Casey Anthony ‘very likable and very bright,’ Cheney Mason says - Hal

Casey Anthony ‘very likable and very bright,’ Cheney Mason says
posted by halboedeker on May, 3 2011 3:38 PM

Defense attorney Cheney Mason told “In Session” that he likes client Casey Anthony and detests local television stations.

“She’s a nice human being,” the defense attorney told Jean Casarez in an interview that aired today. “I have grandchildren almost her age.”

Mason revealed that he didn’t have the same fondness for other clients. “Casey, I have a very warm spot for,” Mason said. “I have a great belief personally in her innocence. I don’t care what the prognosticators and the idiot bloggers have to say or what the idiot bloggers will say about this.”

I look forward to hearing what bloggers have to say to that.

Anthony is charged with first-degree murder in the death of her daughter, Caylee. In his opinion, Mason said, this isn’t an appropriate death-penalty case.

Mason described Anthony as “far more emotional” than people see, but that jail has “toughened her up” and that she is “very, very likable and very bright.”

In the rare interview, Mason speculated that people dislike Anthony because “she is accused of killing her enormously cute little baby girl and people, who are unwilling to really believe in the presumption of innocence … are callous toward her, fed by the media day after day day, don’t know her.”

Mason wouldn’t address why Anthony went 31 days without telling anyone the child was missing. “That’s going to have to wait for trial for the answer,” he said. ”Does it make people prejudiced against her? Yes.” But he added, “If the child were unlawfully killed, then the crime ended when she was killed. The next day, the next week, the next month really is kind of irrelevant to what happened.”

He complained that local television stations feel compelled to have an Anthony story even if there isn’t any news. Mason decried the “news media frenzy” and Florida’s public records act, which he said makes the frenzy possible. Mason lambasted people who “ask outrageously stupid questions” to get angry reactions and say things like “did you do it?”

Mason’s solution? “Journalists should ask a question that’s meaningful, not try always to be there for the perp walks.”

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment_tv_tvblog/2011/05/casey-anthony-very-likable-and-very-bright-cheney-mason-says.html