My Visit To The Casey Anthony Murder Trial On June 8, 2011- Part 1

Will this trial  be the final chapter in the Quest for Justice for Caylee Marie Anthony?

 Mr. Katfish and I are here in Florida to visit family in Tampa for a couple weeks. We have been having a nice visit, but for me, the trip wouldn't be complete without a stop at one of the hottest Summer attractions (obsession?) in FL.....no....not Disney World or Universal  Amusement Parks, Busch Gardens or even the Kennedy space Center....my "hotspot" is the Casey Anthony capital murder trial taking place in Orlando. Most people reading here at Katfish....Ponders already know that I'm a trial junkie and this blog is devoted to cases of true crime and missing people, most of which eventually end up working their way through the American criminal justice system, my true "passion".

I intend for this post to be an in-depth account of my visit to the Casey Anthony murder trial in Orlando, FL on Wednesday, June, 8, 2011. I don't plan on giving an "entire account" of the testimony given today because there has already been so much reported (by people more qualified than I ); however, if you have any questions just ask, I took copious notes. The entire day was also streamed online, by various outlets as well as televised by HLN and TruTv's " InSession" and at least one local station, all live.  I'll be sure to include links to the coverage at the end of the post. What I really want to share with you is my personal experience...so here we go......

My husband and I are staying at The DoubleTree Hotel (very nice) on Ivanhoe and Orange Avenue, approximately a mile north of the Orange County Courthouse....My Mr. has little interest in trials so he plans on doing some "sightseeing" around downtown Orlando and hanging out at the hotel while I attend court. I hope to be able to get into the trial on Wednesday for the whole day and Thursday for a half day so our reservations are for Tuesday and Wednesday nights. We decided to stay over in Orlando because the court is allowing people to start lining up at 5:30 am to get the coveted 50 seats available to the public. Tickets are handed out between 8 and 8:30. I'm not even going to drive 1.5 hours to get in line at 5 am. LOL

Our plan is for Mr. Katfish to drop me off in front of the courthouse a little after 5, maybe come back and meet me for lunch, and then come and pick me up when court was over for the day. We planned it this way so that he would have a vehicle if he decided to get out in Orlando. After seeing there was plenty to do right at the hotel and realizing that DoubleTree by Hilton has some of the most comfortable beds we've ever encountered at a hotel, at about 4 am on Wed, Mr. Katfish decided he really didn't need the truck (LOL), so I drove myself that .8 mile South on Orange Avenue to the Orange County Courthouse ;)

Casey Town

As I enter the block in front of the courthouse, I can see "Casey Town" on my right, a mass of tents and awnings (I learned there were over 700 requests for media credentials and about 600 were issued). Across the street from Casey Town and directly in front of the courthouse building is a large media truck marked with COURT TV on the side. There doesn't seem to be a lot of activity yet in the media areas so I turn my attention to finding a spot to park and notice all of the parking meters on the block are covered to prevent parking.


L-R  parking garage, administrative building, 23 floor Orange County Courthouse, and another administrative building with a courtyard in front of the OCC and in between the 2 administrative buildings .

  Immediately on my left is the parking garage that I used when I attended a pretrial hearing on December 20, 2010 (We were in FL for Christmas with family). I see some lights are on in the parking garage and there are a few cars already parked....there is also a car at the entrance that I assume is stopped to grab his parking ticket ( I think it's $15 max for the day) just as I pull in I notice a line of about 20 people are standing on the Orange St. sidewalk in front of the administrative building (between the parking garage and the courthouse).

Orange Ave sidewalk where the early birds gather

I'd heard the court had allowed the lineup to move from across the street to this spot on the sidewalk that passes the courthouse complex at the street. (I assume to eliminate some of the stampede at 5:30) I'm starting to feel pretty excited about being here.....that and the caffeine is starting to kick in. WooHoo!

I pulled right behind the car entering the garage and notice out of the corner of my eye some more people are being dropped off to join the line. I'm regretting not having Mr. Katfish drop me off and the car ahead of me isn't moving....WTH? I honk my horn and immediately I regret my impatience...not my normal MO....so I get out and approach the car. I smiled at the man in the car to soften the sting of my horn and ask if he plans on parking. I notice the man has on a uniform and realize he is some type of courthouse employee, thankfully, he smiles back at me before pointing out the cone blocking his entry....he tells me the garage opens at 5:30 (it's about 5:15 now) and then asks if I'm here to get a ticket for the trial. When I tell him yes, he suggests I go ahead and park on the street behind the courthouse so I can get in line, adding the meter maids don't start patrolling until 9am. I thank him for his kindness and get back in my truck and back out to go around the block. I find a parking spot with no problem, feed the meter for the maximum allowed, 2 hours (I don't want to chance our only transportation being towed off. LOL) and cut through the back of the courthouse entry/courtyard.

~Time to get in line ~

When I get to the front of the courthouse there is a OCSO deputy/bailiff standing in the courtyard near the corner of the administration building, I smile and tell him I'm here to get a ticket for a seat, the officer points to a roped off area under the awning on the administrative building and I see the people from the line are being allowed to come on the courthouse property now (Basically just turning the corner of the building and the line begins at the opposite end up near where the bailif was standing.). To my relief there is no running or inappropriate behavior that I can see so I take my place in line. It looks like 30-40 people in front of me...drats...I hope I get a seat!

One thing I notice right off is the number of young people around me in line. Directly behind me is a group of 3 girls who appear to be early to mid twenties. In line in front of me are 2 guys in their early twenties, and in front of them are 3 more girls in their very early twenties. The first  30 or so people in line ahead of us look to be in their 40's and 50's for the most part, and there he is....right at the front of the line, neck brace guy. LOL! Most of the people who show up in the next 15 minutes or so are older women, hopefully they will get in. By about 6 am it's obvious there are way more people here than will be able to get in, regardless, everyone stays in line and remains pretty civil, some young adults at the end are getting a little loud but really they are just acting goofy, not belligerent.

The guys in front of me (since we end up sitting with each other all day, at the risk of sounding like Casey Anthony, I'll call them "my boys" from here on out.) have attended the trial another day so they are "sharing their knowledge" about the workings of this ticket system with the pretty young girls ahead of us and behind me. Of course, I'm all ears and learn after a while, that when everyone is pretty well established in line, people can step out and use the restroom (located in the building we are lined in front of) or move their cars. I'm relieved to hear this...I was just thinking about calling Mr Katfish and ask him to either ride his electric wheelchair here or get a ride from the hotel shuttle to pick up the truck. I wait until some around me have ran their "errands" and then go move my truck into the parking garage at about 7 am. Good! Now I don't have to worry about that.

All morning there have been camera crews taking still shots and video up and down the line. A few of them are taking head counts too, after several tell me I'm number 40-42 I feel comfortable I'll get a seat. My boys tell me the first 20 are seated on the main floor in the courtroom and the rest are seated in the balcony with the media.

Jim Lichtenstein, a producer for the Today show is trying to find who in line has traveled the farthest to be here. Everyone near me was from FL. I'm not sure who Lichtenstein came up with...perhaps he should have checked among his colleagues....there was a reporter from Japan trying to interview people in line. A reporter I spoke with from the Miami Herald told me the Japanese reporter doesn't speak English but his camera girl does, so she is pulling double duty. Can you believe with everything going on in Japan, they would send someone here to report this case? I suppose it's a diversion.

I found the reporter from the Miami Herald, Audra D.S.Burch, to be a very interesting person. After I told her I have a true crime blog and have occasionally written about this case she asked me to leave the line for a few minutes and sit down on a nearby bench to talk. (A welcome break after standing for hours, many have sat on the sidewalk but I was afraid if I got down there I would have trouble getting up with these knees ~ o ~ mine. LOL) Here is a link to the story Audra wrote about the trial and those attending for the Miami Herald. It's very interesting, she was here all week and interviewed a lot of people...I also did a search on Ms. Burch and linked (with her name above) the results, she has written some very interesting pieces and won some prestigious rewards. I'm glad I had the chance to meet her.

At about 8 am , staff from the court comes and hands out laminated sheets with rules of conduct for the courtroom. The energy is increasing in the line now, those who didn't receive a sheet will not get in this morning, but most stay anyway. My boys tell me there are usually a few people who get kicked out for sleeping or some other infraction and some people don't come back for the afternoon session so it's possible these people could get those seats. At 8:15 the court personnel take back the laminated rules sheets and at 8:30 return to hand out the actual seat tickets. Here is my ticket:

Once the tickets are handed out people disperse from the line. I head straight over to the main entrance of the courthouse and get in line again. This line is for everyone coming to the courthouse (for whatever reason) to go through a security checkpoint.Surprisingly, this only takes a few minutes so I make a "pit stop" up on 23 before I go into the courtroom. In the ladies room I speak with a woman who also has her husband stashed at their hotel....they are from Tennessee and came specifically for her to attend the trial. She said her husband had retired recently and hadn't been able to pry her from the TV watching the trial so he finally told her, "Let's just go to Orlando!" I thought that was a hoot!

~ Let's head into the courtroom ~

I make my way into Judge Perry's courtroom on 23 and a bailiff checks my ticket and directs me to a stair well on my left to go into the balcony. When I get up to the balcony another bailiff tells me which row to go to....I'm kind of bummed when I realize my seat is smack dab in the middle of the row. Once everyone is seated I look around and realize my whole row is made up of the same people I was right in line with. The 3 girls behind me and another woman have the 4 seats behind me and my boys are right next to me with the 3 girls ahead of them seated before them at the beginning of the row. There are 5 rows of seats, the first 2.5 rows are media seats. There are monitors across the front row that are showing split shots from various cameras throughout the courtroom being manned by people who aren't familiar.

The first person I recognize in the media section is Dave Knechel aka Marinade Dave. Dave is a blogger from Orlando that has been closely following this case and was hired by the Orlando Magazine to cover the trial for them. He is seated in the row in front of me at the far end. I'm happy for Dave to have received the media credentials so he can attend daily. Once Dave sees me he smiles and indicates we will meet in the hall at the morning break. I have followed Dave's blog for a long time but had the opportunity to meet him in person last December when I attended a hearing in this case.....it's funny how you can meet someone on the internet and become friends but not even know what each other looks like and then when you do meet feel like you have known them forever. It's like that with Dave and me but I have also had the same experience with others. I met another "trial buddy", Karental, for lunch in Tampa and it felt the same...like I had known her forever. Life is good :) I look forward to meeting up with many more of my online friends in the years to come!

~ A Little "Starstruck" ~
 Back to the trial....court will start in a few minutes so I look around to see if I see any "big names". Throughout the day I saw,  Jean Casarez  InSession Correspondent / Attorney sits in the front row keeping an eye on one of the monitors and a producer from InSession named Mike who does some on air reports sits right behind her. Ashleigh Banfield is here, now a reporter for ABC,  formerly of CTV / In session. Judge Jeanine Pirro,  former District Attorney and County Court Judge who now hosts a tv "court show" with her name, is here and seated with a couple people. Aphrodite Jones, Author and TV host of "True Crime with Aphrodite Jones" on Investigation Discovery, came in and takes a seat that in a few minutes turns out is Natisha Lance's seat, Nancy Grace Producer. The first witness was on the stand when Natisha entered the balcony so she tells Aphrodite to stay in her seat and takes an empty seat next to Dave; however, Natisha immediately reclaims her seat when Aphrodite leaves later in the day. I thought Aphrodite looked a little tired when she came in this morning but much more so now as she leaves, hope she's not sick that's all everyone squished in this balcony needs◔_◔ . Another woman takes the seat that Natisha just left next to Dave and stays there for the remainder of the day. (I assumed she was a reporter, but later learn her name is Susan Constantine, after seeing her make a couple appearances on HLN to speak as a body language specialist.) I should note that the bailiff is very strict about people remaining in their seats assigned by the court seat ticket for media and public....I'll talk about this more in a bit. I didn't note when Beth came in; however, Beth Karas, InSession Correspondent / Attorney comes in later in the afternoon and replaces Jean Casarez in the front row.

Here are a few  pictures I grabbed off the internet of Baez and the Anthonys. I can't really say I'm starstruck by any of the Anthony family but without a doubt they are the "stars" of this case. I barely caught a glimpse of George and Cindy when coming into the entry of the courtroom to reach the balcony. The lower gallery is dismissed before the balcony is allowed to disperse when court breaks so the Anthonys and other people in the gallery are gone before I reach the hallway or the elevator. Casey and her defense team are in full view from the balcony 
and her "mug" is plastered all over the media's monitors in front of us.


 ~ Order is the rule of the day ~

The bailiff get's everyone's attention in the balcony and reminds everyone of court decorum. He says anyone caught sleeping or being disruptive (chewing gum, talking, etc) will be asked to leave and not allowed back in the courtroom for the day. He reminds everyone to silence their cellphones and says that nobody can have out their cellphone, IPad, etc unless they are wearing media credentials. I already turned my phone off before I came up the elevator....I do not want to risk the ire of Judge Perry. The bailiff also reminds the accredited media they are restricted to texting on their devices. This is definitely Judge Parry's court nothing is left to chance.

All day the bailiff on the balcony kept a very close eye on everyone in the balcony and the gallery downstairs. I noticed that a bailiff downstairs also monitored the balcony and the gallery, it seemed like a very structured procedure. I'll talk about this more in a bit, but the Honorable Judge Belvin Perry has entered the courtroom and things get underway for day 13 of the trial.

After the court officially recognizes both parties. (I count 3 attorneys at the state table adjacent to the jury box and facing the court and 6 attorneys at the defense table directly across and facing the jury box, there is someone sitting at the table the defense would have normally been seated at that I think might be an investigator for the state or possibly another attorney.) Jose Baez is on his feet. The defense wants to renew their previous objections on the record about evidence coming in pertaining to the cadaver dogs. Judge Perry says," As for the video training, the trier of fact can determine the credibility but they must know the training.Objections denied." The videos weren't shown today, maybe yesterday(?), at any rate, the videos are part of the evidence so the jury will have access to them. Being on vacation I've missed a lot of the trial so far....I try and hit some blogs and news outlets to keep up as much as I can but I'm sure I've missed some things.

~ The State's Case in Chief continues Day 13 ~
     First Witness - Sargent Kristin Brewer

Sgt Brewer's mark

Assistant State's Attorney Linda Drane Burdick (LDB) calls the state's first witness for the day, Kristen Brewer of the Osceola County Sheriff Department. Sgt. Brewer reported her own work history and background with search dogs before she testified to the training and history of her cadaver dog, Bones, as well as the logistics and results of Bone's search of the backyard at George and Cindy Anthony's home ,on Hopespring Dr., on July 17, 2008. LDB showed Brewer a photo of Caylee Anthony's playhouse in her grandparents' backyard, Brewer circles the area indicating where her dog was in the yard when he alerted.

Deputy Forgey's mark

Brewer's testimony follows up yesterday's testimony of Deputy Jason Forgey of the Orange County Sheriff's Office about his dog, Gerus, who searched and alerted on both the Anthony's backyard and Casey's Pontiac Sunfire. Brewer told LDB that after Bone's first search and alert, Deputy Forgey told her "Gerus" had alerted "within" 6 - 8 feet of "Bone's" alert in the back yard. Here is the picture Forgey circled of the same area of the backyard in previous testimony....looks pretty close to me. Hopefully the jury will have access to both pictures.

Jose Baez arrows on Brewer's mark

 During his cross examination of Sgt. Brewer, Jose Baez went to great lengths to get her to admit that 6 - 8' from where she had circled was over by the pool which is out of range in these pictures the red arrows are Baez artwork. (You can see the direct and the cross of Sgt. Brewer in parts 1 and 2 below.) 

 

I finally found a picture of the Anthony's yard.....check out the distance from the playhouse to the pool....wayyy more than 6-8' for sure,
they are on total opposite ends of the house! The arrow in this particular
picture is pointing at the shed but you can see the roof of the playhouse
at the corner of the house.

I've noticed the prosecution team has worked their way through the specific timeline of this case when presenting their case in chief, down to presenting this testimony in the same order as their dog's searched the Anthony home. Hopefully the state presenting their case in this manner will make it easier for the jury to focus on the timeline when they deliberate as well as go through the evidence.


I'm going to break right here because this is the point in the testimony that I had to leave my seat and go to the ladies room and take a pain pill. I have bad knees and while the seats themselves are padded and comfortable I have long legs and there is NO room to move my legs....to even attempt to cross them creates a hazard of kicking someone in the head. I'll be back with part 2.


Links to YouTube Video of day 13 of the testimony. 
Thanks to Sierra for posting these!

June 8, Day 13 - Part1
                            Part 2
                            Part 3
                            Part 4
                            Part 5
                          Part 6
                           Part 7
                          Part 8
                          Part 9
                          Part 10 
                          Part 11        Sphere: Related Content

The Land Of Casey Fables - Continuing...The Justice For Caylee Anthony Saga -

The primary interest of katfish...ponders in this case has always been Justice for Caylee. Reporting on the State of Florida's quest for justice for Caylee Marie Anthony has truly turned into a SAGA. In the past month, there has been enough fodder added to this true story ( that is playing out like a fractured fairytale) to fill  dozens of  chapters. It's not surprising this case plays out like a fairytale, given that most of what Casey Anthony says about Caylee sounds like a fable.

 

                              ~The Poor Poor Princess~

 There was an indigency hearing held on Thursday, March 18, 2010 for the court to rule on a
Defendant's Motion For Determination Of Indigency For Costs.
This motion caused a lot of concern for anyone who had been following this case, particularly the citizens of Florida. Many defendants are indigent but the background of this defendant raises special concerns. Many readers are familiar with the background of this case but it never hurts to refresh.

When Casey was first arrested on July 16, 2008 she filed an application for indigency and requested a public defender be appointed.( If you follow the link provided to the application, note Casey stated on the form that she had an income of $1,400 bi-weekly....oopsie... she scratched the income part out....for a second she must have forgot the police had discovered she had been lying about having a job for 2 years.) Casey hired Jose Baez to represent her the next day.( Or was he already waiting in the wings?) It was curious hiring a private attorney one day after being granted indigent status and assigned a public defender, even more so when her parents testified a week later during a bond hearing they had very little net worth. A curious fact but really no one's business since she wouldn't be using state money, so there the speculation about the Anthony's windfall of riches began.

After a grand jury indicted Casey for first-degree murder, in October 2008, Casey's " Knight in Shining Armor", Jose Baez, began to bring in reinforcements to defend the case. By March of 2009, Casey's "round table" included as many as eight attorneys working various aspects of the case and several world renowned experts announced they had been retained to work their "magic" on the forensic evidence that was accumulating in the case. This led the State's Attorney to file a motion dubbed "The Pauper To Princess Motion". The State's Attorneys  feared there might be a conflict of interest if Casey's defense attorney was also handling business deals for her.The state knew Casey had no tangible assets to sell to afford this type of defense and wanted assurance that  there were no book or movie deals for her story that might hinge on the outcome of this case and potentially raise appellate issues if there is a conviction. The issue was resolved in a short hearing and a session " in camera" between the Judge, the defense and the state. Judge Strickland ruled that he found no conflict of interest. The transcript from the in camera session was sealed, so speculations about the riches being bestowed upon the Anthonys continued.

That brings us to where we are now in 2010 and the hearing for the Defendant's Motion For Determination Of Indigency For Costs . There were several surprises during this hearing on March 18. The first surprise was a new attorney, Cheney Mason, had joined Casey's defense. Mason addressed the court through-out most of the hearing so I'll refer to his appearance in the hearing here but I'll discuss him more specifically  in a bit.

 When the hearing started Casey Anthony was surrounded by defense attorneys. Cheney Mason on her left, Jose Baez on her right. Linda Kenney-Baden and Andrea Lyons were bringing up the rear. At the prosecution table were Jeff Ashton, along with Linda Drane Burdick and Frank George. An attorney for the Justice Administrative Commission (JAC) participated in the hearing by telephone. (The Justice Administrative Commission is the state agency that oversees funding. The commission has opposed allocating funding for Anthony's defense, saying in court papers it has "severe concerns" about whether Casey Anthony qualifies for financial assistance, given her own financial affidavit attached to her motion that shows she has already contributed over $ 110,000 for her defense.)


Through out this hearing, Princess Casey seemed down right giddy, much like the cat that swallowed the canary. Those surrounding her at the defense table seemed giddy as well, at a minimum, there seemed to be a new found confidence. (Was this man, Cheney Mason,  their new "Knight in Shining Armor"? ) They were so confident in fact, rather than present an accounting of their costs to the court, Cheney Mason beckoned the court to just "trust him" that Casey was broke. Strickland's responded this wasn't a matter of trust, they were seeking public funds and the affidavit provided the court  is "pretty light in terms of full disclosure." Despite defense efforts to provide the disclosure "in camera" it was decided the defense attorneys would testify as to their clients access to funds and the defense expenditures to date in open court.

Mr. Mason called his "witnesses" one by one. Lead (for all intents and purposes)defense attorney Jose Baez testified Thursday that the defense received and spent about $275,000 over the past year and a half. Of that, $5,000 came from an anonymous donor, $70,000 came from a former defense attorney, Todd Macaluso, and $200,000 came from ABC through a "deal" with Anthony.( The terms of the deal were not released.) That money, he said, was spent on defense costs including travel, depositions and retention of experts."It's been quite an expensive task," he said. Baez also testified that he has spent about 2,500 hours 
on the case (adding he hadn't really kept track??), and has been paid an estimated $89,454.

Attorney Andrea Lyon testified she has received $22,500, but all of that money went back into costs associated with the case.  She also added that she has raised about $70,000 (less the $22,000) through charities and as as the Supervisor of the Death Penalty Legal Clinic has enlisted the help of her students at DePaul University College of Law, in Chicago,  IL . The students assist in legal work in exchange for grades. Lyon concluded her testimony about the funds she has handled saying, "There's not a dime" left.

A third defense attorney, Linda Kenney Baden, testified that she is working pro bono on the case. After some questions she added she had torn up a prior retainer agreement because there was no money to pay her.

Cheney Mason told the court, it wasn't as though he and the other attorneys were seeking (their normal bucket of gold)  fees, they were all doing this pro bono (for free).The defense is only seeking help with costs that include service of subpoenas, investigative costs, travel, fees charged by experts to interpret forensic evidence, expert witness fees and the cost of depositions. Mason added, the renowned expert Dr. Henry Lee has been known to work for a crate of oranges.(So that should save some money, eh?)

 Judge Strickland deferred ruling until he had an itemized accounting of money spent so far by the defense.(That's right, the defense brought no proof of expenses to court for a hearing to rule their client indigent.)  Ninth Circuit Judge Stan Strickland ruled on Friday, March 19 that he would grant the motion to declare Casey indigent. So "Princess Casey" is officially a "Pauper" once again.

There was much more to this hour long hearing. If you would like to view the video click here.
The link will take you to the first 3 clips of the video. These first 3 were taken before court started , so is mainly attorneys arriving, Casey rubbing her hands, fixing her shirt, playing with her hair, etc. that page will link you to the rest of the clips, there should be 9.
CNN 

The other surprise announcement in this hearing was the unsealing of an IN CAMERA SEALED MOTION TO DELAY DISCLOSURE that Judge Strickland has allowed the State to keep under wraps for the last month.The State learned that Casey had been communicating with a couple inmates in jail. After interviewing the inmates it was learned Casey had written over 50 letters to one of the inmates. The judge allowed the defense 15 days go over the letters and decide if they would ask the court to seal the letters. I'll tell you more about these letters and friendships in an entry I'm working on that I'll title  "Cookie and Muffin Plan A Road trip". I have more than a few thoughts about Casey's correspondence and choice of friends.

  ~ Casey's New Knight In Shining Armor Or Court Jester?~

The Casey Anthony defense has a new addition to the team, Veteran Orlando Attorney J.Cheney Mason, P. A.  
He has created quite a stir since entering his appearance at the indigency hearing on March 18.

J. Cheney Mason is considered a distinguished member of the Florida Bar Association. According to his website, Mason has been in private practice in the Orlando since 1971. His areas of practice include Criminal Defense, Marital and Family Law (Divorce Law), Entertainment Law and Trial Practice, with a strong emphasis on Marital and Family Law and Criminal Law. Mason is a Board Certified Criminal Trial lawyer certified by both The Florida Bar and the National Board of Trial Advocacy.
Mason is also a frequent guest lecturer before various Bar and Legal Associations and has published numerous legal articles and authored books.
He is currently an "AV" rated lawyer (highest possible rating) by Martindale Hubbell and is listed in the Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers. It seems he has had an esteemed career.

It's reported that Mason’s first love is his criminal defense work.“It’s been a special thing to defend the rights of the accused and fight the government for 36 years,” he says. Criminal defense is probably also the work that generates the most attention for Mason. Cheney has tried several criminal jury trials that were televised by national and local news media. He's been linked to the defense of astronaut Lisa Nowak, and several years ago, he defended businessman Nelson Serrano in a quadruple-murder case in Polk County, FL.

My first impression was that Casey Anthony is very lucky to have an attorney of Mason's stature willing to work her case pro bono. Mason is nearing  retirement as he joins this defense team. I think it is safe to say that admirers and detractors alike look forward to Cheney Mason getting this defense team on track.

This defense team, specifically Jose Baez, has come under fire for his inexperience, less than adequate presentations in court, lack of decorum in the courtroom, and mostly for his professed hate of the media but evident love of the camera. These qualities have garnered Mr. Baez some choice nicknames that I prefer not to use but I do understand those who are inclined to do so. Let's face it, few "love" a defense attorney until they need one. I think to be fair he should be commended for building a defense team made up some very high profile lawyers and experts, a caliper of defense you might see in a case for a rich celebrity not some "Party Princess" from Orlando..

My second impression of Cheney Mason was that he is full of bluster and actually rude. In an effort to create a light-hearted moment during the indigency hearing, Judge Strickland pointed out that SA Jeff Ashton had laughed at something he said (about appointing a special master instead of divulging to the court where Casey's money had gone) Mason turned and looked at the prosecution and said, I don't care what the "ignorants" say. Ashton whispered to the others at the state table, "he's joking". There is a time and a place for everything, and a light hearted moment can go a long way in easing tensions inside the courtroom for everyone. Name calling is another matter, frankly this isn't a school playground.

In an impromptu press conference after the same hearing Mr. Mason was asked why he took on this case. His response to one who asked that question was something like," this (defending a death penalty case) is the greatest honor a defense attorney can achieve". That seems a noble response. But when Mason said he took this case on because he thinks it will be "fun" adding he expects to one day walk out of court with Casey Anthony on his arm I thought WTH?
There has been discussion out in blogosphere that this having "fun"comment shouldn't be offensive because everyone should enjoy their work. I agree that it would be sad for someone to spend almost 40 years doing work that they didn't enjoy, and frankly don't think I would want someone to represent me who didn't enjoy what they do. Beyond that I found the remark offensive and inappropriate. This is about a precious child who is dead and a young woman who has spent the last 2 years in jail and it's possible she will spend the rest of her life in jail, if she doesn't end up with the same fate a another 'high profile" client you represented. Mr. Mason, did you have "fun" representing Nelson Serrano? If so, I'm sure he is very appreciative of that from death row.

J. Cheney Mason is often invited by the news media to provide expert commentary on legal issues involving family law and criminal law. Here are a few quotes from one of those commentaries from Mr. Mason about the Casey Anthony case before Caylee's body had been found or Cheney was a member of this defense team :

Defense attorney Cheney Mason said claims made by Casey Anthony and Baez that Caylee was alive will now work against them at trial

“Then all the talking, all the press interviews and the parents going on this show and that show and the lawyer going on different shows establishes they have no credibility whatsoever,” Mason said.

“You can pretty well predict there’s going to be a life sentence, either a plea and get it over with or have a circus trial and then be convicted and get life,” Mason said

These quotes are excerpts from an  November 2008 article by Local 6 News reporter Tony Pipitone as he continued his investigation into the Casey Anthony murder case, discussing its merits with former prosecutor, Elizabeth Rahter, and  prominent defense attorney J. Cheney Mason.

Casey and the rest of the defense may see Cheney Mason as a "Knight In Shining Armor", but after his remarks and the attitude he displayed in his first appearance in this case, katfish is left to ponder......his performance thus far puts me more in mind of a joker, or more appropriately a "Court Jester".

Check back for the continuing Saga of the Quest for Justice for Caylee......        

WKMG
MyFoxOrlando

Sphere: Related Content