Judge Weighs If Casey Anthony Should Pay $500G Tab

Casey Anthony's attorney said Friday that Florida authorities are trying to recoup the money spent investigating her 2-year-old daughter's disappearance only because of "sour grapes" over the woman's acquittal on a murder charge.

Judge Belvin Perry said after hearing arguments on the issue that he would not issue a ruling until at least Sept.

22. He could extend that date but said he hopes to rule by then.

Anthony was acquitted in July on charges of murdering her daughter, Caylee. But the 25-year-old was convicted of four counts of lying to authorities. She told officers a baby sitter had the child. Authorities later learned the baby sitter never existed, but the investigation drained manpower.

Anthony has appealed her convictions.

Several agencies, including the sheriff's office and Florida Department of Law Enforcement, filed expenses of more than $517,000.

Anthony was not in court Friday and is serving probation in an undisclosed location in Florida. After the hearing, defense attorney Cheney Mason said she was progressing well.

"She's fine," Mason said as he walked out of the courthouse. "She's getting help and she's being taken care of and protected. That's all I can tell you."

Asked about Anthony's financial outlook, Mason said that it is unchanged.

"I know of no deals with anybody and of nobody making any money," Mason said. "Casey has no money. She's indigent -- period. So why are we doing this? Why are we wasting more and more taxpayers' money chasing a ghost?"

Mason called the state's attempt to make his client pay such high investigative costs unfair.

"What you have in essence is the state claiming 100 percent of the costs for a case they lost. ... That to me has nothing to do with justice. It has to do with sour grapes," he said.

Prosecutors spent the morning calling a handful of witnesses representing the four agencies seeking reimbursement. State attorney Linda Drane Burdick said though the totals seem high, all the costs arose from four lies Anthony was convicted of telling. -- The sheriff's office has asked for $293,123; the state attorney's office has asked for $141,362; the FDLE is seeking $71,939; and the Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation is asking for $10,362.

She said it was unfair for taxpayers to cover those costs.

"But for Mrs. Anthony's lying at the beginning of this case, there would no investigative costs," Drane Burdick said. "... It would not have occurred if Mrs. Anthony had it in her to tell the truth."

The state is not seeking to get back money spent helping Anthony's defense or the money spent to sequester the jury during trial.

Anthony's lead defense attorney, Jose Baez, was not in court Friday.

Instead, Mason attacked the state's assertions, saying it was trying recoup all of its costs for the investigation and not just those related to what prosecutors say were Anthony's lies.

Mason pointed to dates well after the October 2008 murder indictment and December 2008 discovery of Caylee Anthony's remains that were included in the agency tallies. He also argued against court reporter invoices that didn't take place until 2010 and 2011, well after the investigative phase of the case.

"I think it's time (Florida state attorney) Lawson Lamar's office accepts the fact they lost this case," Mason said.

Casey Anthony: Is Danger in Florida Greater for Tot Mom?

Casey Anthony's lawyers cited significant concerns regarding the safety of their client in the arguments against Casey returning to Florida to serve out her year of supervised probation. It has been reported that Anthony has received death threats since being acquitted in the death of her daughter Caylee, 2, and has been in hiding.

However, having received the dubious title of "the most hated person in America," her safety in any state could be brought into question. The level of contempt directed at Anthony has not been exclusive to Floridians. But, is there a legitimate threat to her safety?

Is this an overreaction on the part of Casey Anthony's legal team? A way to garner the sympathy of the court or the country as a whole?

Another section of society highly despised both inside and outside the bars of a prison cell are child molesters. Pedophiles frequently face angry and threatening community protests upon their release when their location is made public. Some could say that the threat to their safety could be equally assumed.

In the case of Casey Anthony however, Judge Belvin Perry has authorized the Department of Corrections to keep her address confidential while she serves probation. Can this authorization be considered special treatment? Is there a legitimate threat to her safety?

Casey Anthony To Fight Probation (Recap)

On Monday Casey Anthony To Fight Probation was a top story. Here is the recap: (TMZ) Casey Anthony's legal team tells TMZ they will fight the judge who just rejected their claim that Casey served her probation for check fraud while she sat in jail during her murder trial ... and if they lose Casey will have to return to Florida

in 11 days.

Anthony was sentenced to 1 year's probation for her 2010 check fraud conviction. The judge who sentenced her said in court the time Casey spent in jail would not count toward completing probation, but the order the judge signed mistakenly allowed Casey's probation to run concurrently with her time in the pokey.

A judge ruled on Friday that the judge who sentenced Casey clearly made an innocent mistake, and it wouldn't make sense to allow Casey to get credit for the time she was in jail. After all, the point of probation is to test how a person behaves when they are in the real world, not while they're locked up with few opportunities to misbehave.

But now her lawyers tell TMZ they will appeal Friday's ruling. If they win, it would mean Casey would get a huge break -- her probation would already be completed -- because of a technical error.

Casey's lawyers say if they lose their appeal .... they want her to serve her probation in a state other than Florida.

Casey Anthony to be freed July 17

Casey Anthony was sentenced Thursday in a Florida court to four one-year terms for lying to police after being acquitted in her toddler daughter's death, but the 25-year-old is expected to be freed in 10 days due to time already served.

Earlier in the day, an official with the Orlando court who emerged after a meeting between Chief Judge Belvin Perry Jr. and others involved in the case said Anthony will be released July 13.
But later Thursday, authorities in Florida said Anthony will be freed July 17 as a result of a recalculation of the time she has served.
Perry told the court Anthony would get one year in jail and a fine of $1,000 US on each of the four misdemeanour counts.
The judge said she has 30 days to file any notice of appeal.
The hearing followed the woman's acquittal Tuesday on the three most serious charges against her — the first-degree murder of daughter Caylee Anthony, aggravated child abuse and manslaughter.
Wearing a silvery blue sweater and her long chestnut brown hair down, Anthony sat stone-faced, often looking down and fidgeting with her hair, until hearing her sentence.
She was found guilty by a jury of four misdemeanour counts, based on an interview with a detective on July 16, 2008. Anthony, in jail for nearly three years, could have served a maximum of one year in jail for each count, but received credit for time already served.
The sentencing hearing opened with defender Holly Hughes asking that Anthony only be sentenced on one count since the lies — including that she was working at Universal Studios after it was discovered Caylee was missing and that the child was with a nanny when investigators were trying to locate her — were told during a single interview with an officer, and therefore didn't have time to "pause and reflect between lies."
A lawyer for the state of Florida responded that each lie should be taken into account separately, even though they all occurred on the same day, because each was intended to mislead law enforcement and send them "on a wild goose chase."
Anthony refuses to speak
Perry took time to read the defence's case law backing its claim that it would contravene Anthony's constitutional rights to sentence her on four counts instead of one. However, he said, law enforcement expended a great deal of time and energy — from July through December 2008 — looking for Caylee as a result of the lies, so discounted the defence's argument.
He also asked Anthony's lawyer if she wished to say anything before her sentencing, to which he responded no.
Hundreds of people began lining up outside the courthouse hours before the 9 a.m. ET sentencing — the six-week trial typically attracted crowds of people jockeying to get into the courtroom — and dozens carried signs protesting her acquittal.
Anthony has been in the Orange County Jail since Caylee's body was found in July 2008.
On Wednesday, jail staff met to prepare for her possible release, and officials emphasized the need to ensure it would be done carefully.
"Due to the high-profile nature of this case and intense, emotional interest by the public, appropriate measures will be taken to release the individual into the community in such a manner so as to preserve the safety of the individual and the public," a release said.
One jail official told the media that most likely no one would know exactly where and when she would be released to protect her.
Criticized for lies
The Anthony case has transfixed America since Caylee went missing – a disappearance that took Casey Anthony more than a month to report. Following her acquittal Tuesday, hundreds outside the courtroom expressed outrage about the verdict, and legal analysts said Anthony would be found guilty in the court of public opinion for the foreseeable future.
Prosecutors had contended the single mother, who was living with her parents — painted during the trial as head of a highly dysfunctional family — suffocated Caylee with duct tape because she wanted to be free to party and spend time with her boyfriend.
They also nailed Anthony for the lies she told after Caylee went missing. She told her parents that she couldn't produce Caylee because the child was with a nanny named Zanny — a woman who never existed — and that she and her daughter were spending time with a rich boyfriend, who also never existed.
The defence argued Caylee accidentally drowned in the family swimming pool, and that Anthony panicked and she and her father hid the body. There were also allegations made by the defence that Anthony was suffering from the traumatic effects of being sexually abused by her father, George Anthony. All the allegations were intensely denied.
In the end, Anthony was acquitted largely because the cause of Caylee’s death wasn’t determined, and there was no clear-cut evidence that her mother committed the murder.
Whether Casey Anthony will return to the home of George Anthony and his wife Cindy wasn't clear following her sentencing hearing.
But a lawyer for the family told U.S. reporters Wednesday that Anthony's family received death threats ahead of the 25-year-old's possible release.
Anthony's attorney, Jose Baez, also said Wednesday that he feared for his client's safety given the high-profile nature of the case.

Anthony jurors shattered (Photo-Gallery)

A juror in the Casey Anthony trial has broken her silence and said the jury was emotionally shattered by its own verdict of not guilty.
The juror, Jennifer Ford, 32, a nursing student, said that jurors were "sick to their stomachs" after acquitting Anthony of murdering her two-year-old daughter, Caylee, ABC News reported.
"I did not say she was innocent," said Ford, who was juror No.3.

"I just said there was not enough evidence. If you cannot prove what the crime was, you cannot determine what the punishment should be.
"I'm still confused," she added. "I have no idea what happened to that child."
After issuing the verdict, jurors felt so overwhelmed that they could not speak to reporters, Ms Ford said.
"We were crying, and not just the women," she added. "It was emotional, and we weren't ready. We wanted to do it with integrity and not contribute to the sensationalism of the trial."
Ms Ford described the other six women and five men on the panel as a "great bunch of people".
The jurors, from Pinellas County, spent nearly six weeks living out their own brand of isolation in a hotel in Orlando, in Orange County.

Publicity in the city had been so pervasive that the judge felt compelled to import a jury from another county. Jurors' rooms were watched by guards.
But, Ms Ford said: "There was high morale," adding: "We all joked. We are like a big group of cousins."
The interview with Ms Ford came as the television networks jousted on Wednesday for interviews with jurors and lawyers in the case, emphasising that they would not pay for the interviews.

Networks are known to license photos and videos to woo guests to their shows, a practice that some say amounts to de facto payments for interviews. Sometimes the licensing deals are lined up through brokers or other representatives.
In an interview at her home Wednesday night, Lynn Ford, Jennifer Ford's mother, said ABC News did not pay her daughter but treated her and four others to a trip to Disney World. ABC is a unit of the Walt Disney Co.

Earlier on Wednesday, a representative of another juror contacted each of the broadcast news networks, offering an interview contingent on a mid-five-figure fee.
The networks reported being approached by Rick French, a publicist from North Carolina. One network executive said the fee being asked was $US50,000. French did not return phone calls on Wednesday afternoon.

NBC's Today show and ABC's The View each interviewed Jeff Ashton, the 30-year veteran prosecutor in the case.
He said on The View that he was "shocked" by the not-guilty verdict because jury deliberations were so swift and seamless.
"I think ultimately it came down to the evidence," he said. "I think ultimately it came down to cause of death."
Anthony, 25, who was also found not guilty of aggravated manslaughter and felony child abuse, will be sentenced on Thursday morning US time for lesser crimes.
The jury found her guilty of four counts of lying to police investigators, which carries a maximum of a one-year prison sentence for each count.
But because Anthony has served more than 2 1/2 years in jail, mostly in isolation, she will most likely be sentenced to time served by Judge Belvin Perry jnr and walk free from the Orlando courthouse.
Where Anthony will go next and whether she will ultimately publish her own account are the next big questions occupying those who had closely watched the three-year case.
Prosecutors argued that Anthony killed her child to be free of the obligations of motherhood, preferring instead a carefree life of boyfriends and bars.
They said she dosed Caylee with chloroform, suffocated her with duct tape and dumped her body in the woods.
But medical examiners could never determine how and when Caylee died because her remains were nothing but bones when she was found.
Prosecutors also had no solid physical evidence or witnesses tying Anthony to the crime.
Instead, they portrayed Anthony as a liar - a point her lawyer, Jose Baez, conceded - and a callous mother who partied after Caylee's disappearance.

Casey Anthony trial: Judge fed up with bickering attorneys(Video)

The constant courtroom bickering between defense attorney José Baez and prosecutor Jeff Ashton may have had its final showdown Sunday.
The tension between the two opposing attorneys in the Casey Anthony murder case has been obvious since

the start and has led to at least one public courtroom apology to Ashton from Baez.
Outside the presence of the jury Sunday, Baez complained to Chief Judge Belvin Perry about Ashton's facial expressions during the defense attorney's closing argument.
Then, later in the day, during a heated portion of his closing argument, Baez referred to Ashton as that "laughing guy."
Ashton immediately objected — in a rare move for closings, Perry called a sidebar and then sent the jury out. There was concern among all the parties that the judge would find them in contempt or level some other sanction.
Perry called a recess and watched video from the courtroom — footage the lawyers also reviewed. Ashton, who also reviewed the tape, told the judge he appeared to be smiling behind his hand and apologized.
Baez asked that Ashton not be held in contempt but said the prosecutor's behavior needed to stop. Baez also apologized for his remark.
Perry said he accepted their apologies — for now.
 

Anthony Defense: Prosecution Evidence a Fantasy
"If it happens again, the remedy will be exclusion of that attorney from further representation at these proceedings," Perry said. "Enough is enough."
Perry last week issued an order outlining what prosecutors and defense attorneys cannot say during closing arguments, which began Sunday and will continue today.
Among his edicts: "Counsel shall avoid using derogatory terms or characterizations when referring to Defendant, a witness, or opposing counsel and shall not make any disparaging comments about counsel's occupation or performance in court."

Casey Anthony Trial Draws to a Close: What Will the Jury Decide?

After more than 33 days of testimony and 400 pieces of evidence, the Casey Anthony trial is finally coming to a close. On Sunday, closing arguments will begin and the lawyers will have their last chance to try to persuade the jury before they deliberate.
With each side's case deficient in definitive evidence, Florida A&M; professor Karin Moore said jurors might lean on the most glaring thing presented to them.

That could mean judging Casey Anthony's actions during the month Caylee was missing, Moore said.
"If she knew her child had died or was missing, she was not acting like a grieving mother," Moore said. "It may be enough for a jury."
Casey Anthony is charged with first-degree murder (which would mean a possible death sentence or life in prison if convicted), aggravated child abuse (a 30-year prison term), aggravated manslaughter of a child (a 30-year prison term), and four counts of providing false information to law enforcement.
What do you think the jury will decide?

Closing arguments to begin in Casey Anthony trial(Video)

Closing arguments are expected to begin Sunday in the Florida murder trial of Casey Anthony, the woman charged in the death of her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee.
Prosecutors contended at trial that Anthony killed her daughter in June 2008 by covering the child's mouth with duct tape. Prosecutors told jurors the woman dumped the girl's body in woods near her parents' home and then resumed her life of partying and shopping.

Defense attorneys, without offering firm proof of how Caylee died, countered at trial that the toddler accidently drowned in the family swimming pool.
A medical examiner never determined precisely how Caylee died.
Casey Anthony has pleaded not guilty to a charge of first-degree murder. She could face a possible death sentence or life in prison if convicted of that charge.

Casey Anthony Trial: Jury Could Start Deliberating This July 4 Weekend(Photo-Video)

The prosecution indirectly stated Wednesday afternoon in court that Casey Anthony deliberately killed her 2-year-old child, Caylee, during the cross-examination of an expert witness.
After Judge Belvin Perry admitted Dr. Sally Karioth, a certified traumatologist, as an expert in grief and trauma despite objections from the state, the defense sought to use several hypothetical situations in attempt to justify Casey’s actions during the month when Caylee reportedly first went missing.

Casey allegedly took her daughter out of the Anthony family home on June 16, 2008, when the toddler was last seen, and would tell her mother, Cindy Anthony, several lies about the whereabouts of Caylee during that month.
Caylee was not reported missing until July 15, 2008, after Cindy and George found their daughter’s car in a tow yard, which smelled like human decomposition, according to George.
Defense attorney Dorothy Clay Sims asked Karioth during her testimony how a 22-year-old “loving and great mother” would respond to losing her 2-year-old child.
The witness stated that young adults would often exhibit denial, risky behavior including drinking and partying. Sims then specifically outlined in a hypothetical situation a grieving mother who went shopping, rented movies, went out drinking, got a tattoo – which was exactly what Casey did – and was asked if those were normal behaviors.
Karioth called it reluctant grieving, saying that people would act like nothing happened in order to deal with their loss. The defense also added more details to the situation including families who displayed a history of denial and non-communication, which purportedly furthered those same actions.
During an intense and heated cross-examination, prosecutor Jeff Ashton wondered if there were any behaviors at all that were inconsistent with grieving, since the professor seemed to imply that every behavior from happy to sad was consistent with grief.
She responded, saying there were healthy responses versus pathological responses, but could not give Ashton any definite behavior that was inconsistent with grief.
Ashton also asked Karioth if she could look at a set of actions, not assuming there was a loss, and determine if it was grief or not. She could not unless she had certain facts of the case, which the prosecution pointed out she did not know, excluding generalities about a mother losing her daughter.
Karioth was also further questioned about denial, and confirmed that it could be a common coping mechanism for guilt as well.
Using the same tactics as the defense, Ashton illustrated a series of hypothetical’s, which were exactly the actions of Casey during the month of June. He outlined all of the lies that Casey had told her mother, including Caylee being with an imaginary babysitter or being at Universal Studios, going away to Tampa for work, and etc. when the entire time Casey was in Orlando, and asked the witness if those behaviors were consistent to grief.
Karioth agreed that she would not exactly call those behaviors consistent with grief, and commented that the hypothetical person needed help. She also called the actions “magical thinking.”
When Ashton went even further and added the hypothetical, “what if the mother deliberately killed the child,” objections were raised and sustained.
The prosecution then pointed out that when someone deliberately committed a horrible act, they could compartmentalize the event and continue on with life as if nothing happened, which they claim is what Casey did after she purportedly killed her daughter by suffocating her with duct tape.
In earlier testimony on Wednesday, the son of meter reader Roy Kronk, who found the remains of Caylee Anthony in December 2008, testified that his father told him on the phone around November 2008 that he knew where Caylee’s remains were.
The defense is trying to prove that Kronk deliberately moved Caylee’s remains to the wooded area near the Anthony family home in order to obtain a reward.
Kronk had told the court on Tuesday, however, that he never had a conversation of that nature with his son, Brandon Sparks, in November 2008. The defense also accused Kronk of telling his son he would be rich and famous, which the meter reader denied as well.
Sparks stated that he had been estranged from his father since he was 8 years old, but had developed a relationship with him again in 2008. During that time it was established that he spoke to his father three to four times a week.
The witness confirmed that Kronk told him around Thanksgiving of 2008 that he knew where Caylee’s remains were. But he had dismissed his father’s statement as far-fetched and didn’t believe him until it was revealed on December 11, 2008, that Kronk had actually discovered the body.
During cross-examination, prosecutor Linda Drane Burdick pointed out that Sparks did not remember the conversation he had with his father until Kronk’s ex-wife, Sparks’ mother, and his wife reminded him. Burdick continued to stress that the witness did not recall the conversation himself and also emphasized that he could not identify the specific call on his cellphone records.
He also agreed with Burdick that Kronk did not tell him in November 2008 that he had taken the skull from the scene, had it at home or his car, or done anything else to it. Kronk simply told him that he located the skull, contacted law enforcement, and that since he hadn’t seen him to look for him on television.
Baez concluded by asking Sparks if his father told him he was going to be rich and famous. He responded yes.
Roy Kronk also took the stand once again in the afternoon, going over his statements made to investigators and law enforcement. Baez tried to point out the inconsistencies in what he said previously, including omitting the fact that he had put his meter reader stick in the eye socket of Caylee’s skull and changing his testimony about the skull rolling or falling out of the trash bag.
The witness continued to state that he was overwhelmed that day when he found the skull and needed time to get his head straight.
Kronk acknowledged telling the first officer at the scene on December 11, 2008, about calling CrimeLine in August where he initially reported seeing the remains. He stated that the officer allegedly told him not to mention that fact.
But Deputy Edward Turso, the said officer, denied ever hearing from Kronk about the call to CrimeLine and also confirmed that he did not tell the meter reader not to mention anything.
Baez asked lead investigator Yuri Melich if Kronk mentioned anything about previously calling the authorities in August when he first met Kronk at the crime scene on Dec. 11, 2008. Melich responded no and confirmed that he first heard of the calls about a week after Kronk’s initial statement.
Judge Perry announced that the defense may rest their case Thursday and told the state to have witnesses available for Thursday just in case that happened. Closing statements could be made as early as Saturday and the jury could possibly begin deliberating on Sunday.

Casey Anthony Trial Update: Judge Perry Adjourns Trial, to Resume on Monday(Photo-Video)

The Casey Anthony trial abruptly went into recess on Saturday over legal issues, but it remains unknown over what exactly.
Judge Belvin Perry Jr. cancelled the nearly 7 hours of hearings scheduled for Saturday and said the court would resume on Monday, the Orlando Sentinel reported. Attorneys on both sides declined to comment on the unexpected recess.

Perry recessed the court after meeting with defense attorneys on Saturday morning. The court was scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. and end at 3:30 p.m., longer than normal for Saturday hearings.
Casey Anthony, 25, is accused of first-degree murder of her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee, in June 2008. If convicted, she could face the death penalty.
Anthony’s attorneys claim Caylee died from drowning in her grandparents’ swimming pool and that Casey’s father, George, was involved in covering up the death and disposing the body. George has denied involvement in the death of his granddaughter.
Meanwhile, the state maintains that the defendant suffocated Caylee with duct tape, stored her in the back of her trunk for days, and then dumped her body in the woods nearby the Anthony’s home.
The toddler was last seen on June 16, 2008, reported missing on July 15, 2008, and the remains of her tiny body was found in December 2008.
On Friday, the court heard the testimonies of Casey’s mother, Cindy, and her older brother, Lee.
Lee gave an emotional testimony, claiming that the family ignored Casey’s pregnancy with Caylee until just days before she gave birth. He claimed no one acknowledged Casey’s pregnancy until nearly when Caylee was born and broke down in tears during his testimony.
The defense is thought to be trying to illustrate the Anthonys as a dysfunctional family. The prosecution, however, questions the accuracy of Lee’s testimony, which appears to differ from his 2009 deposition. When questioned by the prosecution earlier this month, Lee often responded that he didn’t remember his deposition and expressed little emotion.
In the deposition, Lee had said his parents were excited about news of a granddaughter and prepared a nursery for her as well as a baby shower.
On Friday, the defense also called back several investigators, including Orange County deputy Ryan Eberlin. Eberlin explained that he handcuffed Casey on the night of July 16, 2008, because her mother, Cindy, had accused Casey of stealing her credit cards.
Judge Perry told the jury to not consider Casey’s fraudulent use of credit cards in the case because it was unrelated to her current charge of murder.
A video of a happy 2-year-old Caylee and her mom, Casey, was also shown in the court room yesterday.
Perhaps the biggest shocker this week was the revelation by Cindy Anthony that she searched for the words chloroform and chlorophyll on the family’s computer. The prosecution had called computer experts to the stand earlier in the trial who gave damaging testimonies that there were Google searches for chloroform that were later deleted from the Internet search history. There was also a search for how to make chloroform, but Cindy said she did not remember if she made that search.
Cindy’s chloroform testimony shakes up the prosecution’s argument that Casey Anthony made searches for chloroform. The prosecution maintains that Casey used chloroform to knock Caylee out before using duct tape on her. There was also high level of chloroform found in the trunk of Casey’s car.

Casey Anthony defense tries to put Florida prosecutors on trial(Photos-Video)

Defense attorneys for Casey Anthony are seeking to put the prosecution on trial, alleging an at times incompetent investigation into Caylee's death. The tactic could be working with some jurors.
The defense in the Casey Anthony murder trial is seeking to turn the tables on the prosecution, attempting to put the state itself on trial for conducting what defense lawyers suggest was a lackluster and, at times, incompetent investigation into the death of Ms. Anthony’s two-year-old daughter, Caylee.

Although Chief Judge Belvin Perry is trying to head off the tactic by sustaining frequent prosecution objections at the trial, defense attorney Jose Baez is managing to raise substantial questions that could trouble at least some members of the jury.
The jurors have heard testimony that a “shoddy” autopsy was performed by the county medical examiner, that an FBI lab technician’s own DNA contaminated a piece of duct tape that the state alleges is the murder weapon, and that a crime scene investigator placed a bag of wet trash with live maggots from Ms. Anthony’s car into a drier to preserve the contents for long-term storage.
They have heard about heart-shaped residue that mysteriously disappeared from the surface of the duct tape/alleged murder weapon before it could be photographed. They also heard that investigators waited 3-1/2 months after tests showed the possible presence of chloroform in Anthony’s car before obtaining a warrant to search the Anthony home for evidence of chemicals, mixing instructions, chemistry equipment, or store receipts related to chloroform. Nothing was found.
In addition, the defense is suggesting that the state missed opportunities to conduct DNA testing on the maggots found in the trash bag in Anthony’s car. Two entomologists and a DNA expert have testified that such testing would have been possible. It was apparently not done.
The defense has also suggested that after the FBI discovered a second partial but inconclusive DNA profile on the duct tape/alleged murder weapon, the state could have had the item retested using more sophisticated technology. It did not.
Defense gambit not unique
Mr. Baez’s gambit is not unique. The defense tactic of attacking detectives and prosecutors as sloppy or worse is a standard feature of many trials. But this is no ordinary case. The state has charged Anthony with first-degree murder and is seeking the death penalty.
In addition, the saga of Anthony and her daughter, Caylee, has attracted a national following of self-appointed detectives, moral arbiters, and others who are parsing every utterance in Judge Perry’s Orlando, Fla., courtroom. Interest in the trial is so high that fistfights have broken out among those waiting in long lines outside the courthouse for a chance to witness the unfolding drama inside.
Although the state’s case moved forward quickly and efficiently for nearly three weeks, the defense side of the trial during the past five days has been slowed by a high number of prosecution objections and resulting sidebar conferences outside earshot of the jury. The in-court tension arises against a backdrop of an increasingly bitter struggle between the two camps behind the scenes.
At several points Perry has condemned what he termed “gamesmanship” and rivalry among the lawyers during the trial.
When a potential witness from a DNA laboratory in the Netherlands, Richard Eikelenboom, presented himself at the state attorney’s office last weekend for a possible deposition in advance of his expected testimony this week, Assistant State Attorney Jeffrey Ashton refused to see him. He told him to go away.
Mr. Ashton has sought to block portions of Mr. Eikelenboom’s testimony because he says the defense did not comply with a court order in December to fully disclose all opinions that each expert witness would offer at the trial.
Baez says he sought to comply with the order but that a trial is a dynamic process and he is trying to respond to unexpected issues. The judge said his order was clear and that Baez had willfully violated it.
The judge's unusual punishment

As punishment, immediately before Eikelenboom began his testimony on Tuesday, Perry gave a special instruction to the jury that certain reports outlining the witness’s testimony had not been delivered prior to a court-imposed deadline and that as a result the jury “may consider this in considering the credibility of the witness.”
Such an instruction is highly unusual, particularly in a death-penalty case. A witness’s credibility usually speaks for itself without any pretestimony demerits assigned by a trial judge seeking to punish a defense attorney.
The punishment did not stop there. The judge also barred Baez from questioning Eikelenboom about the possibility of obtaining DNA profiles from a stain in the trunk of Anthony’s car. Prosecutors have suggested that the stain is from fluid that leaked from Caylee’s decomposing body onto the carpet lining the trunk. FBI tests found no DNA. And the state did not seek to perform more sophisticated tests.
Eikelenboom was expected to say that using the more advanced techniques in his lab, such testing might be possible. That testimony could be important to the defense because it would suggest the state has been less than diligent in using available science to help prove its case. At the same time it would highlight the circumstantial and speculative nature of some of the state’s evidence against Anthony.
Despite that pending issue, Eikelenboom was permitted to testify in general about DNA testing. He told the jury that even though the duct tape found with Caylee’s remains was severely weathered, with his techniques “you could expect to still find DNA.”
Pioneer of 'touch DNA'
Eikelenboom is best known in the DNA community as a pioneer in the detection of “touch DNA” – skin cells left behind by an assailant or criminal as a result of rough-handling during criminal activity.
In 2006, Mr. Eikelenboom helped free an innocent man serving a life sentence in Colorado for a murder he didn’t commit. After re-creating precisely how the victim was dragged into a field by her killer, Eikelenboom and his laboratory were able to identify “touch DNA” on the victim’s shirt 20 years after the crime.
The innocent man, Timothy Masters, was a 15-year-old sophomore in high school at the time of the killing. He told police that he had seen the dead body in the field on his way to school but did not report it to police because he wasn’t sure it was real, according to a report in the Denver Post.
Police considered him a murder suspect in part because he did not call 911 and he seemed emotionless, according to the Post report. He was convicted in a circumstantial case with no physical evidence.
Eikelenboom identified three full DNA profiles from the victim’s shirt. It eliminated Mr. Masters and pointed, instead, to someone else on the detectives’ list of suspects.
In 2008, prosecutors moved to vacate Master’s conviction and he was released after serving nearly 10 years of his life sentence.
Work in JonBenet Ramsey case
Eikelenboom was also asked by police in Colorado to investigate the unsolved murder of JonBenet Ramsey. Again, he identified DNA profiles by examining the precise points where the assailant grabbed the little girl’s clothing. The resulting DNA profile eliminated JonBenet’s parents as suspects in the killing.
During cross-examination, Ashton belittled Eikelenboom and his Dutch-based laboratory. He compared the company to a “mom and pop operation," and suggested he was working in a “barn.”
Eikelenboom said he and his wife converted a farm into a high-tech crime laboratory.
Ashton insisted that any DNA that might have been on the duct tape with Caylee’s remains would have long since degraded and been unusable in the hot, wet Florida weather.
“We only need a small amount of cells to get a DNA profile,” Eikelenboom said.
At the conclusion of his cross-examination Ashton asked Eikelenboom whether the defense team had asked him to retest the duct tape containing the as-yet unidentified DNA remnant.
"We mentioned that we could investigate this piece of tape,” Eikelenboom said.
Ashton shot back: “Are you aware if items at the defense’s request were sent for additional DNA testing?”
“No,” Eikelenboom answered.
The exchange was important because it potentially suggested to the jury that the defense did not want to retest the duct tape even though Baez was arguing that it should have been retested by the state.
“You were willing and able to test items from this case and you were willing and able to do it pro bono,” Baez asked during his redirect examination.
“Correct,” Eikelenboom said.
“The only reason you didn’t do it in this case is because the prosecution objected to you taking it,” Baez said.
The comment drew an immediate objection from Ashton before Eikelenboom could answer. The judge sustained the objection.
What the jury does not yet know is that a defense request to submit “items” to the Dutch laboratory was rejected by Perry. Instead, the defense team was directed to use a lab in Pennsylvania.
Baez apparently submitted for testing a pair of shorts and a laundry bag recovered with Caylee’s remains. But, according to Ashton, the defense never asked that the duct tape/murder weapon or carpet samples from the trunk of the car be retested for possible DNA.

Casey Anthony trial: Witness testimony continues after tense jury selection

A central Florida mother charged with killing her 2-year-old daughter wiped away tears Thursday as her ex-boyfriend described to jurors affectionate moments Casey Anthony shared with her toddler. Anthony Lazarro testified under questioning from Anthony’s defense attorney that she taught Caylee how to swim and regularly displayed affection for her daughter. Anthony is charged with first-degree murder in the death of her daughter. If convicted, she could be sentenced to death. She has pleaded not guilty.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys have offered strikingly different portrayals of Anthony. Prosecutors have gotten witnesses to testify that Anthony never seemed upset during the time Caylee disappeared. Defense attorneys have coaxed witnesses to testify that Anthony was a loving mother. Caylee was last seen June 16, 2008. Prosecutors said Caylee died from three pieces of duct tape being placed over her mouth and nose, while the attorney for Anthony, 25, has claimed the toddler accidentally drowned in her grandparents’ pool. Thursday’s testimony continued to portray very different pictures of Casey Anthony and her relationship with daughter Caylee Anthony. As Elizabeth Flock explained: The trial of Casey Anthony, a 25-year-old woman acused of murdering her two-year-old daughter in 2008 opened in Orlando on Tuesday with stunning new revelations. During this week’s proceedings, prosecution and defense attorneys presented vastly different accounts of how Anthony’s daughter, Caylee, had died. For the first time, prosecutors said Caylee Anthony died from three pieces of duct tape being placed over her mouth and nose while a defense attorney for the mother claimed the toddler drowned in the family pool and the little girl’s grandfather covered up the accident. Casey Anthony, 25, is charged with first-degree murder but has pleaded not guilty to the crime. If convicted, she could be sentenced to death. An autopsy was never able to conclude a cause of death for Caylee. No witnesses saw what happened to 2-year-old Caylee Anthony, and only her killer knows exactly how she died. No one has confessed. So when her mother, Casey Anthony, goes to trial Tuesday on murder charges, the jury’s decision will likely come down to forensic evidence. Prosecutors plan to have jurors smell the odor from her car, present evidence of chloroform in the 1998 Pontiac Sunfire and present photos that they say show her partying with friends after her daughter disappeared. They also likely will seek testimony from a botanist, a hair and fiber examiner from an FBI lab, and a cadaver dog handler. Anthony’s defense attorneys plan to present testimony from an expert in the new field of touch DNA, an entomologist and Dr. Henry Lee, a famous forensics expert who has worked on the O.J. Simpson, Phil Spector and JonBenet Ramsey cases. “It is going to be a battle of experts,” said Karin Moore, a law professor at Florida A&M University in Orlando. “They don’t have a confession. They don’t have an eyewitness. They don’t have direct evidence. They are relying on forensic science that is circumstantial, at best.”

Murder trial witnesses say they saw no change in Casey Anthony's behavior

One month after prosecutors say a Florida mother murdered her two-year-old daughter and left the body in garbage bags in a wooded area, she invited an acquaintance to the toddler’s upcoming birthday party, an Orlando courtroom was told Wednesday. The mother, Casey Anthony, continued to suggest for weeks after the alleged murder that her daughter, Caylee, was staying with a nanny or that she had to leave soon to pick the little girl up. “She said she had to pick up her daughter.… She said that her birthday was the next month and I was invited to her birthday party,” said Jamie Realander in testimony Wednesday, the second day of Ms. Anthony’s expected two-month murder trial in an Orlando courtroom.

Ms. Realander met Anthony while working at a local night club. “She invited you to her daughter’s birthday party the next month?” asked Assistant State Attorney Frank George. “Yes,” Ms. Realander replied. According to Realander the conversation took place on July 15, 2008. That date is significant because prosecutors allege that sometime on June 16 – a month earlier – Anthony used chloroform to subdue the toddler and then affixed duct tape over her mouth and nose before hiding the body. Caylee would have been three years old on August 9, 2008 – her birthday. If convicted, Anthony faces a death sentence. Web of lies is alleged According to prosecutors, Anthony’s repeated references to her daughter from mid-June to mid-July were all part of an intricate web of lies calculated to cover up a premeditated murder. But the apparent lies are only part of the story. Rather than the one-dimensional monster portrayed by the state attorneys office, the view of Anthony emerging from trial witnesses is far more complex and perhaps ultimately inscrutable. Every witness has portrayed her as a loving, caring mother. There is no dispute on this point. There has been no testimony – at least so far – that she felt burdened by motherhood, or that the toddler was excessively interfering in her social life. Her former boyfriend, Tony Lazzaro, testified Wednesday that he had no problem with her being a mother. “You knew she had a daughter,” Defense Lawyer Jose Baez said on cross-examination. “You didn’t have any issues about dating a girl who had a child?” “No,” Mr. Lazzaro answered. Growing romance They had met in late May, a few weeks before Caylee’s disappearance. The timing of the alleged murder and the trajectory of their growing romance is chilling. During direct examination, Assistant State Attorney George had Lazzaro recount for the jury the events of June 16 – the alleged murder day – and the days that followed. He said he met Anthony on the evening of June 16 and they went to a Blockbuster Video. The security camera in the video store captured the two, walking like lovers, arm and arm. The implication for the jury is that Anthony had just spent much of the day murdering her daughter and hiding her body before meeting her boyfriend for a carefree evening. “How would you describe her demeanor,” the prosecutor asked. “It was the way she was every day, happy,” Lazzaro said. “Happy to see me.” Did she cry or act scared? No. Was she nervous? Did she tell you her daughter was missing? No. Was there any difference in the way she acted? No. Anthony and Lazzaro stayed together for the next 36 hours. Lazzaro told the prosecutor he “played hooky” from college the next day, remaining in his apartment. “Why,” the prosecutor asked. “I didn’t feel like leaving my bed,” he said. The defense's version The defense attorney, Mr. Baez, told the jury in his opening remarks on Tuesday that Anthony’s repeated lies are a symptom of years of sexual abuse by her father and brother. It is her way of coping, he said, to find an alternate reality and essentially hide in plain sight. According to Baez, Anthony did not kill her daughter, who died in a swimming pool accident. The body was discovered, Baez says, by Anthony and her father, George. The accident was supposedly covered up to prevent investigators from discovering the long history of incest in the Anthony family, he suggested. Prosecutors sought to counter the effects of this explosive defense gambit by immediately calling George Anthony to the stand Tuesday as the trial’s first witness. He said he did not know how his granddaughter died and he repeatedly denied sexually abusing his daughter. During Lazzaro’s cross examination, Baez sought to return to the theme of sexual abuse. He asked Lazzaro if there came a time when Anthony shared a secret with him about her father abusing her. “Yes,” he said. Prosecutors objected to the question and answer because the answer was hearsay. Lazzaro wouldn’t necessarily know the truth of the statement, just what Anthony told him. The judge sustained the objection. Anthony is accused of first-degree murder in the disappearance and death of Caylee, who was last seen alive on June 15, 2008. Her remains were discovered six months later in December in a wooded area not far from the family’s home. Law enforcement was not told that Caylee was missing until mid-July after Anthony’s parents called 911. At one point, Anthony said her daughter was kidnapped by her nanny, but the story was later dismissed. The case touched off a nationwide search, with tips flooding in from across the country until the body was discovered.