and his evidence probably changed. >> greta: baez said nice things about ashton, ashton about baez.aner. we've never said nice things about each other. >> let me be candid. >> i won't be candid. [ talking over each other ] >> the fact about it is, jeff ashton was professional and took the high road. >> greta: baez too. >> i only have one problem with ashton, when baez was doing his closing, ashton was laughing. i think that may have caused him some problems with the jury. because it may have led the jury to believe, hey ashton thinks we already are in his pocket that could have created a problem for him. i have a problem with him on that. >> greta: i think smirking during the trial is bad, stupid and i think it hurt him. diane that, is this jeff ashton usual -- is he all like this? >> i feel like i've come full circle and i've come to my own personal closure in my relationship with jeff ashton. a decade ago we were in a death penalty case. i was heated. i got yelled at my the judge in front of the jury for being mean to ashton. after the jury came back with a life recommendation he

ashton points out, all hell breaks loose. now when we take a look at who actually smelled what in the car. you have csi bloise who testified, depending on who was asking the questions, if ms. drane-burdick was asking, it was human decomposition. when i was asking him, it was decomposition. so he went back and forth. you may recall that. you have deputy forgy and his dog who advised this is the suspect's vehicle. you may recall he did this small thing where i had each and every person who witnessed this dog inspection, and they all said there was only one car, but yet deputy forgey lied to you and told you there were two cars. if you believe him, you have to believe that yuri melich, if you believe hip, you have to believe that the other witnesses were lying to you. michael vincent, the other csi person who said he smelled a dead body, mr. arpad vass, and we'll get into that later. cindy anthony said it because this was her third call and she wanted the police to get there quicker. simon burch who runs the police tow yard. now

>> 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 def

jeff ashton today talked about the duct tape as a murder weapon.et's take a look at this one. >> why would you put duct tape over the face of a child? well, there's two reasons, one is perhaps to silence them, but then why do you need three? remember, this case, there wasn't one piece of duct tape placed over caylee's face, there were three, overlapping at angels, placed over her face. you need three because your purpose is not to simply silence the child, your purpose is to make sure the child cannot breathe. one, two, three. and then the child dies. >> judge jeanine: wow. you've got the prosecutor describing the actual act of murder, the number of pieces of duct tape. holly, how is the jury responding to this one? >> you know, judge, this was right around 10:30 this morning and it was around, if not half the time that the jury typically gets a little mid morning break, and i noticed them getting very fittingy, i didn't notice any facial expressions or anything like that, but this is the first time during this trial that i have noticed at least ha

jeff ashton today talked about the duct tape as a murder weapon. at this one. >> why would you put duct tape over the face of a child? well, there's two reasons, one is perhaps to silence them, but then why do you need three? remember, this case, there wasn't one piece of duct tape placed over caylee's face, there were three, overlapping at angels, placed over her face. you need three because your purpose is not to simply silence the child, your purpose is to make sure the child cannot breathe. one, two, three. and then the child dies. >> judge jeanine: wow. you've got the prosecutor describing the actual act of murder, the number of pieces of duct tape. holly, how is the jury responding to this one? >> you know, judge, this was right around 10:30 this morning and it was around, if not half the time that the jury typically gets a little mid morning break, and i noticed them getting very fittingy, i didn't notice any facial expressions or anything like that, but this is the first time during this trial that i have noticed at least half the jurors st

i think jeff ashton stayed away from trying to go too ". to pound a square peg into a round hole. still didn't give you the when, the where, didn't give you the how and didn't go into the use of the chloroform which to me is telling on the lack of premeditation. >> what we do have is jeff ashton talking about how casey spent her time between when allegedly caylee died and when the whole gig was up. let's listen to what jeff ashton says, some of the things she does. listen to this. >> casey anthony was at blockbuster on june 16th walking arm in arm with her boyfriend tony. caylee was in the trunk of her car in the early stages of decomposition. when casey returned to the house on the 17th or 18th, she backed her car into the garage with the intention of burying caylee in the back yard. she went to brian burner and borrowed a shovel. based upon the dog alerts in the back yard, she in all likelihood actually took caylee's body back to the back yard and set it down for a period of time. was digging too much work? perhaps. and she decided instea

ashton i do not wish that upon him. i have my apology to the court. >> is there anything anybody else wants to say? >> no, sir. >> i will accept that for now, but as i told both sides if the happens again, the remedy will be exclusion of that attorney from further participation in these proceedings, as i told you at the bench, there are at least three attorneys on the stated side. i don't know whether mr. george is going to participate in closing arguments but it would be to either of them and mr. mason and mr. medina and whoever else y'all have over this along wh other things that will be quite, quite unpleasant. enough is enough. i will instruct the jury in the morning because we still have these final charges to go over. i take responsility for that since should have brought you back on saturday afternoon to go over this charge conference. i took you you all at your own word and 30 minutes would be enough. anything else? let's finish closing arguments. we will stay here to get these charges -- i don't think it will t

you heard jeff ashton talk about the three pieces of duct tape, the chloroform. i mean, everybody saw this evidence, circumstantial, people are saying. it's circumstantial. well, circumstantial evidence is as powerful as direct evidence. it's a series of circumstances that lead you to the belief that this person committed the crime. so while they charge first-degree premeditated murder, the jurors had options. it's my belief that they went back there and they didn't believe any involvement, like dan abrams had. they believed the defense's theory. because if they believed she had some involvement, there would have been a conviction on child abuse or aggravated manslaughter, something to prove she had an involvement in this case, and they didn't buy any of it. >> robin? >> i think there was a potential for overcharging. even us legal pundits weren't quite sure if this was a first-degree or was this an accident? that was the hard part of this case that resonated through. but the key problem here, this is the case for professional juries, if i've ever seen it. that s

she never made eye contact with jeff ashton. kate? >> nbc's kerry sanders in orlando tonight, thank you so much. for more on today's closing arguments, we're now joined by kendall coffey, a former u.s. attorney in florida, who has worked on many high-profile cases. he's watching this trial. good evening to you. as you look back, which side has the stronger case after a month-long trial? >> well, the prosecution has a strong circumstantial case based on plenty of forensic evidence. but the question is, do they have without any smoking gun, evidence enough to prove premeditated murder by a mother who apparently loved her child beyond a reasonable doubt? that's why i think in the final analysis, the first-degree murder charge, premeditation, is going to be a close call. >> how important are closing arguments? today's closing arguments? is it your experience that generally jurors already have their minds made up by this point in a trial? or can they be the clincher? >> well i think plenty of the jurors have got very strong feelings before

ashton spent a lot of time about the tape over the mouth and chloroform., three forensic pathologists, two for prosecution and one for the defense, claimed they could not arrive at a cause of death. what ashton is relying on is an anthropologist who is testifying beyond his expertise, he never has done an autopsy. he's never issued a death certificate, as to cause of death. and ashton is relying on his statements, when the face morphed into a skull showing duct tape put on the face if the jury doesn't believe that, if they listen to the other three forensic pathologists, they may not even agree it is murder. >> judge jeanine: doctor, what was interesting about the judge's charges, if there is aggravated child abuse, it bumps it up. it is as serious as the premeditation. even if she was in the process of maybe not intending to kill her, but did cause her death as a result of child abuse, it is almost the same as murder one. >> it could be. child abuse refers, in the medical literature, multiple injuries over a period of time. a one shot killing of a child i

ashton points out, all hell breaks loose. now we take a look at who actually smelled what in the car. you have csi bloise who testified that depending on who was asking the questions you may recall, if mr. amberdic asked him, it was human decomposition. when i questioned him, oh, it was decomposition. he went back and forth. you may recall that time. you have deputy forgey and his dog who was advised that this is the suspect's vehicle. you may recall we did a small thing where i had each and every person who witnessed the dog inspection, and they all said there was only one car. but deputy forgey lied to you and he told you there were two cars. if you believe him, you have to believe uri, michael vincent and bloige were lying to you. michael vincent, the other csi person who says he smelled a dead body. mr. arpodboss -- we will get into him a little later. cindy anthony who said that in her 911 call but said since this was her third call and she wanted the police to get there quicker. simon birch who runs the police tow yard.

jeff ashton is here.naturals from delicious, real ingredients with no artificial flavors or preservatives. naturals from purina cat chow. share a better life. >> greta: what do you say to those who criticized this jury's verdict? >> they can criticize it. i understand some might have more of an emotional involvement that's understandable that they would criticize if they are emotion ali involved it affects them personally. fortunately, they picked people who -- who had no bias which equates to a fair trial which everyone in this country deserves. >> greta: you just heard from juror number 3. here's more of our interview with the foreman and what he and other jurors thought about casey anthony's father george. jose baez's opening statement said there was child molestation in the family. george on casey and also lee. did you believe that? >> no. >> greta: you didn't believe it? >> there was no evidence to back that. so i could not take that into consideration. that was not a discussion of ours. when we got

ashton's imagination. >> greta: i talked to jeff ashton the prosecutor.ked him -- she disappeared in june or died in june. there was a call in august by the meter reader. then the remains were found in december. i asked him if the remains had been found in august, when the first call was made, whether there would have been more forensic clues which would have indicated cause of death? he said even that was too late. do you agree or not agree? >> i don't agree. it is possible. it is possible, possible, that's the case we the fact of the matter is, the child was alive june 16th. was seen with the grandfather. if the sheriff's department had done their job, i'll always wonder why they couldn't do the slightest thing. mr. kronk, not known to any of these people, not involved. he called and told them he found a skull. he told his co-workers that were with him, he found a skull. it was located only 19 feet from the edge of the pavement. how in the world, detective, deputy, any law enforcement officer responding to that, particularly in light of the profile of t

ashton's imagination. >> greta: i talked to jeff ashton the prosecutor.ne or died in june. there was a call in august by the meter reader. then the remains were found in december. i asked him if the remains had been found in august, when the first call was made, whether there would have been more forensic clues which would have indicated cause of death? he said even that was too late. do you agree or not agree? >> i don't agree. it is possible. it is possible, possible, that's the case we the fact of the matter is, the child was alive june 16th. was seen with the grandfather. if the sheriff's department had done their job, i'll always wonder why they couldn't do the slightest thing. mr. kronk, not known to any of these people, not involved. he called and told them he found a skull. he told his co-workers that were with him, he found a skull. it was located only 19 feet from the edge of the pavement. how in the world, detective, deputy, any law enforcement officer responding to that, particularly in light of the profile of this case, the world was looking

this morning, with casey anthony looking towards the jury and the prosecutors, ashton stitched together 33 days of evidence into a story. beginning with the silent video. >> when you have a child that child becomes your life. this case is about the clash between that responsibility and the expectations that go with it and the life that casey anthony wanted to have. >> the life casey wanted, ashton said in closings, was a life without responsibilities. >> so she has a choice. a life tethered to a child or a life free to be 22. >> as to the defense claim caylee accidentally drowned and casey's father, george, covered it up, prosecutor ashton said the only way to conclude that was to suspend common sense. >> is a trip down the rabbit hole into a bizarre world where men who love their granddaughters find them drowned and do nothing. >> the greatest crime lab in the country. >> in his closings, defense attorney jose baez fired back. >> they gave you two weeks of testimony that was completely irrelevant. and served only one purpose -- and that was to paint casey anthony as a slut, as a party

your predictions on this. >> ashton is going to get his conviction. baez, to his credit, has done a lot better than a lot of people expected. the bottom line, i think the jury gets it. i think we're looking for a conviction first degree. >> thank you so much. avery friedman, richard herman, appreciate your insights. >> thanks a lot. >> of course, tonight a comprehensive special report on the casey anthony murder trial at 10:00 eastern time on the closing arguments of the day. >>> all right. the high profile case involving dominique strauss-kahn may be crumbling. but as far as his fellow french are concerned, he still has some explaining to do about his lifestyle in new york. >> all this going around with the restaurants, the new life, and all this money which has been spent. these people are shocked. >> all right. my interview with a french journalist still ahead. >>> and sealing it with a kiss. a royal couple's fairy tale wedding in monaco. could it have upstaged the other royal wedding of this year? oh common. and how can you talk to me about fiber

ashton said, everything they hoped for was not there. and you remember he got up here and testified to you we did three search warrants on that house. found no printing paper. found no paper work having anything to do with chloroform. found no receipts for purchases of chloroform. there were no purchases for chloroform found on this computer. they didn't find any chemistry kits. they didn't find any containers containing chloroform. they didn't find any i ingredients for making chloroform. they didn't find anything whatsoever having to do with chloroform. nothing. but they hope, they are hoping. let's hope. and the doctor gives you this -- well, if that wasn't enough, of course, you had dr. schulz whose real purpose was to tell you and to get you more angry about how her remains were treated afterwards. but he did sayno trauma to the bones. mr. fantasy man, dr. warren wo for some reason showed you a video of a smiling casey and a smilincasey with some duct tape that he got off the internet. he googled it, got that photo, stuck some duct

there was no reason for ashton to say everything he said. he also tossed a bone to the defense by saying kronk is a liar. that means he said something different yesterday than he said today. that's going to confuse the jury completely. also the jury's ready to go. they are ready to deliberate. they figured we're done. we spent eight or nine hours yesterday. they figured ashton would get up 15 minutes maybe and it's been an hour. we still have to hear from linda drane burdick. they think when is this going to end? ashton should have got up, 15 minutes, hit the three key points, sit down. end with a bang. hopefully linda is going to do that. i'm hoping she's going to do the mother thing and pull heart strings. if she drones on for an hour again, the defense is going to get a better verdict than i would have anticipated. >> what can you tell us about her, her style as a lawyer? what would you expect waysed on past experience? >> with linda, i hope, i do think she's going to be short and pull at the emotion and she will say, because she's a fema

so what jeff ashton, the prosecutor is saying, she's crazy like a fox.ess. in fact, he went on to say in that little clip, every time she gets caught in a lie and it's not working, she change it up. he calls it casey 3.0. this is the latest version of the story. while the defense wants to say, oh, she's so crazy she's cuckoo for cocoa puffs, jeff ashton is saying, no, no no. it is deliberate, it is intentional and just because you come from a dysfunctional family, it does not turn you into a murderer. there are tons of people from dysfunctional families who don't kill their children. >> jane developi ivelez-mitchel played higher? was at this time lies? the duct tape? the smell in the car? what played higher for the prosecution today? >> they went through it all. first they did a psychological profile of casey anthony as this consummate liar complimenting her. then they ended with the forensics with all the thing that were found at the scene of the remain that they can connect to casey anthony or the anthony home. like the bedding, the duct tape, the hamp

ashton and mr. baez violates this court's order. >> defense attorney bernie grim is joining us now with insight into the case. good to see you. >> how are you doing? >> good, thank you. the defense attorney, jose baez did something that may have surprised a lot of people, it certainly surprised me. he called his client a no good lying slut. was this an attempt to acknowledge the gorilla in the courtroom and remind the jury you don't have to like casey, but it doesn't make her guilty of murder? >> sure. he's trying to lend credibility with the jury. no reasonable person can sit in is there and after all the lies this woman has told back and forth, say, and my client is pure as the driven snow. he has to acknowledge at a minimum, she's a liar but not a murderer. >> today she was seen crying as we're seeing in the video here. >> trials as you know can be very emotional and i think everyone's emotions, the lawyers included, hit full tilt today, because the defendant broke down. then the lawyers started

jeff ashton is here. what does he have to say about the verdict? was he prepared for casey to take the stand? hear from jeff ashton, next. >> a very sensitive and tricky situation, george and cindy anthony testified multiple times for the defense and prosecution. did casey's parents help or hurt her case? our legal panel is here, stay tuned. [ male announcer ] this...is the network -- a network of possibilities. in here, the planned combination of at&t and t-mobile would deliver our next generation mobile broadband experience to 55 million more amecans, many in small towns and rural communities, giving them a new choice. we'll deliver better service, with thousands of new cell sites... f greater access to all the things you want, whenever you want them. it's the at&t network... and what's possible in here is almost impossible to say. >> greta: the unanimous verdict had many gasping, especially the prosecution. prosecutors argued that caylee was suffocated by her mother and she lied to the police to cover-up her crime. after 11 hours of deliberation

ashton covered this, did we watch the same videos? mr. anthony said he would trade places with his daughter in a second. >>... mr. ashton. >> sustained. >> his arg-- this argument cann be followed to any logical conclusion. the way these remains were disposed of shows complete, complete indifference to the child. it speaks volumes about how the person who disposed of her really felt about her. this is how george and cindy anthony felt about their granddaughter. they built her a play house in the backyard. george anthony landscaped it for her. put you a little mailbox out there for her with her name on it. put a stone space... >> [inaudible]. >> overruled. >> put a stone base under that play house so that caylee wouldn't have to sit on the ground in case it was wet. so that caylee wouldn't have to sit on the ground, where an insect could crawl on her. on those cell videos, you have heard mr. anthony over and over again trying to get casey to talk to law enforcemen to the sheriffs office. to the federal bureau of investigation. if he was so

and really was evident when ashton ended his argument. where this is going to end and i think we're not going to see three hours worth of rebuttal. i think even though the judge has said four hours. i think it's going to be about an hour. everyone wants to keep that -- the prosecution wants to keep their attention. here's where it ends up, fredericka, he has teed up the issue of casey anthony either being a stay at home single mother or living the beautiful life. and where this is going to end is it will crescendo at vita bella with the tattoo that casey had put on, presumably two days after the death of their daughter and that's where i think the drama will end the prosecution's case. >> richard you get the last word. do you think the last world coming from the prosecution in the rebuttal is going to be the sentiment that just might cement of the thoughts for the jurors? >> yes, fred, the rebuttal of the prosecution in any criminal case is the most devastating feature of it. it's the last words that the jurors hear when they go back. the

but jeff ashton even said, look, weigh this as you want, okay? don't listen to me, take this as how you want. but then he turned it over to his co-counsel who just drove the point home that this was about common sense. i don't think the jury's going to be caught up on the science because that's not how the prosecution handled this case. rightfully so. jon: nicole, as you point out, it only takes one juror. did the defense put enough doubt out there for this jury that one person might seize on it? >> well, the only people that know are those jurors, and really that's what a good defense attorney should be doing is trying to find that one juror at least who can hold their ground and decide that the case has not been proven beyond a reasonable doubt, so if he had gotten to any of these jurors, that's all it takes. >> hey, nicole, you'd rather be sitting here than in the studio right now, wouldn't you? i mean, inside the courtroom, you don't want to be waiting for this verdict right now. >> oh, absolutely. i'd definitely want to be, you know -- i don

ashton. >> what was mr. ashton doing at that time, sir?was in session, was it not? >> yes, it was. >> now, you see this sign? >> yes, sir. >> does not this sign read, any gestures, facial expressions or audible comments show an approval or disapproval during a court proceeding is absolutely prohibited. that sign is posted on the door outside is it not? >> it is. >> how far have you gone in school? >> 12th grade. >> can you read and write? >> yes, sir. >> did you not read this sign, sir? >> i have read that. >> anything you would like to say before this court imposes sentence? >> apologize for doing this. >> young man, do you realize that the taxpayers of the state of florida has expended a great deal of money in putting on this trial and that your actions may have jeopardized or could have jeopardized all of the work that the attorneys have done in this particular case? >> yes, sir. >> at this time i will an judge you to be guilty. -- anjudge you to be guilty of the crime of direct criminal contempt. i will sentence you to six days in oran

ashton, not give straight answers.give the defense straight answers. it's all, what do you mean? can you ask the question again? and like clearly you can follow a logical conversation and respond, like he acted like he couldn't understand what was going on and it was -- it was clear to me that he was just being difficult. he didn't want to answer questions and if it didn't help the prosecution's case, he was going to try and -- i don't recall. >> eric: what would you say to that juror right there? >> i would say that george anthony shouldn't have been the one on trial here. he's not the one with the care of the child. i think it was pretty plain that they focused all their energy, thanks to the defense team, on the wrong person. >> gretchen: one of your fears is that they're going to profit from this, the family. right? >> absolutely. absolutely. and i hope that they take any of the profits that they may earn on this from a book deal, movie deal, and should go to a fund having to do with caylee. i believe that there is

ashton did a fantastic job.r a chronological and a very understandable case in his closing argument. he saved a lot for rebut tal. i'm sure we will hear a powerful rebuttal. baez is trying to do what he can to pick apart the evidence that is the strongest. trunkcomposition in the and smell that everybody recognized. he has to go after that. i'm not sure what he meant when pull the everybody's pictures f except georges is. he has to pick it apart because if you throw away all of the forensic evidence you still have a lot of people who say caylee's body was in the trunk of that car. it is normal during closing arguments for the sentiment to sway. strong for the prosecution in the beginning and coming back when the defense starts making their point. the prosecution gets a chance to slam that shut on the rebut tal. >> shannon: what do you make of the emotion that we have seen from casey this morning in court? >> i mean you can't trust anything you see from casey. there are times when she should be crying that she is

ashton went over what george anthony's life was like as a result of losing his beloved granddaughter. whose life was better? in considering why caylee marie anthony was left on the side of the road dead. >>> linda drane-burdick and that is the last that the jurors will hear from the prosecution, wrapping up their rebuttal case, and now we will go for the charge here. obviously, focusing on who had the motive to kill little caylee anthony. let's listen, and he is calling for a short recess. this is the judge. >> we will have a brief recess and when you return, you will hear the final instructions on the law from the court. we will be in recess. >> all rise for the jury. >>> we have jonathan spillborg and meg strickler and let's talk about the decision to do almost two hours total of rebuttal this morning, and you were with me all day yesterday jonah, and you and your panel predicted something short and emotional and to the point, and it was not brief. what did you any? >> well, i think that the prosecution did something that they weren't able to pull off in the trial. they had to rebut

and as the emotion and tension in the courtroom grew, he challenged ashton, as well. >> depending on who's asking the questions, whether it's this laughing guy right here or whether it's myself. >> objection. >> sustained. approach the bench. >> reporter: the outburst in front of the jury led to a delay and an angry reprimand from judge bell vin perry. >> enough is enough. >> you can't trust this evidence. >> reporter: as the closing arguments resumed, baez returned to his overriding theme. >> if it is difficult for you to find the truth, then this case is not proven. >> reporter: after the prosecution's rebuttal later this morning, and instructions from the judge, the jury will begin their search for that truth. jay gray, nbc news, orlando. >>> now here's a look at some other stories making news "early today" in america. a violent thunderstorm tore through washington, d.c. yesterday, where a 56-year-old cyclist was killed by a falling tree limb. at one point in the afternoon, police cleared spectators off the capital's west lawn where preparations for today's big independence day co

ashton, and i was watching you and mouth the words wow, i think they were.k. >> well, that's pretty much -- you summed it up. when the jury came back with those verdicts, i think we were all -- i think everybody was shocked and my expression was, wow. but you accept the juries' verdict, you move on, and that's kind of where we are right now. we felt like we presented every bit of evidence that there was about this case and about poor caylee's death. presented it in a way that we felt was fair and legitimate and the jury decided what they decided. >> we don't know what comes next for casey anthony. we do know that she will be free next wednesday. there is talk that she may write a book, tell her story. if she were to write a book, would you believe a word of it? >> no, i don't think i could. at this point, you know, it's like the boy who cried wolf. there's really no version that miss anthony could give unless it's one that accounts for all of the evidence, you know, but the versions that we know so far, including the version expressed by her counsel in openi