Doing My Casey Anthony Homework: Part 2

Update #2
(2:23 pm)

I've just found the motion to strike Kathi Belich from the defense witness list. As of now, all the motions mentioned in the article are linked and accounted for.

Update #1!
12:31 pm

The court has just released a list of motions to be heard on March 2 and 3.

In addition there has been a Supplemental Motion To Quash Subpoenas filed by the Orange County Jail. It deals with witnesses subpoenad for the motion dealing with the jail video.

I have linked other motions that were initially listed below that have become available. They include the defense witness list and Baez' reply to the show just cause motion. Good luck figuring out what it says!


It seems that getting ready to watch the hearings that begin at 9 AM on Wednesday and Thursday is getting all bollixed up with new assignments! There was a flurry of news and new filings after I finished yesterday. Before I get to the actual hearing, I'll tell you a little about what happened yesterday.

Linda Drane Burdick filed a Witness List & Evidence Schedule. There are quite a few witnesses on it and it also tells us the following information about the State's Case-in-Chief.:

1. They will not use any statements Casey Anthony made to law enforcement after her arrest following her indictment on murder charges and other charges on October 14, 2008. If you recall, she was taped in the patrol car when she was arrested after a bit of a "chase" and switch of vehicles. She also chit-chatted about how she new in her "gut" that Caylee was alive to the law enforcement officer who sat with her.

2. They will not use statements made to Maya Derkovic.

3. They will not use the jail video taken the day the remains were found. Bill Sheaffer had a conversation about this with Kathi Belich about this issue.

There was a Motion to Quash Subpoenas and/or Motions for Protective Order filed. According to the Orlando Sentinel,

...Orange County Attorney's Office has filed a motion to quash subpoenas served by Casey Anthony attorney Jose Baez on six officials with the Orange County Corrections Department.

...three employees have already been deposed in the case and requiring them to wait to testify would be "unduly burdensome."

...The other three employees have not been called as witnesses already and lack any connection to the case,

Apparently, the subpoenas have no specific time and date which would force the jail employees to attend the hearing until they are called as witnesses. This would place an undue burden on the jail.

The defense filed a Defense Witness List and Evidence Schedule.

WFTV filed a motion to Strike Kathleen Belich From Defendant's Supplemental Witness List. For more details, read the Orlando Sentinel article.

Finally, the defense filed a motion to Strike the State of Florida's Motion for Rule to Show Cause.
WFTV article.

I don't have access to the latest motions. As they become available, I will link them here. Check back during the day for these documents.

Now, back to my homework!

We now know that the Motion and Memo of Law to Suppress Jail Video Footage will not be heard.

In the Defense Amended Motion to Suppress Statements, Cheney Mason wants all statements attributed to Casey Anthony to law enforcement officers on July 15 through 16, 2008 and October 14, 2008 suppressed. (The State has already addressed the October 14 statements.) The issue here is that this case started out on July 15, 2008 when Cindy Anthony called 911 to report Caylee Anthony missing and that her car smell as though there had been a "damn dead body" in it. The defense claims that:

1. In the evening hours of July 15, 2008, the Defendant was confronted by members of the Orange County Sheriff's Department at her residence/parent's residence on Hope Spring Drive in Orlando. 2. Upon said confrontation, the Defendant was taken into custody and handcuffed by members of the Sheriff's Department, despite having no probable cause of any crime having been committed, having no warrant, and having no exigent circumstances that would justify a warrantless arrest of the Defendant.

The defense argument continues throughout the 15th to the 16th and Casey's trip to Universal Studios where they believe she was in police custody and not free to leave.

There has been a massive online search to find out if Casey Anthony was handcuffed the night of the 15th, and under what conditions. So far, all they have been able to find is that in a text message the morning of the 16th, she texted Tony Lazzaro that she had been handcuffed for ten minutes in the police car.

The State has called Yuri Melich, John Allen and a whole slew of police officers to testify at the hearing. The State will have to show that Casey wasn't under arrest or detained and not free to leave as of the afternoon of July 16.

The Motion to Suppress Statements Made to George, Cindy, Lee Anthony, Maya Derkovic, Robyn Adams, And Sylvia Hernandez is one in which the defense is trying to prove that statements made by Casey Anthony to all of the above (excluding Maya Derkovic) should be suppressed because all of the above were acting as AGENTS OF THE STATE.

The defense points to a July 24 conversation between Yuri Melich, John Allen, and George Anthony in which they reminded him that he could talk to his daughter without the presence of her attorney. George visited Casey the next day and tried to convince her to talk to LE.

Similarly, the defense is charging that Sylvia Hernandez and Robyn Adams were also acting as agents of the state.

All of the above mentioned people will be State witnesses at the hearing.

My major question is if George Anthony was trying to find Caylee alive (remember, back then the family firmly stated she was alive and that they were "watching" her kidnappers).

I downloaded and listened to Sylvia Hernandez interview and she pretty much had no sympathy for Casey. She was more focused on Robyn Adams, who was extremely distressed about her children and crying all the time. She also said she spoke very little with Casey.

Well, we shall see on this one.

I'm very pleased with myself in that I've already done my homework on Linda Drane Burdick's State Of Florida's Motions In Limine. It's a delightful (to me anyway) compendium of all those things the defense team has tried to do during the development of the case.

For a quick refresher, read Casey Anthony's Attorneys File A Blizzard Of Motions: Hearing Monday, January 3: Part 2. It's the first item in the article, so no need to scroll down.

As of the current moment, that is the end of my homework assignment. Between this and Part 1, I've covered all of the motions available to the public.

I will update this post as new motions filed yesterday become available. I will link them in the body of this article. I'll update the article above that if there's anything else new today, so keep checking back!

My special thanks to Muzikman and FRG.
See you in court tomorrow!