Casey Anthony: Cheney Mason distances himself from opening statement - OS

Casey Anthony: Cheney Mason distances himself from opening statement

By Hal Boedeker, Staff writer
9:10 p.m. EST, May 31, 2012

Defense attorney Cheney Mason revealed Thursday night that he disagreed with colleague Jose Baez's opening statement in the Casey Anthony murder trial. In the statement, Baez alleged that George Anthonyhad sexually abused his daughter.

"I did not know it was going to happen," Mason said at a conference at Pace Law School in New York. The event added another fascinating chapter to the long-running Anthony saga.
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Mason said that Baez's opening statement was "not the right thing to do." Mason told law students in the audience that they should never make a promise that they cannot deliver on.

"That was something he did," Mason said of Baez.

"Should it have been done? In my opinion, no," Mason said.

The Pace forum had tried to get the jury foreman to take part, but moderator Thane Rosenbaum announced that the juror dropped out: His parents didn't want him there.

Rosenbaum read a few nasty letters to jurors after Anthony was acquitted of murder in the death of her daughter, Caylee.

Former prosecutor Jeff Ashton said the criticism of the jury foreman was "inexcusable."

Ashton said it was a fair trial for both sides. Of the jury, Ashton said, "We couldn't give them what they wanted." He cited a cause of death.

"The jury got it right. End of story," Mason said.

"The evidence was not there," Mason said later, adding that the jury had done its job.

Mason also lectured Ashton on making assumptions about Anthony. "You never talked to Casey Anthony," Mason said.

Ashton shot back that the defense would never let him talk to Anthony.

Ashton said he wouldn't have changed the charges in the case because he thought it was a premeditated murder.

Mason revealed that Anthony was never going to testify at her trial. One reason was that prosecutor Linda DraneBurdick could have questioned Anthony for days. "The trial would still be going on," Mason said.

Mason repeated his complaints about talking heads on television who weighed in on motions they had never read and who had never tried a murder case. He dismissed HLN host Nancy Grace as "Nancy Disgrace" and said he ruled out prospective jurors if they had watched her show.

But Mason didn't acknowledge that he had been a talking head for WKMG-Channel 6 before he joined the defense team.

Mason said Anthony is no different from most people her age who like to go to nightclubs. He said the defense was prevented from cutting Anthony's hair, and that's why it grew so long during her time in jail.

To critics of the verdict, Mason said: "No matter how much you believe something, it doesn't make it a fact."

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2012-05-31/entertainment/os-cheney-mason-jeff-ashton-20120531_1_cheney-mason-casey-anthony-jose-baez