http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/os-casey-anthony-hearing-motions-20100510,0,6943252.storyCasey Anthony case: Judge says jurors will be selected from another county and brought to Orange
Judge denies defense request to toss Casey Anthony's indictment
By Sarah Lundy, Orlando Sentinel
10:11 a.m. EDT, May 10, 2010
os-casey-anthony-hearing-motions-20100510
Casey Anthony is in court today as her attorneys and prosecutors hash out a string of legal motions — some of which have been lingering in the court file for months.
Orange-Osceola Chief Judge Belvin Perry cleared his calendar for today and Tuesday to hear arguments on various topics, such as from where the jury will be selected to whether the death penalty is unconstitutional.
This is part of the judge's effort to keep the case on track for trial in May 2011.
Casey Anthony, 24, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee Marie. She is in court this morning with defense attorneys Jose Baez and Cheney Mason. Casey Anthony's parents, George Anthony and Cindy Anthony, are also at the hearing.
It hasn't been the typical murder case. It started out as a missing-child case after the toddler was reported missing in July 2008.
In October — with no body found — a grand jury indicted Casey Anthony on first-degree murder. At that point, the state elected not to seek the death penalty.
Two months later in December, Caylee's skeletal remains were found less than a mile from her family home in east Orange County. A medical examiner ruled her death a homicide but could not say how the child died.
By April, prosecutors changed their minds, announcing they were going to seek the death penalty against Casey Anthony.
Experts say death cases are different. It involves more of everything —more trial preparation, more expenses and more motions filed.
Today, Perry has seven motions on various topics set to be argued. Tuesday's hearing will focus on death-penalty motions.
Here's today's line-up:
• Change of Venue
Casey Anthony's attorneys do not think their client can receive a fair trial in Central Florida. Her case has attracted intense media coverage since her initial arrest in July 2008.
"The Orlando community's involvement in this case and its hostility towards Miss Anthony create an environment in which it would be difficult for a juror to render a verdict based solely on the evidence presented at trial," Baez wrote in a motion filed in September.
Perry earlier told the attorneys if he grants the change of venue that he and the lawyers will travel to another Florida county to pick a 12-member jury plus alternates.
The jury will leave their families and come to Orange County where the trial, which is expected to last four to seven weeks, will be held.
Perry said today he will grant the motion at a later date and will be issuing a gag order so the attorneys cannot discuss the matter publicly.
Perry said the jurors will be brought back to Orange County and be kept in an undisclosed location.
He also predicted that the media will start inquiring with other counties to see if Perry has called those circuits to gather information. Perry said he will instruct the court administrators in other circuits to not discuss the matter with reporters.
Casey Anthony's defense wants people who live in Miami-Dade County to be chosen for the jury. Baez argued that South Florida residents haven't been exposed to as much "inflammatory" media as other parts of the state. He doesn't want jurors from north Florida, such as Duval County and Pensacola, because of similar murdered children cases and he said, the demographics don't match.
Prosecutors argued that jurors should come from any county that has similar demographics as Orange County. Assistant State Attorney Linda Drane Burdick provided information on various counties, such as Hillsborough, Leon, Duval and Miami-Dade counties.
•Jail logs
Casey Anthony's attorneys want the judge to keep the list of names of people who visit her in jail private. Visitation logs are public record unless sealed by a judge.
Her legal team claims the media is "constantly aware of any visits that the defendant has." The identity of certain defense experts who see her in jail can spawn "unfounded speculation." That hampers the defense's preparation for trial.
Today, Mason told Perry this motion will need to be argued at a later date.
•Party Pictures
After Casey Anthony's arrest, dozens of pictures taken from various online social-networking sites have emerged and portray her as a "party girl." The photos show the young mother partying with friends in local nightclubs, bars and wild house parties. Most of the pictures were taken before Caylee disappeared.
Her defense fears if the prosecution presents these photos to a jury it "would serve no purpose other than to further inflame the jury against Miss Anthony." Her attorneys call these photos irrelevant to the case and want prosecutors — if they have plans to use them — to show why they are material.
Perry did not rule on the motion today, but said the matter will have to be addressed before trial.
The judge said the state and defense will have to determine which party photos will be used by the end of March. Perry said that's when he will hear arguments about the pictures and rule.
"I have some concerns about some of the photographs," Perry said. "It's hard to rule on these in a vacuum without hearing both sides."
Baez argued that the photos of Casey Anthony at parties is not relevant to the case.
"They prove absolutely nothing as it related to charges against Miss Anthony," Baez said.
He said it's not fair to use the photos to prove whether she was a good mother or not.
"It's clearly to paint Miss Anthony in a bad light," he said.
Meanwhile, Burdick argued that prosecutors plan to use the photos taken after June 15 to show what and where Anthony was after her daughter was last seen.
Prosecutors divided the photos from picture taken before June 15, 2008 and after that date.
Burdick said if the defense tries to argue at trial that Anthony was a good mother, the state may use some pictures to address that issue.
•Gossip and Innuendo
Her legal team want to keep out dozens of statements about Anthony and her family made by friends and family — statements the defense contends are hearsay. Her attorneys also don't want prosecutors questioning Anthony's friends and acquaintances on the stand about her truthfulness and motives.
•Other people's opinions
As part of the case, investigators have questioned dozens of people who know Casey Anthony. These friends and acquaintances offered their opinions of Casey Anthony's character, motives and undisclosed intentions and character of truthfulness. These opinions should not be admissible in court, her attorneys argue.
There were two motions related to lay-opinion testimony and hearsay evidence.
Perry said the issue will be addressed later. He asked the defense to narrow the focus to the hearsay items that gives them greatest concern.
He also is going to reserve ruling on issue of 911 calls made by Anthony's mother, Cindy Anthony.
•Toss indictment
Her attorneys argue in a motion that Casey Anthony was indicted on several charges, including premeditated murder and criminal neglect of her daughter. But they say there is so little information on the indictment that the legal team can't possibly defend her.
The failure to allege any facts in the indictment violates state's criminal procedures, which "explicitly prescribes that a charging instrument set out the 'essential facts constituting the offense charged,'" the motion says.
Perry denied the motion.
•More information
Casey Anthony's legal team has continued to ask for various records, including documents from various forensic labs, communications between law enforcement officials and those labs.
It's unclear what information they are seeking in this legal request.
Amy L. Edwards of the Sentinel staff contributed to this report.