[cinderella]

I am in total agreement with what you've said here. Very well thought out and sensible. You should've been a lawyer!

The part you posted about what Casey was doing while her child was supposedly missing, is key. I've never had children, but judging from the way my mom was with us 3 kids, and how she protected us with the ferocity of a lioness with her cubs...I can well understand how a mother feels if her child is missing - even for a second! So yeah, Casey's behavior during those 31 days is just not right - how could any mother do that??!! It is very telling of her guilt!

Originally Posted by JustJo

I agree. I can't see a retired police officer doing anything to cover up a truly accidental death. That doesn't make any kind of sense.

Even if Casey was negligent and it resulted in a truly accidental death, her father (as a retired cop) would know that people aren't generally held responsible for that...and I believe he would have reported it.

Yes, I think the whole family is an amazingly sad dysfunctional unit...with Casey a pathological liar, and her family enabling it for years...and, apparently, doing some lying of their own as well.

The critical piece for me, if I was sitting on that jury, is her actions in the 31 days when her child was "missing." For me, that spells guilt. Maybe I'm close-minded or whatever....but I once lost track of my son when he was 2-1/2, in the Borders bookstore at the mall (he liked to play hide and seek and I didn't realize he was "playing" with me at that moment)...and I was a screaming banshee of a wreck within about 2 minutes flat.

More importantly, when my son finally popped up and said "boo mommy" and laughed....and I started breathing normally again...I apologized to everyone I had alarmed in the immediate area of the store. And every single one of them reacted with something along the lines of "oh no, I would be freaked out too, you're fine."

Everyone understands a mom whose child is missing and who is freaked out, screaming for help, calling the cops, losing her mind.

How does a parent not report a missing 2 or 3 year old for over a month?

And how does that parent go party, dance, drink and get a tattoo that reads "Bella Vita" while they believe their toddler is missing?

I know that the defense tried to paint that as her dysfunctional form of grief....but I just don't buy it.