Casey Anthony: Does this woman look competent to stand trial? - Hal

Casey Anthony: Does this woman look competent to stand trial?
posted by halboedeker on June, 27 2011 5:40 PM

The Casey Anthony trial produced another big surprise today: News that her competency had been evaluated over the weekend floored television pundits.

WFTV-Channel 9 legal analyst Bill Sheaffer said he was totally taken by surprise by the news, which stopped court Saturday. “She, from all appearances, seemed to act appropriately in court, seemed to be communicating with her lawyers,” Sheaffer said. “The defense filed their motion, however, and Judge [Belvin] Perry immediately stopped the proceedings. Kept everything quiet.”

Judge O.H. Eaton Jr., WESH-Channel 2 legal analyst, said it was unusual but not unheard of for there to be a competency issue during a trial. He speculated ”there must have been something that came up just recently that made some of the defense attorneys concerned that she was not competent to proceed.”

Three forensic psychologists evaluated Anthony, who is charged with first-degree murder in the death of her daughter, Caylee. The psychologists said that Anthony is competent to stand trial.

WKMG-Channel 6 legal analyst Mark O’Mara said Anthony had been engaged and interactive through the trial. He theorized that something has come up to put the defense on guard, possibly her uncertainty about whether to testify. “I think it’s got to be something the defense is aware of that isn’t apparent to the rest of us, who say this lady is doing fine,” O’Mara said.

On WOFL-Channel 35, the discussion was about why defense attorney Cheney Mason brought the competency issue to the court’s attention. Attorney Hal Uhrig speculated that Mason wanted to distance himself from the rest of the defense team. “I think when he got on the team, he thought it was going to be a team instead of a platform for Jose [Baez] and him sitting in the back,” Uhrig said.

WESH’s Amanda Ober quoted the defense motion for a competency investigation on Anthony. The motion cited a confidential communication with Anthony that alarmed attorneys. Jeff Deen, WESH legal analyst, said that communication could be anything. “Can she stand trial and understand the proceedings around her?” Deen asked. “You could have watched her this morning and have known that.”

Richard Hornsby, another WESH legal analyst, speculated that the defense motion related to the testimony of Cindy and Lee Anthony on Friday. “I have no doubt that she [Casey] was saying things to Mr. Mason that made him really question her connection with what’s really going on in that courtroom,” Hornsby said, stressing it was his personal opinion.

Hornsby said it seemed highly improbable that Anthony would testify if her attorneys had just questioned her competency.

Deen summed up: “If I’m her lawyer, and she says to me, ‘I want to testify,’ I’m going to immediately think she’s crazy, but I’m going to know she’s not incompetent.”

WFTV’s Sheaffer said the defense might be trying to stop Anthony from testifying. “It may well be that Casey Anthony believes she should take the witness stand against her lawyers’ advice,” he said.

WFTV’s Kathi Belich explained that the decision to testify is Anthony’s alone.

The testimony of a forensic chemist this afternoon didn’t seem to help the defense after intense cross examination by prosecutor Jeff Ashton, Sheaffer said. Ashton turned the defense witness “in short order” into a state witness, Sheaffer said. Ashton’s cross examinations of expert witnesses had been “a think of beauty” and “masterful,” Sheaffer added.

WOFL legal analyst Brad Conway described the defense’s story as “one step forward, three steps back” and said that a skilled attorney, such as Ashton, could “completely obliterate” the opposing side.

WESH anchor Martha Sugalski relayed reports that the jurors were getting fidgety. WESH legal analyst Eaton said, “Quite frankly, the question is, after you listen to all this stuff, what do you take home with you? Really, not that much.”

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment_tv_tvblog/2011/06/casey-anthony-does-this-woman-look-competent-to-stand-trial.html