Catching up on the case against Casey Anthony

COMMENTARY

I've been gone for a while, but I've been closely following the case against Casey Anthony. With Caylee's positive identification by the medical examiner, I was hoping that the circus surrounding this case would end and that the serious business of court procedure would flow more smoothly.

That did happen for a short time. The defense wasn't allowed to "assist" the CSI team and the FBI in the painstaking sifting of soil at the scene. Henry Lee was limited to the view he could get from his camera, behind the yellow tape. I wasn't surprised that the defense then turned around and ignored that piece of land where little Caylee's remains were found. They knew there was nothing more to find.

Now, Caylee's tiny bones rest in a funeral home, waiting for Dr. Werner Spitz to examine them on his own. Since Jose Baez requested the documentation from the "autopsy" conducted by Orlando County Medical Examiner, Dr. Jan Garavaglia, little Caylee's funeral has had to be put on indefinite hold.

Today, the news about the case has focused on those remains. According to WESH,

The discs include X-rays and photos of her body, which were supposed to be delivered to the defense under a court's order. But in a new motion, the Orange-Osceola State Attorney's Office said it has concerns that the images will be reproduced and sold, according to WESH 2 reporter Bob Kealing.

In this motion, the state argues that substantial licensing fees have been paid for pictures and video of Caylee taken while she was alive. That is why prosecutors want the judge to place special restrictions on digitized images of the remains before they hand them over to attorney Jose Baez and his defense team.

In court documents prosecutors say they have three discs ready to hand over, but they want the judge to order Baez not to reproduce those images in any way. They also want restrictions placed on whom Baez can show the images.

I don't know if the prosecution will prevail in this instance, but the motion does bring up a number of questions that have never been answered about the proceeds from the licensing of those pictures and videos. Who did receive all the money?

The Baez Law Firm also got a verbal spanking from civil judge Jose Rodriguez. From WFTV

Casey Anthony's defense team wanted to avoid having her testify in connection with the civil trial, which could then be used against her in her criminal trial. Baez had hoped the deposition could be delayed until after the criminal trial.

During Tuesday morning's brief meeting, the judge refused to hear the request and scolded Jose Baez's team for personal attacks against Morgan and Morgan, the law firm representing Gonzalez, and said Baez was taking the profession to a new low.

The judge told Baez to stick to the law and said that the request for a hearing didn't follow proper protocol and that there was not enough notice given to make such a request.

Apparently, Jose Baez and his attorneys haven't learned proper procedure for filing motions despite assistance provided them by Judge Stan Strickland last year! I hope they all get on a learning curve about basic court procedures.

As far as the verbal spanking that the Baez Law Firm received, perhaps they also need to learn that it's not nice to snipe at the opposition in the actual counter suit. Paragraph 7 of the suit states:

The Plaintiff and her attorneys knew this when they filed said lawsuit yet went through with this frivolous lawsuit so as to generate publicity and press for their law firm. A law firm, it should be noted, which utilizes highway billboards in order to advertise their services. This lawsuit allows them to generate further publicity for their law firm without paying thousands of dollars for a billboard.

Somehow, I'm not quite following that legal argument! Indeed, I'm thinking just WHO here is benefitting from the publicity in this case the most.

As I recall, the whole issue in this situation is that after Morgan filed the case on Zenaida Gonzalez' behalf, The Baez Law Firm filed a counter suit. According to Morgan, that left Casey Anthony open to deposition in support of her counter suit. From what I understand, Casey's taking the 5th to questions asked of her would cause her to lose her suit. It's a very bizarre situation!

There will be a hearing on the matter this Thursday, January 8.

Meanwhile, things have been pretty quiet on the Anthony Family Front. That's probably because they are all now listening to their lawyers for a change. Oh, and their all waiting for full immunity before interacting with Law Enforcement again.

It does seem like the circus is starting up again. I haven't even begun to mention the ways. The Meter Reader, the Psychic, Leonard Padilla, etc., etc., etc.!