As I was watching the news tonight, within a twenty minute timeframe, there were three news stories, each with their own 911 tapes that played. It was excruciating to hear. The “Santa” shooting this week that has taken at least nine lives, including the shooter who took his own life, was tragic enough without hearing the fear and terror in the woman’s voice on the 911 call as she tried to go unnoticed by this man who thought nothing of shooting a little girl in the face as she answered the door. Another 911 tape provided much of the same fear and terror as another woman realized she was in the line of fire of that water main break in the northeast this week. We’d already seen the footage from the helicopters as the rescuers were doing their jobs, but for some reason, it just wasn’t enough until the 911 tapes were released. And of course, we’re treated to even more from the Casey Anthony case. I have to say, it’s become increasingly difficult to hear Cindy Anthony’s voice declare her daughter’s car smelled like a “damn body was in it”. By the way, how do the attorneys, whether the district attorney or Casey Anthony’s lawyer, expect to find twelve people who’ve not heard of this case? I’m still trying to figure that one out.

Have we become a society that just doesn’t shock anymore? Do ratings mean a network scrambles to provide a bigger alarm factor than its competitors? Has anyone stopped to consider the effect of some these tape releases? There are family members, as well as the victims, who no doubt have heard their own voices played time and again on the evening and morning news, not to mention the availability on the internet.

We’re more interested in the human tragedy of these incidents this week than we are the tapes that are said to have the goods on Illinois Governor Blagojevich. And by the way, tobacco companies are barred from cigarette advertising on television. The tragedies that are played via released 911 recordings several times on a daily basis would make cigarette commercials appear tame. The Marlboro Man has been replaced with Casey Anthony. And no, I’m not suggesting two wrongs make a right, but what I am asking is if the freedom of information we enjoy in this country hasn’t become a bit skewed.

It doesn’t stop with 911 recordings either. Anyone care to guess how many times the home video from a year ago of the high school girls in Florida who beat a classmate was shown on the major networks? Me either. I’d be old and gray before I’d be able to provide an accurate number. YouTube has changed the way we gain access to video footage on any subject on the planet, including a scorned woman who, for some twisted reason only she knows, felt it necessary to provide play-by-play details of her divorce hearings between herself and her now ex-husband and served as a tour guide for their home that she was fighting for.

Of course, there’s a big difference in someone posting their own stories online and those who placed desperate 911 calls but couldn’t have anticipated their own voices being played on the evening news.

Strictly from the perspective of family members who are dealing with this week’s breaking news stories that showcase their daughter or son or aunt or father in law, I can’t imagine how they must feel to hear those frantic calls. Maybe I’m wrong. I just think there has to be a line between the liberties of freedom of information and good journalism.

I’ve made it a point to steer clear of the whole Casey Anthony insanity.  Well, until yesterday.  And today.  But I couldn’t let the latest out of Florida go without a comment or two…or twenty.  Jose Baez, as we know, is one of Casey Anthony’s lawyers.  Unfortunately, recent stories have put him in a less than noble position.  Actually, the stories haven’t put him in this position - he’s managed it all by himself. 

Two weeks ago, he was warned to halt physical contact between himself and Casey Anthony during their visits.  He said he wasn’t aware of regulations that prohibited physical contact between prisoners and their legal counsel and that it was customary for him to hug all of his clients.  I doubt that, but that’s neither here nor there.  Still, a week later, the jail officials had to warn him yet again.  Not only is this being called unethical behavior, but he’s putting this entire case in jeopardy.  If she’s found guilty, this could be spun into some kind of justification for an appeal because of lines that are being crossed in the client/attorney dynamics.  He’s threatened to file a brief - although I can’t imagine how well that would go over, since he knows he’s crossed the line.  Of all the years he’s been inside that jail to visit clients,  surely he knows the rules by now.  To file a brief would require an explanation as to why he’s breaking the rules, and my guess is that’s one explanation he doesn’t want to provide.

It’s been hokey since the beginning.  His being in the Anthony home late at night, her all day visits to his office - it just seemed a bit too intimate.  I’m not suggesting anything along the lines of his betraying his wife, but he’s certainly betraying his oath as an attorney.  It’s almost as if he’s being drawn into her twisted thought process.  Some say he’s behaving more like a member of the family or a close friend than as a part of her legal team that’s supposed to be preparing a solid defense for her trial.  I’ve not seen the other attorney who was brought in whose experience in death penalty cases is required under Florida law.  He’s not been making statements to the media, nor does he appear to have much patience for this whole “woe is me” attitude that Casey Anthony is known for.  His goal is to defend her.  Period.  Many are beginning to wonder what Jose Baez’s goal is.  The lines are becoming blurred. 

It would be a shame to allow this one woman to jeopardize his entire career and possibly everything else in his life.  You can’t help but wonder what he expects to gain from this.  If he loses his credibility as an attorney, he won’t have a career, or at least, he won’t have an untarnished career.  It’s like so many other things in life, you don’t know what you want, but you sure know what you don’t want. If he’s not careful, he’ll become the “don’t want” of Florida attorneys.

If anyone has even remotely been following the catastrophe better known as Casey Anthony, then you’ve surely become familiar with Tim Miller and his plight to find a missing girl in Florida. Casey Anthony, the little girl’s mother, is currently in jail and expected to stand trial in early January. She’s

Tim Miller

accused of killing her only child and taking huge measures to hide the body. Her family has been less than helpful, especially her brother. He seems to go from distancing himself to becoming a major ally for his sister. His most recent stunt, though, has a lot of people scratching their heads and thinking to themselves, ‘Huh?’

He has made it his personal mission to discourage every person he comes across from supporting Tim Miller’s efforts to locate his missing niece’s body. Tim Miller is the founder and director of EquuSearch, an organization that volunteers time and resources to locate missing people across the country. Incorporating horses, boats and any other means available, he and a team of volunteers selflessly donate their time and resources to locate missing children and adults. It should be noted that Tim Miller is a victim of crime himself. His daughter, Laura, was kidnapped and murdered in 1984. Her memory is the inspiration for his tireless efforts as well as the creation of EquuSearch.

For some reason, he and his team are a major threat to the Anthony family. They say they won’t support his efforts because he is searching for a body, while they contend their search is for a live Caylee. There’s definitely a “Paul Harvey” to this - a “rest of the story” that none of us are privy to. Yet. Despite being treated less than kind by the Anthony family during his several trips to Florida, he remains committed to finding this child’s remains and as such, has returned to Florida once again to resume the search. I absolutely believe there is another reason this family is so resistant to EquuSearch’s efforts. I can understand the resistance to believe a loved one is no longer alive, but what I can’t understand is why help, regardless of how the search is defined - whether as a recovery or as a rescue - is resisted. I wouldn’t care if I was told help was coming, but that it simultaneously included a search for Michael Jackson’s lost career. My interest would be only to find my loved one.

While on the EquuSearch webpage, I realized this is a huge operation that many dedicate their hearts to - and with absolutely no pay. They have 350 plus volunteers, not to mention those who volunteer their time and efforts for specific searches, such as the Caylee Anthony search. Many are found alive, but still, there are those stories that end with the discovery of a body. Statistics on their site reveal:

• 53% of child abductions are by strangers
• The typical victim is an eleven year old white female
• In 58% of abductions, the initial contact between abductor and victim is within a quarter mile of the victim’s home
• Partial profile of an abductor is a 27 white male who is unmarried

Despite the hostility Tim Miller’s group of volunteers are bound to experience, they’re back and they’re more determined than ever to locate this child, whether the Anthonys’ like it or not. In the meantime, this baby’s mother is in jail and will remain so until her trial begins. She has been charged with murder as well as the previous charges that include theft due to her shopping sprees on her best friend’s dime.

Every day, technology via DNA testing, clears those wrongly convicted, determines parenthood and is used to identify victims of crime who cannot reveal their own identities.

Still, there are cases where innocence is proven through other methods.

In Canada, a woman accused a man of raping her and forcing her to consume drugs and alcohol nearly a year ago. This man had been in jail awaiting trial. This, as many rape accusations are, was a classic “he said/she said”. In cases that haven’t progressed through the judicial system long enough for there to be DNA results in the file, it’s very rare that charges are dismissed this early.

Of course, letters from the victim to the accused aren’t usually present either; and certainly not love letters announcing her pregnancy and how beautiful it will be to raise their child. But that’s just what happened in this particular case. The man turned over letters he’d received since his arrest that clearly cleared him of those charges. At first, the woman denied she’d written them and insisted they were forged and in a “Casey Anthony” moment, allowed it to move forward until they were actually in the courtroom before fessing up.

So now we’re looking at a wrongly accused man, wasted court time and lies a woman told. So what, if any, punishment should she face? It’s been suggested that she be charged with perjury and “mischief”. Mischief? I’m thinking charges should at least appear to sound as serious as what she’s done.

I have no idea if there are any mental issues she may have been diagnosed with, but I’m guessing that’s little consolation to this man who, although has been cleared, must now deal with the stigma of such a charge. Charges being dismissed isn’t synonymous with his name being cleared. At a minimum, this woman should be made to incur all legal costs - including this man’s attorney’s fees. Further, she should be made to repay all lost wages because of his time spent in jail and finally, she should be made to deal with whatever issues in her personal life that led her to accuse this man of rape. If drugs and alcohol were involved, she should be made to clean her life up. If there are diagnosed mental illnesses, she should be ordered to undergo psychological testing and made to follow any recommendations. And, yes, I am fully aware of the controversy regarding forcing people to treat disorders - whether physical or mental - when they have no desire to do so; however, when those desires to do nothing begin to affect anyone else, it’s a different story.

Those who cry wolf not only change the lives of the ones accused, but it forces efforts made by social structures, via police and aftercare for true rape victims, to continue the “one step forward, two steps back” cycle.

Anyone who follows the news has surely found themselves wondering, “Uh…what?” anytime a development is aired regarding the two bizarre cases in recent memory.

Casey Anthony Source: discovery.com

There are similarities between the cases of Casey Anthony and Christian Gerhartsreiter, aka Clark Rockefeller. They both have young daughters and up until recently, both were missing. Anthony and Gerhartsreiter are the ones who most believe have endangered their daughters, and in the Anthony case, some believe three-year old Caylee is no longer alive. From a psychological viewpoint, both Anthony and Gerhartsreiter have long histories of lying, have exhibited behaviors that can be considered bizarre at best and are masters at presenting a sense of entitlement. They both have created false lives, complete with non-existent accomplishments, job histories, and important and exciting achievements that exist only in their minds. They both are extremely secretive of their pasts, most likely due to all of the lies they’ve told and can’t keep straight. It is extremely probable that both have committed murder.

In the case of Casey Anthony, whose daughter, Caylee, has been missing for over two months, this woman has sat in jail and has consistently told authorities and her family members that Caylee is alive and well as far as she knows. Her last contact with her daughter, she says, was when she left her in the care of a nanny that has yet to be located. All of this has been retold numerous times in the media. As a daughter and mother, I’m less interested in “Casey, the Accused” and more interested in “Casey, the Mother and Daughter”. It’s hard to see cases such as these and not wonder, “How would I react?” One thing’s for sure - I know how I wouldn’t react and I certainly know how my own mother wouldn’t react. My mother, who my sister and I are very close to, would allow this to go on for maybe two seconds. She’s said numerous times that her grandbabies were her reward for raising her two daughters, with all the mischief we seemed to have found as kids. Oh, she loves us, but those grandkids? She’d waste no time finding some crime to commit that would land her in jail - preferably the same cell as the one her accused daughter was occupying. The FBI’s interrogation tactics have nothing on this woman. Give her five minutes - she’d be exiting with the information that would allow her to find her missing grandbaby. The intricate relationships of mothers and daughters run the gamut of respect, frustration, love, impatience - you name it, mothers and daughters feel every known human emotion between them. It’s just nature. But the love-hate ratios between Casey and her mother, Cindy, are obvious. I’d go so far as to say that Casey has some twisted sense of satisfaction that her mother is suffering. Sort of a “screw you” in very passive-aggressive ways towards her mother. There’s an old saying that two mothers under one roof is a divided house. My guess is this family is what that saying is based on. In defense of Cindy Anthony, I can’t imagine the torment she must be feeling. Her baby’s baby is missing, and despite her seemingly adamant defense of her child, you can’t help but sense a feeling of panic and doubt in her declarations.

Caylee Anthony Source: CBS News

I also get the sense of Casey’s non-plussed attitude towards being released from jail. There have been no reports of her actively pursing any efforts toward her release. I don’t know if I’d want to be released either if that meant going home to my mother. Not me….no way. My mom still believes a healthy dose of fear is a good thing and still quick to remind us, “I don’t care how old you are!” If Cindy Anthony is anything like my mom, my guess is Casey would’ve been quite content to be left where she was. Maybe this will be the key that unlocks the mystery of her missing daughter. Dead or alive, if Casey knows where this child is, she has an obligation as a mother and a daughter to provide this information so that this child can be returned to her family.

Source: Fox News

In Gerhartsreiter’s case, it was a kidnapping from the beginning with the intent to take his daughter and raise her without any interference from anyone, including this little girl’s mother. The first pictures released to the media included a shot of father and daughter laughing, with her on his shoulders. Most girls have photos such as these, with her strong father holding her up, smiling and playing around. In this one photo, he even looks like an attractive man. Whew! Just goes to show how pictures can be deceiving. The photos since his capture show an incredibly creepy fellow. Just as in the Casey Anthony case, this man is laying blame wherever he can, including his ex-wife. Nothing is his fault; his life would be perfect if everyone would just leave him alone. He knows what he’s doing and is downright insulted when questioned about anything. He’s refusing to answer any questions regarding his time spent in California, specifically during the time a couple from whom he rented a house from went missing. I say they should send my mom in to interrogate him. She’d get a confession! She still has us confessing things from when we were teenagers.