Can Casey Anthony get a fair trial in Orlando?

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orange/orl-changeofvenue0309feb03,0,1524824.story

Can Casey Anthony get a fair trial in Orlando?
Sarah Lundy |Sentinel Staff Writer February 3, 2009
Casey Anthony's
murder trial could be months or even years away, but her lawyer is
already hinting that he wants the case moved out of Orlando to ensure
an unbiased jury.
Attorney Jose Baez hasn't filed a request for a change of venue yet but said last week that he plans to do so soon.

Taking a first-degree murder trial on the road is pretty rare but it
does happen, authorities say. And it's no simple task to move a
proceeding to another location -- a decision a judge does not make
lightly.
One side -- usually the defense -- must convince the judge that the
suspect will not get a fair trial in the current location. Too much
publicity or negative media coverage can make it impossible to find 12
jurors plus alternates who haven't made up their minds.

For Anthony, "that could be difficult anywhere, but they need to try to give her a fair trial," said University of Florida law professor Jennifer Zedalis.

Anthony, 22, is charged with killing her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee
Marie. The story has received intense media coverage since it first
grabbed headlines last July. It has been on the covers of People
magazine several times and has been the focus of Dateline NBC and ABC's 20/20 shows.

Circuit Judge Stan Strickland has not set a trial date. But some say
when he does, the media circus around the case will only intensify.

"Short of Mars, I don't know where you can send this case," joked Diana
Tennis, an Orlando defense lawyer who is following the case.

Proving too much coverage

Attorneys can use various criteria to show a judge that the case needs to move.

Clips out of the newspapers, sound bites on TV and readers' comments on the Internet can demonstrate the news coverage.

Attorneys also can get creative and do door-to-door surveys to get a
sense of what the community thinks about the defendant, Tennis said.
They can ask fellow attorneys selecting other juries in unrelated cases
to quiz potential jurors about the Anthony case -- gauging public
attitudes.

Randy Fisher, a retired University of Central Florida
associate professor of psychology who has conducted several surveys for
defense attorneys, said he has found that the more a potential juror
follows the case in the news, the more likely the person has prejudged
the defendant guilty.

In 1988, he conducted a telephone survey about what Brevard County
residents thought of William Cruse, who killed six during a shooting
rampage at two Palm Bay shopping centers. Of the 64 callers questioned,
60 thought Cruse was guilty.

The case was moved to Polk County.

Potential jurors may vow to have an open mind, Fisher said, "but human
beings are not good judges of how open their minds are or how much they
have been influenced by other things like the media," he said.

Where to go?

Tennis said Baez's own television appearance could become an issue. He has appeared on NBC's
Today show several times and other national programs. She said
prosecutors may point that out, saying he can't complain about pretrial
publicity while participating in it.

Law professor Zedalis said the focus probably will be on adverse media coverage, although the state may dispute that.

Should Baez ask to move the trial, he can suggest other locations in the state.
But the decision will fall on the judge -- usually done closer to the trial date.
Karen Levey, spokeswoman for the Orange-Osceola Circuit Court, said she works with the judge to find another circuit.

Logistical issues, such as ensuring the new location has an available
courtroom and can take on such attention, have to be handled.
Procedural steps, including making sure the Florida Supreme Court
authorizes a judge from one circuit to oversee the case in another,
must be completed.

Moving a case makes a trial even more expensive. Lawyers, witnesses and court staff will have to be housed in different hotels.
A judge could opt to select a jury from one area of the state and bring
it to Orange County to hear the case. However, many say this is rarely
done.

Judges typically make a good-faith effort to seat a jury in the community where the case arose.

"The fact that it's a high-profile case doesn't automatically mean the
case will be moved to another venue," said Seminole-Brevard Circuit
Chief Judge Clayton D. Simmons.

That's what happened in Volusia County in 2006. Circuit Judge William
A. Parsons and attorneys spent four days questioning potential jurors
in the trial of six suspects accused of beating and stabbing six people
in a Deltona home.

Only then was the case moved to St. Augustine.

"The change of venue is the last resort," Simmons said. "It's done only
when the judge is convinced there is no hope of getting a jury
impaneled in the local jurisdiction."