The Three Anthonys went to Casey Hearing Today

10:18 am EST March 2, 2011
Updated: 6:47 pm EST March 2, 2011

ORLANDO, Fla. -- An emotional hearing on several motions in the case against Casey Anthony wrapped up Wednesday evening with attorneys prepared to head back to court Thursday.

Casey walked into the courtroom at 9:05am, wearing a red sweater and dark slacks. She was accompanied by her lawyers. Casey's parents were both on hand to testify in the hearing.


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CASEY ENTERS COURT: Raw Video | See Images
CASEY CRIES IN COURT: Images | Video
DETECTIVE TESTIFIES: Pt. 1 Of 4 | Pt. 2 | Pt. 3 | Pt. 4
INSIDE THE COURTROOM: Casey, Cindy, George
VIDEO REPORTS: Casey Anthony Back In Court
CINDY TESTIFIES: Part 1 of 3 | Part 2 | Part 3
GEORGE TESTIFIES: Part 1 of 2 | Part 2
MOTIONS: Cindy's Testimony | To Quash
BELICH: Motion To Strike From Witness List
BILL SHEAFFER: Analysis Before Hearing
READ: Motions To Be Heard March 2-3
911 CALLS: Dead Body | Turn In Casey | Caylee Gone
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The first discussion was a motion to quash on the subpoenas for jail employees.

The Orange County Corrections attorney started by bringing up the jailhouse video showing Casey's reaction to Caylee's remains being found. However, it's a moot point since the state isn't going to use it; as a result, the jail wants the subpoenas of Orange County jail employees to be dropped.

Casey's attorney, Jose Baez, also shared his opinion on the jail attorney's comments. As a resolution, Baez is expected to meet with the prosecution about needed interviews.

Attorneys also discussed the sequestering of George and Cindy Anthony during hearings and, ultimately, the trial. Perry said it will be case-by-case, but offered to let them testify first so they would be able to listen to the rest of the hearing.

Cindy was called to testify shortly thereafter and Casey began crying as soon as her mother was sworn in.

The prosecution is trying to establish a case for law enforcement discussions with Casey and her statements made the night, and following day, when her mother called 911 in July 2008. The defense believes they should be suppressed.

Cindy was visibly upset on the stand as she struggled with questions from prosecutors about whether she wanted her daughter arrested when she learned of Caylee's disappearance.

"Seeing your daughter is very traumatic, being handcuffed and taken to the car," Cindy said on the stand about the night Casey was arrested.

The prosecution was not playing softball with Cindy and pushed her hard to help them support their argument that Casey's comments to law enforcement are admissible and should not be suppressed, which is what the defense is fighting for.

"I tried to get Casey to take me to Caylee," Cindy said.

"Then you wanted deputies to find Caylee?" prosecutor Linda Drane-Burdick asked.

"Yes," she said. "It was a very difficult night, evening for me that day. I'm not stupid. This is very unsettling for me."

Cindy stepped down from testifying and Casey seemed to do everything she could not to look at her mother as she got down from the stand. As Cindy walked past Casey, Cindy looked over and Casey just stared down at her papers.

At about 10:55am, George Anthony took the stand to testify. As George took the stand, he appeared to blow a kiss toward his daughter as she seemed to try to hold back tears.

Questions went right to the night deputies were first called to the Anthony house.

"I asked what was wrong. She said Caylee was missing. 'Someone has Caylee,'" George said. "The topic was about Caylee and trying to find where she was at."

Baez pressed George about how Casey was taken into custody and whether she was read her Miranda rights. The questioning was directed at whether Casey voluntarily went with a detective looking for Caylee and whether the intention of detectives was to look for Caylee or to charge Casey with a crime.

"I know there were some unpleasantries. Answers about where my granddaughter was at," he said.

Baez also asked George to describe when Casey was handcuffed by officers.

"I walked outside with the deputy who had escorted my daughter," he said.

"How long was Casey in the back of the police car?" Baez asked.

"Maybe about 30 minutes to an hour," George replied.

George told Baez that Casey was taken out of the handcuffs and escorted back into the home. Later that evening, George said Casey and a detective spoke alone in her room. He said he did not know what they talked about.

Judge Belvin Perry set the tone of authority in his courtroom and kept both sides on track during George's testimony.

Prosecutor Linda Drane-Burdick was questioning George Anthony. The two started going back and forth over whether deputies responded quickly enough when Caylee was first reported missing.

Judge Perry stepped in right away.

"That's a sore subject between you and I and we can badger all day long," George said to Drane-Burdick.

"Excuse me, I am going to object," Drane-Burdick replied.

"Just a second folks, listen ... question, answer .... be quiet! Question and answer. Don't talk over each other," Perry stated.

George stepped down from the stand at approximately 10:47am.

After Orange County Deputy Ryan Eberlin briefly took the stand, Judge Perry called for a recess until 1:30pm.

When the hearing resumed, Deputy Eberlin was back on the stand. Casey's attorney, Cheney Mason, questioned Eberlin about what happened when he responded to a 911 call made by Cindy.

The defense said that Casey was wrongly handcuffed by a rookie deputy and is trying to convince Judge Perry to throw out evidence.

Deputy Eberlin admitted that he wrongly handcuffed Casey, and shortly after removed the handcuffs. Eberlin said that after the mistake was corrected, Casey was free to do what she pleased; she was not considered a suspect.

After Deputy Eberlin stepped down from the stand, Deputy Adriana Acevedo was called.

Deputy Acevedo was also asked to describe when she responded to the Anthonys' home on Suburban Drive. She also talked about when Casey accompanied Acevedo in her sheriff's office cruiser to the Sawgrass Apartments, where Casey said she left Caylee with her alleged nanny, Zenaida Gonzalez.

At 2:38pm, Judge Perry called for a 15-minute mid-afternoon break.

When they resumed, Detective Yuri Melich took the stand. Melich was asked by Baez about Caylee's disappearance and about the night officers responded to the home.

"I was unaware that she was placed in handcuffs," Melich told Baez when asked about Casey being taken into custody. "I was unaware of what transpired before I got there."

Baez proceeded to ask Melich about Casey's claim that she worked for Universal Studios. Melich escorted her to the park after she stated in a verbal and written statement that she was an employee there.

Melich stated that he believed she was lying about her employment. When they were at the theme park, employees could not find Casey in their database.

"I can't fathom that the mother of a missing child could lie about this," Melich said.

The hearing wrapped up a few minutes before 5:00pm. There were no decisions made on Wednesday regarding Casey's statements to law enforcement, and Judge Perry called for a recess until 9:00am Thursday with several outstanding motions yet to be discussed.

Casey goes on trial May 9.


BILL SHEAFFER ANALYSIS OF CASEY HEARING

WFTV legal analyst Bill Sheaffer said Judge Perry will not be as forgiving and calm as the previous judge on the case, who removed himself over an alleged relationship with a blogger. Judge Perry has a reputation for running a tight ship and his style is expected to keep the case moving.

Sheaffer listened and analyzed developments from court Wednesday. There are nine motions expected to be heard and Sheaffer said they're all important. He said Wednesday and Thursday's hearings will be vitally important in the case against Casey.

"It's the defense's attempt to limit that evidence and try to break the circumstantial evidence chain the state will use to try to convict Casey," Sheaffer explained.

The court spent hours on motion two, discussing Casey's statements with law enforcement after Cindy called to report Caylee's disappearance. The defense wanted that suppressed.

There are four motions to suppress or exclude statements or evidence in the case. Sheaffer told WFTV that all four are important.

"Why is it important? Because each and every bit of evidence is what's used to form that circumstantial evidence chain to show Casey was the killer of the child," Sheaffer said.

The defense, Sheaffer said, will try to break that chain that goes toward raising a reasonable doubt in the case.

Another motion seeks to strike the defendant's supplemental witness list.

Sheaffer said the defense failed to file that list on time, and now the court will likely weigh the people on that list on a case-by-case basis. Sheaffer said, in order for the defense to succeed, it must win at least a few of the motions.

WFTV will be in court Thursday to hear arguments over more significant motions, including a contempt of court case against Baez.

A court hearings this week ,Baez is blaming other people for his problems.

There's still a very busy week ahead in the case against Casey.

Motion hearings are scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday, and there's a status hearing scheduled for Friday.

Casey's defense team is expected to talk about late witnesses they just added in the past two weeks

Posted: 4:55 pm EST March 1, 2011
Updated: 6:59 pm EST March 1, 2011

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. -- WFTV has learned how Casey Anthony's lead attorney, Jose Baez, is going to try to defend himself against a civil contempt of court allegation. It seems Baez is blaming other people for his problems.


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BILL SHEAFFER: Analysis Of Baez Placing Blame
BAEZ MOTION: Attorney Fires Back Over Allegations
BELICH: Motion To Strike From Witness List
READ: Motions To Be Heard March 2-3
VIDEO REPORT: Baez To Defend Self In Court
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Baez is blaming the prosecutor for playing games, and blaming Chief Judge Belvin Perry for allowing it. Baez even blamed the judge for not responding to his request.

WFTV legal analyst Bill Sheaffer says the blame game is not going to fly with the judge.

Baez faces possible jail time or fines if the judge finds him in contempt of court for missing yet another court-ordered deadline. Judge Perry ordered Baez to defend himself, but Baez has gone on the attack.

"It's, 'I'm not at fault because, judge, it's your fault and it's the prosecutors' fault together and separately,'" Sheaffer told WFTV (watch raw interview).

Baez was given 13 days at a February 4 hearing to give prosecutors his specific arguments as to why air tests done on Casey Anthony's trunk, showing evidence of human decomposition, are not based on sound, time-tested science. Baez wants the evidence thrown out.

Tuesday, Baez says the specifics prosecutors want, and the judge has ordered, are not legally required and Baez implies the judge is enabling what he calls prosecutors' games to disrupt his work on Casey's defense.

"That's probably the most obnoxious of the allegations, is that somehow Judge Perry has become a puppet of the state," Sheaffer said.

But Baez also claims he was confused by the judge's order and attempted Monday, 11 days late, to provide more specific arguments against scientific evidence he's known about for at least two years.

Baez made what Sheaffer called a veiled threat that this distraction could lead him to ask for a delay of the trial.

Sheaffer says, if Baez believes he can pressure the judge to back down to avoid a possible delay or even an appeal issue, he's mistaken.

The investigation into the disappearance of three missing brothers in Morenci has turned into a murder investigation.

The investigation into the disappearance of three missing brothers in Morenci has turned into a murder investigation.

Morenci Police Chief Larry Weeks said Tuesday that as information came out about unconfirmed sightings of the boys, false hope grew in the community. Also, the boys' father, John Skelton, who is jailed on parental kidnapping charges, gave investigators misinformation about the boys, Weeks said.
Weeks would not comment on certain aspects of the investigation, including what police found while searching Skelton's home. But he said Tuesday's announcement was based on information collected throughout the investigation.
"This is no longer a missing persons case, but a murder investigation," Weeks said. "I'm sure that when the time is appropriate ... charges will be requested."
He said Skelton, who has maintained he gave his boys to an organization, told police his sons are with a group called the United Foster Outreach and Underground Sanctuaries -- an organization Weeks said investigators have been unable to locate.
Weeks said early in the search for Andrew, 9; Alexander, 7, and Tanner Skelton, 5, that he did not anticipate a positive outcome.
Kathye Herrera, a family spokeswoman, read a statement at the news conference on behalf of the family.
"Days are long and nights are longer," she said. "Emotions are running the gamut from utter despair to the peaceful feeling that ... the boys are in a better place."
The brothers have been missing since Thanksgiving, when they were last seen in their father's custody. At a court hearing last week regarding Skelton's divorce and custody of the boys, Skelton reportedly told a judge that he couldn't return the boys to their mother, Tanya Skelton.
Weeks said that, come spring, when farmers go back to their fields and campers head to campgounds, he wants them to be aware that the boys still may be out there.
In the short term, Morenci schools will be preparing to handle grieving children. Superintendent Michael Osborne said schools will offer counseling to students.
Meanwhile, fund-raising efforts are planned, including an auction in March, to raise money for a reward fund.
Pastor Donna Galloway of the Morenci United Methodist Church said a memorial also is being planned. She said Tanya Skelton is comforted by knowing she'll see her sons again.
"She knows that when her time comes, that she faces eternity," Galloway said, "they will be waiting there for her."

Here is a new picture Of Jousha Davis just taken hours before he went missing without a trace.

NEW BRAUNFELS - The search for Joshua J. Davis has taken investigators across state lines, seeking information.

And authorities believe that someone, somewhere, knows more than they're telling about the toddler's Feb. 4 disappearance.

Lt. John McDonald of the New Braunfels Police Department criminal investigation division said FBI investigators have been talking to individuals far away from the Savannah Hill Circle neighborhood where 18-month-old Joshua vanished into thin air three weeks ago.

McDonald said the FBI has talked to individuals out of state who might have knowledge about the personalities of individuals connected to the case in some way.

"There's probably nothing more serious than a child case," he said. "Every day we chase new leads that come in."

This week, a fresh batch of rumors were circulating that Joshua had been found, but as of 10:30 p.m. Wednesday, according to dispatch, there was no new information in the case.

The leads are, for the most part, consistent in the areas they recommend searching or scenarios they recommended exploring, McDonald said.

"I do believe there are people out there who know some facts that we don't have, and I urge them to come forward," McDonald said.

Couple Confessed In Jaycee Dugard Kidnap girl held her captive for 18 yrs

Couple Confessed In Jaycee Dugard Kidnap
Girl Held Captive For 18 Years
Images: Judge Nixes Release Of Documents In Dugard Case
LISA LEFF, Associated Press
Posted: 1:09 pm EST February 28, 2011
Updated: 10:29 pm EST February 28, 2011

PLACERVILLE, Calif. -- A Northern California couple charged with kidnapping Jaycee Dugard and holding her captive for 18 years have given full confessions to authorities, a defense lawyer said Monday.

The revelation came as prosecutors and defense lawyers opened negotiations on possible plea bargains that could avert a trial and testimony by the victim who has sought privacy since being freed 18 months ago.

Attorney Stephen Tapson, who represents defendant Nancy Garrido, told reporters outside court that he was present when his client and her husband, Phillip Garrido, were re-interviewed by El Dorado County detectives during the past month.

They acknowledged snatching Dugard, then 11, from a South Lake Tahoe street, and answered dozens of questions from investigators about the years they spent with her and her two daughters fathered by Phillip Garrido, Tapson said.

"Essentially they confessed to kidnapping and told where all the bodies are buried," Tapson said, characterizing the disclosures as "full confessions."

Nancy Garrido, 55, has pleaded not guilty to 18 felony counts that include false imprisonment, rape and child pornography. Her husband had been scheduled to enter a plea Monday, but his lawyer, Deputy Public Defender Susan Gellman, asked to postpone the arraignment until March 17.

Neither Gellman nor District Attorney Vern Pierson would confirm or deny Tapson's account.

The case took a turn toward a possible plea deal earlier this month when a judge declared Phillip Garrido competent to stand trial.

Criminal proceedings against him had been halted in September after Gellman expressed doubts about his mental state. Based on evaluations by two psychiatrists, Gellman and the district attorney later agreed Garrido's competency was no longer a barrier to trial.

Both defense lawyers said at the time that the defendants were amenable to a settlement that would spare Dugard and her daughters from having to take the witness stand.

Tapson said discussions for a plea deal are ongoing, with the most recent offer from prosecutors calling for sentencing Phillip Garrido to 440 years in prison and his wife to more than 241 years.

Tapson thinks the sentence proposed for his client is exorbitant. While Nancy Garrido acknowledged being the one who dragged Dugard from a school bus stop into the couple's car in 1991, she denies having sexually abused the girl and regards herself as a mother to Dugard and her daughters, Tapson said.

"She should be able to walk free at some point in time," Tapson said, adding that he thought a sentence of 20 to 30 years would be appropriate.

Nancy Garrido delivered the children Dugard, now 30, had when she was 14- and 17-years old, he said.

The lawyer says Dugard was present during one of Nancy Garrido's recent interviews, apparently the first time the women had been face-to-face since the couple was arrested in 2009.

He declined to say if they spoke or to describe the mood at their encounter.

Dugard is writing a book about her years imprisoned in the backyard of the Garridos' Antioch home, with publication expected later this year. So far, she has not spoken publicly about her ordeal.

Phillip Garrido winked at his wife as they were both escorted handcuffed into a jury box for the scheduled arraignment. Nancy Garrido smiled broadly at him in return.

Also Monday, Superior Court Judge Douglas Phimister refused to release grand jury transcripts, mental health records and other documents in the case.

Phimister ruled that making the information public would "substantially and prejudicially" jeopardize Phillip Garrido's right to a fair trial.

Media organizations, including The Associated Press, had asked the judge to unseal the documents.

Dugard spent a day testifying behind closed doors in August, and her statements largely formed the basis of the indictments handed down by the grand jury.

Prosecutors objected to having her testimony made public before trial or until a plea deal is accepted.

Quoting their motion, Phimister noted the testimony contained a detailed description of her rape and other sexual acts that Phillip Garrido is accused of capturing on video.

Her account, as well as the reports of the court-appointed psychiatrists who evaluated Phillip Garrido, could prejudice potential jurors if the case goes to trial, the judge said.

Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast,

The State must have some key evidence on Casey Anthony Case

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Prosecutors said they are not going to use three high-profile pieces of evidence against Casey Anthony when she goes to trial in May for the murder of her daughter Caylee, according to a document (read it) obtained by WFTV on Monday


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READ: State's Witness List And Evidence Schedule
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State prosecutors wrote that they are not going to use the jail video of Casey when she found out that Caylee Anthony's remains had been found near their house.

Prosecutors also said they are not going to use Casey's statements to investigators after her arrest for the murder of her daughter Caylee. In the statement, Casey said that investigators would not trick her into a confession.

Lastly, prosecutors said they are not going to use Casey's statements to her jail pen pal, Maya Derkovic, who told WFTV that Casey talked about giving Caylee chloroform to knock her out.

wonder who did Evidence Tampering In Caylee Anthony Case?

The murder trial of Casey Anthony in the 2008 death of her two-year-old daughter, Caylee Anthony, is slated to begin in May. And now, reports Tony Pipitone of CBS affiliate WKMG in Orlando, Fla, court documents give hints of the strategy the defense may pursue – trying to discredit the official cause of death and suggesting crucial evidence might have been staged. When Caylee vanished almost three years ago, it was an entire month before she was even reported missing. Casey Anthony, soon became the prime suspect. Caylee’s remains were found six months later, wrapped in a plastic bag with duct tape near her mouth.
It took only days for coroners to declare her death was no accident – that it was homicide. But this past September, Pipitone points out, Orange County, Fla. Medical Examiner Jan Garavaglia was grilled under oath — her findings challenged for the first time. Defense attorney Cheney Mason proposed, “Suppose this child drowned in the family swimming pool.”

“Doctor G,” as she’s known, dismissed that theory, saying, “I have never seen a drowning, nor do I see reason why a drowning would have duct tape on the lower half of the face. … There’s no indication that this child would drown, and there’s no reason why a child that’s drowned is put in a plastic bag and dumped on the side of the road.”

In what Pipitone calls another major revelation from the depositions, the defense may have another card to play, based on testimony by the man who found Caylee’s skull, Roy Kronk.

“I just lifted it barely, you know,” he said, “so I could get a better look at it. … I didn’t move it, as in physically move it, from one location to another. I just kinda lifted it up a little bit.” It’s that contact with the remains that defense lawyers are trained to zero in on.

“They may well argue,” says legal analyst Mark O’Mara, “there is a possibility that it was staged and it’s not competent evidence to be considered.” However, Pipitone notes, legal experts believe the defense “will need a lot more proof to convince a jury the evidence was staged.”

Tru TV legal correspondent Beth Karas recalled for “Early Show on Saturday Morning” co-anchor Russ Mitchell that, “The prosecution charged Casey with murder before the remains were found. And they weren’t seeking (the) death (penalty). Once the remains were found, they changed their minds. And they’re seeking death. And these were just bones, scattered bones. You know why? Because of the tape around the mouth. The tape is everything. And that’s why the defense has revealed in these depositions it’s going after the tape. The position of the tape. Was this child suffocated? Did this child drown? This case is all about that tape.

“You can see what the defense trying to do. (Garavaglia) cannot determine the cause of death. What killed this child: Was it suffocation? The tape seems to indicate it was. But they’re trying to say, you can’t tell. She could have drowned, and then maybe someone panicked, put her in a bag and threw her into the woods. But it’s not an intentional, premeditated murder worthy of the death penalty. “

The defense, Mitchell observed, seems to be telegraphing it’s going to try to use the accidental death theory. Is that wise?

“Well,” Karas replied, “go with accidental death, they kind of say, ‘She did it.’ And they’re not saying Casey did it. That would be more, she did it, it’s really a manslaughter. But there’s a lot for the defense to work with in this case just to raise reasonable doubt. Because of this meter reader, Roy Kronk.

“He finds the body, the remains. But he had called in the same location three times in August, months earlier, so does he know something? Was he responsible for placing the bag there? With the remains? This is something that the defense at least wants to raise, to create reasonable doubt in the jury’s mind – that Casey didn’t put her there. This meter reader knew where she was for months.”

The trial, Karas says, will be “good for the defense” in that “the judge is going to pick a jury in another city, and then ship them into Orlando and sequester them, and (court) is going to meet six days a week. It’s going to be a very busy trial for about two-and-a-half months. But this is a tough (case) for the defense, because Casey lied to the police. She’s charged with four counts of lying to the police, that she never reported her baby missing for 31 days. Her mother did, when her mother realized it. So, Casey has some explaining to do, or her defense has some explaining to do. So, it’s tough.”

Still, this won’t be a slam dunk for the prosecution, Karas cautioned: “No case is a slam dunk. I was a prosecutor. I lost my first case. It was a little misdemeanor, but proof beyond a reasonable doubt is a hard burden. Convincing 12 people beyond a reasonable doubt is a high and hard burden. It’s not a slam dunk. But, right now, the evidence certainly seems to point to Casey Anthony, and police and prosecutors are not in the business of arresting innocent people. It happens but that’s not what they do.”

SOURCE: ARTICLE BY CBS NEWS FEBRUARY 26, 2011