Deal with Casey Anthony is taken off the table

Amy L. Edwards Sarah Lundy and Walter Pacheco, Sentinel Staff Writers
September 3, 2008

Casey Anthony did not accept the limited-immunity deal with prosecutors before Tuesday's deadline. The State Attorney's Office gave Anthony, whose 3-year-old daughter Caylee Marie was reported missing more than six weeks ago, until 9 a.m. Tuesday to take the offer, which would have protected her statements to investigators. But any other evidence could have been used against her. Considering all the lies she's told, she's nuts not to have accepted a deal.

Anthony's attorney, Jose Baez, did not contact prosecutors on his client's behalf before the deal expired. Baez, who approached Orange County investigators July 25 about meeting with prosecutors regarding a possible limited-immunity deal, would not comment.

Meanwhile, the effort behind the search for Caylee by Texas-based EquuSearch appears to be dwindling. Close to 200 EquuSearch volunteers started searching for the missing girl Saturday, but a search director said there were fewer than 35 volunteers Tuesday morning. "We worry that the community has soured on the family and [is] not keeping Caylee first," search director Mandy Albritton said. "It's sad that we've had such a low turnout."

On Nancy Grace last night, Tim Miller admitted that they were pulling off of the case because there are so many families out there asking for his help that would do anything to find their children. He stopped short of saying the family was not cooperating, but had evidently said that to Nancy off camera, because she badgered him to repeat it. Tim, being very much a gentleman, simply indicated they were needed more elsewhere.

Albritton said EquuSearch has spent almost $30,000 since it began the search. The nonprofit is funded solely through grants and donations. Its expenses include travel, lodging and food for its volunteers, as well as office equipment, fuel, tables and chairs. Albritton said similar cases typically attract nearly 1,000 volunteers a day, though the first day normally has the biggest turnout.

Anthony faces charges for child neglect and filing a false statement to law enforcement stemming from the investigation into her daughter's disappearance. She was freed from jail Aug. 21 on $500,200 bond.

On Friday, investigators arrested Anthony at her family's Lee Vista-area home on charges of uttering a forged check, fraudulent use of personal identification information and petty theft of $100 or more. Sheriff's officials say the arrest stems from $746.87 in checks a friend accused her of stealing in July. The charges are related to one check written to Target for $111.01.With the immunity deal off the table, prosecutors will continue to prepare for trial on a felony charge of child neglect and a misdemeanor charge of filing a false report with law enforcement. The felony is punishable by up to five years in prison, while the misdemeanor can be punished by up to a year in jail.

Authorities are still reviewing the bad-checks case to determine what official charges will be filed. Early Saturday, the bondsmen and bounty hunter who helped post Anthony's original bond and free her from jail decided to revoke the more than half-million-dollar bond. Bounty hunter Leonard Padilla told the Sentinel on Tuesday that he has returned to California but will continue to be involved. Leonard is going to choke on those toothpicks if he's not careful. Also on Nancy Grace last night, he threw in a zinger in the last two seconds of the show "wait til you hear what was found at a dumpster by the boyfriends house" or something to that effect. So, wow. A real cliff hanger. Can't wait.

"It's a curiosity thing at this stage," he said. "We have a puzzle here."Padilla has said Anthony refused to talk to him to help find Caylee, whom he now thinks died accidentally. The bounty hunter said he and the bondsmen would consider replacing Anthony's bond if she told them what really happened and where Caylee's body could be found. "She'd have to come clean," he said.

I think the trip to Universal Studios, when she played the ruse to the very end, shows her plan. She's formed a story and will now stick to it to the very end. That week out of jail was a mistake in that she was able to read everything on the internet, all the news articles, the blogs, the theories etc. She'll be able to refine what she started with, if she ever speaks at all.
jmho.