>> this is a fox news alert. i am geraldo rivera. this is continuing coverage of the gun fight in the big courtroom on the 23rd floor of the orange county courthouse behind me. as both the prosecution and defense in the casey anthony capital murder death penalty trial made their last emotional appeals to the jury. by day's end the jurors had seen everything. from the prosecution's powerful presentation of the largely circumstantial case of the accused child killer is the defense equivalent of where is the beef? where is the evidence to prove beyond and to the exclusion of all reasonable doubt that caseyen thon knee indeed suffocated her precious caylee so mom would be free to party. there were fireworks, there was

finger pointing and there were hard called facts. we begin our 2 hour report from jeff ashton's closing remarks. >> thank you for t time you have given us in this case. we have taken a-away from your families and lives for the last six week all of us appreciate the sacrifice you have made. i am happy to say we came in on the low end of our estimate. we said 6-8 and we came in on 6. our job here is virtually done and your work is about to start. >> from the beginning the prosecutor aimed squarely at the jury's motions. >> it is easy to be a parent. sometimes it's easy to be a parent when you are playing with your children. it's easy to be a parent when children are a joy, children are fun. but we all know that being a parent is so much more than just

playing with your children. being a parent is about sacrifice. being a parent is about sacrificing your time, about sacrificing your love and about sacrificing your dreams and sacrificing your life. when you have a child, that child becomes your life. this case is about the clash between that responsibility and the expectations that go along with it and the life that casey anthony wanted to have. >> ashton portrays casey anthony as nothing but a lying baby killer. >> when casey was born casey was saddled with expectation and responsibility. those expectations came not only

from society but from her parents. the expectation is that she would care for her daughter with the support of her parents that she would work hard, help support her daughter. her response to those new responsibilities as the evidence has shown in this case was a lie. when casey is faced with a problem her solution is to change her lie to modify it. casey is very bright. you can't take any of that away from her. she is very smart. her lives are very detailed. what you find throughout this case is this persistent pattern. when casey wants to do what casey wants to do casey finds away. >> she lies from everything about her job.

>> she tells her parents i am working during the day at universal studios. the problem is when you are working you have a child you have, someone has to take care of the child. the obvious question is oh who is taking care of the baby. you make up a lie. >> the existence of a baby-sitter. >> she makes up zany. for almost two years casey anthony pretends to have a job and pretends to have a nanny to take care of caylee while she is at work. everything seems fine. that creates a problem. the problem is cey is with caylee 24/7. she is with caylee every day and every night. her parents think she is at work. she is not. she is with caylee. what kind of life is that.

>> casey lied about another job. >> casey solves the problem. the solution is a new job. a job with an event coordinator, a job with flexible hours a job where sometimes she has to work at night. perfect solution. if she wants to go out at night wants to hang out with her friends see her boyfriend she simply says i have to work and jobs caylee off with her mother. her mother is happy to help. happy to help with caylee. it works well for a while. everything is good. casey can do what she wants have the life she wants have the support of her parens, have caylee when it's fun and when it's not she can leave caylee with her mom. everything is great. >> the accusedept escalating and altering the lives as the

situation demanded. >> june 16th it was the same old excuse the tried and true staying at zany's i got to work late, made perfect sense. i had to work. she stayed the night at tony's. june 17th they had done it a couple days before so she knew her mom would accept one more day of the spending the night at zany's. 17th we are spending the night at zany's again. cindy accepted that. by june 18th casey new that cindy would no longer accept that excuse. june 18th casey adds the conference in tampa wrinkle, well the i have got this conference i tav tampa i am goi to take caylee with me along with zany the baby-sitter to this conference in tampa.

>> she created a fictitious love of her life. >> the back story of jeff hopkins is he's a wealthy friend of hers that she has some romantic interest in who lives out of town. i am in jacksonville with jeff hopkins this man with whom i think i can have an actual relationship, a wealthy boyfriend who has a child the same age as caylee with whom i think i could have a long-term relationship. mom, you have got to get used to the fact tt i won't always be with you. this is all made up. she is now got her mother convinced she is in a potentially long-term relationship with a wealthy man who lis out of town. timer 55. she is coming up with a

long-term strategy because maybe she will mare jeef hopkins -- jeff hopkins. maybe they will elope to europe. she could extend that 55 days for months. she never had the chance. july 5th she tells cindy that her car is being fixed in jacksonville she will return on the 12th but she is staying with jeff hopkins and his mother. july 13th she tells her jeff hopkins and her are getting married a fictitious marriage. she stays to do that she's hanging out with a friend. >> as prosecutor ashton tells the jury casey's lies can no no further. >> july 15th all hell breaks lose was they got the car.

had they not gotten this car, i would submit to you based on the evidence that casey would have continued this story at least to caylee's birthday and probably beyond. as long as she could. but the car made that impossible. july 15th, the car is discovered, cindy is on a mission. cindy is on a mission. cindy is going to find and see her granddaughter and she will not be denied and that's it. tracks down amy huizenga tracks down casey and says you will take me to my granddaughter now. she tries to lie on the old thought she is at zany's i don't want to wake her up. she is at zany's despite everything that cindy says despite the threat of cindy anthony to call the police

sticks to the story. same old. za zahny, zany, zany. finally her brother lee anthony says to her, let's play this t. i am the police officer and you are you. ms. anthony take me to your grapd daughter, no, she is sleeping. awe ue. take me to your granddaughter and convinces her of the reality this story simply will not stand. cannot survive. your lie will not receive. in a pattern in a face of a lie that simply cannot stand, she comes up with a new lie. yes, threes a zani but zani

kidnapped caylee. kidnapped caylee 31 days ago. >> the cornered the accused mom even lies to the cops. >> initially the police treat her as if in fact she is a victim of a child kidnapping. but the more they investigate her story, the more it seems to fall apart. what can only be described as if it weren't true you couldn't write it this good is the incident at universal studios. it's indicative of casey anthony and who she is and what she does. she maintain this is story about the kidnapping, about working at universal. she takes them to universal she walks with great confidence from the security gate to a building

enters the building with absolute confidence. walks to the end of the hallway turns around puts her hands in her pocket and says, okay, i don't work here. casey anthony maintains her lie until they absz absolu absolute maintained any more, again faced with overwhelming evidence that the story is a lie casey comes up with a new one. call it casey 3.0, new version. >> casey 3.0 a new version jeff ashton the state prosecutor slamming home the absolute irrevocable undeniable truth that casey anthony is a liar. we have guests tonight from boston to new york to here in orlando from left to right here with me maria hail former prosecutor familiar case former

judge larry seidlin you remember him from anna nicole case. they have proven i think beyond a shadow of a doubt or as they say in florida beyond the exclusion of all rooenl doubt that the accused child killer is a liar. is that enough to make her a murderer. >> everybody talked about the tapes and sd just because she is a liar doesn't make her a killer. jeff ashton did everything today it was method cal. they add dressed everything was talking about it's not just the lies it's the reason behind the lies it is how she perpetuated them and worked them to her benefit. >> judge side land was that enough? where is the beef? >> there is no beef. the prosecute toe showed she is a liar the defense attorney admits she is a liar. there's nothing tying her linking her to the death of her daughter.

the biggest stick of dynamite the prosecutor has is the fact that she didn't call the police for 31 days. >> pretty big stick. >> it's a diss functional family whacked out family this truth is no friend to them. >> lawrence do you think the prosecution is nailing home again to this very lofty burden the case of capital murder against this accused? >> jeff ashton is an experienced prosecutor. he did a masterful job in his closing argument with what he had. he did have direct evidence of pre-meditation. he didn't convince me that casey anthony is guilty of pre-meditated murder. >> no aggravated child abuse perhaps. let's see what they have. coming up the role the tiny victim's grandpa played. wait until you see george anthony's role as it's delineated in these closing arguments all he played in the continuing tragedy after this.

>> george is getting trying to

find out what is really going on but george is being told to stay out of it. if you read his suicide letter it says in there if you go to the third page it says i have tried for months in fact over a year, and i was told to stop being negative. george is trying to get beneath the layer of the lie but he's being told to stay out of it. stop being negative. casey's lies continue. >> george anthony, grandpa jo-jo to caylee has been a central figure since day one. what role did he play in the tragedy. jeff ashton mocks defense claims linking george to a cover up of caylee's death in the swimming pool. >> in the opening statement the defense council gave you a very, very detailed explanation, story

of how caylee anthony died. with dramatic flair he told you about casey anthony being awakened in the morning by her father streaming at her, where is caylee? where is caylee, about a frantic search for the child, about the grandfather bringing her up wet from having pulled her from the pool and laying her at casey's feet and screaming this is your fault, this is your fault. >> the prosecutor remind jurors how the defense never proved the drowning actually happened. >> the defense's opening statement has not been established by any evidence in

this case. in fact the only evidence in this case is that it did not happen. george anthony the first witness you heard in this case told you that it did not happen. you may not speculate, you may not image. there is simply no evidence in this case to support that contention. you must, you must reject it. >> the prosecution ridiculed the defense suggestion that george put duct tape on the remains and disposed of the body in the woods. >> the defense in the opening suggested to you that somehow -- perhaps the defense will clarify

this in their closing argument, that somehow george anthony disposed of caylee's body and that george anthony was somehow -- george anthony is connected to the tapes. george anthony's connection to the tape somehow connects him to placing the tape on caylee's body. >> ashton uses grandpa's attempted suicide and note no loved ones de bunking that george anthony was a part of the crime. >> look at the facts of this case you will see that there is absolutely no possibility reasonable or otherwise that george anthony has anything to do disposing of his body. he is a doting grandfather who loved that child more --

literally more than life itself. you watched him on those hours and hours of videotapes in conversations with casey anthony. you saw the pain. you saw the anguianguish. you saw the questions that he wanted answers to. you have the suicide note. january 22nd, 2009 george anthony was ready to end his life to be with caylee. in that note when you read that note it's going to be back you can read it as many times as you want. >> the state leaves the jury with one conclusion grandpa loved caylee and it would be absurd that he would cover up a drowning. >> there is no way the man that wrote that note knew big about what really happened to his

grandmother and that's what was killing him. he didn't know. he had nothing. he had nothing to do with this crime. >> continuing live from the orange county courthouse here in orlando the scene of today's dramatic closing arguments. there you see again jeff ashton trying to buttress the feeling that george anthony's role in this was entirely de ni benign. wait until you see what the defense does with and to george anthony when it is their turn to talk. t me introduce the rest of our panel tonight joey jackson in new york and defense attorney and long time friend wendy murphy good to see you former prosecutor. long time no see. gentlemen first in this regard, joey does he buttress does he beef up does he support grapd

paw enough for the savaging that is about to come? >> any closing argument is about wrapping up the evidence and putting out the theory. it was done in a masterful way. not only does he explain the lies in and of themselves he goes further to explain it has everything to do with this. in addition to talking with her as a liar somebody in a premedicated way would do this. she can't keep up with motherho motherhood. now we turn to the defense and try to discuss how they live in a fantasy world. the defense would have you believe in order for you to suggest in any way, shape or form that george would be involved in this it would be preposterous. he is a doting grandparent by all means. he puts a suicide note and in a a suicide note he says you read this jurors you take it back there with you and in any suicide note that would be the opportunity for any one to purring themselves of all guilt.

is there anything in there that would suggest that he was involved at all. the answer is no. the story is prepros truss as suggested by the defense. it was fair game for him to discuss it jeff acted in the closing he did it well and at the end of the day it will resinate with the jury. they will not buy the red herring of his involvement. won't happen. >> yet caylee, grandpa did creepy things and lied about tan again shall items like knowing where the duct tape came from that may impede his credibility. >> you are exactly right. grandpa is the one with the duct tape grandpa had involvement they put it in he has been creepy. the suicide note according to the defense theory. you have to understand they are going to try to do anything from being executed. understanding joey's point this is a great circumstantial case the defense is doing what they

can to try to avoid a conviction to show that there are other plausible theories that they haven't met their burden, the prosecution that is. it is not beyond a reasonable doubt it is just as likely george did this as it is casey did this. the duct tape remember there is no dna of casey or caylee on there. george has his hands all over it. they are trying to throw the scent off casey they did the best job they could, given the facts as they are. >> wendy i am going to ask you to wait one more segment. i will get to you in our next block. when our special report continues we will be discussing and the prosecution will be presenting their point of view that duct tape was the murder weapon. chlor awe form to render unconscious duct tape to suffocate. also get a free flight.

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log on to foxnews.com. >> we are continuing our live coverage of the casey anthony trial. the mom who is said to have been so heartless she boogied and danced and went clubbing and entered hot body contest even as her child in some cases lay rotting in the trunk of her car. i promised wepd demur fee our lo -- wendy murphy joining us from boston. wendy, i give you the opportunity to say whether or not you still believe the case against casey anthony is a slam dunk for the prosecution?

>> when does i believe that? i am sorry. we should have spoken sooner. i said on "the today show" right after the opening statements that i believed sheould be acquitted and if the best case the prosecution had was that which they described in the opening i would vote to acquit i am the fiercest child advocate. you know what i stand for. i was very distraught at the hopi opening because i didn't hear the evidence that i was assuming was going to come out and that was under wraps because of the fair trial it didn't come out. it kills me because inow this was not a good mother. but i believe sitting here tonight she did not kill her child. i tell awe couple reasons why. i tell you another story lots of evidence in this case is under seal. photographs of caylee that was ceased in this case are so dam prejudicial because they are under seal.

wonder what that means. i know what i think it means when i hear a young kid ends up dead and there's chloroform it sounds like a mob hit. child wrapped in a bag duct tape in a trunk. sounds like something from south boston from 20-years ago. chloroform is the cheap pimp sedative of choice. if you just think about who uses chloroform on children it's cheap pimps trying to make pictures with their kid, sedate them, chloroform by the way acts as a nice am necessary tick so the kids can't tell when they come out of this. does it have something to do with sex and porn? was she pimping her kid. there's a lot of stuff in this case that has to do with sex we haven't heard much about? why do i think she is been acquitted because this case is not about the truth. each side today was pointing a finger at the other they're case is a fantasy, the whole dam

trial is a fantasy. do not believe she killed her child. i believe someone did kill her child. she was afraid to tell. she stayed quiet for 30-days because she believed she would get her child back. remember, geraldo, she texted her friend, she said i smell a rotting animal in my car. >> not only did i peg you wrong on your thesis, but i think what you have proposed is far fetched, powerful and provocative though it may be, i don't know and i don't think it fits most of the evidence here, but it was interesting to hear your premise. let me go to what was presented here and dr. michael baden what do you think o ashton's presentation in the closing argument for the prosecution of his forensic case? >> i think he relied too heavily on bad science and that he

relied on the chloroform in the car. i agree with wendy. i don't think there was any chloroform there. i think he has an unproved novel machine that the judge allowed in. we have polygraphs lie detectors for hundred years that are not allowed in court but the judge allows in a totally unreliable machine that allegedly found floor form. i don' think there was any chloroform there other than background chloroform. what they could have done and didn't do is test the flies and maggots in the car and see if they ped on the baby. if they feed on something it will have the child's dna. they didn't do that they went with the unreliable thing to bring up chloroform isn't a part

of this. no child has ever been killed as we know there chloroform. you can make it at home. it's a messy thing theoretically you can do it. >> yes, you can. >> i have got the presentation. >> ammonia and bleach. >> when our special report continues we will deal with the duct tape. was it really the murder weapon did they pro it beyond beyond a reasonable doubt. hi, anne.

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distinctive brand on it. it is found on caylee's body. >> the duct tape played a major role the duct tape found on little caylee's remains. the prosecution first reminding the jury about where the tape comes from. >> the same tape found on caylee's body was also found on a gas can taken from her home. you will see from the sales combubtive this tape is a fairly rare kind of tape. hasn't been sold since 2011. it's a very unusual tape. it's on caylee's body it is on the exhibit, it has to be the most bizarre part of this case.

that very tape was used unknowingly by her own father to display the photograph of caylee that missing person poster. the tape that was used to kill caylee anthony was used to implore people to look for her. >> the prosecution then attacked the defense argument linking george to the duct tape and to the broken little body. >> the defense council said follow the tape but then in the same opening statement he suggested to you that roy crumb somehow took the body kept it in another location and then returned it and in fact one o their witnesses dr. spent suggested that what i would submit to you is based upon the evidence the nonsense cal proposition that someone came along, took the skull, took it

home and put tape on it. ladies and gentlemen, you can't have it both ways. either george anthony is the person who put the tape on which we know is not true or roy cronk is the one who put the tape on. you can't do both. it's one or the other. either somebody put the tape on the child when the child -- before the child decomposed or they didn't. >> the prosecution also ridiculed the notion the sleazy meter reiter roy cronk put the tape on the child. >> roy cronk that's all we saw it's on tape. nobody wanted to listen to him. so he gave up. four months later he came back reported it's there. you can look at the photographs of that body and without any expert testimony can tell that body has been there for a very, very long time.

didn't just get set there. that tape didn't just get put on the skull. you know how you know that? because the tape is decomposed just like everything else is. you have seen the photographs of the tape. that tape has been out there for a very long time. >> the prosecution leaves the jury with a savage image of casey the mom killing her daughter killing little caylee with the duct tape. >> why would you put duct tape over the face of a child. there's two reasons. one is perhaps to silence them. but why do you need three? why do you need three? you need three because your purpose is not to simply silence the child, your purpose is to make sure the child cannot breathe. first piece goes over the mouth.

that doesn't secure the nose. the second piece goes over the nose. but you have gaps. you have to be thorough. you have to have three. 1, 2, 3. and then a child will die. there is simply no other reason. there is no other reason there is no other justification. there is no common sense. there's just no reason to put duct tape over the face of a child living or dead, and that ladies and gentlemen is proof beyond a reasonable doubt of how caylee died. that tape was placed there with one singular purpose.

now, we can only hope that the chloroform was used before the tape was applied so that caylee went peacefully without fear. but go she did. she died because she could not breathe. she died because she had three pieces of duct tape over her nose and mouth and she died because her mother decided that the life she wanted was more important. this murder was pre-meditated and the defendant is guilty. >> it's like a kick in the gut. if left unreputted the powerful presentation of jeff ashton leaves no doubt that this woman did that awful crime to that child. rebutted he was but effective or not you will see when the

defense gets their shot in the coming half hour. we are on hor two hours tonight this is tv's best coverage of the drama that happened in the courthouse behind, but maria hail, former prosecutor maria hail that was without a doubt an extremely powerful presentation of the state's circumstantial case. >> it was. even watching it again i still got goose bumps. he wept through -- he got to do today what we have been doing for six weeks and that's commenting on the evidence and explaining the why, how do we know that this duct tape wasn't just placed on there because it decomposed with the body. so he did a very good job of explaining the duct tape. >> jed as dr. baden said judge seidlin has there ever been a murder with duct tape why if a mother wanted to kill a little girl just put the pillow over her case. >> being a former prosecutor he did a great job crafting his

position. i think he has such fantasy and theory here. as you think, i don't see anything tying it all up. i think it's too complicated. this girl casey can't even get herself a job now you want her to go and get this chloroform to put it over her and then put tape and throw the body into a swamp. i just can't see her putting it all together like that. i believe she had some help and i think it may have been an accidental death here. >> what did you think of wendy's, wendy murphy that this was a sex crime committed by persons unknown? >> i see wendy as a future author. i think her book would be very exciting. >> you think it's fiction? >> yes. >> she made a great story out of it. >> let me talk about it. got to take a commercial break. let's go now to the defense side.

jose bias as stumbled he explained the errors of his colleagues most competing defense attorneys here. today was by almost everyone's estimation defense attorney jose bias best moments. the defense closes when we continue our special report after this.

>> this case must not be decided for or against any one because you feel sorry for any one or are angry at any one rather than give birth the standard is given to each citizen. the state come in here and prove

their case beyond and to the exclusion of every reasonable doubt. you can get away with that if we can get a jury to hate her. we can get away with that if we paint her in a certain light that has nothing to do with the evidence and more to do with who she is. >> defense attorney jose baez gambles admitting casey is a bad person but asking the jury not to convict her simply because they don't like her. >> they gave you two weeks of testimony that was completely irrelevant and served only one purpose that was to paint casey anthony as the slut, as a party girl, as a girl who lies and has absolutely nothing to do with how caylee died. you would dishonor the law and even caylee's memory if you were to base your decision on anything but the evidence. to use emotion to get you angry is improper.

you see, the strategy behind that is if you hate her, if you think she is a lying no good slut, then you will start to look at this evidence in a different light. you will start to -- oh, wait a minute. maybe i am seeing something that's not there. start to actually discriminate against her. >> baez admitted to the jury that casey anthony's actions were wrong. >> we all know casey acted inappropriately and made some mistakes and bad decisions. she should have called the police. she should have not attempted to block this out. she had you had have reported her death. there's no doubt about that. and that question was never contested. that issue was never debated. >> the defense goal insuring the jury did not commit premedicated

murder or murder through activated chi -- aggravated chu abuse. >> they don't have the right to over charge or inflate the case to make it something that is not just because it's entertainment, just because everybody wants to know. just because there is some mystery. well we can't lose focus of what actually occurred. the answers that you are supposed to answer here for us during your deliberations. >> baez also made sure no matter what caylee was a well cared for child never abused a child who loved her mother. >> a child cannot fake love, a child knows when it loves someone it behaves a certain way. i brought those questions out. i asked them from both angles how did casey treat caylee and vice versa. it wasn't to appeal to your

emotion it was specifically directed at the child abuse charges. we were here for a couple of months at least 6 weeks as mr. ashton pointed out. but you didn't hear one single instance having anything to do with child abuse. not one. this prosecution was geared in such a manner that it was cl deliberate brat it was method cal, thorough and detailed. you saw during those 30-days every movement of where casey went and every single thing she did. if there was one instance of child abuse you would have heard it. >> joey jackson criminal defense attorney joey you first know child abuse how dare they charge aggravated child abuse. there is no torture no starvation not one witness saying she was anything other

than a doting mom. >> that is great. bottom line here is that there's no child abuse. it is about the top account that is to do this in a pre-meditated way. there were some lacking in cross examination today i agree with you geraldo it was his best moment. a couple points he did well in attacking the prosecution in attacking the prosecution theory it's tactic very good in terms of attacking the signs again. the promises that were made in the opening statement of the defense you don't want to over promise and under deliver and that was what was done here. the sex abuse he couldn't get her he was precluded from doing that. in terms of attacking george and tying him in that was not done that would be problematic at the end of the day. he's suggesting that george or the meter reader did it. all in all nice job not enough

to save the case, she is guilty. >> t