Watching Casey Anthony’s attorney, Andrea Lyons’ body language and listening to her vocal tones, gives further credence “the body doesn’t lie and neither does the voice!”
Both her body language and her vocal tones are quite telling, as you will clearly see in this blog entry.I am going to show something about Andrea Lyon’s body language during her Today Show interview which may prove harmful to the defense.
USING HER 15 MINUTES OF FAME TO PLUG HER BOOK
But first , I must say something about why she may have appeared on the Today show. While I am all for book promotion and letting people know about your products, I think that Andrea Lyons, lead attorney for Casey Anthony, showing up on the Today Show to hawk her book just weeks before her death penalty client will go on trial for a criminal case, is not right. In fact it really rubbed me the wrong way. Timing is everything and this was definitely the wrong time in my opinion.
Her presence on the show is in my opinion, a manipulation ploy to get perhaps one sympathetic juror out there who may be called on Casey Anthony’s case, to not vote for her client to have a lethal injection running through her veins.
Based on the timing of her appearance and the timing of Casey’s upcoming trials, this is my opinion why she was there.
She could have discussed her book well AFTER the case. But she is doing it now because she is involved in a high profile case where she is obviously riding the coattails of Casey’s infamy to hawk her book.
I wouldn’t mind it as much if she went on the show just to discuss Casey’s case. But to throw her book in the mix smacks of a conflict of interest in my opinion and extreme manipulation.
ANDREA REVEALS HER FEAR OF LOSING THE CASE DURING MEREDITH’S INTITIAL QUESTION
As Andrea and Meredith were sitting in their respective sets in the studio watching the monitor of the Introduction where the reporter( via his voiceover) says ” Andrea Lyons is confident her client will walk,” Andrea under her breath, reveals to Meredith, ”I’m not.”
By the look on her face when Meredith relays Andrea’s comment back to her Andrea looks taken aback. She immediately changes her facial expression from a smile to a more serious one.
She looks down and speaks in a hesitant staccato tone with obvious upper chest heaving sighs, indicating her frustration that she may very well lose the case. This body language “tell” shows an uneasiness and a nervousness.
ANDREA PLAYING THE ” WE CAN’T GET A FAIR TRIAL ” VICTIM CARD
Andrea goes on to say” Of course not, there is always the assumption of guilt” as she gazes down as she breathes heavily.
She goes on to say. “The media scrutiny has made it difficult to get a fair trial.” The last I heard in the US was that “we are all presumed innocent until proven guilty.” It’s not the other way around as she stated.
Even though a lot of people may indeed presume Casey is guilty, Andrea needed to seize this opportunity to express this American tenant of “presumed innocence” to drive the point home. She needed to do that instead of using the victim card and saying the opposite.
I believe Casey will get a fair trial. Why? Because this is such a high profile case. Everyone involved will make sure every i is dotted and every t is crossed.
In fact I have no doubt that they will hire a jury consultant ( like what I have done in the past) to help select the jury and to weed out those with a bias and a mission.
So now we know the real reason she came on to promote her book- to help sway a potential juror against the death penalty. Perhaps she felt that her presence on the show would allow people to look at Casey more sympathetically through the eyes of her lawyer.
ANDREA’S FRIGHTENED TO DEATH CASEY WILL BE PUT TO DEATH
Whenever you see a person’s chest heaving as they speak, where their shoulders raise, know that this is a sign that someone is really nervous and really scared.
After looking at her body language, Andrea looked very scared about the case. I believe there is no doubt in her mind that she may feel that she may have already lost the case before it is tried.
This body language tell was validated by Meredith’s next question as she candidly reveled “You said you are scared to death.”
I have no doubt that Andrea may have made this off the cuff candid comment to either Meredith or to a producer. She clearly did not want that information out over the airwaves for the prosecution to see. There is no way she would want any prosecutor to see that she was scared was feeling weak about her case.
In fact, Andrea’s body language shows that she looks down in embarrassment. So does her vocal” tells” as she stammers and repeats her words “I’m, I’m (repeated) afraid she’s been pilloried in the press.”
SALEM WITCH TRIALS???
When someone stammers like that it is indicative that they are thrown off guard as was clearly the case here.
Andrea then compares Casey’s case to the Salem Witch Trials, which I thought was a rather absurd analogy. In fact my thought was that the only thing Casey Anthony had in common with the Salem Witches was that many people consider her to be a witch for killing her daughter.
But Andrea’s intention for bringing up the Salem Witch Trials was to make the point that regardless whether the women were guilty or innocent, they were killed through downing or being burned at the stake which she stated. Either way, according to Andrea, they were killed.
In essence, she brought up this story to say that even if Casey was innocent she he would still be killed. In essence through making this analogy, Andrea is setting herself up for the reality that she will most likely lose the case and that Casey will be put to death.
ANDREA SHOWS FEAR
When Meredith asked her what kind of a setback it was when the judge declined the death penalty, we see Andrea looking down and hesitating and then she opens her eyes wide and with an affirmative shake of her head.
She then shrugs her shoulders as if to say she was resigned to the fact that there was a setback.
Now, in a defensive, angry clear louder, snarky tone says, ”IT”S A SETBACK!” There is a flash of anger with her eyebrows raised.
Then her facial facial expression changes back to clearly show her fear, concern, and surprise at the judge’s not dropping the death penalty. Her heaving breathing and ill paced breathing pattern also reflects her frustration and fear about what will happen to her client.
When Meredith asks Andrea if it now puts a lot of pressure on Casey to plea bargain, Andrea’s facial expression turns into a smirk or a sarcastic smile to make her argument against the death penalty.
In essence, she saying “See, I told you so, that is what happens when you have the death penalty, there is added pressure on the defendant.”
HERE IS THE BOMBSHELL!!!!!!!NOW THE TRUTH IS REVEALED!!!!!!!!!!
Now Andrea goes on to objectively explain the effects of the death penalty on a defendant in THE THIRD PERSON , sounding like the college professor she is (DePaw University). She says “that is one of the effects of the death penalty on a defendant, even when they didn’t ……”
NOW SOMETHING VERY STRANGE HAPPENS HERE !!!! I have watched this section repeatedly, so I can give you the exact accounting of events which took place.
Andrea suddenly looks down and closes her eyes and repeats herself as she says “even though they (still in third person) didn’t didn’t (repeats the word) do it. (looking down and shrugging her shoulders) they ( still in the third person) didn’t kill ……
Now out of the blue, Andrea says something that is no longer in the third person (they). She immediately interjects “ SHE DIDN’T DO IT. SHE DIDN’T KILL HER KID.”
WHAt??????????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!
In the first place she was describing one fo the pitfalls of the death penalty and suddenly she changes course with WAAAY TOOOOOO MUCH INFORMATION, especially for an attorney.
In the second place, no one asked her if Casey killed “her kid”. She volunteered that information . The question was about Casey feeling pressured to plea bargain. It was not whether she killed her kid.
But how Andrea said those words and her body language behavior when she said them spoke volumes to me.
SIGNALS OF DECEPTION
As Andrea spoke the words “SHE DIDN’T DO IT. SHE DIDN’T KILL HER KID” I observed multiple signals of deception as well as signals of doubt- doubting what she herself was saying.
Andrea she raises her shoulders, tilts her head to the side as though she is questioning what she herself is saying. She raises her eyebrows indicating doubt – that she isn’t sure or that she knows what she is saying is not true.
Her voice also gives a lot away as she croaks out these words in a soft breathy voice. It is a voice without conviction. It is also a voice that dies off at the end of the sentence. When someone croaks out a tone and it dies off at the end, it is the body’s way of shutting itself off to the lie or the deceptive words. It is the body’s way of not wanting to say something that is not true.
Her tone was in large contrast to what she was saying before, when he sounded like a college professor. Then her voice was sonorous and rich in tone.
I can assure you that if I were the attorney and strongly believed my client “DIDN’T KILL HER KID”, unlike Andrea, I would look straight into Meredith’s eyes with my head held straight and in a LOUD, low rich resonant tone that was well modulated so that it would not croak off at the end of my statement. Instead, I would say “MY CLIENT DID NOT KILL HER DAUGHTER.” In addition I would never have referred to Caylee as “HER KID.” To me, under the circumstances, it sounds disrespectful.
DAMAGING TO THE DEFENSE!
What I have said here may be very damaging to the defense. In essence it is my impression and opinion that deep down as reflected by her body language, tone of voice, and the content of her speech, Andrea may perhaps not believe that her client is innocent of “ KILLING HER KID.” The discomfort in Andrea Lyon’s face as she spoke those words was clear as were the signals of deception which included the following:
shoulder shrug
looking down
eyes closed
repeating the words (they they didn’t do it)
(her once sonorous voice, trailing off at the end
her voice muscles choking off the sound.
volunteering too much information
ARE YOU COMPLETELY SURE?
Meredith was no doubt stunned by all of this as we all were, and follows up with a question “ Are you completely sure?’
Andrea answers “in a cracking closed off vocal tone, “without a doubt” then blinks. Then there is an awkward silent pause.
Shortly afterwards, Andrea gets defensive and feisty as we hear her rich and resonant tone, showing her confidence as she defends Casey saying “ There is no evidence of a homicide tying her to the crime.” It’s too little too late in my opinion. Now she sounds like a college professor defending the death penalty. But she doesn’t sound like an attorney convinced her client is innocent.
ANOTHER RED FLAG!
When someone is confident about themselves or their client,t they don’t make any negative or disparaging or non- winning comments about themselves. As Meredith discusses Andrea’s book, she says to Andrea, “ You have won every case.” Andrea immediately interjects the comment” So far!”
To me this comment may very well indicate her lack of confidence with regard to Casey. Her comment says that she has won every Case until Casey’s, which she deep down she may know she will lose. Otherwise, why would she have made that comment? When we are sure and confident about something we never make a disparaging remark or comment about it to negate it.
CONFIDENT BODY LANGUAGE AND VOCAL TONE WHEN PROMOTING HER BOOK
When she speaks of her book, Andrea is fluid, and articulate. Her throat muscles are open when she speaks, creating a rich and resonant tone. She has excellent eye contact with Meredith and her body language was relaxed.
It is in stark contrast to what we have seen in the first part of the interview when she discussed Casey Anthony. Her head is direct and she looks directly at Meredith, unlike she did earlier in the broadcast.
BOTTOM LINE!
The bottom line in my opinion is that Andrea is scared she will lose a case for the very first time in her professional career. She is also afraid that her client may die with a lethal injection pumped through her system. And finally, even though she is doing her best to defend Casey and saying all the right words and phrases, her body, her face, and her voice show the truth ! www.drlillianglass.com
Dr. Lillian Glass Body Language Blog 
Dr. Glass, Thank you for taking the time to do this analysis on Andrea. I noticed all of the things you mentioned when I watched the interview, and you articulate what I saw so well.
One of the statements made by Andrea at the last hearing was something along the lines of “we don’t want Casey being videotaped, because every little thing she says and does is then picked apart and discussed endlessly.”
She should realize the same thing about the defense team and stop doing media interviews, as every time they do, it just hurts their case even more, as shown here.
She could have shut down any talk about Casey by saying that she was here to talk about her book and not the case. Instead, she shows her true colors by talking about Casey for 3 minutes, and her book for 30 seconds: She was there mainly to try to (unsuccessfully) create reasonable doubt for Casey (and hopefully, by association, sell more books).
Nearly every thing the defense team does backfires on them. Their client has painted them into a corner that they can’t get out of. 🙂
Seems like they’d get tired of it, and start offering No Comments. But that would be the smart thing to do, and it seems that the media spotlight has eaten away their brains.
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OMG!!! Thank you so much for analyzing her Dr. Lillian. I always thought she is very arrogant and disliked her more after she disrespectfully referred Caylee as a “kid”It’s a shame for Caylee’s memory. I always thought Lyon looked awkward in her interviews when she was talking about Casey’s case but didn’t know exactly to point what it was about her behavior… now I know… lack of confidence in Casey’s innocence, even though she is trying very hard nobody is buying her arguments. In my layperson opinion Lyon is in the case to promote her book although she wrote this book well before.
There is always the first time to lose a case.
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Excellent!! Thank-you.
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Andrea compared the prosecution of Casey to the Salem witch trials or she compared the execution of Casey to the Salem witch trials? Either way, that is an absurd analogy.
From what we, the public, have already learned via the Sunshine laws there is overwhelming evidence that Casey and nobody but Casey committed the murder of her daughter and the disposal of her little body.
Sometimes lawyers feel if they state something with absolute conviction (that black is white or that up is down), there may be one person convinced enough to vote their way.
It has always seemed to me that Baez, himself, looked as if he knew his client was guilty. The appearance of George on TV recently shows me that he knows she is guilty, and I have no doubt that Cindy also knows. Cindy and George are buried in their own delusion and, sad to say, have let justice for little Caylee go out the window. I don’t think the Casey’s parents give a royal hoot about justice at this point. If George does, he is surely putting it aside and probably as he has always done, he is following Cindy’s destructive lead.
Thank you for this, Dr. Glass. I did not get to see the interview.
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Thank you Dr Glass on your interpretation of Andrea Lyon’s voice and body language. She might feel confident in a classroom or at a lecture, but in front of the media and being asked questions, her demeanor does a 360 degree turn.
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Dr. Lillian,
Thanks very much for all the informative details that Andrea Lyon LEAKED big time! I find it unconscionable that she would be so duplicitious to “promote her book” as the guise to sway public opinion. You are correct that it was a definite conflict of interest and anyway she totally blew it! Promoting book–fluid and articulate–discussing sociopath client–not so much!
I have a question which is off topic… despicable physican that gave MJ propafol (IV) at home–there is news that he may soon be charged with manslaughter-(possible jail sentence of 5 yrs)-that really pisses me off–i do not understand why 2nd degree murder is not the appropriate charge–as a RN, I find that the standard of care he delivered was so far below any acceptable norm –and to be truely criminal. Am I over-reacting?
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That was fabulous…I read your bio- for the forth time..wow…I hope I come back in my next life to be as smart and fantastic as your are! What a WOMAN! You make our sex so very proud. Thank you!
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Thanks so much for sharing your amazing insight into this interview. I, too, think it’s wrong for her to promote her book in an interview regarding her client’s pending DP trial. I am definitely not a fan of Casey Anthony (or her attorneys for that matter), but I believe this interview essentially threw her under the bus. Wonder what Jose Baez (who’s noticeably been out of the media spotlight since Ms. Lyons came onboard) is thinking! Again, thanks so very much for giving us your professional and expert opinion on this insightful interview.
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Thank you so much for your professional opinion, you are the best!!
If it’s not asking you too much, I would like if you could analyze Jose Baez as well. His smirk face irritates everybody, I am telling you, he seems arrogant but maybe not. Lately he has not been all smiles towards Casey… since I don’t trust Casey’s defense I always am suspicious it’s part of their tactics but it would be good if we heard your opinion on him.
Thank you so very much Dr. Lillian.
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Thank you Dr. Glass.
If Ms. Lyons thinks there is overwhelming evidence against her client, why in the world are they dragging this out? Why don’t they consider taking a guilty plea which would save Casey from a death penalty conviction. She can also save the gory details of Caylee’s last moments alive as she gazed into the eyes of the one responsible for Caylee’s demise.
Casey had a hard time when Jeff Ashton laid out his scenario on why the death penalty is warranted. As he described the three pieces of duct tape being placed, layer after layer over Caylee’s mouth/nose skull, I watched Casey’s demeanor change. Her nose flared, her fists were clenched as were her teeth. She leaned into Ms. Lyons and pleaded, “make him stop”, Ms. Lyons reply, I can’t as she stroked Casey’s arm. Is this the “rage” Caylee saw?
This was only a small tid bit of what is in store as the murder trial commences. If the defense truly had Casey’s best interest in mind, they would persuade her, for her best interest, to plead guilty. JMHO
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Dr. Glass, I, too, would love to hear your analysis of that truly irritating smirk that Baez has plastered to his face each time we see him. A jury certainly will not appreciate it. Can’t believe that someone hasn’t told him to knock it off, that murder of a child is serious business.
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Dr. Glass,
A million thanks for such a perceptive read. Although this may not be the place to voice this opinion i would like to point out that the Defense has contiuously stated that Casey will not get a “fair trial” however by “book touring” wouldnt that draw attention to the case even more??…
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You read this one right. Andrea is much more concerned with having a personal failure of losing a case than she is about Casey. As I watched her negatism about the possibility of winning the case, I thought, this is hurting Casey’s chances. To have her own defence team think there is no hope, shows she is most likely guilty. They have nothing to defend her with. I think Andrea is a wiser woman than this, if she is truly putting her client ahead of her own personal agenda.
I do think Meredith threw her off by revealing a private conversation and that is why she went into so much negative detail. She couldn’t seem to regroup and recover.
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