Legal Questions for Our VERIFIED Lawyers #1

[doogiesgirl]

Based on your Florida statute cite, I may agree their is a potential criminal violation if corpus could be proven. But I would never agree that giving a client a letter from her parents constitutes dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation.

With all due respect...honestly RH how can you say that? There is a reason the jail system has a mail set up for inmates and a reason why lawyers are not to be bringing in mail in an underhanded way. For all we know....they could be getting their stories to coordinate through those letters. An important little issue, some questions, that if they had not had the benefit of secret communication, might lead to evidence in the courtroom.

So my question is....you say you have no issue with bringing an inmate mail from a family member right? Ok....so do you show this or tell jail officials this when you enter? If no, then it is wrong.

You have to remember that THESE PARENTS, THESE FAMILY MEMBERS, are all part of this murder case and have already been proven liars.

moo

 

[LambChop]

Why would any attorney encourage their client to break jail rules? Isn't that what JB is doing????

 

[beach]

Question in re. Melich's investigative summary -

It is my opinion that Robyn Adams did refer to 'chloroform' in her unsworn statement to YM (1/27/10), then, backed off during her sworn statement to FDLE (2/12/10) referring to "stuff" and "antihistamines or something" to make Caylee sleep.

IF the SA opts to not introduce the letters, phone calls or use Robyn Adams' testimony at trial, can Melich's report be used in any way by the defense to discredit him? Wouldn't the SA have to 'open the door' in re. RA before her statements or Melich's report could be introduced?

 

[Macushla]

Mr. Hornsby, a lot of us are very suspicious of what you are trying to accomplish here - but I bet you have already figured that out, haven't you?

So I am going to ask one simple question and once you answer it, I will have no more questions, suspicions, etc. and will be completely satisfied as to why you are doing/saying some of the things you are doing/saying.

IF you are asked at some point in the future - near or far - to join the defense team for KC Anthony, will you join?

Bumping my post: Still waiting for an answer - hope you all enjoy the music!

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-S90Uch2as[/ame]

 

[Bittiness39]

How long can the state keep evidence from the defense? Given the date of the upcoming scheduled trial...I was just curious. Can the state withhold damning evidence from the defense until the very last minute? By minute, I just mean the appropriate time constraints.

 

[MADJGNLAW]

Based on your Florida statute cite, I may agree their is a potential criminal violation if corpus could be proven. But I would never agree that giving a client a letter from her parents constitutes dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation.

:waitasec: I am confused..nothing new LOL.

Baez/Casey brought in a third party into this so I would assume there is no attorney client privilege.

Also, take note of what the defense has admitted to with their statement.
They admit Casey wrote the letters and gave their reason as to why. So we have an admission. Also, a sign clearly states that "Attorneys are not authorized to convey to an inmate any written communication of a personal nature." So, yes Baez broke the rules and has admitted to it IMO through his presser.


I do have a question regarding who can file a complaint with the "Bar" regarding this matter. I was under the impression that anyone can file a complaint to the "Bar". Is that so? TIA

"Snip" http://www.clickorlando.com/news/23085002/detail.html

Baez has declined comment since the letters were released.
A legal team for Anthony on Tuesday released a statement that said in part, "The letters released today reflect the natural desire for companionship when isolated for 23 hours a day, and clearly demonstrate Casey's unconditional love for her daughter Caylee.
Despite these intentions, it is obvious in the letters authored by Robyn Adams that her sole purpose and only goal in corresponding with Casey Anthony was to create 'leverage to get out of prison early.' "

Outside the attorney's entrance at the jail, a sign clearly states that "Attorneys are not authorized to convey to an inmate any written communication of a personal nature."[/

 

[doogiesgirl]

Why would any attorney encourage their client to break jail rules? Isn't that what JB is doing????

Yes and you know that saying, "actions speak louder than words". So by his actions he is influencing KC that it's ok to break the rules....just make sure you can get away with it. He is the "supposed" professional, officer of the court, in an authoritative position next to KC, so he is really sinking low. Lower than usual. IMO he should be disbarred. I just am having a hard time with any respected attorney making the statement that "it's ok to bring inmates letters from family members on the down low. I'd love to hear you recant this statement RH? Any chance of that?

Some bad karma(and with me karma = reap what you sow) is coming JB's way IMO.

:cow:

 

[LambChop]

And it's not as if KC could not write and receive letters from her parents the same as every other prisoner. JB could have asked KC to let him review the letters prior to her send them off to her parents but let's face it, JB did not trust KC and obviously for good reason. She can't be trusted. She has just proved that to the world. JMO

 

[ZsaZsa]

Yes and you know that saying, "actions speak louder than words". So by his actions he is influencing KC that it's ok to break the rules....just make sure you can get away with it. He is the "supposed" professional, officer of the court, in an authoritative position next to KC, so he is really sinking low. Lower than usual. IMO he should be disbarred. I just am having a hard time with any respected attorney making the statement that "it's ok to bring inmates letters from family members on the down low. I'd love to hear you recant this statement RH? Any chance of that?

Some bad karma(and with me karma = reap what you sow) is coming JB's way IMO.

:cow:

I agree. If the Corrections Officer gets reprimanded/fired over this, so should he.

 

[AZlawyer]

Does anyone know who requested these phone calls in the first place? Someone, somewhere had to request the jail copy each phone call for release. That means someone should have had to pay a pretty penny for all the time the jail expended collecting and copying these requested phone calls.

I'm not savy enough to figure out the money trail, but I know just the forum to ask for help. They are a great bunch of sleuths!

I believe rhornsby was the first one to make the request.

 

[AZlawyer]

My question is for AZlawyer (thanks for all your comments!) - do you think it is likely that the SA will file felony charges against JB or would the charges have to go through Judge Strickland? ie - do they follow the standard process on investigating a crime, or since it involves JB's defendant does her judge have to issue charges or ???? Do you think that both SA and JS can ignore his crimes? Would they do so now (charge in whatever way, SA or JS, or wait until after KC is convicted? Thanks in advance!!!

JB's felony, if it is addressed at all, will not be handled within KC's case. It is a separate criminal matter and would be handled just like any other criminal matter.

 

[AZlawyer]

OK, so I get it. Although JB is a sneaky pete, passing notes to his client etc. he probably won't be charged with anything because no one saw him do it and it probably isn't out of the norm. Too bad, So sad.

I have to preface my question with an assumption that the letters we have read can be proven to have been written by KC. I'm not sure I'm convinced that this is true but let's assume it is for the moment.

Numerous statements in the letters indicate that JB passed personal letters to KC which is evidently against the jail rules. KC indicates a "crush" on her attorney. KC refers to her attorneys as her "boys". Obviously, the relationship, at least from KC's point of view is not the normal client/lawyer relationship.

Now skip forward to the day that KC is convicted and the appeal is filed, by a new attorney. What would be the first appeal ? Well obviously ineffective console.

So what can the justice system do now, to reduce the chance of a successful appeal ?

To my mind, nothing KC says could convince me that she understands how her supposed "relationship' with her lawyer might be hindering her chances of getting good representation.

Could the judge appoint a lawyer to sit with KC's team to make sure she is getting effective counsel? It surely would be cheaper to do that then retry her a second time after a successful appeal.

Just asking.:banghead:

She has more than one competent lawyer on her team already. And I don't think any of the letter-passing/"boys"/crush info would show ineffective assistance of counsel. Ineffective assistance has to be something that harms the client's case.

 

[AZlawyer]

There are so many posts on the letters that I cannot keep up with the threads. So here is my question.

Assuming that the SA wants to introduced something from the letters as evidence, how do they prove they were in fact written by KC ?

The snitch's credibility is in question, so that's out.

KC won't testify to anything and certainly not truthfully, so that's out.

The guard can probably be trusted to say she knew letters were placed in books but did she read any of them ?

Is handwriting analysis accepted in a court of law ?

Is there anything in the letters that only KC would know that can be proven ?

If the snitch is not believed when she testifies as to what KC said to her, how would we believe she didn't fake the letters herself? I suppose if she was going to "fake" the letters she'd have put a confession in them. But I certainly could believe a judge would not allow these letters into evidence.

Having said all that, the case probably doesn't need these as evidence and maybe should be ignored by the SA.

Just asking.

I think it will be easy to prove that KC wrote the letters. First of all, I doubt that the defense will make it an issue. They are so obviously written by her and in her handwriting, and the statements made by the defense so far have been along the lines of "she was bored," not "those aren't her letters."

Second, yes, handwriting comparison is admissible at trial. (Handwriting "analysis"--i.e., what your handwriting says about your personalites or emotions--is not admissible.)

 

[AZlawyer]

Why would any attorney encourage their client to break jail rules? Isn't that what JB is doing????

I'm assuming this is a rhetorical question...(coughcoughbecauseheisa:loser.

 

[AZlawyer]

Question in re. Melich's investigative summary -

It is my opinion that Robyn Adams did refer to 'chloroform' in her unsworn statement to YM (1/27/10), then, backed off during her sworn statement to FDLE (2/12/10) referring to "stuff" and "antihistamines or something" to make Caylee sleep.

IF the SA opts to not introduce the letters, phone calls or use Robyn Adams' testimony at trial, can Melich's report be used in any way by the defense to discredit him? Wouldn't the SA have to 'open the door' in re. RA before her statements or Melich's report could be introduced?

If RA is not called as a witness, none of this should come in.

If RA is called as a witness and says, "KC told me she used chloroform on the baby," her recorded statement NOT mentioning chloroform will likely be used to discredit HER (not Melich).

If RA is called as a witness and says, "KC told me she used antihistamines on the baby," Melich might be called by the defense to testify that she gave a different story to him first, to discredit HER (not Melich).

 

[AZlawyer]

How long can the state keep evidence from the defense? Given the date of the upcoming scheduled trial...I was just curious. Can the state withhold damning evidence from the defense until the very last minute? By minute, I just mean the appropriate time constraints.

According to the rules, evidence has to be disclosed quite promptly--certainly within a couple of months.

But no one cares about those rules.

So, as a practical matter, now that there are disclosure deadlines set by the judge, if the State meets those deadlines, they will probably be OK--unless there was some obvious attempt to hold things back to disadvantage the defense team's preparation, and the defense team makes a big fuss about it.

Not a very clear-cut answer, I know.

 

[AZlawyer]

:waitasec: I am confused..nothing new LOL.

Baez/Casey brought in a third party into this so I would assume there is no attorney client privilege.

Also, take note of what the defense has admitted to with their statement.
They admit Casey wrote the letters and gave their reason as to why. So we have an admission. Also, a sign clearly states that "Attorneys are not authorized to convey to an inmate any written communication of a personal nature." So, yes Baez broke the rules and has admitted to it IMO through his presser.


I do have a question regarding who can file a complaint with the "Bar" regarding this matter. I was under the impression that anyone can file a complaint to the "Bar". Is that so? TIA

Yes, anyone can file a complaint, although I heard recently from a WS member that the Florida Bar does not like to process complaints unless the person making the complaint is "involved" in the case.

In AZ, the AZ Bar does not generally process complaints if the person IS involved in the case (and the case is ongoing), because they assume there is some ulterior motive in making the complaint. :banghead:

 

[Zoe Bogart]

Originally Posted by LambChop
Why would any attorney encourage their client to break jail rules? Isn't that what JB is doing????

I'm assuming this is a rhetorical question...(coughcoughbecauseheisa:loser.

AZlawyer, I think YOU are my new crush. :blowkiss:

Thanks for taking the time to answer our many questions. :woohoo:

I'm still laughing...........

 

[SevenSeas]

Sorry OT, but may I just say a Great Big Thanks to the lawyers on this thread!!!

You've been helping us out a great deal here, and we really appreciate it!

Carry on... :wave:

 

[chefmom]

If RA is not called as a witness, none of this should come in.

If RA is called as a witness and says, "KC told me she used chloroform on the baby," her recorded statement NOT mentioning chloroform will likely be used to discredit HER (not Melich).

If RA is called as a witness and says, "KC told me she used antihistamines on the baby," Melich might be called by the defense to testify that she gave a different story to him first, to discredit HER (not Melich).

Forgive me for asking this if it has already been answered, but there are so many questions and so little time. :angel: If the SA decides to bring these letters into evidence to show conflicting statements of KC, prior knowledge of evidence that had not been released, admission of abuse, etc., how will JB be able to object or counter any of it without putting KC on the stand? It seems to me that these letters, being in the perp's handwriting, are direct testimony of hers. So, won't JB essentially have to admit everything is true or have KC take the stand and explain why it isn't? TIA!