Casey Anthony defense spokesman: 3 people use the name Todd Black

Amy L. Edwards
Sentinel Staff Writer
February 3, 2009

Todd Black, the spokesman for Casey Anthony's defense attorney, already admitted to the Orlando Sentinel he's been using a fake name.

And today, Black's company sent out an e-mail stating Todd Black is a name that's been used by three different people working on Anthony's case.

The statement from Press Corps Media came one day after a former FBI agent told the Sentinel Black's voice sounds like a man he once investigated in an extortion case -- a man named Gil Cabot.

Black said in an e-mail statement Monday it doesn't matter that his company was founded by Cabot, who spent time in prison for attempting to extort television journalist Jann Carl.

In Tuesday's e-mail, Press Corps Media writes:"Gil Cabot sold his company in 1996 and we merged our Canada office with a media marketing group to expand our services in 2003, and the fact that Mr. Cabot was retained as a consultant has no bearing on our contracted clients. We assign security names for insurance and security purposes, as with "Todd Black" -- a security name which has been used in rotation by three different staff members on this case, and whether Mr. Cabot also participated in that rotation makes no difference whatsoever.

Press Corps Media is paid by a family who took an interest in the case, and is not paid by Mr. Baez. (I have trouble believing that, but that's me...) Our services are of no major consequence to this case. We simply answer media calls, provide information and/or arrange interviews. Our services are an important, but minor part of assisting attorneys with coordinating events and scheduling. Even when often dealing with extreme bias from some newspeople, we have always been courteous and respectful to everyone, and we will continue our professional conduct as this case moves to trial."...

...A Sentinel reporter pressed Black last week for more information on his identity. Black said the newspaper was wasting its time."It is an absolute lie that I am Gil Cabot," Black said in the telephone interview.

Black has refused to reveal his true identity or be interviewed in person.

Former FBI agent: Casey Anthony's defense spokesman sounds like felon he knew

And just when you think it can't get any more bizarre...

Right: Cabot California mug shot

Amy L. Edwards Sentinel Staff Writer
February 2, 2009 Orlando Sentinal

The spokesman for Casey Anthony's defense attorney -- a man who admitted to the Orlando Sentinel last week that he's using a fake name -- stated today that it doesn't matter that his company was founded by a man who spent time in prison for attempting to extort a journalist.

The spokesman who calls himself Todd Black did not name the company founder in a statement he e-mailed today, though he has earlier told the Sentinel it is a man named Gil Cabot.

The statement was released the same day the former FBI agent who investigated Cabot in the late 1980s told the Sentinel he thinks Black's voice sounds the same as Cabot's on recordings he listened to.

In 1990, Cabot was convicted of attempting to extort $30,000 from television journalist Jann Carl. According to reports, prosecutors said Cabot called Carl and told her that nude photos of herself would be sold to a magazine unless she made the payoff. According to California records, Cabot served five years in prison.

Former FBI agent and polygraph expert Jack Trimarco just told the Sentinel he listened to 16 hours of Cabot's voice as part of his investigation in the Carl case. He recently listened to statements Black made to the media and said both voices sound the same to him."I know that man's voice," Trimarco said. "That's Gil Cabot."

When a Sentinel reporter pressed Black on Thursday for more information on his identity, Black said the newspaper was wasting its time."It is an absolute lie that I am Gil Cabot," Black said Black, who operates under the corporate banner of Press Corps Media, has declined all requests to be interviewed in person. But he has said that the parent company of Press Corps Media, Arrested Media, was founded by Cabot.

He has said that Cabot is not involved in day-to-day operations of the company. Court records show the Carl case was not Cabot's only brush with the law. In the late 1990s, Cabot was charged with 18 counts of attempted extortion and extortion-related charges in the Los Angeles area.

Records state he pleaded in that case, most of the charges were dropped, and he was sentenced to three years probation. He had to write letters of apology to the victims: Ricoh Corporation, Carl's Jr. and Airtouch Cellular.

A 1989 Los Angeles Times article states Cabot posed as another anchorwoman's husband and used an actress's name to obtain appliances and a car. The article states Cabot was arrested when he posed as the anchorwoman's husband and bought $800 worth of suits. The charge became part of a 1982 grand theft case against Cabot. The article states Cabot was placed on probation but violated it, resulting in a 2-year prison sentence.

In his e-mail, Black stated, "It simply DOES NOT MATTER if our company was founded by a gentleman who spent time in prison over twenty-five years ago, especially since that distinction is a key selling point that brings credibility to our services assisting celebrities, politicians and others charged with a crime. "It simply DOES NOT MATTER that when he sold the company in 1996 he remained a consultant, just like it simply DOES NOT MATTER that security names are assigned to our company staff. Turning a prison experience into a successful business deserves respect, and in fact -mainstream news broadcasters and publications regularly employ as experts formally convicted individuals; G.Gordon Liddy, John Dean and Mark Fuhrman (?), to name a few. Working crisis media cases isn't fluff public relations, and in high profile situations using security names is required by Press Corps Media for employee safety."

In the 1989 Los Angeles Times report on Cabot, he was described as a con-artist and Hollywood predator.

He has ties to Tampa and multiple entertainment companies.

In a 2004 Internet listing for a company called Story Brokers, which lists its contact as "G.A. Cabot," the description states: "Acquires true-story properties and partners with actor-owned production companies for actors to star in or produce/direct."Another company Cabot has ties to is called Watsup Productions, where he is listed as an officer/director in annual Florida corporate filings.

Faxes that Watsup Productions sent the state of Florida for its filings appear to come from the same place as Black's Anthony-related press releases.

“Low intensity” dengue epidemics in Paraguay

The Paraguayan government admitted a “low intensity” dengue epidemics following 360 cases reported in hospital emergencies of which 179 remain highly “suspicious” of having been contaminated by the mosquito transmitted disease.


Merco Press
January 27,2009


Ivan Allende, head of Sanitary Alert from Paraguay’s Health Ministry said that the majority of cases have been reported in rural areas and so far “only three have been confirmed in periphery areas of Asunción”, the capital.


“Of the 360 cases reported, following lab tests we discarded 146 people but we are double checking blood lab tests of another 179”, he added.

However Allende admitted that the dengue epidemics is still of “low intensity” and “we can yet not declare a national emergency”, but authorities remain alert and concerned.


Dengue is common during the rainy season in tropical areas with the Aedes aegypti day-biting mosquito --that prefers to feed on humans—growing its larvae in the abundant stagnant water.


Symptoms of dengue fever are a sudden onset of severe headache, muscle and joint pains, fever and rash. The dengue rash is characteristically bright red and usually appears first on the lower limbs and the chest; in some patients, it spreads to cover most of the body.

There may also be gastritis with some combination of associated abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting or diarrhea.

However there’s a more virulent strain dengue hemorrhagic fever which can cause death. Neighbouring Bolivia also has reported 3.000 cases of dengue fever so far.

Drew Peterson's Ex: Engagement Was 'More Like a Stunt'

Feb 2, 2009---Happy Groundhog Day!

The former fiancée of Drew Peterson said Monday that she was never engaged to the former Bolingbrook, Ill., police officer and that their engagement was “more like a stunt” to get him media attention.

Appearing on CBS’s “The Early Show,” Christina Raines said she had known Peterson since she was 15 years old, and he was very kind to her, but she could not go along with an engagement.
“He had told me that his lawyer had wanted him to be in the media and wanted to propose to someone at a restaurant,” Raines said.

Click here for photos.

Raines, 24, packed up and moved out of Peterson's Chicago-area house Friday with her two children after her father, Ernie Raines, forced the issue, according to "Drew Peterson Exposed" author Derek Armstrong.

Christina Raines refused to answer questions on whether or not Drew Peterson spoke of his missing fourth wife, Stacy Peterson.

“I don't feel comfortable answering that right now,” she said.

In a statement released later Monday, Peterson’s attorney Joel Brodsky denied the engagement was a media ploy, and blamed the woman’s father for their breakup.

"It is Ernie Raines who put his daughter on national television. It is Ernie Raines who brought the cameras along when he went to help Christina move out. It is Ernie Raines who cried on 'Dr. Phil' about his daughter. It is Ernie Raines who threatened to drive his car through Mr. Peterson's house."

Ernie Raines, 53, came to Peterson's home in Bollingbrook, Ill., Friday morning with a news crew and the police and demanded that his daughter leave, he told FOX News. He said he feared for Christina's life and didn’t like how Peterson had begun to act toward Christina.

"He was starting to control her," he said. "He was trying to use my daughter as a doormat to try to watch his kids."

Raines said Peterson told him "F— you" when he arrived at his house with police to collect his daughter.

Peterson's fourth wife, 23-year-old Stacy Peterson, disappeared in October 2007. The death in a bathtub of his third wife Kathleen Savio was ruled a homicide after initially being deemed accidental. Savio's body was exhumed and re-examined after Stacy Peterson vanished. A grand jury is still weighing evidence in both cases.

Drew and Stacy Peterson have two children, 6-year-old Anthony and 4-year-old Lacy.They remain married, though Peterson met with high-profile Chicago attorney Jeffery M. Leving — a lawyer in the Elian Gonzalez case — earlier this year to see what his rights to a split might be.
Desertion for at least one year is grounds for divorce under Illinois law, though Peterson would have to show he wasn't at fault for causing his wife to leave, Leving said.

Click here for a transcript of "The Early Show" interview.

Atty Baez Tried To Sneak Bracelet To Jailed Casey Anthony

www.wftv.com/news

January 30, 2009

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. -- Eyewitness News learned Casey Anthony may have been slipped some contraband in the suit she wore to court for Friday's hearing. Jail officials told Eyewitness News they discovered a "Caylee" bracelet stashed in the clothes Jose Baez dropped off this week.

The Orange County jail guards found it inside Casey's clothing, which Jose Baez dropped off right at the visitation center. The jail said, because it's a rubber band and not a weapon, no harm, no foul.

When Casey Anthony walked into court Friday, she was wearing a gray business suit. Attorney Jose Baez dropped it off at the Orange County jail Wednesday. But Eyewitness News has learned Baez also wanted his client to wear a Caylee bracelet, so he put it in one of her socks.
That's considered contraband and jail guards confiscated it.

Jail spokesman Allen Moore said the bracelet had the inscription "Forever in our hearts Caylee Marie Anthony" on it. Moore said, technically, it is contraband but there is no evidence that there was any malicious intent to smuggle in the bracelet.

The jail considers the incident a closed routine matter and Baez will be notified that bracelets are not allowed. Moore said, if the item had been illegal or dangerous, the jail would have called law enforcement to investigate.

It's not the first time Baez has been the center of questionable behavior at the jail. In October, Eyewitness News reported Casey's attorney violated policy when he hugged her twice. Guards told Baez touching his client was not allowed.

The jail would not go on camera about the bracelet incident and Orange County Corrections Department Chief Michael Tidwell is aware of what happened. A spokesperson said Casey Anthony didn't even see the bracelet.

SMILING CASEY ANTHONY ATTENDS COURT HEARING

The case against Casey was back in court Friday and this time she was dressed to impress (images video). In past court appearances, Casey Anthony was dressed in a jail jumpsuit and wearing handcuffs. Friday, she came decked out in a dress suit and kept flashing smiles at her lawyers.

INTERVIEWS AFTER HEARING: Jose Baez Mark NeJame

CASEY ARRIVES: See Images Raw Video

COURT HEARING: Images In Court Unedited Video

TEAM COVERAGE: Casey In Court For Hearing

JAIL VISITATIONS: Casey Anthony Visitation Log

Casey Anthony has morphed from "Anything But Clothes" party girl, to the librarian look and now to the matronly. Friday, she wore an ill-fitted gray suit jacket, her hair curled into a matronly bun and there was no makeup covering the circles under her eyes or the jail pallor showing through in her complexion.

"What you saw today is Casey. I don't know what you mean by different. Maybe the clothing is different, but she's the same person and that's Casey," Baez said after the hearing (full interview). "I think you guys are paying so much attention to it, it really goes back to my objections. It's irrelevant about what she's wearing, what her nails look like, and it has nothing to do with her guilt or innocence."

But a body language expert was watching Casey closely, interpreting her outward appearance and what was underneath.

"Facial expressions were consistent, though, with sadness, with depression," body language expert Susan Constantine told Eyewitness News.

CASEY ARRIVES: Images Video

COURT HEARING: Images Raw Video

The defense did win the judge's help in getting onto the private property where Caylee's remains were found in December (read search scene motion), but it lost its attempt at getting prosecutors kicked off the case (read Baez motion to recuse).

The defense team had argued that a State Attorney's Office complaint to the Florida Bar, against Baez's public relations firm, disqualified the prosecutors.

"Why was it being filed? What was discussed? Was there any motivation?" questioned defense attorney Linda Kenney-Baden.

"If they are suggesting that a Bar complaint is embarrassing to Mr. Baez or time consuming or requires him to hire a lawyer or to take other action, that inures to him not to Miss Anthony," prosecutor Linda Drain argued.

Baez's public relations firm, Press Corps Media, had accused State Attorney Lawson Lamar of playing politics with the case by getting a murder indictment against Casey during his reelection bid (read Press Corps release). Circuit Judge Stan Strickland dismissed the defense's argument in minutes.

"These three aren't involved. I don't know that this affects us. And that's it for that," Judge Strickland said.

Friday afternoon, hours after the 35-minute hearing ended, Judge Stan Strickland denied Baez's motion (read judge's denial) that would force EquuSearch to hand over its records concerning its Caylee searches (read State's response to Baez EquuSearch motion).

An attorney for the search group, Mark NeJame, called the request a "fishing expedition" and told the judge he didn't have jurisdiction to issue a subpoena for the records because the search group was based in Texas, not Florida. None of the volunteer searchers were in the exact spot where Caylee's remains were found, NeJame said (NeJame interview after hearing).

In the judge's denial, he agreed with NeJame in stating that "this Court does not have jurisdiction."

Eyewitness News also learned it could be a year or more before the case even goes before a jury, but that may be more clear when a status hearing is held in February or March.
"I don't expect this to be ready for trial until later this year, hopefully," prosecutor Linda Drain said.

Cindy Anthony was in court Friday. Her attorney said she did not want to face the media scrutiny. But lately, the Anthonys' attorney has been backing away from insisting Casey is innocent, instead saying the Anthonys don't know and that a jury will determine that.

CHANGE OF VENUE REQUEST COULD COME SOON

Lawyers also talked about a possible change of venue in Friday's court hearing. Jose Baez told Eyewitness News he'll make a formal request for it soon.

"I anticipate it being soon, because we feel our client is innocent and we want to have her day in court. She wants to have her day in court. I know that's hard for everyone to believe, but she is innocent," Baez said Friday after the hearing (watch Baez interview).

Prosecutors told the judge they believe it's too early to talk about a change of venue, because the trial is so far off.