Former Baez Client Says Baez Made Mistakes

CASEY ANTHONY CASE
Casey Anthony lawyer Jose Baez gets slammed by former client


Man convicted in Lake County toddler death cites "defectiveness" of Casey Anthony's attorney Jose Baez


Stephen Hudak | Sentinel Staff Writer
3:11 PM EDT, March 27, 2009

TAVARES - A Lake County man, serving a 15-year prison sentence in the death of a toddler, wants his manslaughter and child-abuse convictions overturned, citing judicial and prosecutorial misconduct and the "defectiveness" of his defense lawyer, Jose Baez.

Baez is better known these days as Casey Anthony's lawyer. But last spring he was busy defending Nilton Diaz.

Diaz, 31, insists he did not kill or harm 2-year-old Noeris Vazquez, granddaughter of legendary Puerto Rican prize-fighter Wilfredo Vazquez. Instead, Diaz claims he lost his freedom because of Baez' trial performance, strategy and failure to disclose evidence to prosecutors, a tactical decision that prevented jurors from viewing a defense video.

The video, created by a biomechanical expert, would have shown the jury how the toddler's skull fracture could have been an accident, according to new court filings.



In documents seeking a new trial and other post-conviction relief, Diaz said "...Mr. Baez wanted to surprise the prosecution, and the surprise blew up in the defense's face."

Baez was attending a law seminar today and not immediately available for comment.

A time-share salesman and part-time conga drummer, Diaz was accused of causing the fatal head injury to "Noni" Vazquez, the daughter of his live-in girlfriend, Samaris Bobe Silva, and the boxer's son Noe.

Lake County sheriff's detectives say the injury occurred Feb. 11, 2006, while Diaz was alone with the child.

Silva, who met Diaz while working in housekeeping at a Disney-area resort, had left Diaz alone with the child for 10 minutes.

Diaz remains in state custody at the Taylor Correctional Institution in Perry, Florida.

The motion for a new trial was filed on behalf of Diaz by Alfonzo A. Russi, who provided Lake Circuit Judge Mark Nacke with a letter that linked the imprisoned man with Human Rights Eye Watch Agency, a Texas-based organization "created and dedicated to investigate violations of human rights in the American Hemisphere."

The documents rehash many of the arguments cited by Baez last summer when he urged the judge to toss out the verdicts, which he called "inconsistent" and suggested were the result of confusing jury instructions. Jurors decided Diaz did not cause "great bodily injury" to the toddler but also found he caused her death.

The filing also contends that Nacke, who presided over the trial, and Assistant State Attorney Bill Gross, who prosecuted the case, were "working friends" who entered into a "silent pact…to inflict the most severe punishment allowable by law" on Diaz for rejecting a pre-trial plea-bargain offer.

Nacke declined to comment.

Gross said Diaz' claims were baseless, including those disparaging the judge and Baez.

"He should have started his motion with 'Once upon a time,' " Gross said. "It's total baloney, totally bogus, nonsense."

Gross noted that Baez provided "more than effective counsel" for Diaz, challenging the state's case with arguments, experts and testimony.

Diaz maintained during his testimony that he was innocent, suggesting that the toddler's mother may have hurt the child because she feared the Vazquez family would take Noni away from her.

With no eyewitnesses, the state's case focused on medical testimony, which ruled out an accidental fall and which attempted to pinpoint the time of the child's injury. State experts and a deputy medical examiner testified that the injury was too severe to have occurred hours earlier when the child would have been alone with her mother.

In the filing, Diaz argues that "Mr. Baez' defectiveness affected the fairness and reliability of the trial, that confidence in the outcome was undermined."

Diaz, who this week voluntarily withdrew an appeal of his conviction that had been filed with the 5th District Court of Appeal in Daytona Beach, asks for a new lawyer, a new trial and his conditional release from prison. He pointed out that during a videotaped interview with detectives he denied 19 times hurting the child.
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