What seemed like it would be another typical day in the State v. Casey Anthony trial on Monday, ended on the contrary, just two mere hours after it even began, with the jury never setting foot in the Orange County courtroom.
Once the clock struck 9 a.m., Assistant State Attorney Jeff Ashton requested defense's first witness, William Rodriguez, postpone his testimony to a later time, due to his deposition being taken on Saturday afternoon, which Ashton said left him with little time to prepare his cross examination.
Defense attorney, Jose Baez, stepped up to the podium to rebut Ashton's request, stating he "ignored the responsibilities of a prosecutor" and that his actions were intentional because he did have the time to conduct his questions.
Once the attorneys concluded their arguments, Chief Judge Belvin Perry Jr. expressed that prosecution and counsel were wasting time and informed them that the jurors were waiting for an hour. Perry created new policy, that whatever matters needed to be discussed would be done so at 8:30 a.m., allowing the trial to begin at its normal hour.
Perry also demanded that Saturday, and perhaps all Saturdays, will transition to full days, therefore instructed the defense to prepare their witnesses.
The judge ordered that the defense must provide written report to the state with all expressed opinions and grounds explaining the basis of those thoughts. "Orders are quite clear to me," said Perry. "This court doesn't make threats; this court simply applies rules."
Perry also added: "There's been gamesmanship and it's quite evident there is friction between the attorneys. That is something I guess the Florida Bar will have to deal with. And at the conclusion of this trial, this court will deal with the violations," which he says the proper remedy for the violations if continued is exclusion.
He concluded, "The state's request to defer testimony will be granted."
Baez informed the chief judge that the counsel's witness would not be ready for another 30 minutes to an hour, which allowed for a brief recess. At the return time Perry allocated, he did not return. All the attorneys went in and out of the chambers for a long period of time. Finally, Perry returned stating the court will be in recess until the following morning, providing no explanation.
The court released a motion to quash subpoena, as well as an amended barring the release of the seated juror's names, signed by Perry.
The motion to quash was filed by Vasco Thompson, the individual Casey's father, George Anthony made several phone calls to in July 2008. He filed the motion to prevent himself from being a witness in the defense's case, a testimony which was set for June 21.
In Thompson's motion, he claims he has no personal knowledge of facts relating to the disappearance of Caylee Marie Anthony, nor does he have any affiliation with the Anthony family.
He believes Casey's reason for for his inclusion in her case is a "misguided attempt to draw attention and publicity to an already publicized matter," and to "create confusion to the evidence and a ploy to create an illusion of unreasonable doubt," according to the document.
Thompson refers to this as "bad faith" by the defendant and requests no further contact from the defense counsel.
The amendment to bar the juror's names was also filed, over a month after the original was filed on May 13, 2011.
(Photography by Red Huber, Orlando Sentinel)
No comments:
Post a Comment