Casey Anthony: Where will the jurors come from?

Casey Anthony: Where will the jurors come from?
posted by halboedeker on January, 14 2011 5:57 PM

Chief Judge Belvin Perry will keep people guessing about which Florida city will yield the Casey Anthony jury.

WOFL-Channel 35 energetically waded into the speculation tonight in a segment featuring Orlando attorney Diana Tennis as analyst. She has a style that’s charming, informative and down-to-earth.

“You’re going to have to go outside the Central Florida area,” Tennis said. She said Tampa is out. Her top guesses: the Panhandle, Naples, Fort Myers, maybe Palm Beach.

“The demographics of the town that gets selected is going to be critical to the defense,” Tennis said. ”I know they are definitely hoping that it’s somewhere they consider more progressive, like the Palm Beach area, and not somewhere they’re going to consider more conservative, like the Naples or Fort Myers area.”

WESH-Channel 2 and WFTV-Channel 9 focused on today’s hearing on jury selection. Both stations highlighted the questions that will be put to prospective jurors in another county: Will they face hardship in serving on the jury? Have they seen a lot of the Anthony coverage? And what are their thoughts about the death penalty?

Anthony is charged with first-degree murder in the death of her daughter, Caylee Marie.

Tennis told WOFL anchor Bob Frier that her top question would be: “Have you made a decision about this case already?”

WFTV’s Jeff Deal explained, “The judge has already picked out the place, but hasn’t even told attorneys where this jury will come from. The judge is considering giving them just two weeks’ notice and issuing a gag order forbidding them to talk about it.”

Deal said the jurors are likely to be sequestered and not be able to return to their homes during the trial, which could run eight weeks. Perry will refer to jurors by numbers and will move them around frequently. ”Where they lay down at night may be different every other night,” Perry said.

Perry figured it will cost “$350,000 — so far” to feed and house jurors over eight weeks.

“Jurors from another town sequestered in a hotel — this will not be cheap,” WFTV anchor Martie Salt observed.

“They need security, hotel rooms, food, even laundry service,” WFTV’s Deal added.

“Those jurors will have round-the-clock security. That’s part of the reason it’s going to cost $350,000 to bring them here,” WKMG-Channel 6’s Mike DeForest said. “The judge will says they will likely be referred to by their juror badge number and not by their name. The judge doesn’t want the media or any members of the public basically staking out their homes and families while they’re up in the courthouse hearing this case.”

Perry, who was very quotable today, was seen in an oft-repeated clip. “It’s almost like going to summer camp,” Perry said.

With the judge as head counselor?

WESH’s Bob Kealing reported that prosecutors have acknowledged they received a list from the defense of 10 searchers who say they didn’t see anything in the spot where Caylee’s remains were later found. Kealing later added that defense attorney Cheney Mason wouldn’t say today if those witnesses will make the same claim under oath. “Remember the defense has spent a lot of time trying to find searchers who will support their theory that someone other than Casey put Caylee’s remains in the woods,” Kealing said.

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment_tv_tvblog/2011/01/casey-anthony-where-will-the-jurors-come-from.html