What kind of day was it for Casey Anthony’s defense team?

Casey Anthony: What kind of day was it for Casey Anthony’s defense team?

posted by halboedeker on May, 6 2010 5:45 PM

What kind of day was it for Casey Anthony’s defense?

WFTV-Channel 9 listed setbacks today in a hearing on expenses for the indigent defendant:

***Her attorneys asked that she not have to attend hearings. “Casey Anthony doesn’t like people criticizing her appearance or actions, so she asked to stay in jail during future hearings,” WFTV’s Kathi Belich said. But Chief Judge Belvin Perry said she would have to attend most of them, saying he didn’t want to give her grounds for an appeal.

***The defense wanted to keep its experts’ names secret, but Perry “made defense attorney Jose Baez name names,” Belich said.

***The defense wanted to buy two cars — with taxpayer money for $6,000 — to conduct air tests; Perry denied the request.

Why that request? ”While it may sound like a silly idea, it gives you a sense of how closely the defense wants to challenge the so-called sniff test showing the odor in the car of Casey’s was from decomposition,” WESH-Channel 2’s Bob Kealing said.

Anthony is charged with first-degree murder in the death of her daughter, Caylee.

Perry denied the defense team’s request to seal records about how her attorneys will spend taxpayer money. Perry said a blanket sealing of the information wouldn’t be appropriate.

“This is not a total blow to Casey Anthony’s defense team,” WESH’s Jeff Lennox said. “The judge says if they’re worried about any information that may be released in the near future, they can go ahead and deal with it on a case-by-case basis with the court.”

And the day was hardly a wash for the defense.

WOFL-Channel 35’s Holly Bristow highlighted that Perry allowed the defense to keep some out-of-state experts, such as Dr. Henry Lee. “In the end the judge approved 16 of the 19 requests the defense made, but he flat out denied spending state funds for a jury expert,” Bristow reported.

What of the overall expenses?

“We didn’t find out an exact number for how much money Casey’s defense will cost taxpayers, but we do expect to get a better idea in an order from Judge Perry,” WESH’s Kealing said.

What kind of day was it?

WFTV legal analyst Bill Sheaffer offered this analysis: “The judge is not going to send the defense to court in a Rolls-Royce. He’ll send them to court in a compact.”

Sheaffer’s said Perry’s rulings “are ensuring the integrity of the system, they’re ensuring that the taxpayers’ money is spent wisely.”


http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment_tv_tvblog/2010/05/casey-anthony-what-kind-of-day-was-it-for-casey-anthonys-defense-team.html