Casey Anthony: Inmate bombshell and instant messages - Hal

Casey Anthony: Inmate bombshell and instant messages
posted by halboedeker on June, 21 2011 1:57 PM

The high point of this morning’s testimony at the Casey Anthony trial?

It came right before the lunch break as the prosecution revealed it had information from a former jail inmate whose child had drowned.

WESH-Channel 2’s Amanda Ober reported that defense attorney Jose Baez complained that the state didn’t provide information about the Anthony home computer in a timely manner. Prosecutor Linda Drane Burdick answered that Baez for years had the information and dropped the bombshell about the inmate.

Ober explained why the news about inmate was significant: “Apparently her child died of drowning. A grandparent was involved in calling 911 and trying to do CPR. It sounds like the state may want to use this witness to imply that Casey Anthony … got her defense from this other inmate.”

Anthony is charged with first-degree murder in the death of her daughter, Caylee. Defense attorney Jose Baez, in his opening statement, alleged that grandfather George Anthony helped cover up Caylee’s drowning death on June 16, 2008.

WKMG-Channel 6’s Mike DeForest reported that the state searched the Anthony computer and found instant messages. “They say the times of these messages are going to negate this timeline that the defense suggests that Caylee Anthony drowned in the morning and George Anthony did something with her body,” DeForest added.

WFTV-Channel 9 anchor Greg Warmoth explained the development: “If there’s a rebuttal case by the state, maybe if Casey Anthony takes the stand, they’ve got some information … that Jose Baez isn’t prepared to defend against.”

WFTV legal analyst Bill Sheaffer told Warmoth, “I think you summed it up nicely.”

Could this be a reason that Casey might not take the stand?

WKMG legal analyst Mark O’Mara noted that the prosecution had given the computer information to the defense more than two years ago. ”They [prosecutors] know exactly what information to focus on – June 16,” O’Mara said. “How the defense is going to come in and say, ‘Wait a minute, there was too much information’ .. that’s sort of absurd.” O’Mara predicted that Chief Jude Belvin Perry will let the information in at trial.

A forensic botanist, Dr. Jane Bock, testified for the defense without much success, the stations reported.

“We saw prosecutor Jeff Ashton do a good job of essentially tearing her testimony apart,” WESH’s Ober said.

Ashton pointed out inconsistencies between Bock’s testimony and a previous deposition, said WFTV’s Steve Barrett. “The state also pointed out evidence that Dr. Bock did not know about — one of Caylee’s hip bones found buried under four inches of muck,” Barrett added.

WFTV legal analyst Sheaffer said Boch’s testimony was relatively ineffective.

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment_tv_tvblog/2011/06/casey-anthony-inmate-bombshell-and-instant-messages.html