2009.10.12 Defense's Motions In Limine-Preclude Murder Case Evidence, Prior Bad Acts

[doogiesgirl]

Oh my goodness, the sleepwalking incident always concerned me that Casey had put something in her friend's drink to test it on her, to really knock her out. ( Of course Amy was not really sleepwalking, any more than Casey had an office at the end of the hall she was walling the detectives down at Universal), but I always thought there was a little more to the story. I hope I am wrong.

I thought that too!!! Whatever it was (chloroform?) she was gonna either test it or have a little fun with it on a few people. I can just see AH sleeping and KC holding a rag up to her nose or putting a ruffie (???don't know what this is so can't spell it) in AH's drink(then helped herself to some cash). Oh yeah, same thoughts here. MOO

 

[beach]

Or it'll guarantee she gets a second trial based on poor counsel in the first one.

ya know, i keep going 'round and 'round about this...early in the case, i thought that was a very distinct possibilty. then came LDB, and i felt a little better about the chances of that happening. eventually, AL (with her high & mighty credentials) joined and i felt totally at ease that could not happen. i just don't know what to make of any of it anymore. since AL is DP qualified isn't she considered 'lead' counsel now, even if in name only? i swear, call me crazy, but if i were her, i would threaten JB within an inch of his life if he filed one.more.document before i had the opportunity to review it. i mean....talk about embarrassing. sheesh.

 

[beach]

I have a few questions please...

What about the 911 call Cindy made saying she needed someone arrested because of grand theft.....Something about stealing the car and that she (cindy) also had affidavits and statements from her bank proving (other)theft. I know Cindy won't likely press charges, but can't the call be used at all in the fraud case?

I too, hope that Shirley P will testify for the state about the money she lost. But will Shirley be able to 'tell' what she knew about the 'taking of funds from GA & CA or will that be "hear say"?

AND in RG's statement he said that KC wrote JG a bum check for a phone bill a long time ago. Can JG testify in this trial about that (if he shows proof?), or does he have to press charges?

Oh yes, GA did state to the FBI during his interview that KC was taking(stealing) money from her moms account, AND the savings account he set up for Caylee AND the piggy bank as well. (sorry, link is in the case files thread) Can the SA use that at this trial as well?

Sorry about all the ?
Thanks all!

i'm going to try to answer as best i can, but we really need one of the attys. to chime in...

SP would only be able testify in re. the money (checks) KC stole from her; SP cannot testify to anything in re. GA or CA.

not sure if CA's 911 call or GA's statement to the FBI would be admissible since they were both originally made in reference to the criminal matter. my instinct tells me 'no'.

in re. the bad check she wrote to JG, i don't think that could come in. iirc, it was a bounced check off of her own account, not a stolen/forged document.

 

[luvmygarden]

I love it when the defense gets on their "soapbox" and complains about LE's incompetence with handling evidence.

It's even more entertaining when that same defense can't even submit a rather simple motion to the court without screwing it up!

I bet some law student is getting an "F" this semester in motion preparation.

I agree!!! They have stated the death penalty was on the table in April 2008 when she wasn't even charged with a crime. Wish I could copy from docstoc but I don't know how.

 

[ZsaZsa]

I thought that too!!! Whatever it was (chloroform?) she was gonna either test it or have a little fun with it on a few people. I can just see AH sleeping and KC holding a rag up to her nose or putting a ruffie (???don't know what this is so can't spell it) in AH's drink(then helped herself to some cash). Oh yeah, same thoughts here. MOO

Or Rohypnol.... the date rape drug. Casey was familiar with it, she told Tracy M that she called it 'roofies'.

 

[lin]

Wondering if JB is familiar with the concept/activity called proofreading?? LOL My word, he makes himself look ridiculous with this kind of thing. KC so deserves to have him as her counsel, she truly does.

Mistakes happen are going to happen in documents. However, one would think that the importance of this case (or any case he happens to be handling for that matter) would at least merit one complete/thorough reread (or even 1st time read, lol) before he submits it to the court.

The more I see of Jose's handiwork, the more I see how perfect he and KC are for eachother. And, the more hilarious his smug expression becomes. JMHO

Mistakes happen and having made more than my fair share of typos, I can overlook that. Well, I could have overlooked that until I considered how much effort I would put into something that I knew would be hitting the media within hours of filing. When I write "typos" of course I am referring to those motions that appear to be prepared by AL or her students. There is just no excuse for JB's rambling, nonsensical, unsupported rants.

Seriously -- if we knew our posts would be featured on the evening news, wouldn't each of us take the time to check for typos? And we don't even have a staff to do it for us!

 

[lin]

I don't know how "lying" can be considered a "prior bad act". When a person goes to trial, their character is also on trial. We all know that a chronic liar has a serious character flaw and Casey is one of the worst liars I've seen.

Anyway, if Casey espouses her mother's philosophy that lying isn't a crime... it's not a prior bad act anyway.

Personally, whatever the judge rules on the motions is okay with me. I really don't think that the State wants to nail Casey's hide to the wall on this one. The just need a guilty verdict to make her a felon prior to the murder trial.

This will be a very short trial:

Amy H. says that Casey borrowed her car and stole her checkbook.

Witnesses to all the documents.

Videos

Verdict: Guilty

There's nothing there for the defense to sink its teeth into. If they want to put up a vigorous defense to the case, they will have to provide some evidence Casey is innocent.

Can anyone come up with how the defense could possibly do this?

It won't fly but they may be thinking of trying to claim KC had Amy's permission. I can't remember which one but sort of recall reading something in one of these latest pleadings that seemed to suggest that to me.

 

[lin]

That is what I am worried about. It would be horrible in the murder trial for sure not to mention the waste of tax dollars.

Question:

Can the court reject motions and etc if they are filled with spelling, grammer and just sloppy work?

No. Well, yeah, technically a judge can measure the margins and throw it out if it's not exact, etc. but it doesn't happen in trial courts. Appellate courts will send it back though!

 

[flourish]

cecybeans, thanks for pointing out the misuse of it's and its. Using the contraction when the possessive pronoun is required drives me nuts. I want to edit every post where I see these two switched incorrectly.
When I taught Freelance Magazine Writing at the local JCollege, I told my students to sound it out. To actually read the it's as two words: it is. If it made sense, leave the apostrophe in, if it sounded foolish take it out and make it one word: its.
Bless you for standing up for correct grammar.:dance:

LOL, azwriter, thank you for that much-needed grammar reminder My second grade teacher taught us that trick. Man, I didn't think I was old enough to say this, but....dang kids these days with their improper contractions and having to learn basic grammar in college!!!

Reading these motions, I wanted to scream, "You are just being repetitive and it makes you sound like a whiny little imbecile! I've read bathroom walls that were more eloquent and succinct than this baloney!"

 

[JSR]

That is what I am worried about. It would be horrible in the murder trial for sure not to mention the waste of tax dollars.

Question:

Can the court reject motions and etc if they are filled with spelling, grammer and just sloppy work?

No, but depending on the court and or district it can be bounced for various things like non sequential page numbering and not properly labeling exhibits etc. It also depends on what clerk happens to be reviewing the filing. If you catch a court clerk on a bad day they might bounce a document that may not otherwise be bounced on a different day.

In appellate courts they have a "cube" that is used to verify the font size on filed documents. You can literally look through the cube and verify font sizes. If you go below or above the required font size it gets bounced. But only appellate courts get that picky with the cube even though federal district courts also have font requirements (which are frustratingly different from district to district). It drives me mad.

 

[RR0004]

That is what I am worried about. It would be horrible in the murder trial for sure not to mention the waste of tax dollars.

Question:

Can the court reject motions and etc if they are filled with spelling, grammer and just sloppy work?

I thought I saw on another thread that it depends on the court it's presented to. For instance if it had been submitted to the appellate court., they could send it back. I think the SA's responses address much of what's at fault with these motions. Now, he did a magnificent job IMO.

 

[RR0004]

No, but depending on the court and or district it can be bounced for various things like non sequential page numbering and not properly labeling exhibits etc. It also depends on what clerk happens to be reviewing the filing. If you catch a court clerk on a bad day they might bounce a document that may not otherwise be bounced on a different day.

In appellate courts they have a "cube" that is used to verify the font size on filed documents. You can literally look through the cube and verify font sizes. If you go below or above the required font size it gets bounced. But only appellate courts get that picky with the cube even though federal district courts also have font requirements (which are frustratingly different from district to district). It drives me mad.

Oh, JSR...you did such a better job answering!!

 

[beach]

Mistakes happen and having made more than my fair share of typos, I can overlook that. Well, I could have overlooked that until I considered how much effort I would put into something that I knew would be hitting the media within hours of filing.

--respectfully snipped

That's what I'm screaming!! :rotfl:

 

[JSR]

I thought I saw on another thread that it depends on the court it's presented to. For instance if it had been submitted to the appellate court., they could send it back. I think the SA's responses address much of what's at fault with these motions. Now, he did a magnificent job IMO.

It does depend on the jurisdiction. But I've yet to ever see a document get bounced for grammar or for misspelled words.

Many state, Federal, and appellate courts have rules regarding the form of submitted papers. They have rules about margins, the type of caption paper (i.e. 28 lined paper), font type and size and even the way a document may be signed. Sometimes these "rules" are overlooked. And sometimes not so much and it will get bounced. Again as I've said before many times it depends on the court clerk who is reviewing the submission.

 

[AZlawyer]

If I were the judge, I would exclude all evidence of prior bad acts (not just the murder but stealing from grandma, etc.) as well as all character evidence. The straightforward check fraud evidence is so simple and obvious--why clutter up the trial with potentially appealable issues? Just grant every remotely reasonable motion the defense files and then convict her anyway, and there will be nothing for them to appeal.

 

[Brini]

Forget first year law students. This hot mess looks like first week law students could have written better. I really would love to know who is funding this mockery of the justice system and it's grade Z defense team.

Actually, let them continue on this route....it'll GUARANTEE KC will get the DP!

Acually, high school freshmen, at a good school could write better.

Or, maybe it's a fiendish plot to make the court forget the English language?

 

[Brini]

Either that or they have software that places certain legal terminology together, based on what they have typed previously. Either way it makes them look nothing less than stupid LOL.

Like the REALLy embarrassing software glitch once experienced by the Pasadena Star-News?

The story was about the Rose Parade. Per standard AP style, "Tournament of Roses" was spelled out the first time, then abbreviated to TofR.

The software replaced the acronym with "tofu." Throughout he entire article. we had the tofu parade, with times and and routes for the tofu. The tofu game at the stadium, with the tofu starting players. The tofu parade judges, the media coverage of the tofu.....

And, it went out that way.

Now, they proofread.

 

[marspiter]

Mistakes happen and having made more than my fair share of typos, I can overlook that. Well, I could have overlooked that until I considered how much effort I would put into something that I knew would be hitting the media within hours of filing. When I write "typos" of course I am referring to those motions that appear to be prepared by AL or her students. There is just no excuse for JB's rambling, nonsensical, unsupported rants.

Seriously -- if we knew our posts would be featured on the evening news, wouldn't each of us take the time to check for typos? And we don't even have a staff to do it for us!

*bolded by me*
I would personally leave the typo's in because it's an innate part of my chaotic character along with poor grammar. As some would say if you can't be famous....be infamous.

In all do seriousness though. Yeah given the gravity of this case and the unrelenting media coverage it has garnered. You'd think they would make sure their motions were absolute perfection.

 

[Brini]

Back in the olden days we used to call it "boiler plating." Using one document as a stereotype so you could bubble several others out of the same format. Seems in the olden days it worked a little better.

It STILL works better.

The trick is, you gotta read what you wrote! (rolls eyes)

 

[chemcopout]

i have a question for the people who know this legal stuff. if casey anthony has a trial and the death penalty is on the table, then it would be possible that the jury find her guilty and recommend death? as opposed to if she took a plea bargain that would say she gets life?
so if she is going to trial, the possibility of her getting the death penalty by a jury would remain possible?
this case is sooo well known it would be hard to find jurors that haven't heard about it i'd think.