http://www.clickorlando.com/news/20489614/detail.htmlLawyer: Caylee Remains Put In Woods After Casey In Jail
23-Year-Old Accused Of Killing Daughter Caylee
POSTED: Friday, August 21, 2009
UPDATED: 11:14 am EDT August 21, 2009
ORLANDO, Fla. -- The defense team for Casey Anthony, who is charged with murder in the death of her daughter, Caylee, asked a judge on Friday to allow her attorneys to interview the head of a Texas-based search-and-rescue group, claiming his testimony could prove her innocence.
Anthony's attorneys argued that testimony should be taken from the head of Texas EquuSearch, Timothy Miller, about the search for Caylee. The searchers looked near the wooded area where the toddler's body eventually was found in December. They also asked to be allowed to review records on thousands of volunteers who participated in the searches for the little girl last summer and fall.
The defense team hoped that testimony would show it would have been impossible for Anthony to dispose of Caylee's body in the woods because she was arrested and in jail two months before the discovery of the girl's remains.
"There is substantial evidence that we've found ... that the body or remains of Caylee Anthony was placed there after Casey Anthony was locked up," said Todd Macaluso, an attorney for Casey Anthony. "It proves that somebody else placed the remains in the area."
An attorney for Texas EquuSearch, Mark NeJame, said the request was too broad and would create "a tremendous chilling effect" on volunteers for future searches. He said defense attorneys should only be given information on 32 volunteers who searched the area where the body later was found.
Circuit Judge Stan Strickland said he would make a ruling by next week. Casey Anthony was in the courtroom for the pretrial hearing.
Anthony, 23, was charged with killing her daughter, Caylee, who disappeared last summer. Anthony has pleaded not guilty. Her trial is scheduled for next year.
At a news conference on Thursday, NeJame released photos, which he claimed show why the group called off a search of the area where Caylee's remains were later located.
The photos were taken from a helicopter in November, one month before Caylee's body was found in the wooded area of Suburban Drive near the Anthony family home.
NeJame said the photos show "a green wall of foliage" which could have easily prevented a
searcher from finding Caylee's body. NeJame stepped down as the Anthony family's attorney in October 2008.
"One could literally be within inches of an item and be blocked due to the thick and massive underbrush and foliage," NeJame said in a letter sent to the state attorney's office and Anthony's defense team.
NeJame also said the photos show "standing water throughout the area."
"When the search was conducted, the areas where Caylee's remains were found were still in water, which is why the search in that specific place was called off by Tim Miller," Nejame's letter said.
A meter reader found the remains on Dec. 11.
The pictures are relevant to the case, because if Anthony's defense team can raise doubts about whether Caylee's body was already in the woods in August, September and November as people searched nearby, it could help her case.
"These pictures are important for everybody, for justice, for seeking the truth," Nejame said during a news conference Thursday afternoon. He said he is not taking a side in the case.
Caylee's grandfather, George Anthony, made a surprise appearance at the news conference, and asked NeJame to step outside for a conversation.
NeJame told Local 6 that George Anthony was told by his daughter's defense team that it felt the release of the photos was improper and that he should demand that NeJame to stop releasing information.
The two spoke for more than half an hour, and said they resolved the issue.
"I think the conversation we've just had clarifies some recent miscommunication and we're all on the same path in that regard, and we all want to know what happened to Caylee," Nejame said.
Caylee was reported missing by her grandmother, Cindy Anthony, in July 2008. The toddler was last seen in June 2008.
Casey Anthony is being held at the Orange County Jail on no bond.
