Casey Anthony: The defense has everyone talking; is that good? - Hal

Casey Anthony: The defense has everyone talking; is that good?
posted by halboedeker on May, 25 2011 8:57 AM

Casey Anthony’s defense certainly gave everyone something to talk about with its opening statement Tuesday.

Here’s what some people were saying:

George and Cindy Anthony’s attorney told WESH-Channel 2 that the defense’s opening statement was appalling. Baez alleged that George had sexually abused Casey and been present when Caylee drowned. Casey is charged with first-degree murder in Caylee’s death.

“There’s no truth or fact behind anything Jose said,” attorney Mark Lippman said of defense attorney Jose Baez. “He has a right to his opinion, but that’s all it was.”

Roy Kronk’s attorney blasted Baez’s suggestion that the meter reader found Caylee’s remains and hid them for a time. “They just can’t let Roy go without throwing stones,” David Evans told Adam Longo of Central Florida News 13. “There’s no truth to it. It’s far-fetched and inconsistent with the facts.”

WESH’s Bob Kealing quoted Kronk’s spokesman as saying Baez’s comments were “pathetic and absolutely false.”

WKMG-Channel 6’s legal analysts agreed that the state made a good move in putting George on the witness stand after Baez’s opening statement, Tony Pipitone reported. “It deflated the image that was being left with the jury by the opening statement of the defense that he was some kind of monster,” Pipitone said.

WFTV-Channel 9’s Jeff Deal turned to the station’s legal analyst, Bill Sheaffer, to assess Baez’s performance. Sheaffer’s take, as relayed by Deal: “Once a defense attorney’s credibility is lost in the minds of jurors, it’s tough to win that back.”

Sheaffer told WFTV’s Kathi Belich that the prosecution’s opening statement was the best he had ever heard.

The defense had people talking on the national morning shows this morning. Nancy Grace told ABC’s “Good Morning America” that George Anthony clutched a Bible and his face turned red during the trial. “This theory that he molested her, why would she leave her little 2-year-old child alone with a man that molested her at 8?” Grace asked.

On “GMA,” legal analyst Dan Abrams said that Baez’s cross examination of George Anthony needed to be amazing, and it wasn’t.

Grace predicted that Casey Anthony will have to take the stand. Abrams agreed and predicted that the prosecution would take her apart when asking what she did day by day during the child’s disappearance.

On “Today,” Matt Lauer seemed incredulous at what the defense was asking people to accept: “You have to believe that George Anthony knew about the little girl drowning in the swimming pool, lied to cover it up even while people were searching for his granddaughter. You also have to believe this other bombshell that he sexually abused Casey Anthony, warping her sense of right and wrong.”

On “Today,” former defense attorney Linda Kenney Baden praised Baez for saying a lot in his opening statement when many other defense attorneys don’t. ”Jose Baez has gone beyond his burden. He’s put a defense out there,” she said.

What do you think?

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment_tv_tvblog/2011/05/casey-anthony-the-defense-has-everyone-talking-is-that-good.html