Caylee Anthony Update 5 May

Casey Anthony's defense attorney wants her trial moved to Miami-Dade County, according to a change of venue motion filed Monday afternoon.

Kissimmee lawyer Jose Baez stated if Anthony 's case remains in Orange County, her right to a fair trial and impartial jury "will undoubtedly be violated."

In the 17-page motion, Baez listed a slew of examples of media reports on the case -- ranging from protesters staged outside the Anthony family home to audio files of law-enforcement interviews. It is the sheer volume of reporting on the case, combined with community reaction to the missing toddler, on which the defense is pinning its hopes for a venue change.

He gives examples of protesters standing outside the Anthonys' home holding signs. One said, "Baby Killer," according to the motion. Another said, "Angel Killer."

"The protests caused Orange County Sheriff Kevin Beary to ask the community to 'calm down,' " the motion says.

"The overwhelming majority of the media's coverage of this case has been negative for the defendant," Baez stated.

"As one local news station reported, its own reporter, Kathi Belich asked Casey Anthony, 'Casey, why don't you care about Caylee? Why won't you say where your little girl is?'"

He stated Anthony "has shown a clear, pervasive inflammatory and prejudicial coverage of her case by local media."

"In fact, few would disagree that Ms. Anthony's case may be the most publicized coverage of a criminal case in the history of our state," he wrote.

Baez stated local news networks continue to report "on all aspects of this case and public opinion continues to be heated and negative towards Casey Marie Anthony."

Baez cited a study by a broadcast monitoring service, which states that 14,235 stories that mentioned the Caylee Anthony case aired between July 15 and Nov. 18. Of those, about 46 percent were in the Orlando-Daytona Beach-Melbourne area. About 24 percent were in the Tampa St. Petersburg metro.

He stated the study found the Miami-Fort Lauderdale market came in seventh, in terms of exposure to the story.

"Moving this trial to a location far enough away from the local media will not end the coverage, but it will have a chilling effect on the barrage of media coverage that a local trial will bring," Baez stated.

I find it funny that he announces that he is going to file a motion long before he actually does. I guess he realizes that Casey's ship is sinking and he needs to get as much free publicity as he can. If he wanted the press coverage to die down he would quietly file the motion first. And maybe skipping the press conference after he files would help a bit too.

source