Casey Anthony: Relations with parents ‘burned,’ Cheney Mason says - Hal

Casey Anthony: Relations with parents ‘burned,’ Cheney Mason says
posted by halboedeker on July, 11 2011 7:57 AM

The odds are pretty strong that Casey Anthony’s family relationships are beyond repair, defense attorney Cheney Mason told NBC’s “Today” in an exclusive interview this morning.

“With the parents, that’s pretty well burned,” Mason told Savannah Guthrie. But Anthony may be able to reconnect with her brother, Lee, in the future, Mason added.

Casey Anthony last week was acquitted of first-degree murder in the death of her daughter, Caylee. Mason said the defense team is concerned about her safety and future. She will be released from the Orange County Jail on Sunday.

“She just needs to have some time and counseling and be reintroduced to society,” Mason said. He added that she is not mentally ill.

Mason said he believed Anthony’s version of events from the first time he met her, in her home shortly before he joined the defense team.

“I do believe her story. I believed it from the first time I met her,” Mason said. ”She did not kill her child.”

Jose Baez’s allegation of sexual abuse against George Anthony, Casey’s father, wasn’t a dirty trick, Mason said. “Sometimes testimony in trial doesn’t turn out to be what you expect it to be,” Mason said. “So nothing more about that.”

Did Anthony want to testify? She’s the only one who knows for sure, Mason said, adding that the attorneys discussed the issue with her a long time. Mason advised her not to testify.

“She certainly wasn’t afraid to. It was a last-minute final decision on her part,” Mason said.

Mason said that the defense team sometimes warned Anthony when the camera was on her. “Nobody coached her about doing anything,” Mason said. “If anything we tried to keep her emotions down, but it’s pretty hard to do when your family is testifying against you and people are calling for your blood like a lynch mob.”

In other Anthony news, NBC’s Kerry Sanders reported that Juror No. 12 has gone into hiding. “Her husband tells NBC News because of the backlash [against the verdict], she picked up a phone, called her boss, retired, packed a bag and left the state,” Sanders said. “Her husband said that as she was leaving she said she’d rather spend time in jail than ever serve on a jury again.”

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment_tv_tvblog/2011/07/casey-anthony-relations-with-parents-burned-cheney-mason-says.html

In other Anthony news, NBC’s Kerry Sanders reported that Juror No. 12 has gone into hiding. “Her husband tells NBC News because of the backlash [against the verdict], she picked up a phone, called her boss, retired, packed a bag and left the state,” Sanders said. “Her husband said that as she was leaving she said she’d rather spend time in jail than ever serve on a jury again.”

No sympathy here.