Casey Anthony: Judge’s rulings ‘big trouble for defense team’ - Hal

Casey Anthony: Judge’s rulings ‘big trouble for defense team’
posted by halboedeker on March, 18 2011 4:23 PM

“Breaking news in the case against Casey Anthony: The court rulings just handed down by Judge Belvin Perry that spell big trouble for the defense team,” WESH-Channel 2 anchor Martha Sugalski said in starting the 4 p.m. news today.

It was a grabber introduction, all right, to major news.

WFTV-Channel 9 anchor Bob Opsahl put it this way: “A judge ruled the jury will hear Casey’s lies to investigators right after Caylee disappeared.”

WESH reporter Bob Kealing explained that Perry “shot down two key defense motions” to toss Anthony’s statements to law enforcement and her family early in the case. Anthony is charged with first-degree murder in the death of her daughter, Caylee. The trial is set to begin in May.

Kealing quickly explained the rulings:

***Perry ruled that Anthony was not in custody for Miranda purposes — though she was put in handcuffs for a short time – and thus her statements to police are admissible. Her statements to police occurred during consensual encounters with police, Perry wrote.

***Her early statements to her family were admissible because family members testified that they were trying to gain information about the missing Caylee and thus the relatives weren’t acting as agents of the state.

“This is a big win for the prosecution,” WFTV anchor Martie Salt said. Reporter Ryan Hughes agreed and called it “a big blow” for the defense team.

WFTV legal analyst Bill Sheaffer weighed in: “The judges’ ruling has dealt a crippling blow to the defense of Casey Anthony. The defense’s only hope now lies with the motions to suppress scientific evidence.” Those motions will be heard next week.

WKMG-Channel 6’s Tony Pipitone said, “The prosecution really pitched a shutout at last week’s hearings.”

At 4 p.m. on Central Florida News 13, the channel had the story wrong and reported that Perry had ruled that Anthony’s statements wouldn’t be heard by the jury. The channel titled the story “critical ruling.” It was a critical mistake. But the channel had the story right by 4:30 p.m.

WESH’s Kealing also highlighted newly released depositions. Roy Kronk, the meter reader who found Caylee’s remains, cited the moment that prompted him to search for the toddler. “Casey’s statement to her mother during a jail visit — that in her heart she knew Caylee was close — was the so-called trigger prompting him to search Suburban Drive,” Kealing said.

Kealing highlighted Detective John Allen’s view that Casey Anthony initial behavior was peculiar and that she wasn’t upset.

Attorney Richard Hornsby, who provides analysis for WESH, said of that statement: “It lays a foundation for the prosecution’s story. It shows that you have a mother who clearly wasn’t concerned about her daughter, who was already in lying mode from the very beginning to law enforcement. It allows them to paint a picture for the jury that Casey Anthony couldn’t be trusted from day one and she can’t be trusted today.”

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment_tv_tvblog/2011/03/casey-anthony-judges-rulings-big-trouble-for-defense-team.html