Virtually anything said by Casey to another person will be admissible. Thus, if CA or GA testifies, whatever Casey told her/him would be admissible. As an earlier poster pointed out, what Casey said is different from hearsay, because of Casey's special position as the defendant. As the defendant, she is a party in the criminal case, and a "party admission" is not excluded by hearsay rules. (The other party in the criminal case is, of course, the State.)
So virtually everything Casey told people is admissible. BUT this reminds me of something: recently I've been watching the NG "bombshell" videos of the "tot mom" (I hate that expression) at the "actual time of her arrest for murder". Remember how the police interviewer, at one point, calls another detective and says "She's just invoked" ? Meaning, that Casey had just invoked her right to counsel. A defendant's invocation of her right to counsel is supposed to bring all police questioning to a screeching halt. Yet, as one TV talking head pointed out, they continued to talk to Casey after she gave her little speech about having her lawyer present. (It is very obvious that Baez or someone had explained this to her, and had tried to school her on the fact that she should just SHUT THE ** UP and should use the magic phrase "I want my lawyer with me" to stop the questioning.) Too bad they were only able to tell fool Casey this after those July 16 interviews she had voluntarily given police. Every word of those wild-goose-chase (Universal, etc.) interviews is admissible, whether Casey testifies or not. At the time those early interviews were given, Casey was not in custody and she was speaking voluntarily to police. Because she was not in custody at that time, the police didn't even need to inform her of "Miranda" rights.
Whatever Casey said after she "invoked" would not be admissible, but from what I saw of the arrest tapes, she didn't say much of anything significant during that period.
Now, remember that when Casey gave her little detached, quasi-erudite speech about "I have a right to have my lawyer with me" speech, she said something like, "As my lawyer and I have always said..."
That phrase (which I paraphrased from memory) was thrown in because she and her lawyer are going to try to claim that Casey was invoking her right to counsel from Day One, and therefore nothing at all that she told the police should be admitted. Which, of course, is total bunk. On about July 16-17, Casey was blabbing away voluntarily, and it's all coming in.
What CA said to the 911 operator will almost surely be admitted, whether she testifies or not. It qualifies as "excited utterance" or maybe "present sense impression." What GA or CA (and anyone else) commented about the car's smell will almost surely be admitted, whether that person testifies or not. It clearly qualifies as "present sense impression", so hearsay rules do not operate against such a comment.
Imagine the battle over who will call, or not call, GA or CA to the witness stand. Imagine this trial with neither parent testifying. That's not going to happen; they will be called to testify, but just imagine how it would be!
Someone earlier mentioned marital privilege in relation to GA and CA. But I don't think that's a factor here, since neither GA nor CA is a party to the "lawsuit" which is the criminal prosecution. Not sure about that.
Bottom line: Virtually everything Casey said b/f her invocation of her right to counsel (which came very late in the game) would be admissible. Since GA and CA are almost certain to be called as witnesses, just about everything they have said during all this will be admissible, because it will qualify as "impeachment" evidence. Everyone here knows that on cross-exam it's okay to bring up a witness's prior statements, for the purpose of impeachment. Their many prior statements are not consistent. Normal people's prior statements are seldom entirely consistent with what they testify to (much less, those of CA and GA); with CA and GA, there are already discrepancies just btw the various statements made by each of them. It will be an impeachment-fest.
What Caylee supposedly said during her short life may cause a disagreement about hearsay. If CA wants to testify "Caylee said Zanny had a white dog", it seems to me that would be offered to prove the truth of the matter declared--it would be offered to prove that Zanny had a white dog. (So jurors could then surmise that in order to own a dog, you must first exist.) I don't think that would be admissible. It would be hearsay.
So virtually everything Casey told people is admissible. BUT this reminds me of something: recently I've been watching the NG "bombshell" videos of the "tot mom" (I hate that expression) at the "actual time of her arrest for murder". Remember how the police interviewer, at one point, calls another detective and says "She's just invoked" ? Meaning, that Casey had just invoked her right to counsel. A defendant's invocation of her right to counsel is supposed to bring all police questioning to a screeching halt. Yet, as one TV talking head pointed out, they continued to talk to Casey after she gave her little speech about having her lawyer present. (It is very obvious that Baez or someone had explained this to her, and had tried to school her on the fact that she should just SHUT THE ** UP and should use the magic phrase "I want my lawyer with me" to stop the questioning.) Too bad they were only able to tell fool Casey this after those July 16 interviews she had voluntarily given police. Every word of those wild-goose-chase (Universal, etc.) interviews is admissible, whether Casey testifies or not. At the time those early interviews were given, Casey was not in custody and she was speaking voluntarily to police. Because she was not in custody at that time, the police didn't even need to inform her of "Miranda" rights.
Whatever Casey said after she "invoked" would not be admissible, but from what I saw of the arrest tapes, she didn't say much of anything significant during that period.
Now, remember that when Casey gave her little detached, quasi-erudite speech about "I have a right to have my lawyer with me" speech, she said something like, "As my lawyer and I have always said..."
That phrase (which I paraphrased from memory) was thrown in because she and her lawyer are going to try to claim that Casey was invoking her right to counsel from Day One, and therefore nothing at all that she told the police should be admitted. Which, of course, is total bunk. On about July 16-17, Casey was blabbing away voluntarily, and it's all coming in.
What CA said to the 911 operator will almost surely be admitted, whether she testifies or not. It qualifies as "excited utterance" or maybe "present sense impression." What GA or CA (and anyone else) commented about the car's smell will almost surely be admitted, whether that person testifies or not. It clearly qualifies as "present sense impression", so hearsay rules do not operate against such a comment.
Imagine the battle over who will call, or not call, GA or CA to the witness stand. Imagine this trial with neither parent testifying. That's not going to happen; they will be called to testify, but just imagine how it would be!
Someone earlier mentioned marital privilege in relation to GA and CA. But I don't think that's a factor here, since neither GA nor CA is a party to the "lawsuit" which is the criminal prosecution. Not sure about that.
Bottom line: Virtually everything Casey said b/f her invocation of her right to counsel (which came very late in the game) would be admissible. Since GA and CA are almost certain to be called as witnesses, just about everything they have said during all this will be admissible, because it will qualify as "impeachment" evidence. Everyone here knows that on cross-exam it's okay to bring up a witness's prior statements, for the purpose of impeachment. Their many prior statements are not consistent. Normal people's prior statements are seldom entirely consistent with what they testify to (much less, those of CA and GA); with CA and GA, there are already discrepancies just btw the various statements made by each of them. It will be an impeachment-fest.
What Caylee supposedly said during her short life may cause a disagreement about hearsay. If CA wants to testify "Caylee said Zanny had a white dog", it seems to me that would be offered to prove the truth of the matter declared--it would be offered to prove that Zanny had a white dog. (So jurors could then surmise that in order to own a dog, you must first exist.) I don't think that would be admissible. It would be hearsay.