Casey Anthony, charged with murdering her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee, was back in court today.
Her defense team had filed a series of motions, among them to force Tim Miller, the head of the Texas-based search group, EquuSearch, to testify at her trial and to prevent Bounty Hunter, Leonard Padilla from being a state’s witness.
Other motions filed related to a request to delay Casey Anthony check fraud case until after the murder trial and requesting phone records and text messages of former boyfriend Tony Lazzaro.
Casey Anthony’s defense team of Jose Baez, Todd Macaluso and Andrea Lyons, who were all in court today, would like the prosecution to turn over thousands of records of those volunteers of EquuSearch that were involved in the search for the tot.
The defense hopes to show that it would not have been possible for Casey Anthony to have placed the body in the wooded area where the remains were found, as she was in jail.
Mark NeJame, attorney for Tim Miller, argued before Judge Strickland, that the request by the defense to turn over thousands of records of volunteers was “absurd”. NeJame argued that the search for Caylee Anthony spanned many miles and only those records of persons who had searched in the immediate area where the tot’s remains were found would be material. He maintained that that would amount to 32 people that had searched within a 200 yard grid.
Nejame further contended that, contacting those 32 persons and having them answer questions on the immediate ground conditions as they searched for the 2-year-old tot, was not an issue. He expected they would indicate that, the area was wet, thick with vegetation and under brush, making it impossible to see anything within a foot of where they were searching.
Judge Stan Strickland made no ruling on this motion, saying that he would do so next week.
“My intention on the EquuSearch records is to grant your motion in some form, I just need to think about what that needs to be,” Strickland said.
Regarding the request for the phone records of Anthony’s boyfriend, Tony Lazzaro, the judge agreed that the defense should have access to phone records between the period June 1 2008 to December 2008. During that time frame, the calls were monitored by law enforcement, with whom Lazzaro was cooperating and after Tot Mom’s arrest in July.
George Anthony, father of Casey Anthony took the stand. After answering a few questions from Jose Baez, the prosecution wanted to know, among other questions, whether George was aware that $50,000 was paid to bond his daughter Casey, out of jail. Anthony, who grimaced, puffed, blinked, and at times, closed his eyes throughout the questioning by the prosecution, said he was unaware that this sum of money had been put up for his daughter’s bond.
During her father’s testimony, daughter Casey could be seen wiping away tears, at times.
Judge Strickland did not rule on the motions in relation to preventing Leonard Padilla from being a state’s witness and on the request to postpone Casey Anthony’s check fraud case.
Casey Anthony is charged with first degree murder of her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee Anthony. If convicted, she could face the death penalty.
[…] attorney, Mark NeJame, in a court hearing on August 21st, had argued that only documents pertaining to the 32 searchers who had searched in the general area […]