Casey Anthony Murder Trial: Defense Files Yet Another Objection To The Sunshine Laws

On August 30, the defense filed its 3rd Renewed Notice Of Standing Objection Of Abuse Of Florida Statute Chapter 119.01.

It should be noted that there is no time stamp on the document and it is stamped with notice that it was filed "in open court". That leads me to wonder whether it was filed before, during, or after the hearing. Since this objection was filed the same day as the status hearing, its contents reflect some of Jose Baez' complaints about discovery which Linda Drane Burdick fully explained to the Court during the hearing. I do believe that the defense was premature in filing this latest document!

Since the vast majority of the motion is identical to the other three that were filed recently, I'll note only the differences here. (The text is exact transcription of original document.)

6. On July 22, 2010, The State Attorney's office released supplemental discovery in this matter to both the Defense and to the Media, Having previously heard arguments on this issue, this Judge Stan Strickland denied the Defense's request to the release of discovery in this matter to the media at least until the Defense could be heard on relevant objections.

Since there is no date for this apparent decision by Judge Strickland, I can't go back and refer to it. In fact, I don't recall any decision by the judge on any motions made by the defense concerning this issue. What I do know is that the State Attorney's office has not disclosed any discovery to the media for quite a bit of time after giving it to the defense. The defense has always had time to look at the discovery and make objections.

7. In this Discovery dated July 22, 2010 the State released documents that either the State of Florida knew or should have known were in its possession since 2008 i.e. Letters to Casey Anthony, Dominic Casey Emails, Audio of Erica Gonzalez.

First of all, the letters were in the possession of the Department of Corrections. The original batch was released in discovery in early April. Those letters dated from the beginning of Casey's incarceration until March, 2010. At the hearing on Monday, Linda Drane Burdick said that the State received this latest batch in June. They had to be scanned and organized and sent to Baez. When Judge Perry asked how long it took, Drane-Burdick indicated that the scanning took a full week.

Ms. Drane Burdick also explained that the e-mails of Dominic Casey were not turned over directly from the private investigator. Rather, they were passed through a number of parties prior to being sent to her office. Again, they had to be organized and duplicated. Having read the whole thing myself, that was a long and tedious job. Again, just because the e-mails were written in 2008 and 2009, it does not mean that the State Attorney's office received them at the time.

Much the same applies to the audio of Erica Gonzalez. According to Drane Burdick, this bit of investigation did not occur until this year. This has been a huge investigation, and it is more than likely this interview was done after reviewing a lot of evidence and finding an interview missing. Her office saw that Ms. Gonzales was interviewed. In addition, the audio has yet to be released to the media!

Finally, we come to the accusations.

8. The State of Florida has filtered it's discovery over the last two years to feed the appetite of the local media and to keep the public interested in their prosecution. By withholding documents that it either has known or should have known were available to the Defense.

9. These actions whether intentional or not have a sinister effect on Miss Anthony's right to a fair trial.

All I can do here is quote from Judge Stan Strickland's Order in which he recused himself from the case.

At its core, defense counsel's motion accuses the undersigned of being a "self-aggrandizing media hound". Indeed,. The Irony is rich.

It is indeed rich irony that Baez accuses the State Attorney's office of feeding the media the discovery to keep up the public interest. Not one of the State Attorneys has appeared on TV, spoken to the press, or tried to turn themselves into super stars. Apparently, in Jose Baez' mind, he is the only person involved in this trial who is out for pure justice! Give me a break! His accusations are getting old. Just ask Mark NeJame.

Many thanks to Muzikman for providing this latest defense document!