The State Rests

    For all intents and purposes, the State of Florida rested its case on Tuesday. There will be no more witnesses. Wednesday morning, prosecutors will do some minor housecleaning before ceding the floor to the defense. Two of the things that need to be swept up pertain to cans holding evidence. What the State plans on doing with those cans wasn’t explained, but the last thing the judge said to the jury before he dismissed them was that he would see them all in the morning. Will the cans be “open” for inspection? The idea has certainly crossed our minds, and the odor of decomposition would impact the jury tremendously, but I won’t speculate. I think the tattoo testimony was the most fitting way for the prosecution to end their case.

    There is also the matter of judicial notice. Generally, when a judicial notice is called,“the authority of a judge to accept as facts certain matters which are of common knowledge from sources which guarantee accuracy or are a matter of official record, without the need for evidence establishing the fact.” (See: Farlex Legal Dictionary) Although I do not know what the issue is, it could be something along the line of both the prosecution and defense agreeing that the date of Caylee Anthony’s death was June 16, 2008, in which case, it would be established as fact by the court. It could also mean that some documentary source of information was not received in open court, and the judge will make it part of the record after giving each side a reasonable chance to challenge it before judicial notice is decided. If that’s the case, it could be a piece of evidence just discovered, and not part of prior discovery. Whatever it’s about, Judge Perry did say, “The law is the law, folks… The facts are the facts… So we shall see.”

    After the evidence and judicial notice are taken care of, the defense will file a motion saying the State did a lousy job presenting its evidence. Therefore, the case should be tossed out. What? Take heart, this is a customary motion — one more chance to throw something at the wall before they begin to stick it to the State. Or try. Whatever, we are going to see a completely different type of strategy coming out of the defense. Until the show starts, do you think the prosecution showed the jury enough evidence to convict Casey of first-degree murder? What about Tuesday? Did the heart-shaped sticker close the deal? How about the missing laundry bag? Personally, I feel the State put on a well-choreographed presentation over the past two-plus weeks, but was it a commanding performance? I’m not convinced, and as Jeff Ashton recently said, you never know how a jury will decide.