Inmate blames Casey Anthony's lawyer, Jose Baez, for conviction in child's death

By Stephen Hudak

Sentinel Staff Writer
March 28, 2009

TAVARES - A Lake County man, serving a 15-year prison sentence in the death of a toddler, wants his manslaughter and child-abuse convictions overturned, citing judicial and prosecutorial misconduct and the "defectiveness" of his defense lawyer, Jose Baez.

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Baez is better known these days as Casey Anthony's lawyer. But last spring and summer he was busy defending Nilton Diaz.Diaz, 31, says he did not kill or harm 2-year-old Noeris Vazquez, granddaughter of legendary Puerto Rican prizefighter Wilfredo Vazquez.

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Diaz says he lost his freedom because of Baez's trial performance, strategy and failure to disclose evidence to prosecutors, a tactical decision that prevented jurors from viewing a defense video.

The video, created by a biomechanical expert, would have shown the jury how the toddler's skull fracture could have been an accident, according to new court filings.

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In documents filed this week seeking a new trial and other post-conviction relief, Diaz said, " ... Mr. Baez wanted to surprise the prosecution, and the surprise blew up in the defense's face."

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Baez was not surprised by Diaz's motion, a common post-conviction strategy that often cites defense mistakes to win a new trial, said the lawyer's spokeswoman, Marti Mackenzie. "He doesn't let his ego into the way," Mackenzie said of Baez. "If this kind of motion helps an innocent man get a new trial, he hopes it's successful."

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After Diaz's conviction in May, Baez was hired to represent Anthony, 23, who faces a first-degree murder charge in the death of her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee Marie. The toddler was reported missing July 15 — a month after her mother said she disappeared. Her skeletal remains were discovered Dec. 11 in a wooded lot near her grandparents' home in southeast Orange County.

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Diaz, a time-share salesman and part-time conga drummer, was accused of causing the fatal head injury to "Noni" Vazquez, the daughter of his live-in girlfriend, Samaris Bobe Silva, and the boxer's son Noe.

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Lake County sheriff's detectives say the injury occurred Feb. 11, 2006, while Diaz was alone with the child. Silva, who met Diaz while working in housekeeping at a Disney-area resort, had left Diaz alone with the child for 10 minutes. Diaz remains in state custody at the Taylor Correctional Institution in Perry.

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The motion for a new trial was filed on behalf of Diaz by Alfonzo A. Russi, who provided Lake Circuit Judge Mark Nacke with a letter linking the imprisoned man with the Human Rights Eye Watch Agency, a Texas-based organization. The documents repeat many arguments Baez cited last summer when he urged the judge to toss out the verdicts, which he called "inconsistent" and suggested were the result of confusing jury instructions. Jurors decided Diaz did not cause the toddler "great bodily injury" but also found he caused her death.

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The filing contends that Nacke, who presided over the trial, and Assistant State Attorney Bill Gross, who prosecuted the case, entered into a "silent pact ... to inflict the most severe punishment allowable by law" on Diaz for rejecting a pretrial plea-bargain offer. Nacke would not comment. Gross, however, said Diaz's claims were baseless, including those disparaging the judge and Baez. Hmmm, isn't that what Casey said a while ago, that the prosecutors are only after her because she wouldn't "confess"?

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"He should have started his motion with 'Once upon a time,'" Gross said. Gross said Baez provided "more than effective counsel" for Diaz, challenging the state's case with arguments, experts and testimony.

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Diaz testified that he was innocent and suggested that the toddler's mother may have hurt the child because she feared the Vazquez family would take Noni away. With no eyewitnesses, the state's case focused on medical testimony, which ruled out an accidental fall.

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Now Diaz is asking for a new lawyer, a new trial and conditional release from prison.