Casey Anthony’s defense team suffered a series of set backs on Friday with the presiding judge ruling in favor of the prosecution on several key motions.
Earlier, Casey’s attorneys had filed motions to suppress statements that she had made to George, Cindy and Lee Anthony, as well as fellow inmate Maya Derkovic, pen-pal Robyn Adams and Corrections Officer, Sylvia Hernandez.
The defense argued in their motion that, when Casey talked to family members when they visited her in jail during July 16 through August 22, 2008, these conversations should not be included at trial, as George, Cindy and Lee were acting as “agents of the State.”
But Judge Belvin Perry saw it differently, ruling that, “law enforcement did not manipulate any member of the Anthony family into doing something that they weren’t already intending to do.” Further, Perry noted that Casey’s family members testified that they were going to get information from her regarding Caylee, “regardless of what law enforcement did in this case.”
“In addition, each member of the Anthony family testified that they had a private purpose to find Caylee, but not to assist law enforcement in building a case against the Defendant,” Perry wrote in his ruling. “Furthermore, no member of the Anthony family received any type of compensation from law enforcement for their efforts.”
Similarly, Perry denied the motion to suppress statements Casey made to Derkovic, Adams and Hernandez, ruling that the defense did not meet the burden of proof in “establishing that these private partners were acting as agents of the State.” Casey’s defense team had hoped to keep out of trial statements that she had made to them.
Written and recorded statements Casey made to police on July 15-16, 2008, will also be heard at trial. Casey’s defense had argued their client had not been read her Miranda rights although she was in custody, so any statements to police should be excluded.
The State countered saying that the statements–oral and written–given to detectives by Casey were made on her own volition, as a result of “consensual encounters” with law enforcement officers. Perry agreed.
During this period, Casey had volunteered to take deputies to the Sawgrass apartments, the purported residence of the phantom baby-sitter, Zenaida and was brought willingly to Universal Studios to obtain information from Zenaida, whom she told police worked there.
Ruling for the prosecution on the motion, Perry wrote, “With respect to the oral and written statements provided by the Defendant to law enforcement officers responding to the 911 calls, the Court finds that the Defendant was not in custody for Miranda purposes. Indeed the record reflects that the Defendant was not considered a suspect by police, but a witness.”
Perry also noted that Casey’s encounters with the police were the product of “consensual encounters” and that the statements she made to police are “highly relevant, specifically regarding demonstrating consciousness of guilt.”
Perry also ruled on two other motions.
Casey’s Defense team was seeking to exclude what they perceive as “unreliable” plant and root growth evidence. But, Perry ruled for the prosecution, saying the defense will be able to cross-examine the expert witness and the jury will be entitled “to evaluate the weight and credibility” to be given to “his opinions.”
Perry did not rule on the motion to exclude chloroform evidence the defense characterized, again, as “unreliable”, instead holding this over for a Frye hearing next week.
Casey Anthony is charged with first degree murder in the death of her two-year-old daughter, Caylee. She has maintained her innocence and has said her daughter was kidnapped by a baby sitter. The child’s remains were found in a wooded area near the Anthony family home, in December 2008.
Anthony is in the Orange County Jail awaiting trial which is expected to commence on May 9, 2011.
