I am referring to the bombshell dropped on the court by lead defense attorney, J. Cheney Mason. For reasons that may very well stay sealed until the conclusion of the trial, amongst rumors of photoshopping evidence pictures and witness tampering, Mason iniatied an off the record sidebar followed by an incamera meeting someone decided the defendant would not attend.

The dissention in the ranks seemed to stem from Friday’s rookie error, made by Mason, a criminal defense attorney with nearly 40 years of experience and considered one of the “super lawyers” in the State of Florida. Mason asked first responder deputy Ryan Eberlin, of the OCSO if he placed Casey Anthony in handcuffs at the Anthony home , opening the door to the prosecution to allow the deputy to explain, in front of the jury, that he did so at the request of Cindy Anthony after providing proof her daughter fraudulently used her credit cards.

(Editor’s Note: I was so stunned by this ginormous snafu I considered the possibility Mason did so to get fired on purpose. Given Saturday’s events, my jury is still out on that one.)

With Tru Tv’s Insession and other various local affiliates geared up for all day Saturday coverage, this presented the unique problem of having a day of rampant legal speculation as to what could have caused Judge Perry, who already scheduled an extended Saturday as a sanction to the defense for it’s third contempt of an order regarding expert witness testimony, ran through every option.

Based on the fact that immediately after court was recessed until 8:30 AM this morning, Jose Baez informed Dot Simms she would need to accompany State Attorney Jeff Ashton for the afternoon deposition of Dr. Kenneth Furton, that he could not, so she “just had to”, and the immediate seal of both the sidebar and incamera session, it is clear there are very limited reasons for the kerfeffel under Florida Law.

They are:

Jury related issue: Impossible as the court reporter left immediately after the recess. If that were the case, Judge Perry would have been required to address the issue immediately on the record, and with counsel present.

Pending Witness testimony Issue: Would not require recess, would not allow for closed proceedings and sealed transcripts, and there were 7 defense witnesses at the court house waiting to be called.

Plea Deal: Again, would not require in camera session without the defendant.

Misconduct: ding ding ding.. We have a winner.

Health Issue: Possible, but highly unlikely given we are looking at only about another week of testimony.

Rule 4-1.16 Declining or Terminating Representation

(a) When Lawyer Must Decline or Terminate Representation.

Except as stated in subdivision (c), a lawyer shall not represent a client or, where representation has commenced, shall withdraw from the representation of a client if:

(1) the representation will result in violation of the Rules of Professional Conduct or law;

(2) the lawyer’s physical or mental condition materially impairs the lawyer’s ability to represent the client; or

(3) the lawyer is discharged.

(b) When Withdrawal Is Allowed.

Except as stated in subdivision (c), a lawyer may withdraw from representing a client if withdrawal can be accomplished without material adverse effect on the interests of the client, or if:

(1) the client persists in a course of action involving the lawyer’s services that the lawyer reasonably believes is criminal or fraudulent;

(2) the client has used the lawyer’s services to perpetrate a crime or fraud;

(3) a client insists upon pursuing an objective that the lawyer considers repugnant or imprudent;

(4) the client fails substantially to fulfill an obligation to the lawyer regarding the lawyer’s services and has been given reasonable warning that the lawyer will withdraw unless the obligation is fulfilled;

(5) the representation will result in an unreasonable financial burden on the lawyer or has been rendered unreasonably difficult by the client; or

(6) other good cause for withdrawal exists.

An attorney withdrawl in the middle of trial is not unheard of, and it is not automatic grounds for a mistrial. That said, given the fact this is a death penalty case, and Jose Baez does not meet the requirements as lead counsel in a capital case, it increases the chances significantly.

Rule 3.112 of the Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure (2000) outline the minimum standards for attorneys in capital cases: Lead trial counsel assignments should be given to attorneys who: are members of the bar admitted to practice in the jurisdiction or admitted to practice pro hac vice; are experienced and active trial practitioners with at least five years of litigation experience in the field of criminal law; have prior experience as lead counsel in no fewer than nine jury trials of serious and complex cases which were tried to completion, as well as prior experience as lead defense counsel or co-counsel in at least two cases tried to completion in which the death penalty was sought. In addition, of the nine jury trials which were tried to completion, the attorney should have been lead counsel in at least three cases in which the charge was murder; or alternatively, of the nine jury trials, at least one was a murder trial and an additional five were felony jury trials; and are familiar with the practice and procedure of the criminal courts of the jurisdiction; and are familiar with and experienced in the utilization of expert witnesses and evidence, including but not limited to psychiatric and forensic evidence, and have demonstrated the necessary proficiency and commitment which exemplify the quality of representation appropriate to capital cases. Trial co-counsel assignments should be given to attorneys who: are members of the bar admitted to practice in the jurisdiction or admitted to practice pro hac vice; who qualify as lead counsel under paragraph (c) of these standards or meet the following requirements: are experienced and active trial practitioners with at least three years of litigation experience in the field of criminal law; and have prior experience as lead counsel or co-counsel in no fewer than three jury trials of serious and complex cases which were tried to completion, at least two of which were trials in which the charge was murder; or alternatively, of the three jury trials, at least one was a murder trial and one was a felony jury trial; and are familiar with the practice and procedure of the criminal courts of the jurisdiction and have demonstrated the necessary proficiency and commitment which exemplify the quality of representation appropriate to capital cases.

Ann Finnell, Casey Anthony penalty phase attorney, is the only remaining lawyer on her team that meets the criteria- will Judge Perry order her to resume the defense?

Will whoever shows up at the “table against the wall” request a mistrial or simply a curative instruction? I have a couple of submissions I would like to offer, if that is the case.

Tune in at 8:30AM.

No such luck. This former Gentiva Supervisor, Licensed by the state of Florida as a registered nurse, now thinks she may have  been home on the days of March 17th and March 21st and her former employer, required her and other salaried employees to falsify their timecards in an agency subject to HIPAA regulations. 

Mrs. Anthony, although it would mean she came home for less than 30 minutes on both days, if she indeed returned to work, brought her own smell of decomposition.  Decomposition of her loyalty to the legacy of her 34 month old grandbaby, Caylee Marie. By the time of this publication, I have requested comment from John Camperlengo, Gentiva Chief Compliance Officer, and will post upon reply.

UPDATE: The Following Is the Reply I received from Senior Vice President, Chief Compliance Officer and General Counsel to Gentiva, John Camperlengo, published with permission.

Thanks for your note.  As a matter of policy, Gentiva does not comment on matters being litigated before the courts. What we can tell you is Gentiva complies with all relevant Federal and State regulations, rules and guidelines concerning patient and staff records. And we cooperate fully with responsible authorities when requested to aid them in research in investigations. Best Regards, John

O and Cindy, thanks for bringing up your concerns about the dogs eating bamboo leaves. Further computer forensic scrutiny shows that the dogs were PRECLUDED from being in the backyard as a result. Which, Casey knew, and certainly strongly assissted in avoiding detection of her granddaughter’s remains in her playhouse for days. Not to creepy, not to soul-less, right? Did the Baez/Rosebud braintrust consider they gave the jury exactly what they needed to explain Casey Anthony’s alternative universe and fancy for pathological lying? Apples and Trees, as we say in Jersey. God Rest this child in your loving care, which begining June 16^th, is the only loving care that has mattered.

 (Editor’s Note: I apologize in advance for offending any readers with my editorial,  I am a victim’s avocate before a journalist anyday.)

Ironically, it is also the 3rd anniversary of the day a woman accused by Casey, as Zanny the Nanny, Zenaida Gonzalez, got traffic tickets within hours of Casey’s best friend Annie Downing, brought to you courtesy of  www.blinkoncrime.com.

Talk about a prophetic date.  Instead of a Rapture it is more like a Rupture.

The road to perdition has never been accompanied by lip service to an ideal.

Albert Einstein

Someone  is not telling their client that Florida has gotten pretty bullish on sentencing it’s young murderesses to death.

Tiffany Ann Cole, Margaret Allen, and Emilia Carr all have an impending date with a needle, and the ladies of lechery  have been sentenced in the last 4 years.

In fact, the second most recent female resident on Florida’s death row, Emilia Carr,  accused her Dad of sexual abuse, AND he was convicted of plotting to kill HER  years later as a result;  the jury gave little weight to either issue.

If Casey Anthony is convicted, and especially if she is sentenced to die by lethal injection, Emilia will be Casey’s new *muffin*.. flush.

I would like to point out that none of these murders were that of a helpless 34 month old at the hands of her own Mother, which in many Floridians minds, is the worst of the worst.

Twelve Jurors, seven women and five men, unless one of 5 alternates is needed, will decide the fate of Casey Anthony.

Depicted affectionately below as monkeys, in dedication to our sister site and forum www.scaredmonkeys.net, but most importantly, to the families living without them so they may serve  justice on behalf of Caylee Anthony, www.blinkoncrime.com salutes you today.

Opening arguments begin at 9AM.   Without question, outside of deliberation, this is the most important day of this trial.

Blink, along with Diane Dimond,  will be discussing the first day’s events on The Dana Pretzer Show, Scared Monkeys Radio at 9PM EST.

Live link will be posted here one hour before the show.

Follow Us on Twitter.

Images courtesy of Klaasend

Update #1 4:45PM.. Motion to exclude trunk stain… D E N I E D

Casey Observing George Anthony Testimony

Rulings on Critical Motions regarding a hair with a “deathband” that could only belong to a deceased individual and either Casey or Caylee Anthony, and the air samples tested by Dr. Arpad Vass and found to contain chloroform levels he has never seen, in his 22 year career.

The air samples themselves are not in contention as the “hardware” and methodology in their extraction are used widely in the scientific community, and the defense team, through a stipulation agreement to withdraw contempt proceedings against him, could not argue about anything else.  The defense argument was largely about the interpretation of the data that was yielded from the samples as they relate to a decompositional event in the trunk of Casey’s car.

Both motions were a combination of a Frye/exclusion attempt by the defense that took several days in court to conclude, in which many observers felt were disorganized and poorly argued in contrast to the deft responses by the prosecution.

Yesterday, for the second time, Jose Baez on behalf of Casey Anthony filed a response to the State’s motion to let his already withdrawn “experts” Dr. Danzinger and Dr. Weis be permitted to testify as to what Casey told them during their interviews with her.

You may recall, during the State’s deposition attempt of Dr. Danzinger,  Judge Perry put the kibosh to it after receiving a call from Jose Baez, and both depositions have since been sealed.  Judge Perry referenced testimony about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, but legal experts agree that in itself would not be grounds for suspending a deposition and immediately sealing it.

It is this editors opinion that during the deposition,  Dr. Danzinger recounted parts of his interview with Casey Anthony that may have been incriminating to her.

It was abundantly clear that the defense strategy is/was to attempt to have these witnesses speak about parts of their interviews with Casey Anthony as a way to repeat her “defense” without ever taking the stand, subjecting her to cross-examination by the state.

It is also abundantly clear that Jose Baez et al did not understand the Judge’s comments about these depositions the first time around.

The only way these “Docs” will be permitted to testify to anything Casey Anthony told them, is if Jose Baez presents an exception argument to the hearsay rule, and since the “declarant” or Casey Anthony, will never take the stand, ‘not gonna happen.

Yesterday afternoon, the defense depositions of Tony Lazzarro and Amy Huizenga were filed with the court.

While there was largely previously known information contained in both depositions, there was one noteworthy tidbit in Ms. Huizenga’s which the defense glossed over in a hurry.

Reported exclusively by www.blinkoncrime.com,  the Anthony’s withheld a major plumbing emergency at their home that sent someone from Hopespring Drive in a panic to locate Caylee.

For the first time, it is confirmed that Casey knew about it, and told Amy it was one of the reasons they could not move in:

Casey Told Amy About A Pipe

This article will be updated when Judge Perry rules this afternoon.

Check back to www.blinkoncrime.com for continued breaking news in the case against Casey Anthony.

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 2. He ommitted entirely 2 jobs he was working at the time of his resume and interview for Andrews International, on June 17th, 2008.

3. He has a propensity for shall we say, ladies that require service fees, and that non-existant credit card he did not have according to Cindy’s deposition, at the time of George’s deposition had a nearly $11,000 balance.

4. He purchased a handgun while Casey was on bond.

5. His attempted suicide could be construed as “guilt driven”.

To be honest there is plenty more where that came from, but I doubt the defense in this case even got this far considering they are attempting to add witnesses four months late, whose allegations were cleared by OCSO in the first place.

At the March 3rd motion hearing, where George alledged he was an agent of the State, he faced Casey from the witness stand.

Casey, full glare ahead and adorned in her her gas can red sweater with the henkel silver jacket on top, and George in his “will someone take me seriously” lavender.

He flat out testified he will even “not show up” to court if it would help his “baby”, Casey Anthony.

Jose Baez: ..”Now if I gave this hypotthetical, if I told you not showing up to court next Wednesday, and I am not telling you to not come to court, it would save your daughter’s life, would you show up to court?

George Anthony: “..If you asked me to stay away from the proceedings, if it was going to save my daughter’s life I would not be here..”

Late this afternoon, as I was prepared to ask again where in the world is George’s counsel, finally, George Anthony’s Attorney, Mark Lippman, fired back:

In the statement, Lippman said, “George Anthony had nothing to do with the death of Caylee Marie Anthony. He has been investigated, deposed, examined and cross examined by both the prosecution and the defense, and neither the defense team nor the state of Florida have maintained that he is at fault in any way.”

I will sum it up this way. George has a better shot at drinking a 5th, than pleading the 5th in the criminal trial against his daughter.

“I quite frankly don’t know why we are here..– Jose Baez”

In a rare 5 P.M. Friday afternoon court appearance, after attempting to gain compliance from Jose Baez, State’s Attorney Jeff Ashton successfully convinced The Honorable Belvin Perry that the defense team for Casey Anthony has been holding out. While unavailable at the time of this articles publication, the new order in essence says Jose Baez’s proffer of an entomologist “will be talking about bugs”, is not going to fly. Pun Intended.

Chief Judge Perry, after reminding the parties that discovery has been ongoing for over 2 years and the May 2011 trial date is rapidly approaching, verbally dictated a new order on the record.

As a specific example of the defense’s non-compliance, Ashton references Dr. Michael Freeman, a forensic epidemiologist who intends to charge the state $575/hr to depose him, when the application of his area of expertise to the case against Casey Anthony for murdering her daughter Caylee is questionable at best.

Or Is It?

Admittedly, Dr. Freeman’s addition to the defense expert witness list has been on my mind for over a week. His curriculum vitae, as impressive as it is, is heavy with publications about neck injuries following various impact ratio vehicle accidents, vertebrae -spinal cord compression and roller coaster whiplash.

What is he going to testify to? Was THE BAEZ LAW FIRM really going to go with the nanny was in a car accident with Caylee and Casey was following her and they accidentally smothered her with duct tape which was meant to act as some sort of neck brace? Maddening, yes. Plausible, No.

After examining the email’s included in Ashton’s motion for the umpteenth time, I finally realized what was bugging me more than the absence of what was already ordered by the court in it’s content, or the juvenile response from the lead counsel in a murder defense and sworn officer of the court.

It was the fact that in both email’s from Jose Baez to Jeff Ashton there was only one expert witness whose name was not bolded and seemed to be sandwiched in, almost as if to demonstrate it’s lack of importance. Moreover, Jose Baez suggests to Ashton that the state depose him last, as his reports are incomplete.

$575 an hour rate to tell the court at trial what the statistical and probable likelihood is of a public outbreak of unemployed, Caucasian, Target-loving party girls suddenly murdering their toddlers is?

Methinks the nut is under Freeman’s shell, but how is that possible?

Chiari Malformation Type I

Almost conveniently, Chiari 1 complications contributing to the sudden death of a child, was profiled in an episode of Dr. G Medical Examiner. Jan Garavaligia, MD who performed the autopsy on Caylee Anthony is the Medical Examiner in District 9, Orange County, Florida and an expert witness listed by the prosecution in this case. Garion Barber is an 8 year old Orlando boy who passed away in his sleep in March 2008 with only a minor history with seizures. Dr. G’s office investigated his death for over 4 months before she was able to conclude Garion died from an un diagnosed Chiari 1 malformation/sleep apnea. Dr . G also had the benefit of reaching her findings on a recently deceased child, unlike 34 month old Caylee, whose remains were tossed in a swamp off Suburban Drive and were completely skeletonized at the time of their discovery two years ago today.

In an unrelated published study, a three year old child with an un diagnosed CM1 died when exacerbating his unknown condition by a very minor bump on the head.

In the anthropologic portion of Caylee Anthony’s autopsy report conducted by Dr. John Schultz and Dr. Michael Warren, it was discovered through examination that Caylee had a previously un diagnosed premature closing of the cranial sutures, or saggital synostosis.

We report 2 cases of uncorrected sagittal synostosis associated with the development of Chiari malformations with syringomyelia later in life. To our knowledge, this is the first report of symptomatic Chiari malformations associated with uncorrected sagittal synostosis. We discuss mode of presentation and management in each case. We propose that these patients either have a pathophysiological predisposition to Chiari malformations based on the compensatory bone growth pattern in sagittal synostosis resulting in craniocephalic disproportion or that there may be an underlying genetic alteration accounting for the association of the 2 processes.

Dr. Freeman is absolutely a pre-eminent specialist in cerebellar tonsillar ectopia, or Chiari Malformations, as outlined in his published works.

Conveniently, penned in her prison alter ego identity “Muffin”, we learn from Casey herself that she is now suffering from non-allergy prompted headaches and seizures. According to former fiance and favorite defense patsy Jesse Grund, the only seizure-like incident Casey has ever had was after an evening of heavy drinking. George Anthony, who together with Cindy Anthony met Casey at the hospital the next day, has stated in interviews with OCSO there was no evidence she had a seizure or that anything was wrong with her physically when they arrived. That girl has a PDR in her “law drawer” for sure.

Can we say retroactive heredity link to bolster her defense?

The burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt that Casey Anthony murdered her daughter Caylee rests solely with the State of Florida.

The burden of creating reasonable doubt rests solely with the defense team she has hired to do so.

The problem with this theory, and make no mistake, it is wrought with problems, is that it is illogical, devoid of reason, and who is going to believe that a loving Mother whose child dies of natural causes tapes her face, dumps her in a laundry bag and tosses her to rot in a swamp on the way out of her parents subdivision?

There are hundreds of pictures of Casey Anthony dancing on bars, video of her arm in arm at the video store with Tony Lazzarro within hours of what OCSO believes Casey Anthony murdered her daughter. Let’s not forget she spent the better part of the previous year stealing thousands of dollars from her own family to avoid work of any kind.

Did anyone tell the “young lawyer” Mr. Baez that you do not seat a mock jury with members of your family?

Profound narcissism just came off the Diagnostic Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM) , read up people.

Her entire “defense” has been structured around a fake nanny with the real name of Zenaida Gonzalez she is also still counter-suing in a civil action. Casey, her attorneys, and her family have appeared on hundreds of hours of news coverage proclaiming she could not help locate her daughter or her daughters alleged abductors for fear of their safety. How does that compute to a confession of improper burial? It does not.

If in fact this un diagnosed CM1 is what Casey Anthony believes is her get out of jail free card, there is a zero percent chance she could pull it off without taking the stand. In this editors opinion, there is also a zero percent chance she can “take back” the zanny story, which means she either has to convince a jury that she believed it, or that she pointed that finger to protect someone else. Enter George, again, sadly.

The only way to counter the biggest counsciousness of guilt thought bubble permanently affixed above her head is to explain why she never called to report her child missing for 31 days, and even then, it was her Mother’s sad task after smelling decomposition in her abandoned car.

With the exception of two defense experts who are set to be deposed next week, both the prosecution and defense are ordered to provide specific and thorough information about their respective witnesses and what they intend to testify to, by December 23, 2010.

According to Jeff Ashton’s oral argument in support of the state’s motion heard yesterday, they have already met that burden.

It should prove to be a very busy week for THE BAEZ LAW FIRM.

Well played Mr. Ashton, well played indeed.