Casey Anthony: Sour grapes or wild goose chase? You decide - Hal

Casey Anthony: Sour grapes or wild goose chase? You decide
posted by halboedeker on September, 2 2011 5:48 PM
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THIS POST HAS BEEN UPDATED:

Seemed like old times in the Casey Anthony saga with prosecutor Linda Drane Burdick and defense attorney Cheney Mason facing off in court today.

The issue: How much Anthony should reimburse agencies for the search for Caylee Anthony from July through December 2008.

“All of it — the time, money and effort, argues the state — was based on Casey Anthony’s lies, and she should pay,” WESH-Channel 2’s Michelle Meredith said.

Talking to reporters, Mason said Anthony is penniless, and he blasted the state.

“All I know is it appears like what’s well known as sour grapes,” Mason said. “They lost, and now they want to charge a half million to Casey for losing. I’d like them to pay for her 24-hours-a-day lockup for three years.”

Anthony was acquitted in July of murder in the death of her daughter, but she was convicted of four counts of lying to law enforcement.

“The judge can force her to repay taxpayers for the investigation into those lies, but not for the murder investigation,” WKMG-Channel 6’s Mike DeForest explained. “Prosecutors say Casey Anthony’s lies about a kidnapping led detectives on a wild goose chase that cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars, which the state wants Anthony to reimburse.”

WFTV-Channel 9’s Kathi Belich put it this way: “Prosecutors say Casey’s lies about a nanny kidnapping Caylee set the machinery in motion for an exhaustive investigation involving thousands of hours. She should have to pay for what was done until Caylee’s remains were identified.”

Chief Judge Belvin Perry is expected to decide the amount in several weeks.

Mason acknowledged that his client may owe some money, WOFL-Channel 35’s Holly Bristow reported. He said the cutoff date should be Sept. 30, 2008, when investigators got evidence that the toddler was dead. “Mason says that Casey was found guilty of lying to investigators in the investigation of a missing child, not a dead child,” Bristow added. “The state said that’s a moot point.”

WFTV legal analyst Bill Sheaffer agreed with prosecutors that Anthony should pay the investigation costs up to December 2008, when Caylee’s remains were identified.

Casey Anthony’s whereabouts are still unknown, but she did visit her probation officer late last night. WKMG reported that Anthony said she is unemployed, has not attended classes or earned income in the past month, has not been arrested and has not consumed alcoholic beverages.

Or as WFTV’s Belich put it: “She says she has not found a job, has taken no classes and has gotten into no trouble.”

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment_tv_tvblog/2011/09/casey-anthony-sour-grapes-or-wild-goose-chase-you-decide.html