Casey Anthony: Is ‘our great national nightmare’ over? - Hal

Casey Anthony: Is ‘our great national nightmare’ over?
posted by halboedeker on January, 26 2013 6:38 PM

Speculation and analysis have accompanied every turn in the Casey Anthony saga. The situation was no different Friday, when the 5th District Court of Appeal tossed two of her four misdemeanor convictions for lying to law enforcement during the hunt for her daughter in 2008.
Still, Friday’s coverage produced two of the most memorable moments in the story that engulfed local television. (And Saturday could bring more memorable moments because Anthony has filed for bankruptcy.)

Moment One Friday: ”Our great national nightmare, Bob, has finally come to an end,” WESH legal analyst Jeff Deen told Bob Kealing. “She’s done. Her criminal case is done.”

Well, maybe not.

Anthony attorney Cheney Mason told WOFL-Channel 35’s Holly Bristow that he was weighing appealing the decision. Mason cited an ”intimidating” interview detectives did with Anthony. Bristow added, “So he may opt to further appeal this decision and ask the 5th DCA for a rehearing where he’ll replay this interview.”

But WOFL legal analyst Hal Uhrig stressed that the issue has to be more than intimidation. “It’s got to be the circumstance where a reasonable person believes they’re not free to leave, they’re in custody,” he told Bob Frier. Uhrig noted that Anthony was talking to detectives voluntarily.



Uhrig speculated that Anthony’s attorneys may appeal to the Florida Supreme Court “solely for the purpose of trying to continue to put off her need to testify. I can’t imagine the Florida Supreme Court accepting this case on appeal. I can’t imagine the 5th DCA accepting it for reconsideration. I think it’s going to turn out to be pretty much a done deal.”

So maybe that nightmare is over. We’ll just have to wait.

The appeal decision Friday should mean that Anthony will face questioning in Zenaida Gonzalez’s defamation suit. “This is a huge win for Zenaida Gonzalez,” her attorney Matt Morgan told WESH’s Kealing. “We’ve never been able to get any testimony from Casey Anthony.”

WKMG-Channel 6’s Mike DeForest cited legal experts who say an appeal to the Florida Supreme Court was a long shot and added that Friday’s decision likely means Anthony will have to testify at the Gonzalez trial.

Which brings us to Memorable Moment Two: WKMG anchor Lauren Rowe asked, “So what do you think will happen next?”

DeForest shook his head and said, “Lauren, we stopped trying to predict the Casey Anthony case long ago. All bets are off.”

Nice summation, welcome restraint.

Gonzalez says her life was ruined when she was linked to the disappearance of Caylee Anthony. Casey Anthony was acquitted in July 2011 of murder in the 2008 death of her daughter.

WFTV-Channel 9 legal analyst Bill Sheaffer said that Gonzalez’s attorneys “are entitled to know all the circumstances surrounding the death of this child that occurred prior to the time that Casey Anthony made the statement that the child was kidnapped.”

The appeal decision Friday was not a big win for Anthony, WOFL legal analyst Uhrig said. ”The one thing the court really said was she told multiple lies during two different sessions,” Uhrig said. “You don’t get a separate crime for each of the many, many lies you tell why you’re at it.”

WFTV also reported that Roy Kronk, the meter reader who found Caylee’s remains, is suing Casey Anthony for defamation and seeking more than $15,000.

But Adam Longo of KPHO in Phoenix reported Saturday night that Anthony had filed for bankruptcy. “This is the next step towards closure for me,” Anthony said in a phone conversation Friday, Longo reported. Longo covered the Anthony story for WKMG and later Central Florida News 13.

So one Anthony chapter may be ending, but more await us. Because when it comes to Casey Anthony, all bets are off.

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment_tv_tvblog/2013/01/casey-anthony-is-our-great-national-nightmare-over.html