Caylee Anthony Update 5 February

Casey Anthony's lawyers, Jose Baez and Linda Kenney Baden, appeared on Fox News' "Geraldo At Large" on Monday, February 2, to defend their client's bad press. Jose Baez said that it was a "ridiculous notion" that his client was smiling or smirking inappropriately while in court Friday, January 30. Baden said that they wanted their client to smile and talk, to appear human and not emotionless.

Caylee Anthony appeared on the cover of the current week's People magazine the same day her mother, Casey Anthony, and her defense team requested a change of venue for the trial. According to MSNBC, Circuit Court Judge Strickland stated Friday, that the trial was "too far out in front of us" to make a decision but told the defense that he would set a hearing on the matter when Jose Baez, Casey Anthony's lawyer, filed the formal motion.

Prosecutor Linda Drane-Burdick told the court that the case may not be ready to go to trial in March and may have to be set for a later date this year. The trial of Casey Anthony was originally set for January but was later set to March to allow for new evidence preparation.

Casey Anthony appeared in court dressed in a gray suit, a marked difference from the blue standard issue Orange County jail clothes she normally wears when appearing. Anthony, 22, is being tried for the murder of her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee Anthony, the story of whose disappearance, subsequent search efforts, and eventual discovery (albeit only her remains) has captivated the attention of local and national media and the public. It is this concentrated attention upon which Baez based his motion for a venue change.

Although she smiled at a few people, Casey Anthony sat motionless for much of the hearing.

It was those brief smiles that had many people talking and writing, prompting Baez and Baden to appear on "Geraldo At Large." When asked about the motion for a change of venue, Jose Baez stated that his client deserved a venue "less tainted" by the publicity than Orlando, Florida.


But, as Geraldo Rivera pointed out, it is a jury that Casey Anthony has to convince. With the massive media attention the case has drawn, convincing a jury that Casey Anthony might actually be innocent becomes increasingly problematic for her lawyers. It may be impossible, regardless of where the trial is held.

Casey Anthony has become the target of much negative scrutiny, both from the medias and from the public at large. The strange circumstances surrounding the disappearance of little Caylee Anthony, Casey Anthony's reticence at reporting her daughter missing, her seemingly indifferent activities in the interim period, the lies she told the police, her egocentric actions and words caught on video during her parents' visits to the Orange County jail -- all shine a rather dim light on the prospects of Casey Anthony being found anything other than guilty. But remaining a stoic, emotionless participant in the court proceedings will certainly do her more harm than good. Still, smiling can be seen as Anthony not taking the trial seriously. She will have to walk a thin line.

Keeping her away from the prying insinuations and frozen moments of the courtroom that can be taken out of context or negatively interpreted may have been Baez' intent for his motion for his client to waive her attendance at future hearings.

Normally, Casey Anthony could have waived her right to appear for such proceedings (which her lawyers requested), but Judge Strickland ordered Thursday that Anthony was to appear at all major hearings from that point on. Strickland ordered, "Being duly advised in the premises, the defendant's Notice of Objection is overruled, and the defendant will be required to appear at each and every court hearing with the exception of those matters previously noted."

Strickland's order came after Casey Anthony had refused to appear at an earlier hearing and had told Orange County officials that she did not care if she was held in contempt, she was not going. When Jose Baez attempted to waive her right to appear, Judge Strickland ordered her brought in. Asked by Strickland, she waived her right but remained for the rest of the hearing.

Friday's hearing was not a total loss for the defense. A motion for the defense to have access to the area where Caylee Anthony's remains were found was granted. Legal experts, such as WFTV's Bill Sheaffer, find the motion counterproductive, considering that the defense has access to all information gathered from the crime scene. He believes, however, that the defense's strategy will be to attempt to prove that the bag of remains was not present when a private Texas organization, Equusearch, went over the same area in November. The bag of remains was discovered in December by Orange County utility worker Roy Kronk.

Casey Anthony was arrested and charged with the first-degree murder of Caylee Anthony on October 14, 2008.

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