Prosecutors: Casey Anthony should reveal how she pays for her defense

Willoughby Mariano

Sentinel Staff Writer
6:46 PM EDT, March 9, 2009

I wonder if Casey paid for the cremation or memorial service? HELL NO. Eight is an extraordinarily large number of attorneys for someone who has made their living by theft for the past couple years. But is it our business? Dunno. For sure Baez is working for his boner.

.
Prosecutors in the murder case against Casey Anthony are asking a judge to make her disclose how she pays for her defense. The motion, filed in Orange County Circuit Court this afternoon, argues that the only way the 22-year-old could afford her high-powered legal team would be to sell photos or video tapes relating to the story of the disappearance and death of her daughter 2-year-old Caylee Marie Anthony.

.

If her attorney Jose Baez is managing her assets, the motion argues, it may mean he has a conflict of interest." (do ya think?) The Defendant's seeming conversion from pauper to princess did not come from the sale of some tangible asset available to her prior to her initial arrest on charges related to this case," it states.

.

How Casey Anthony finances her defense is private, Baez's spokeswoman Marti Mackenzie said. The attorney is acting ethically and in his client's best interest, and Baez retained a legal ethics expert to ensure this, she added.

.

"Anything he has done to help Casey Anthony [...] has been with her consent and cooperation," MacKenzie said. The prosecution's motion does not cite a specific conflict of interest. It asks for a hearing during which the defense discloses payment arrangements, documentation of the sale of licensing rights and related records...

.

Charles Rose, a professor at Stetson University College of Law near St. Petersburg, said he doubts a judge will grant the state's latest motion. Rose said this type of motion is often used in high-profile cases where the defense seems to have more financial resources than others think they should have. "If I was the judge I wouldn't even have a hearing on it. They just don't have an offer of proof. Without the offer of proof, it's really not relevant."

.

If someone paid Anthony for photos, videos, or any other item, and she chose to pay her defense with those funds, that is permissible. However, Rose said, if Anthony signed away her legal rights to her story to Baez, that would be a conflict of interest for the attorney."This sounds like a fishing expedition and not a legal argument," Rose said.