May
16

Search of park yields no clues to missing woman

princess on May 16th, 2012

Police and civilian searchers with cadaver dogs slogged through a wooded West Side park today, hoping to turn up clues in the suspected slaying of a woman who disappeared six weeks ago.

The unsuccessful search of Big Run Park south of Clime Road was the latest effort by Columbus police to find 29-year-old Claudia Lopez Escobar.

Escobar was last seen on March 30, when she told a friend that she was going to meet a former boyfriend at his apartment. She later called the friend again from the apartment but hasn’t been heard from since.

Police believe that Escobar visited Sar I, 41, of 1774 Pheasant Run W. His apartment complex abuts the southern edge of Big Run Park.

Escobar was reported missing to police on April 5, after she failed to show up for work. Her Jeep Cherokee and I also have not been found. He has been charged with murder, kidnapping and gross abuse of a corpse.

Homicide detective Jay Fulton said police found blood and other evidence in I’s apartment that leads them to believe Escobar is dead.

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2012/05/15/search-for-missing-woman.html

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May
16

Casey Anthony served with subpoena – Central Florida News 13

princess on May 16th, 2012

ORLANDO – 

Casey Anthony is now one step closer to appearing in an Orange County court.

One of the attorneys for Zenaida Gonzalez is serving Casey Anthony with a subpoena Tuesday morning.

Matt Morgan, from attorneys Morgan and Morgan, served the subpoena at about 11 a.m.

Casey has been in hiding somewhere in Florida since her release from the Orange County Jail in July. A judge decided May 10 that while Casey can be served with a subpoena, her location will be hidden from public.

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Her civil trial is scheduled for January 2013, but attorneys for Gonzalez, the woman suing her for defamation, said they couldn’t move forward if they couldn’t reach Casey. Read the rest of this entry »

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May
16

Search for LaMar marks two-month anniversary – abc7news.com

princess on May 16th, 2012

MORGAN HILL, Calif. —
Friends and family of missing Morgan Hill teen Sierra LaMar are marking the two-month anniversary of her disappearance today with another search.

Sierra, 15, disappeared after she left for school on the morning of March 16, prompting extensive searches of the area. Sheriff’s investigators have said they believe her disappearance is an abduction.

“This is not how I wanted to acknowledge this date, but I am deeply grateful that the community continues to support her cause,” Sierra’s father, Steve LaMar said in a statement Tuesday.

The KlaasKids Foundation, an organization that provides search-and-rescue services for families of missing people, are organizing today’s search as well as a search on Saturday.

Volunteers are asked to report to the Find Sierra Search Center at Burnett Elementary School, located at 85 Tilton Road in Morgan Hill, between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m.

Volunteers must be at least 18 years old and photo ID is required, organizers said.

Organizers said the searches will take place in various terrains, including dense woods, and volunteers are urged to bring water, snacks, bug spray, gloves and a hiking stick.

Anyone with information is asked to contact sheriff’s investigators at (408) 808-4500 or call the anonymous tip line at (408) 808-4431.

Source Article from http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/south_bay&id=8663869
Search for LaMar marks two-month anniversary – abc7news.com

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May
16

Casey Anthony to Zenaida Gonzalez: Who paid for your makeover? – Orlando Sentinel

princess on May 16th, 2012

Gonzalez says her life was upended when Anthony claimed a similarly named nanny had kidnapped her child in 2008. Anthony’s attorney, however, argues Gonzalez is exploiting his client’s infamy for her own gain.

The request covers documentation of payment for television, print and other media interviews, and specifically references an appearance with Dr. Phil McGraw that was taped in March and aired in April.

Anthony’s defense is seeking info on money spent on “any hair treatment, skin treatment, dental work, clothing, shoes, jewelry, transportation, hotel accommodations, food [and] drink” for or during that TV appearance.

The request covers Gonzalez’s bank and credit card statements, as well as pay stubs and job applications. Anthony’s team also wants documentation of “gift(s)” given to Gonzalez’s daughters by her attorneys’ law firm.

The new request comes days after a judge in the suit granted Gonzalez access to Anthony’s address so she can be subpoenaed for trial. Anthony has been in hiding since July, due to concerns for her safety.

Matt Morgan, one of the lawyers representing Gonzalez in the civil suit, posted on Twitter that Anthony had not yet been served as of Wednesday. “We are in the process of obtaining personal service,” he said.

Anthony, 26, was acquitted of all major charges in July after a high profile murder trial in the death of her daughter, 2-year-old Caylee Marie. She is currently serving probation in an unrelated check fraud conviction.

jeweiner@tribune.com or 407-420-5171

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May
13

Missing teen Sierra LaMar’s Twitter account is hacked – Los Angeles Times

princess on May 13th, 2012
Authorities looking for Sierra have been focusing on reservoirs near the girl’s home. Cardoza said divers were at Calero Reservoir on Thursday, one of the only remaining reservoirs in the county that hasn’t been searched.“It’s just to be as thorough as possible,” he said. “The investigators just want to be sure.”

The search to find Sierra — a competitive cheerleader whom friends and family describe as happy and outgoing — has brought together thousands of community volunteers.

Sheriff’s officials have searched with special off-road vehicles and used volunteers to scour hillsides, vacant lots and residential streets. Sierra’s family has posted a $10,000 reward for information leading to her safe return.

The day after she disappeared, deputies found Sierra’s cellphone lying near a road less than a mile from her home. The next day, her black-and-pink Juicy Couture purse turned up with her clothes folded neatly inside.

Source Article from http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/04/sierra-lamars-twitter-is-hacked-as-search-for-teen-continutes-.html
Missing teen Sierra LaMar’s Twitter account is hacked – Los Angeles Times

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May
13

Jose Baez to write book on Casey Anthony trial – Sacramento Bee

princess on May 13th, 2012

ORLANDO, Fla. — Casey Anthony’s lawyer is writing a book about her murder trial.

Attorney Jose Baez said Tuesday the book will be released in July. It is titled: “Presume Guilty, Casey Anthony: The Inside Story.”

Baez is promising the book will be about what happened off the record, and it will describe who the real Anthony is.

Anthony was acquitted in the killing of her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee, in July in a trial that mesmerized the nation.

Anthony was released from jail in late July and has remained out of sight since. She is serving probation on an unrelated charge.

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May
13

Casey Anthony Won’t Profit from Her Lawyer’s Book, Says Jose Baez – People Magazine

princess on May 13th, 2012

Casey Anthony Won't Profit from Her Lawyer's Book, Says Jose Baez

Jose Baez’s book Presumed Guilty



Jose Baez, the attorney who represented Casey Anthony, has written a tell-all book about the trial – and says his controversial client won’t make any money off of it.

The 352-page book, titled Presumed Guilty: Casey Anthony: The Inside Story, will hit bookstores in July – a year after Anthony was acquitted of murdering her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee.

“Casey will not financially benefit from this book in any way, shape or form,” Baez tells PEOPLE. “This is my story, not hers.”

According to Baez, the book will tell how he became involved in the case and will walk the reader through the defense strategy. He promises it will tell the behind-the-scenes story of the trial that riveted the nation in 2011.

The book also will talk about Baez’s relationship with Casey and his observations of her family. And it will give details about her release from jail, and why he stopped representing her.

A Controversial Subject

News of the book deal has caused controversy, with hundreds of boycotters taking to Facebook and Twitter to urge the publisher, BenBella books, to reconsider the book’s release.

Baez insists that Presumed Guilty is not a book about Casey’s guilt or innocence, but rather his experience as a key player in the most sensational trial in recent memory.

“I was there from day one,” he says. “Other than Casey, no one else was there from the very beginning. These are my insights into what happened.”

Although Baez no longer handles Anthony’s legal matters, he is still in touch with her as she finishes out her yearlong probation in an undisclosed Florida location.

According to her probation reports, she remains broke and unemployed. After several months of counseling at a church in Palm City, Fla., she has moved on and is no longer receiving therapy. Still, Baez claims that Anthony is fine with his book.

“Casey has authorized me to write it,” he says. “I have her complete and total permission.”

It’s the second book from one of the lawyers involved in the case. Prosecutor Jeff Ashton released his book about the trial, Imperfect Justice, in November. Ashton’s book will be made into a Lifetime movie starring Rob Lowe.



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May
13

Casey Anthony can be subpoenaed, address will stay sealed – Central Florida News 13

princess on May 13th, 2012

ORLANDO – 

Attorneys can now subpeona Casey Anthony, and they will even find out where she is.

But the public won’t.

At a civil hearing Thursday, a judge allowed Zenaida Gonzalez’s lawyers to get Casey Anthony’s address so they could subpoena her. However, her address will remain sealed to the public.

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Casey Anthony has been in hiding somewhere in Florida since her release from the Orange County Jail in July.

Her civil trial is scheduled for January 2013, but attorneys for Gonzalez, the woman suing her for defamation, said they couldn’t move forward if they couldn’t reach Casey.

The last time we saw Anthony was in January 2012, when some “video diaries” she recorded leaked online.

Gonzalez’s attorneys said they want Anthony to take the stand. But first, they need to find her.

“In 99 percent of the cases, this wouldn’t even be an issue, because the whereabouts of the defendant wouldn’t be in question,” said attorney Matt Morgan, who is representing Gonzalez. “This is a unique case.”

“This started with what she did, and I don’t think she should be on her back porch with her feet up in the middle of this trial,” said Gonzalez attorney Keith Mitnik. “I think she should be in the same uncomfortable seats everybody else is in while we have a day of reckoning.”

But while Gonzalez’s attorneys said seeing Casey Anthony in court will help their client get closure, Casey’s attorney, Charles Greene, said this is nothing more than the plaintiff trying to start another media circus.

“This is one more effort in the infomercial by the plaintiff’s council,” said Greene. “They’re hoping to get an infomercial in January, in the farcical trial that this has become by having Casey Anthony there, so everybody can see her and tune in, and be more interested in it.”

According to Greene, Casey has three options: She can comply with the order to appear, appeal it, or ignore it and face civil penalties. She has 10 days to make her decision.

Gonzalez’s attorneys also asked for any postings Casey Anthony made on Twitter, but Casey’s attorneys said she does not have a Twitter account.

Zenaida Gonzalez said Casey Anthony ruined her life when she said a nanny with the same name kidnapped her missing daughter, Caylee.

During her murder trial, Anthony’s defense lawyers admitted there was no “Zanny the Nanny,” and Anthony knew her daughter was dead the whole time — though they claimed Caylee drowned. Anthony was acquitted of murder in July 2011.

Latest Casey Anthony News


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Sep
28

How Hard is it to Convict Someone?

Allison Gamble on September 28th, 2011
The outrage from mainstream news outlets over the Casey Marie Anthony acquittal reveals widespread misconceptions about the rule of law and felony conviction rates. Although Anthony was convicted of providing false information to investigation authorities and is likely to be released early on account of time already served, the most ardent critics of this case would have people believe violent criminals can easily avoid punishment through finagling forensic psychologyassessments and botched jury trials. Not only does this line of thinking fail to take into account the critical role of jurors, but it also overlooks statistics illustrative of a far more rigorous court system than the popular image would suggest.The Role of the Jury

Common is the popular complaint that a jury ‘didn’t do its job’ when an accused criminal is acquitted. However, the duty of all criminal court jurors is to judge defendants based on admissible testimony and evidence presented before them according to the criteria for reasonable doubt, not to to pass judgment to satisfy the whims of outside observers. Perhaps it can be argued that the verdict was incorrect, or even that judgment ought to be weighed by experts instead of laymen. Nevertheless the fact remains that jury members are specifically instructed to judge the veracity of the prosecution’s case, for it is only the prosecution that bears the burden of proof.

Regardless, people often seem to feel juries should be given license to deliver verdicts based on judgments beyond the facts of the cases presented before them. With regard to the Anthony trial, this was made especially by certain commentators who exclaimed that the jury should have ‘connected the dots’ concerning the supposedly suspicious nature of the accused. However, following this mentality would not only violate juries’ aforementioned mandate to limit their considerations to the facts of the case, but would also derail juries’ critical thinking in favor of speculation. In short, this call for speculative judgment goes precisely counter to what juries are lawfully charged to do.

Conviction Rates

Given the unique complexities of each state’s laws and conviction statistics, it at first appears to be a challenge to evaluate the generalization that prosecutors lose too many criminal cases. This perspective, however, falsely assumes that conviction rates are a relevant measurement of prosecutor performance in the first place. Whereas it is the duty of defense attorneys to cast as much doubt as possible upon the arguments of prosecutors, the duty of the prosecution is to bring forth evidence against the accused within the bounds of the law, not do whatever they can to ensure a conviction. The court is meant as a medium in which the jury may soundly come to a fair and legal verdict, not a circus of accusation and unregulated inquisition. To assess the adversarial system of trial on verdict outcomes alone would be disingenuous to the pursuit of justice. At best, such measurements reveal trends without explaining how they occur. Read the rest of this entry »

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Caylee Anthony case, crime, crimes against children 4 Comments »
Sep
3

Testing 1, 2, 3…

PERCY on September 3rd, 2011

Hello Beaconhell readers! I think I can speak for both Princess and myself when I say we are so very glad to have you here.

In any case, I am just testing the waters this evening as Princess has invited me to be a contributing writer here on the BeaconHell blog and I am honored and humbled to accept her invite.  Knowing Princess as I do and how well she blogs and writes I obviously have a lot to live up to.

So with that said, I hope in the near future I will somehow find the inspiration needed to post something that you will all find not only interesting enough to read, but to perhaps even comment (or shit) on…

More later.

Percy

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