Attorney seeks to stop release of calls in Caylee Anthony case

Sarah Lundy and Bianca Prieto Sentinel Staff Writers
7:07 PM EDT, July 28, 2008

Casey Anthony is expected to be back in court Tuesday as her attorney tries to fight the release of her phone calls from jail.

The latest call was released this evening -- a call between Casey Anthony and her brother Lee in which they talk for close to 15 minutes on Saturday about the missing 2-year-old Caylee. At one point, Lee Anthony asks his sister if she believes Caylee is OK.

"In my gut, she's still OK," Casey Anthony says, "and it still feels like she's...close to home. That's still my best feeling at the moment."

(Find an excerpt of the call and other audio from the case here.)

Her attorney, Jose Baez, is trying to stop the release of such calls from the jail, according to a motion filed today in the Ninth Circuit Court.

"The release of any visitation video-conferencing could impede the investigation, chill the public's willingness to report any leads, and compromise the integrity of the defendant's right to a fair trial," Baez wrote in the one-page motion.

He points out his client has a high-profile case with national attention and any recordings or public records requests "could irreversibly taint the criminal process."

Baez was busy and could not be reached for comment this afternoon.

Christina Baez, a college student who is working in her father's law office, said there may be information in the recordings that might obstruct the search for Caylee.

Baez wouldn't detail what type of information that could be or where it could have been discussed, but said that is their concern.

"We don't want anything to be released that may endanger our search for Caylee," Christina Baez said.Prosecutors didn't have a comment and plan to address the issue in court, said Danielle Tavernier, a spokeswoman for the State Attorney's Office.

Meanwhile, Casey Anthony remained at the Orange County Jail today for a 12th day in a row.

This morning, her brother Lee Anthony arrived at the visitation center across from the jail for a 45-minute video conference visit. He avoided reporters and ran out the back gate at the visitors center to his car parked along John Young Parkway. It was the second time Lee Anthony visited his sister since her arrest.

Her parents, Cindy and George Anthony, are scheduled to visit their daughter tomorrow morning at 9 a.m.

Two other people are scheduled to visit Casey Anthony in jail in the coming days.Casey Anthony is being held at the jail on more than half a million dollar bond in charges related to the disappearance of her 2-year-old daughter Caylee Marie Anthony.

The child has not been seen since mid-June when Casey Anthony said she dropped the girl off with a baby sitter. The child was not reported missing until July 15. Casey Anthony maintains that the baby sitter, a woman named Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez, stole the girl.

Casey Anthony was jailed on July 16 for child neglect, fling a false statement and obstructing a criminal investigation after allegedly telling a series of lies to investigators.

Family members have not been able to come up with the money to bail Casey Anthony out of jail. Last night, the family held a prayer vigil at their Lee Vista area home Sunday night, where hundreds attended.