Casey Anthony’s Break Down
Earlier in the week, I asked people if they thought Casey’s emotions were genuine or fake in this video.
They were absolutely genuine.
When the video first begins, we see Casey Anthony pressing her lips and then she shakes her head. She is clearly frustrated. I would call it a low-grade anger at this point. She continues to give us indications to support that as she “blows off steam” so-to-speak and looks off into nowhere. Casey also cocks her jaw off to the side which also is indicative of frustration (it can also be boredom and other things, too…it depends on the circumstances).
At time marker 0:22, Casey’s eyelids get heavy and we have our first indication of sadness (perhaps self-pity). She then clenches her jaw. She is working very hard not to break down. She doesn’t want to break down, but at 0:49 she can’t help herself. She gives us a true and genuine expression of sadness. If you look, you will see oblique eyebrows. Within seconds, however, Casey has composed herself again.
She steeples her hands in front of her face almost in a gesture of prayer to keep herself from reacting. It’s as if you can hear her say to herself silently, “Don’t cry. Don’t cry”. She again purses her lips, trying to hold back her raw emotions of frustration. Her eyes, I suspect, do well up and she is unable to control it. I don’t see any tears, but she wipes her eyes probably because they feel wet.
Casey listens intently as the man says we are in a time period where we have 24 hour news. Casey continues to show frustration more than any other emotion. The wiping of her face could be a self-pacifying gesture as well (though I also believe she is making sure that she doesn’t have any mascara under her eyes also). I notice she is running her tongue along her teeth, too. That is another indication of self-soothing behavior.
If you want my opinion, in this video, it is taking every ounce of energy that Casey has not to react. She is frustrated and angry, and she knows it will only hurt her case if she has an outburst, so she is working very hard at keeping her emotions in, and it shows.
Brad Cooper Found Guilty of First-Degree Murder
Brad Cooper was found guilty today of first degree murder after an 8-week long trial. His wife Nancy Cooper disappeared in the middle of their divorce, though they were still living together. Her body was found strangled and in a drainage ditch two days after it was reported that she went jogging and never came home.
Originally, Brad didn’t speak out in the media except to thank people for their efforts to search for wife, but as soon as I saw small snippets from his deposition, it became clear to me that Brad wasn’t being honest. You can read my original thoughts here.
The judge sentenced Cooper today to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Justice, if you ask me, has been served!
Misty Croslin Talks from Prison
Misty Croslin, who was last to see Haleigh Cummings alive, decided to give her story of what happened the night Haleigh disappeared again because she says, “Everyone is against me.” She does this interview from prison as she is serving a 25-year sentence for drug trafficking. Misty Croslin was the girlfriend of Haleigh’s father, Ronald Cumming.
Misty rehashes the details of what happened the night Haleigh went missing, and what she says this time is a completely different story than what she gave in 2009. In this interview, she says, “I woke up…I don’t know why I woke up…and the kitchen light was on…I ran to the bathroom…or I ran to the kitchen to see what was going on. I thought Ronald was home, and he wasn’t there, so I ran to my room to get my cell phone to call him. He wouldn’t answer his phone over 20 times. I turn around, she’s not in her bed.”
In 2009, Misty told us she, “woke up because she had to use the bathroom, but I didn’t make it to the bathroom. I’d seen the kitchen light on, and I walked in the kitchen and back door is wide open. And I didn’t notice Haleigh missing then until I’d seen the back door open and I go in the room and she’s gone.” (See here).
I do believe that Misty loved those kids, and if something happened under her watch, it would have been an accident or lack of proper oversight (due to her immaturity or drug use). However, having watched Ronald Cummings for the past couple of years, if he was uninvolved, his behavior would have been very different towards Misty. In my opinion, both of these two know what happened and know if the truth comes out, it will only make things worse for each of them so they continue to hold on to what look like stories to me, not the truth.
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Sorry for the oversight in the first draft of this post. I heard Misty wrong. Thank you, Sophie, for pointing that out. I apologize.
Royal Wedding of William & Kate
Many of you have asked my opinion on the royal couple. Compared to Prince William’s mom, Princess Diana, I think this couple stands a real chance at success in their relationship. When young Princess Diana wed her more mature prince, Charles, 30 years ago, the relationship was unbalanced on many levels. Diane was unsure of herself, and didn’t know who she was. Charles was in his element. It took Diana years to find her footing and place in the world, and when she did, she realized they were very different people with opposite values in life.
With Kate and Will, we have maturity in the both of them and a solid sense of self in each. They are both well grounded and seem to know what they want, which is important for success in anything we seek to do. I suspect with that, they have a good idea that they share similar interests.
When I look at Kate, she gives us lots of genuine smiles.
William on the other hand does not. His face strains in almost a painful way when he puts on the “media grin” as I call it, but it is logical, considering he is expected to smile every time he is in public, and has had to do so for his entire life. When I look at the media images of Prince William, it is a common face, so I do not use it to judge his emotions towards Kate. It seems to be his baseline behavior when in the media. It is much less common for the media to capture true emotions out of William in their photographs.
Talking of smiles, I was actually quite surprised at the photo released to the media by the royal family before their wedding. The grin on Prince William was painful. I would call it a torturous smile — so forced it almost hurts him to do it. They need a facial expression expert to help them before they release official photos!
To judge William, I would need to see him one-on-one with Kate to have more of an honest critique of his true feelings outside of the media glare. Prince William understandably has a distaste for the paparazzi–considering how his mom died.
But from the outside looking in, I’d say this couple has a good start, likely a solid foundation and will stay together for many years.