On HLN this evening, host Vinnie Politan predicted that the Casey Anthony case will be “the biggest trial of 2011.”

He also noted that the case has taken longer to go to trial than Caylee Anthony lived. Casey Anthony is charged with first-degree murder in the death of her daughter, 2-year-old Caylee.

In the latest development today, Judge Belvin Perry ruled that the prosecution and defense must both give information on their experts to the other side.

I didn’t watch the hearing, but I was struck by WFTV-Channel 9’s take that Perry “wasted no time in handing down his order,” that he applied the same rules to the prosecution and defense, and that he “wasn’t going to waste much time on the back-and-forth bickering” between the two sides.

WESH-Channel 2 highlighted “a quick ruling from Perry.”

The case has been long and confounding, yet Perry’s all-business, no-nonsense approach has been refreshing and promising. He is going to make a deadline, and you had better be ready.

On HLN, Politan conducted a panel discussion with three attorneys about the issue of whether this should be a death-penalty case. They agreed it shouldn’t. One stressed that the public doesn’t know how the child died.

Yes, but learning that information keeps many of us coming back. Caylee has become a symbol, a representative for many for other children. She will not be forgotten.

Or as an HLN graphic read: “How little Caylee’s murder gripped the nation.”

Now we have a “Bones” connection in the Casey Anthony case.

Best-selling writer and forensic anthropologist Kathy Reichs, whose novels inspired the Fox drama, is among the expert witnesses listed by the Anthony defense team. Reichs is also a producer on “Bones.”

Anthony is charged with first-degree murder in the death of her daughter, Caylee. The trial is scheduled to begin in May.

Anthony attorney Cheney Mason made a surprising claim earlier this week, to WESH-Channel 2, that the defense had found 15 to 20 volunteer searchers who say they didn’t see the toddler’s remains “exactly on the spot” where they later were found. The claim would seem to back up the defense contention that someone else dumped the child’s remains in the woods after Anthony was jailed.

Mason said he present the list of witnesses to the court Friday.

Yet WESH’s Bob Kealing tonight explained skepticism about Mason’s claim. “If those people were not exactly sure where they searched along that long, densely wooded stretch of Suburban Drive, their claims  may be easily discounted,” Kealing said.

Orlando attorney Richard Hornsby, who provides analysis for WESH, said, “I highly doubt he found anybody that said they were in that exact spot, and until he presents a witness list and those people are actually under oath and say that, I would be very questionable with anything he claims.”

What do you think?

What was the biggest headline in the Casey Anthony case today? I’ll pick one from outside the status hearing.

Anthony defense attorney Cheney Mason told WESH-Channel 2 that the questioning of Texas EquuSearch volunteers was paying dividends for the defense. Mason estimated that 15 to 20 of 75 volunteers questioned said there was no was body at the spot where Caylee Anthony’s remains were later found. Casey Anthony is charged with first-degree murder in the death of her daughter.

Mason’s point suggests that someone else deposited the toddler’s remains after her mother was in jail, WESH’s Bob Kealing explained.

Mason said he will give the list of witnesses to the court Friday, Kealing added.

But Kealing also quoted “one source close to the investigation” who is “highly skeptical of this new defense claim of all these witnesses that they’ve identified.”

And Mark NeJame, attorney for Texas EquuSearch, told Kealing that Mason’s comment was “preposterous.”

WESH, WOFL-Channel 35 and WFTV-Channel 9 highlighted Chief Judge Belvin Perry’s decisions during the status hearing. The defense must give the prosecution all the notes, photos and videos taken by defense experts. But Perry rejected the prosecution’s request to get the financial records for defense experts.

Later WFTV-Channel 9’s Kathi Belich asked defense attorney Jose Baez what the defense paid its experts before the defense ran out of money. Baez said the information was client-business dealings. “We do know that the defense spent almost $200,000 before taxpayers started picking up the tab for Casey’s defense,” Belich added.

Continue reading Casey Anthony: Defense claims success on finding searchers; Mark NeJame calls comment ‘preposterous’ »

“Monday promises to be a big day in the case against Casey Anthony,” WESH-Channel 2 anchor Jim Payne said last night when  introducing another Anthony story.

I imagine we’re going to have a lot of big days between now and the trial’s scheduled start in May. And you’re going to hear stations speculating about what all the latest developments mean.

WESH’s Bob Kealing examined how a new defense motion could signal a change this Monday to a greater reliance on science to raise reasonable doubt about who put Caylee’s remains in the woods.  Casey Anthony is charged with first-degree murder in the death of her daughter.

The new motion: The defense wants Chief Judge Belvin Perry to approve an expert on decaying and fossilized bones.

Kealing noted that the new motion coincided with two other developments:

***The defense won the right to have out-of-state DNA tests done on Caylee’s shorts and a laundry bag found near her remains.

***The defense seems to be backing away from a strategy that relies on a Texas EquuSearch volunteer, Laura Buchanan, who says she saw nothing where Caylee’s remains were later found. “A source with knowledge of Buchanan’s recent sworn deposition says her statement has … changed, and she’s under investigation for possibly falsifying documents,” Kealing said.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if the defense just abandons Laura Buchanan altogether,” said Orlando attorney Richard Hornsby, who provides analysis for the station.

Kealing also quoted “our source” as saying the recent deposition of Roy Kronk’s son was “not helpful in another defense strategy to paint Kronk as a possible suspect.” Kronk is the former meter reader who found the toddler’s remains.

Who might that source be? Does it sound as if the “source” is floating trial balloons?

Feel free to speculate along with the reporters and analysts. But you may want to save your efforts for the other big days coming in the case.

The next status hearing in the Casey Anthony case starts at 1 p.m. Monday.

Anthony, who is charged with first-degree murder in the death of her daughter, Caylee Marie, will be there.

On Thanksgiving night, WFTV-Channel 9 provided a preview. WFTV’s Kathi Belich explained that prosecutors want to know how much the Anthony defense team spent on experts, such as Dr. Henry Lee, before Anthony was declared indigent.

“Prosecutors will ask Chief Judge Belvin Perry to compel Casey Anthony’s defense team to hand over their contracts with their experts; bills of payment; travel, meal and entertainment records; and photographs, communications and notes pertaining to the experts and their work on the case,” Belich said.

Belich, citing WFTV legal analyst Bill Sheaffer, said such information is usually turned automatically over to the prosecution.

“There may be a reason why the defense does not want to make that known because of the amount of money that these experts have been charging,” Sheaffer told Belich.

A private investigator for the defense has billed taxpayers nearly $8,000 in September and October in part for looking for a hundred Texas EquuSearch volunteers, WFTV reported. But the prosecution has countered there are ”more like 10 people who might have relevant information” about the spot where Caylee’s remains were found, Belich said.

The Casey Anthony defense team scored a victory today. At issue: DNA tests at an out-of-state lab.

Here’s how stations explained that win on evening newscasts.

“The state panel that oversees the money spent on Casey’s defense was objecting to both the cost and lab that Jose Baez wanted to use,” WESH-Channel 2’s Amanda Ober explained.  “In the end, it was Baez who won out today.”

Judge Belvin Perry approved Baez’s request to spend $2,000 for DNA tests on shorts and a laundry bag found with Caylee Anthony’’s remains. Casey Anthony is charged with first-degree murder in the death of her daughter. Perry said the money amount wasn’t exorbitant.

WFTV-Channel 9 anchor Martie Salt summed up the developments this way in the case of indigent client Anthony: “The agency that manages state money had argued that the tests could be done in a Florida lab. Judge Perry said the Florida lab didn’t have the correct certification to conduct the DNA testing.”

WOFL-Channel 35’s Holly Bristow explained that the only labs with the certification are owned by the state. “Casey’s defense team did not feel comfortable with that,” she said.

She talked to forensic expert Shelly Shaffer, who said, “If I was the defense I would probably do the same thing and send them to an impartial agency to get tested.”

Bristow added, “The judge understood that concern and he approved taxpayer money to foot the $2,084 bill to test two pieces of evidence found with Caylee Anthony’s remains.”

WKMG anchor Erik von Ancken said, “Anthony’s attorneys want to test two items, Caylee Anthony’s shorts and a bag found where the 2-year-old’s remains were located.  Judge Belvin Perry approved the spending of $2,000 to have an out-of-state lab check DNA on those items, saying that he wants to move things along toward trial.”

The trial is scheduled to start in May.

WESH-Ch. 2 went a long way for its latest report on the Casey Anthony case: Reporter Bob Kealing traveled to Indiana to interview a forensic entomologist who will be a prosecution witness.

And the report contained a classic line from the expert: “Insects don’t lie.”

Neal Haskell has noted that scuttle flies — or coffin flies — were feeding on decomposition in Casey Anthony’s trunk. Anthony is charged with first-degree murder in the death of her daughter, Caylee Marie.

Haskell found strong decompositional odor in the trunk in December 2008 — or about six months after the dead toddler was allegedly there, Kealing explained. Haskell told Kealing there’s no mistaking the stench. Using a formula, Haskell was able to estimate when Caylee’s body was dumped near her grandparents’ home.

“Which is bad news for Casey,” Kealing added. “Haskell estimated that Caylee’s remains were dumped in late June to early July — while Casey was still free, a scientific opinion that could blow up her defense team’s attempts to create reasonable doubt by suggesting the remains were placed in the woods in October, after Casey was locked up for good.”

Kealing showed the down-to-earth Haskell teaching at St. Joseph’s College and examining a dead sow for maggots.

“We have a whole array of insects that come in at different times of that decompositional progression,” Haskell said. “Insects don’t lie.”

That’s a line to remember.

The Anthony defense team will depose Haskell on Friday, and it disputes some of his findings, WESH anchor Martha Sugalski added.

WFTV-Ch. 9’s Kathi Belich had an exclusive tonight on prosecutors’ questioning of a Texas EquuSearch volunteer seen as crucial to Casey Anthony’s case.

The attorney for volunteer Laura Buchanan told WFTV that she didn’t know where Caylee Anthony’s remains were found. Buchanan wasn’t taking Belich’s questions, but her attorney, Bernard Cassidy, said, “She has never been to that area to see precisely where the body was.”

Why is that crucial?

WFTV explained that Anthony’s defense attorneys hoped to use Buchanan’s  testimony to show that Casey Anthony couldn’t have put her child’s body where it was found.

After getting the admission from Buchanan’s attorney, Belich asked the Anthony defense attorneys if their case was crumbling. They weren’t talking either. In fact, they were walking away from her.

Anthony is charged with first-degree murder in the death of her daughter, Caylee Marie. The trial is set to start in May.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Office is investigating whether Buchanan faked a search document in which she said she found nothing in the spot where the toddler’s remains were spotted months later. Cassidy said his client would explain to prosecutors why she was in possession of Texas EquuSearch documents that were supposed to have been turned in.

A short hearing in the Anthony case will be conducted by phone tomorrow, anchor Martie Salt explained.

“A critical witness in the case against Casey speaks for the first time,” WESH-Ch. 2 teased in a promo tonight during the 5 o’clock news.

“Reporter Bob Kealing takes you to Indiana to meet the man claiming a little bug could be a big problem for Casey’s defense,” the announcer continued.

The report won’t air until 11 p.m. Wednesday, but it’s the November ratings period, and stations like to get the word out early.

Anthony is charged with first-degree murder in the death of her daughter, Caylee Marie. The trial is scheduled to start in May.

WFTV-Ch. 9 reported tonight that the Anthony case will be back in court on Thursday, when the defense team will call Chief Judge Belvin Perry for clarification about DNA testing he has approved. “We told you on Sept. 28 that Judge Perry ruled the defense could do its own DNA tests on Caylee’s shorts and the laundry bag found with her remains but they had to use a specific lab,” anchor Bob Opsahl said.

Was there a conspiracy against Casey Anthony? WESH-Ch. 2 reporter Bob Kealing explored the issue t0night.

“Was there any sort of grand scheme to try to leak information, to try to point everyone toward Casey as the suspect  to the exclusion of everybody else?” Kealing asked Deputy Carlos Padilla of the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.

“Not at all,” Padilla said. “If you could look at this case, the circumstances speak for themselves.”

Anthony is charged with first-degree murder in the death of her daughter, Caylee.

Padilla, who was spokesman for former Sheriff Kevin Beary, defended the way the sheriff’s office handled the Anthony case. Padilla was deposed by the Anthony defense team today.

Kealing put a variation of the same question to defense attorney Cheney Mason, who declined to answer today. Defense attorney Jose Baez wasn’t talking, Kealing noted.

Prosecutors are looking to Europe to bolster their case against Casey Anthony, WESH-Ch. 2 explained tonight.

WESH’s indefatigable Bob Kealing highlighted an e-mail to prosecutors from Bluestar Forensic in Monte Carlo that there is no chloroform in its product to identify blood stains. And the Bluestar e-mail added that using the product does not create chloroform.

Why does that matter?

Former prosecutor Jeff Deen, offering analysis for WESH, said chloroform is “big, big, big piece of evidence” in supporting the prosecution’s contention that Anthony knocked out and killed her daughter, Caylee. Anthony is charged with first-degree murder in Caylee’s death, and her trial will begin in May.

The Bluestar e-mail eliminates the defense theory that investigators left chloroform when testing Anthony’s car with Bluestar, Kealing said.  Deen theorized that the prosecution checked with Bluestar when following up on a deposition question from the Anthony defense team, Kealing added.

WESH-Ch. 2’s Bob Kealing has been tenacious in exploring evidence released this week in the Casey Anthony case.

Tonight, he turned to what the station titled, in big type, ”Evidence Jury Will Not See.” Anchor Martha Sugalski walked back a bit from the headline, calling it “some critical evidence that the jurors in her murder trial may never get to see.”

And Kealing consulted legal experts who disagreed about whether the evidence will make its way into the trial. The evidence: a jail supervisor’s account of how Casey Anthony reacted when a child’s remains were found.

The remains were later identified as Caylee Anthony. Casey Anthony is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Caylee, her daughter.  

The supervisor, Tammi Unser, wrote that Anthony watched TV coverage about the discovery of a child’s body, fell into a chair, doubled over, breathed rapidly and muttered, “Oh, no!”

Orlando attorney Richard Hornsby, who provides analysis for WESH, told Kealing: “She was set up, and this is the exact type of activity that the courts frown upon.”

But former prosecutor Jeff Dean told Kealing that anything the supervisor observed could be used at trial — as long as the jail official wasn’t questioning Anthony. “People make spontaneous statements to police all the time that are in custody and they’re used against them every day,” Dean said.

What do you think? Will the judge allow the evidence?

Casey Anthony’s grandmother could be crucial to the state’s case against the young mother, WESH-Ch. 2 explained tonight.

WESH’s Bob Kealing focused on candid e-mails that the grandmother, Shirley Plesea, provided to investigators. It was an interesting report for anyone who has been baffled by the Anthonys.

Kealing studied the e-mails between Plesea and her sister that reflected concerns about missing toddler Caylee. Casey Anthony is charged with first-degree murder in the death of her daughter, Caylee.

Pleasea, the mother of Cindy Anthony, documented Cindy’s tears and anguish about not getting to see Caylee in the summer of 2008. “Something is fishy. God knows what is going on,” Plesea wrote.

Later, Plesea wrote: “Casey keeps promising to come and bring Caylee, but never does.  Cindy hasn’t seen Caylee for three weeks.”

In another e-mail, Plesea wrote that she was “just out of words” about Casey’s behavior.

Caylee’s remains were found in December 2008.

Orlando attorney Richard Hornsby,  who provides analysis for WESH, said that Pleasea “basically served as a de facto  investigator for the state attorney’s office.”

For anyone who has followed the case and tried to understand the family, Plesea’s comments are invaluable.

What did we learn in the latest document release in the Casey Anthony case? More details about the investigation for missing toddler Caylee and more details about the Anthony family.

WOFL-Ch. 35’s Holly Bristow highlighted that investigators trapped and traced phone calls to and from the Anthony family home as well as calls from the cell phones of Anthony’s parents, brother Lee, boyfriend Tony Lazzaro and former fiance Jesse Grund.

“More than two years later, it’s unclear if these efforts helped investigators,” Bristow said. “After all, it was Roy Kronk, a then-county meter reader who found little Caylee’s remains.”

WESH-Ch. 2’s Bob Kealing highlighted that investigators monitored Anthony family phones and cars in the months after Caylee was reported missing. Investigators focused on phones that Casey Anthony might use. Anthony is charged with first-degree murder in the death of her daughter, Caylee.

A therapist suggested that Cindy Anthony kick Casey out of the house when Cindy wasn’t allowed to see granddaughter Caylee, Kealing reported. “But Cindy refused, not being able to stomach the idea of her granddaughter being out on the street,” Kealing added.

Continue reading Casey Anthony: Casey’s reactions, Cindy’s writing draw scrutiny »

Look for Casey Anthony news on Election Day. More documents in the case will be released Tuesday, stations reported tonight.

“We are told they are both financial and investigative documents,” WOFL-Ch. 35 anchor Bob Frier said tonight.

“We’re told the documents will include more jailhouse letters sent to Casey as well as some of the family’s financial documents,” WFTV-Ch. 9 anchor Martie Salt said.

WESH-Ch. 2 reported that a thousand pages would be released.

Anthony is charged with first-degree murder in the death of her daughter, Caylee Marie.

Friday was a pretty good showcase for Tony Pipitone, WKMG-Ch. 6’s highly regarded investigative reporter.

At 11 p.m., Pipitone offered a detailed, hard-hitting report on a homeless charity, Alliance for Neighbors, that has little to show for its claims of helping others.

Tax returns indicate the group has received $2.4 million in contributions since 2008. But Mike Stein, the man behind the alliance, wouldn’t supply documentation to back up claims of how the money was spent. On top of that, Alliance for Neighbors has drawn $20,000 from foundations, including one named for actor Christopher Reeve. But people in the local homeless-services community don’t know of the alliance or Stein. In his interview with Pipitone, Stein was defensive and evasive.

WKMG counts on Pipitone’s investigations during sweeps months, and with good reason: He delivers.

Earlier in the day, Pipitone covered the Casey Anthony hearing. Throughout the long-running Anthony saga, Pipitone has delivered thoughtful reports that add to viewers’ understanding of the much-discussed case. On Friday, he gave a clear, concise explanation of defense costs in the high-profile case. Anthony is charged with first-degree murder in the death of her daughter, Caylee.

Continue reading Casey Anthony: WKMG’s Tony Pipitone delivers on several fronts »

Chief Judge Belvin Perry meant business today during a status hearing in the Casey Anthony case. The judge’s determined style was the focus of television coverage this evening.

Standout clip: ” I am not gonna write an open check. I’m just not,” Perry told defense attorneys.

Anthony is charged with first-degree murder in the death of her daughter, Caylee. The defense has spent more than $300,000 on the case — $40,000 was tax money –  but is seeking more for indigent client Anthony. (WFTV-Ch. 9 decorated its report with $300,000 in big type.) Anthony is scheduled to go on trial in May.

“He [Perry] was really setting a tone, and it was a hard line,” WESH-Ch. 2’s Bob Kealing reported.  “In many cases, the judge would demand to know what the defense team had done with money he already budgeted and what they would do with any more he might give them.”

Kealing said that defense attorneys Jose Baez and Cheney Mason were not commenting after court today.

Continue reading Casey Anthony: Judge Belvin Perry plays accountant sternly »

Why is Casey Anthony’s defense team seeking more time for its private investigator?

“We need more investigation and they have to get paid,” defense attorney Cheney Mason told WOFL-Ch. 35’s Holly Bristow. “The state can send all the investigators they want, from any agency they want, with no budget.”

Bristow interviewed Mason and defense attorney Jose Baez as they walked outside the courthouse. Mason did all the talking. Baez, wearing sunglasses, walked along silently.

Chief Judge Belvin Perry had budgeted 300 hours for the defense’s private investigator. The defense is asking for an additional 300 hours for its investigator.

Bristow wanted to know if that will be the end. “No,” Mason said. “It’s going to take a lot more than that.”

Anthony is charged with first-degree murder in the death of her daughter, Caylee Marie. Anthony will be back in court on Friday for a status hearing. Her trial is scheduled to begin in May.

Bristow asked why the defense is doing so much investigation late in the game. “They [the state] are late in the game at disclosing evidence to us,” Mason said.

The defense is also asking Perry to seal jail records about Anthony’s visitors and commissary purchases.

WOFL and WFTV-Ch. 9 reported that Anthony’s attorneys today deposed Special Agent Nick Savage, the lead FBI agent on the case.

What does the Orange County Jail have to say about Casey Anthony’s attorneys trying to get her jail records sealed?

Television stations quickly summed up the latest in the case tonight.

WESH-Ch. 2 anchor Martha Sugalski said: “Her defense team cites a new court ruling that banned a South Florida newspaper from getting access to inmates’ recorded personal phone calls. In their response, attorneys for the Orange County Jail argued that ruling does not apply to other public jail records like visitor logs and commissary records that by law they’re required to release.”

WFTV-Ch. 9 anchor Martie Salt said: “The county runs the jail and says a new appeals court ruling only applies to recorded personal calls of inmates, not the other records, like her jail account. She [Anthony] will be in court when Chief Judge Belvin Perry takes up the issue this Friday.”

WFTV also noted that Anthony’s attorneys spent today questioning Detective Yuri Melich, the lead Orange County investigator in the case, and will talk to the son of former meter reader Roy Kronk on Thursday. “The son claims Roy Kronk appeared to have inside information,” Salt said.

Kronk found the remains of Caylee Anthony. Casey Anthony is charged with first-degree murder in the death of her daughter, Caylee.

In reporting on the Casey Anthony case tonight, stations focused on money for the indigent client.

***WESH-Ch. 2’s Bob Kealing explained a new motion by defense attorney Jose Baez that seeks 300 additional hours for an investigator to be paid for by taxpayers. “He says his investigator needs to look into all of this evidence being released by the state,” Kealing reported. “Baez says the 300 hours already budgeted by Judge Belvin Perry to fund the defense investigator has been exhausted.” The cost for those additional 300 hours would be $12,000.

Orlando defense attorney Richard Hornsby, who offers analysis for WESH, asked: “Why should Casey Anthony be treated differently? … Most attorneys don’t need a full-time investigator.”

Anthony is charged with first-degree murder in the death of her daughter, 2-year-old Caylee Marie Anthony. The murder trial is scheduled to start in May.

Kealing predicted that money would be the main issue at a status hearing on Friday. Anthony will attend.

***WFTV-Ch. 9 looked at travel expenses for the defense’s out-of-state experts. “Casey’s attorneys want their experts to be able stay at $150-a-night hotels at the expense of taxpayers,” anchor Martie Salt said. “They also want the experts to be reimbursed for business calls and mileage.”