Casey Anthony: Her attorneys tell WKMG she's scared, sad

Casey Anthony: Her attorneys tell WKMG she's scared, sad

posted by halboedeker on Nov 23, 2009 11:49:47 PM

How is Casey Anthony doing knowing that her life is on the line?

"She's scared. Wouldn't you be scared?" defense attorney Andrea Lyon told WKMG-Channel 6's Tony Pipitone. "She sad. She's grief-stricken. And she's terrified."

WKMG offered a well-promoted interview with Lyon and fellow defense attorney Linda Kenney Baden. Anthony is charged with first-degree murder in the death of her daughter, Caylee.

The CBS affiliate started its 11 p.m. newscast with the interview, then saved the rest of it for 10 minutes later in the telecast. The better to keep viewers watching during sweeps month. The entire 18-minute interview can be seen at the station's Web site.

Pipitone, one of the market's best reporters, pressed the attorneys on several points that fascinate people who have been following the case. He asked if the attorneys were being paid by anything but publicity because their client has no money.

"We don't think publicity is payment," Baden said. "All of us are not in this case for publicity."

Lyon said the defense team is "doing our best to see to it that she gets a fair trial."

Pipitone asked: Would Anthony be open to a plea deal? Lyon said they couldn't discuss the issue, because it would be inappropriate.

In an interview last month with CBS' "48 Hours Mystery," defense attorneys pointed to a stranger's being involved in the crime. They raised the issue based on mystery DNA that was found on duct tape with Caylee's remains. Pipitone confronted the attorneys with the possibility that the DNA could have come from an FBI lab technician. Baden played down that possibility, yet Pipitone cited an e-mail that shows the lab tech cannot be ruled out as the source of the DNA.

Pipitone asked if there's any evidence that meter reader Roy Kronk had any contact with Caylee Anthony when she was alive. The defense last week raised the idea that Kronk, who found the child's remains, should be considered a suspect in her death.

"The evidence that we have is circumstantial in nature," Lyon said. "The evidence that the prosecution has against this young woman, who they're asking the state of Florida to kill, is entirely circumstantial."

Pipitone's take on that: "The unspoken answer is no."

Baden pounced on Pipitone's question about whether the defense is trying to divert attention from Anthony. "It's an attempt to do the state's job for them," Baden said. "They pointed the finger at this poor young girl who did something very, very, very stupid in terms of not reporting her child missing."

Baden also explained why the defense had given an interview to Pipitone: "The local media, with the exception of some of the reporting that we've seen from you Tony, and that's why we're here, has taken everything they've seen at face value or the leaks they saw early on and publicized them improperly against our client."

So the attorneys threw a bouquet in playing press critic. I won't disagree. Pipitone has deepened the public's understanding of this long-running saga with his knowledge, persistence and reporting. WKMG is lucky to have him.

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment_tv_tvblog/2009/11/casey-anthony-her-attorneys-tell-wkmg-shes-scared-sad.html