Jeff Ashton tells WFTV: I hope Casey Anthony fades away - Hal

by mom_in_il Sun Aug 26, 2012 6:11 pm

Jeff Ashton tells WFTV: I hope Casey Anthony fades away
posted by halboedeker on August, 26 2012 11:15 AM

Jeff Ashton looks forward to not being called “Casey Anthony prosecutor,” the state attorney-elect tells WFTV-Channel 9’s “Central Florida Spotlight.”

Ashton says that he hopes that Anthony will disappear into the background, although he notes that situation is improbable. Her probation for check fraud ended last week.

The interview with Greg Warmoth will air at 4 p.m. Sunday on WRDQ-Channel 27; it is also available at the ABC affiliate’s website.

The interview goes 10 minutes before the name Casey Anthony is uttered. Warmoth asks about Ashton’s plans for the Orange-Osceola state attorney’s office. Ashton takes over in January from former boss Lawson Lamar. Ashton beat Lamar in a primary earlier this month by an 11,000-vote margin that Ashton calls surprising.

Lamar has not contacted Ashton since Election Day, Ashton tells Warmoth.

Ashton acknowledges that he has a lot to prove in managing the state attorney’s office and hopes to bring back lawyers to the office. He also calls Linda Drane Burdick, the lead Anthony prosecutor, “a great lawyer” and hints that she may have increased duties when he is state attorney.

But the conversation comes back to Anthony, who was charged with first-degree murder in the 2008 death of her daughter, Caylee. Although the state lost, Ashton says the case probably helped him win state attorney.

Ashton said he has no regrets about writing “Imperfect Justice” about the Anthony case, saying it helped people move on from the verdict and put the focus back on Caylee, the victim.

Ashton was “very surprised” that George Anthony, Casey’s father, congratulated him on Election Night. But Ashton explains that he helped George through a difficult time and calls George “the victim of all this,” including unproven allegations and defense attorney Jose Baez’s book.

The Ashton interview also will air at 12:30 p.m. Saturday on WFTV-Channel 9.

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment_tv_tvblog/2012/08/jeff-ashton-tells-wftv-i-hope-casey-anthony-fades-away.html