Prosecutors: Casey Anthony’s Defense Filed Bogus Motion

wftv.com

October 8, 2009

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. -- In a new document filed Thursday, prosecutors are accusing Casey Anthony’s defense team of filing yet another bogus motion, this time over the death penalty.
The defense wants the judge to take the death penalty off the table, but prosecutors say judges don't have that authority.

Prosecutors went as far as saying either the defense team doesn't understand the law or is purposely misstating it to grandstand. Prosecutors say a hearing on the issue would be a waste of the court's time. Is it possible that ALL of these Esquires do not know who decides on the charges?

DEFENSE WANTS CHARGES DROPPED

...Casey Anthony’s attorneys are trying to convince a judge to drop her murder and child abuse charges. In order to get those charges dropped, prosecutors say Casey must swear the evidence they have is true and convince a judge it's not enough to convict her.

DOCUMENT: Addendum To Motions

However, so far, she's only admitted to failing to report her daughter, Caylee Anthony missing, and that Casey told investigators she last saw the child with a woman named Zenaida Gonzalez.

Also Wednesday, Casey's defense team got another 42 pages from prosecutors detailing forensic entomology reports from August 28 and December 11 of 2008. Those reports talked about the insects experts analyzed from the trunk of Casey's car and the scene where Caylee's remains were found.

JUDGE: HAND OVER GEORGE ANTHONY TESTIMONY

A judge ordered Tuesday (read order) that the grand jury testimony George Anthony gave in October 2008 be handed over to state prosecutors in the case against Casey Anthony.

READ: Judge's Order On Grand Jury Testimony

VIDEO REPORT: Testimony Must Be Handed Over

Prosecutors wanted a transcript of George Anthony's secret grand jury testimony given on October 14, 2008 that led to the first-degree murder indictment against his daughter Casey. Casey was arrested the very next day. Prosecutors asked for the testimony to be used in the murder trial of Casey set for next summer.

"... the original of said transcript shall be delivered to the State Attorney," Judge Stan Strickland wrote in the order issued Tuesday afternoon. George told investigators he recognized the unmistakable odor of a dead body in the trunk of Casey's car when he picked it up at a wrecker service.

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Prosecutors presented the grand jury case and George is working with the defense team, so both sides likely already know a lot about the testimony, which is supposed to be secret.

BAEZ ANSWERS "PLEA DEAL" QUESTION

For the very first time in the case against Casey Anthony, her lawyer says he won't rule out the chance of a plea deal.

"Any plea that would ever be taken would have to be taken by Casey,” Jose Baez told Geraldo Rivera during an interview over the weekend (watch comments).

BAEZ TALKS: 'Plea Deal' Comments To Geraldo

SHEAFFER ANALYSIS: Legal Analyst On Baez Comments

VIDEO REPORT: Plea Deal A Possibility?

Up until now, Casey's defense team and her family have insisted there would be no deals made. ...Prosecutors still haven't publicly offered a deal to Casey, but over the weekend talk show host Geraldo Rivera asked Baez, with all the evidence against Casey, why not agree to a plea deal to save her life?

“Well, that’s not my decision to make. Umm, that, any plea that would ever be taken would have to be taken by Casey and she would have to accept a plea, if one were offered,” Baez told Rivera.
“The proper response would have been, ‘Are you kidding me? She’s innocent! We pled (sic) not guilty. We are going to trial,” WFTV legal analyst Bill Sheaffer said (watch full interview).

..."We feel our client is innocent and we want her to have her day in court. She wants to have her day in court and, I know it's a hard thing for everyone to believe, but she is innocent,” Baez said on January 30.

Baez spent the beginning part of the interview with Rivera arguing that the evidence against Casey is weak at best and that the whole case should be thrown out. “Well, there’s one thing that’s consistent about the defense and that’s their ability to continue to make inconsistent statements, one after the other,” Sheaffer said.

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