2010.03.08 Motion to Exclude Hearsay, Gossip, Innuendo - Legal insight requested

[AZlawyer]

I echo Muzikman's request.

I know that heresay isn't allowed at trial.

However, I've noticed in other trials that what the defendant said to the witness is admissable.

How does that work???

There are lots of exceptions to the hearsay rule--like the "excited utterance" exception discussed above re: Cindy's hysterical 911 call. Admissions made by the defendant to a witness fall under another exception.

 

[kaRN]

Quoted from motion

The requirements for an excited utterance as interpreted by Florida Courts are:

1) The declarant must have experienced or witnessed an event startling enough to cause nervous excitement.

2) The statement must have been made while under stress caused by the event

3) Statements must have been made before there was time to contrive or misrepresent

Factors a judge should consider to determine whether the necessary excitement or stress is present are the age of the declarant, the physical and mental condition of the declarant, the characteristics of the event an the subject matter of the statement

Cynthia Anthony is not a child, in good physical and mental health, and even though she found out upsetting news, the subject matter of the calls are things she had been dealing with for some time. The same considerations are true for Casey Anthony, and though she is younger, she was not in danger of any physical harm at the time of making the call and calmly explained the events to the 911 operator

In addition, the statement in the 911 calls do not meet all three requirements for an excited utterance, namely the second and third requirements. Cynthia Anthony was still not under the stress of her car being stolen or her granddaughter going missing. Her car had been returned and her granddaughter had not been staying at the house for thirty-one days.

Furthermore, there is a significant amount of time between the two calls, giving Cynthia Anthony time to reflect and regain her composure before calling again to supplement the first call. Time also could have passed between the moment that Casey Anthony informed her mother that the child had been missing for thirty-one days at the moment 911 was called. There is no evidence that Cynthia Anthony was under stress of a startling event

Wow! Wow! Wow! They have got to be kidding me!

1) I don't know what falls under a startling event moreso than just finding out that your two-year-old granddaughter, who can not fend for herself, has been kidnapped... not today, not yesterday, not last week but 31 DAYS ago.

2) Everything Cindy said during that final 911 call was made while under the stress of finding out her granddaughter is missing. Gone.

3) If I remember correctly the final 911 call was made after Casey finally admitted to Lee that Caylee had been kidnapped. The other 911 calls, Casey hadn't admitted this little piece of information. So, Cindy did not have time to contrive (plot) or misrepresent (distort) her words.

Is anyone really upset how they continue to call the kidnapping (murder) of Caylee an "event?" "The event."

I would like to hear what Cindy has to say about them implying that she knew for quite some time that Caylee had been kidnapped before making that final 911 call. That she waited long enough to plot and distort what she was going to say on that final 911 tape.

Also, saying that she was no longer under stress of... this kills me... her car being stolen or her granddaughter going missing. Saying she (Cindy) had been dealing with this "event" for some time. That Caylee had not been at the house in thirty-one days.

:furious:

I am not a lawyer but I can tell you that they will not get the 911 call thrown out.

Great post! Ca was reacting hysterically because she just found the car and it smelled like there`d been a `damn dead body in it` plus all the above. HELLO :banghead:

 

[Reagan]

Sorry but if every 911 call in every case was excluded due to excited utterances ..NO call would ever be admissible.

They are not going to get that 911 call excluded.. no way no how. It shows state of mind.
You can't get past KC's monotone, lack of remorse, careless attitude towards the 911 operator.
The 911 operator asks cindy to put KC on the phone, and she doesn't even wanna talk to them for crying out loud!

It'll be admitted at trial As for the other statements, I'll have to re-read them in context, but I bet a majority of them will be admitted.

 

[Horace Finklestein]

Respectfully snipped for space:

LolaMoon I could not agree with you more on all counts. Something about this bolded in red statement really bothers me. I thought KC and her family were in DANGER from the kidnapper nanny? Isn't that why she didn't call 911 or tell anyone except for non-existent people for 31 days? Because she was in DANGER?!!! Careful Baez....your messing with your own defense strategy.

ETA: I'd like to add that after re-reading this motion, I'm further appauled at the repeated attempts to say that at the time of the 911 call, it was "NOT" an emergency, that they were calmly providing information to assist in an investigation. Bull corn! It was an emergency when a toddler has been kidnapped, no matter the length of time it took the tot mom to get found out and a 911 call made! Additionally, aren't you only suppose to call 911 if it's AN EMERGENCY? Don't they ticket people for abuse of the 911 system? Ok, now I'm just blabbering...sorry.

It gives me a headache to try to reconcile the different stories. There were so many mountains of bs from CA and KC. Cindy said in the 911 call that Casey said zanny took (kidnapped) Caylee. Plus she admitted that she was trying to get the cops there asap - so obviously it was an emrgency. Maybe if they stuck with one story they could have gotten more traction from this - but like someone said, Casey claimed they were in danger, and ALL of that nonsense contradicts the Roy Kronk accusations.

Man I hope this get simplified some before trial time - we need graphs and flow charts - it's like watching Lost

 

[butterfly1978]

snip by me.




I know, right? "People" said it. About as professional-looking as DC's Chart of Forbidden Haters.

I refused to finish reading the memo re this motion once I saw in the statement of facts that they said "on july 16th, 2008, Casey Anthony was arrested and indicted for first degree murder (capital), manslaughter, etc". (top of page 4) WHAT?? well, they're 3 months off right there. How do they expect to be taken seriously with carp like this?

I also love the juxtaposition of this motion with their motion for Jill Kerley's testimony.

That statement is his sub-conscious mind saying that on July 16th, 2008 Casey Anthony's lies unraveled about her committing first degree murder of Caylee

 

[Horace Finklestein]

In the now famous words of Mrs. Drane-Burdick...."It is a farce...it does not even come close to meeting the legal requirement."

This is just as silly as them expecting the judge to
throw out the top count of the indictment,
allow special privacy for Casey, mom and pop during the jailhouse visits,
drop several of the fraud charges,
throw the prosecutors off the case,
to deem LP, Tony and Tracey to have an agency relationship with Baez,
hold the fraud trial after the murder trial,
to hold a private funeral for Casey's folks in the jail,
asking for an ex parte hearing,
let Mr. Casey off the hook from being deposed,
expecting the judge to take the death penalty off the table,
Baez saying setting a reasonable bond would resolve the dilemma of Casey being put on probation ..
and well..pretty much every other motion they have filed.:snooty::furious:

I hope the judge asks them where the heck their witness list is, soon.

AL actually tried to get the DP declared unconstitutional of all things...wonder where her mind is in relation to this case compared with her vendetta against those 'evil' DP supporters.

Oh yeah, and how about that 'evidence' that proves Caylee's body was moved while Casey was in jail? I know Macaluso's off into obscurity, hopefully permanently, but surely the other attorneys would know about this amazing evidence...

 

[butterfly1978]

Hearsay is basically something told to you by another person about an event or words from another person almost like gossip, something that you did not hear first hand. This is basic, Bias is an idiot!
More than half of these statements listed as hearsay are peoples first hand accounts, and there will be character witnesses called so all this BS about "characterization of Casey as a thief, liar, bad mother or relationships with in the family " will also be allowed and besides if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck guess what its a :rubberducky:

This is just another frivolous motion made by the defense to waste the courts time, it honestly has NO merit at all. I didn't see any of those statements as being anything that would not be admissible. JB might as well say hey why don't we just exclude all witness statements because they are all hearsay, innuendo's, and they don't look good to my client.. BOO-HOO she will not get a fair trial.
I pray that JS puts a stop to this BS if he declares Casey indigent, because this is a complete "waste"

 

[Horace Finklestein]

Hearsay is basically something told to you by another person about an event or words from another person almost like gossip, something that you did not hear first hand. This is basic, Bias is an idiot!
More than half of these statements listed as hearsay are peoples first hand accounts, and there will be character witnesses called so all this BS about "characterization of Casey as a thief, liar, bad mother or relationships with in the family " will also be allowed and besides if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck guess what its a :rubberducky:

This is just another frivolous motion made by the defense to waste the courts time, it honestly has NO merit at all. I didn't see any of those statements as being anything that would not be admissible. JB might as well say hey why don't we just exclude all witness statements because they are all hearsay, innuendo's, and they don't look good to my client.. BOO-HOO she will not get a fair trial.
I pray that JS puts a stop to this BS if he declares Casey indigent, because this is a complete "waste"

I wondered about that too. How is it hearsay if it's someone's own opinion of an event that happened to them - with Casey lying stealing, etc.

 

[butterfly1978]

I wondered about that too. How is it hearsay if it's someone's own opinion of an event that happened to them - with Casey lying stealing, etc.

Exactly my point... It is not hearsay when it is facts and you have people who have first hand accounts and when it comes straight from the horses mouth

 

[Searchfortruth]

It's interesting to see the huge amount of evidence that Baez wants thrown out, this from a man that has said there is no evidence proving Casey murdered her daughter.

 

[kaRN]

Respectfully snipped for space:

LolaMoon I could not agree with you more on all counts. Something about this bolded in red statement really bothers me. I thought KC and her family were in DANGER from the kidnapper nanny? Isn't that why she didn't call 911 or tell anyone except for non-existent people for 31 days? Because she was in DANGER?!!! Careful Baez....your messing with your own defense strategy.

ETA: I'd like to add that after re-reading this motion, I'm further appauled at the repeated attempts to say that at the time of the 911 call, it was "NOT" an emergency, that they were calmly providing information to assist in an investigation. Bull corn! It was an emergency when a toddler has been kidnapped, no matter the length of time it took the tot mom to get found out and a 911 call made! Additionally, aren't you only suppose to call 911 if it's AN EMERGENCY? Don't they ticket people for abuse of the 911 system? Ok, now I'm just blabbering...sorry.

I hope JS reads here or is as sharp as you picking up on that. Good catch!! :dance:

 

[ynotdivein]

Quoted from Motion:

There is no proof here that Cynthia Anthony or Casey Anthony did not engage in a reflective thought process as they reported the fact that Caylee Anthony had been missing for thirty-one days...

Three calls to 911, plus all the minutes between those calls, plus 31 DAYS of a sick, enabling dodge-game BEFORE those calls, doesn't add up to enough time for a "reflective thought process"? :furious:

 

[A_News_Junkie]

:waitasec: Over kill to get "the fight" the evening of the 15th tossed?

I should read all the replies first, but ...........could it be to try to divert attention from the document dump coming out Wed am?
And JB whines about trying the case in the media! Ahahahaha

 

[Soju]

Just wanted to quickly chime in to clarify something. It seems a lot of posters are misunderstanding the "excited utterance" thing. Here it is in a nutshell:

Hearsay is generally inadmissible, BUT, it IS admissible if it is an "excited utterance". That means something that you just busted out with suddenly because you were really worked up in the moment. Excited utterances ARE admissible because they are more likely to be TRUE due to the heat of the moment. When someone's in an excited or worked-up state, they aren't thinking about what they're saying, therefore they're less likely to be lying, therefore excited utterances are admissible as exceptions to the hearsay rule.

What Baez is saying is that on the 911 call, cindy wasn't really "excited", and that her comment about the car smelling like a dead body wasn't said in any sort of passionate way, that maybe her and casey had been talking for a while between calls, she wasn't really worked up, and therefore her comment about the car smell should NOT be admissible as an exception to the hearsay rule.

IMO, cindy screaming into the phone that "it smells like there's been a dead body in the damn car" is about as excited and worked up as someone can get. No way will that call be excluded.

I don't want to sound like a teacher, but I just noticed a lot of posters had it kind of backwards, and hoped I could help clarify.

 

[VALee]

I noticed a couple of references in the motion that the stolen car had been returned. They are wordsmithing the heck out of KC's actions, but it is so transparent. 'Returned' implies that KC brought it back. 'Recovered' is a more appropriate word. Or how about impounded from KC and financially released upon receipt of CA's payment.

The motion also indicates CA knew the child was missing for 31 days. What a crock! She only knew that her daughter was playing a shell game of lies on Caylee's whereabouts. It wasn't until at 31 days that KC told her the 'Nanny' took her story. Interesting to see how this plays out.

Finally I love hearing that they want the judge to order the prosecution to respond within 30 days. How about this, on a relative level let's say they respond based on a schedule of 31 days to report a missing child, so this motion, they should get at least 6 months to respond?

 

[mydailyopinions]

Hearsay statements...
Page 12 line 6
Caylee is missing..


I suppose this is hearsay because Caylee was actually dead and rotting out by a curb side the whole time right?
OMG this really ruffles my feathers this morning!:banghead:

Page 15 Line 5
Someone working for the police said Cindy was telling people Jesse was involved...

Wasn't this caught on video between Cindy's interviews? Hearsay?

How is Lee saying that Casey lies hearsay? Wasn't that established even by the judge early on?
Didn't Casey admit that to investigators when she was at Universal?
Omg this stuff is made for movies, not real life!

 

[Jomo]

I think that smelling a dead body in a car (knowing full well what the smell was) would create excited utterance!!!!

CA was definitely excited, panicked, and freaking out as her brain was bit by bit piecing together the lies and gut feelings. The 911 call was the sound of denial crashing like a car hitting a brick wall. Clearly equal to any emergency.

If I were CA, I would be panicked and frantic, blaming myself for not having acted earlier...and urgently acting to limit further damage. (I could equate it to thinking you can fix a leaky faucet, trying to fix it without turning the main to the water off and when it all starts spraying everywhere, calling the plumber to come and fix the problem...excited utterance!)

JMHO

 

[strawberry]

Just the fact that they could come up with 24 pages of statements made that show KC is a liar says it all. It's not as if these people were all asked what lies can you think of that KC said...these are spontaneous statements by various people.

 

[strawberry]

I think that smelling a dead body in a car (knowing full well what the smell was) would create excited utterance!!!!

CA was definitely excited, panicked, and freaking out as her brain was bit by bit piecing together the lies and gut feelings. The 911 call was the sound of denial crashing like a car hitting a brick wall. Clearly equal to any emergency.

If I were CA, I would be panicked and frantic, blaming myself for not having acted earlier...and urgently acting to limit further damage. (I could equate it to thinking you can fix a leaky faucet, trying to fix it without turning the main to the water off and when it all starts spraying everywhere, calling the plumber to come and fix the problem...excited utterance!)

JMHO

Exactly...this is one of the most truthful things CA has said, due to excited utterance.

 

[debs]

Hearsay statements...
Page 12 line 6
Caylee is missing..


I suppose this is hearsay because Caylee was actually dead and rotting out by a curb side the whole time right?
OMG this really ruffles my feathers this morning!:banghead:

Page 15 Line 5
Someone working for the police said Cindy was telling people Jesse was involved...

Wasn't this caught on video between Cindy's interviews? Hearsay?

How is Lee saying that Casey lies hearsay? Wasn't that established even by the judge early on?
Didn't Casey admit that to investigators when she was at Universal?
Omg this stuff is made for movies, not real life!

BBM: Technically, SS said "The truth and Ms Anthony are strangers." Which, I suppose, could be considered speculation? Or prescience. Your pick.