-examined him on that when he`s recalled to the stand. OK.

Thank you, Jean Casarez.

Everybody, let`s stop and remember Lance Corporal Kevin Adam Lucas, 20, Greensboro, North Carolina, killed in Iraq. Awarded the Purple Heart, National Defense Service Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, buried at Arlington.

Wanted to be a Marine since sixth grade. Loved his Dodge Ram pickup. A first-degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do. Dreamed of being in the Secret Service, FBI, or CIA. Leaves behind parents Kevin and Sandra, sisters Devon and Amanda.

Kevin Adam Lucas, American hero.

Thanks to our guest, but especially to you for being with us and inviting us into your homes.

And a special happy 2nd birthday to Miley Grace. Loves swimming, dancing, watching our show with parents Destiny and Justin.

Happy birthday, Miley.

And a special heartfelt thank you to the family of our American hero tonight. I know that you`re watching. And please know we are praying for you and him.

Everyone, we will be live in Orlando tomorrow night. And I will see you then, 8:00 sharp Eastern. And until then, good night, friend.

END