Why did Jose Baez leave early from court?*MERGED*POLL ADDED*

[rhornsby]

I just saw this interview with Jeff Brown, attorney on many of the talk shows. He talks more about plea than Anything...See whatcha think:

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news...-trial-week-two-wedne20110518,0,2431463.story

100% not a plea.

 

[crucibelle]

I think it was idiotic for him to text the media and it will come back to bite him and his client in the butt.

Amateur doing as amateur knowz.

arar.

moo

:butthead::whipper:

 

[momtective]

Not to be obtuse, but do you really think that the Chief Justice of the Ninth Judicial Circuit would stop jury selection of a Capital Murder trial after lunch on Wednesday so that Jose Baez could deal with a Pretrial Conference scheduled for the following Thursday morning (at the same time Judge Perry has already indicated they will resume no less).

Wouldn't it be more realistic to think that either (a) Chief Judge Perry would personally email or call the misdemeanor Judge in his courthouse and get Jose excused or (b) Jose has already arranged for someone else to cover it for him; and this was the last thing on his mind.

The bottom line is that Jose likely had a family emergency that called him home; and no matter how much you want to fault him, if Judge Perry found it serious enough to let him take time to take care of the situation, there should be no reason for anybody to fault the genuineness of the matter.

Sooooo ready to hear your take on all this rhornsby!
Forgot to say Thank you for gracing us with your presence...it's really cool that you come and hang out with us.

 

[mck16]

100% not a plea.

I agree 110% not a plea. Not after all this time. No way!!

 

[PalmettoGirl]

A family emergency doesn't make sense if he didn't leave the area though.

 

[panthera]

I'm thinking more and more JB took off to file an appeal over the jury process HHJP was forcing them to use. I think that's why he asked for an extra 15 min at lunch. But, as his inexperience goes, he didn't realize it would take so long - hence having to call and say he wouldn't be back. IMO, HHJP didn't look very happy, that could be exactly why.

Of the speculated reasons, this one would make the most sense in light of HHJBP bringing the jury selection process to a halt. Otherwise, I believe it would take a major emergency on behalf of JB when there are other attorneys representing ICA present in the courtroom, and HHJBP had previously stated they would work all day, as long as it took, today.

MOO

 

[crucibelle]

100% not a plea.

Thank heavens. I didn't think so. I'm so glad you said that, because quite a few people are convinced she's going to plea.

 

[LglNrs]

100% not a plea.

My personal feeling was that she is the least likely type of defendant to take a plea deal. The feeling that this criminal defense attorney was expressing was worth a listen, for all of us who are taking in all of the many aspects of this process. Thanx

 

[princesspjs]

If JB was not there after the lunch recess and since the judge announced that the defendant and her council was present wouldn't that mean that JB is no longer her council? Wouldn't the judge have given a reason as to why JB wasn't there IF he were still part of her team?

Doesn't that leave only the following options: JB was fired, JB quit or JB has been disbarred and can't be her council anymore...

 

[iluvmua]

Whew! I though I was going to faint........

 

[chefmom]

I voted "None of the Above". I am thinking he needed to file something or do something to intervene in the A's trying to trademark Caylee's name and the phrase "Justice for Caylee". I am sure that KC is NOT happy with them for that and she is going to have JB stop them. JMO.

 

[panthera]

100% not a plea.

I 100% agree!

And again, thank you for your presence here!

 

[katydid23]

1. Plea deal in the works
2. Motion/complaint filed re jury process
3. Private biz/ family emergency /illness
4. Baez fired
5. Baez quit

 

[cleo612]

I'm not reallly sure what point I want to make with this comment, so take it for what it is worth.

During Jose's little "cry me a river" speech this morning, it almost sounded to me like he was trying to make a point about how much work, time and effort he had invested in this case, but I get the feeling that his comments were not directed at/to Judge Perry.

After watching the video a couple of times, it almost feels as though he is trying to plead his case to someone else (Casey, maybe?).

Even Judge Perry seemed to be responsive to that, in that Judge Perry agreed with him.

If you listen to the audio, it sounds like Judge Perry almost feels sorry for the position in which Baez finds himself.

I think that Baez knew when court recessed for lunch that he was not going to be back for the afternoon session. The IS producer stated that he saw Baez leave the courthouse and drive away at lunch time.

While I at one time held Jean Casarez in high regard for her journalism and neutrality, I now find it hard to believe much that she says. That being said, she did say that she saw the defense team in the court house cafeteria sitting at two tables instead of their usual one table.

I do wish that Jean had said how exactly the defense team was divided up between those two tables; it might give a little more insight into what was going on. She also stated that Anne Finnell spent the majority of the lunch break, pushed well away from the table, and speaking on the phone.

I am still somewhat flummoxed (okay, I am really flummoxed) as to what happened today. I don't have any idea if Casey is wanting to fire Baez, if Baez truly had a private matter to attend to, or just exactly what happened.

If Casey had fired Baez, it seems to me that court would have continued on with jury selection. There would not have been any reason to suddenly halt or delay those efforts as ICA still has a fully qualified defense team without Baez.

If an appeal was being filed, why would they not have written up the appeal and sent the new attorney Fryer on to file it, or even Ms. Sims. Jury selection could have continued while the appellate court reviewed and ruled on any appeal/motion that the defense team had filed.

If there were plea deal discussions going on, why would Baez not have been a part of that and not be present in court? Even if he wanted to discuss a potential plea deal with George and Cindy, he could do that by telephone.

If Baez left due to a family related issue, why could Mason not have handled jury selection. He does, after all, have many years experience in choosing juries, and with input from Finnell and Sims, they could easily discuss and make decisions with ICA regarding potential jurors.

I already have chronic insomnia, and this is entire situation only ensures that I will likely not get one minute of sleep tonight.

I have no idea if aything I said makes sense--I was just writing what I have been thinking about all evening.

I am utterly baffled by what happened today.

 

[LglNrs]

Sooooo ready to hear your take on all this rhornsby!
Forgot to say Thank you for gracing us with your presence...it's really cool that you come and hang out with us.

I sure would love to hear more of your thoughts, rhornsby..Nice to post with you this evening. Thanx

 

[hinman]

Of the speculated reasons, this one would make the most sense in light of HHJBP bringing the jury selection process to a halt. Otherwise, I believe it would take a major emergency on behalf of JB when there are other attorneys representing ICA present in the courtroom, and HHJBP had previously stated they would work all day, as long as it took, today.

MOO

I agree to I think maybe they are trying to get a new judge. I think if it was a family emergency the media would of caught wind of it by now.. JMO

 

[YellowSubmarine]

Of the speculated reasons, this one would make the most sense in light of HHJBP bringing the jury selection process to a halt. Otherwise, I believe it would take a major emergency on behalf of JB when there are other attorneys representing ICA present in the courtroom, and HHJBP had previously stated they would work all day, as long as it took, today.

MOO

Well, and it makes most sense with why he requested a little extra time for lunch, but never made it back and the fact HHJP didn't refer to it as a family emergency or whatnot plus Ashton stating he couldn't comment because HHJP left it off record. What would be the harm in saying "Baez had a family emergency". Also, he didn't leave Pinellas and he was seen laughing and smiling.

 

[technicalconfusion]

If JB was not there after the lunch recess and since the judge announced that the defendant and her council was present wouldn't that mean that JB is no longer her council? Wouldn't the judge have given a reason as to why JB wasn't there IF he were still part of her team?

Doesn't that leave only the following options: JB was fired, JB quit or JB has been disbarred and can't be her council anymore...

JB cannot quit. New law in Fla prevents him from doing so.

 

[Pink Panther]

Thank heavens. I didn't think so. I'm so glad you said that, because quite a few people are convinced she's going to plea.

I think that she should have pled and still hold out hope that she will. Unfortunately, I don't believe that she ever will. She'll take this right to end and then she'll try to appeal. She will go on and on for time and attention until she dies (by natural causes or otherwise). I do not believe that she is emotionally affected by the jury selection process or by the potential that she will be put to death. Sociopaths have no fear. They do not have the ability to understand cause and effect. This is just another day of entertainment in her life...

I have seen these behaviors first hand.

moo

 

[mck16]

My personal feeling was that she is the least likely type of defendant to take a plea deal. The feeling that this criminal defense attorney was expressing was worth a listen, for all of us who are taking in all of the many aspects of this process. Thanx

Thanks for posting that link. I like this attorney and have seen him before on talk shows. I have heard several of the heads on In Session and CNN say that the method JP is using for jury selection is unorthodox and that the DT should file a complaint. They actually stated that it should have been done on Monday. So, that is what I think may be occurring and if it is the Judge has to go along with it and let it run its course. I hope it isn't the case, but if it is so be it. We will just have to wait and see. But, I believe the judge said court would resume at 8:30 in the morning. jmo