Casey is indigent? Now what?

[mydailyopinions]

Don't think I haven't thought of that! I'd bust a gut!!

LOL I have to find humor in this now..
I can just see Cindy waiving her finger to LE about the letters, saying that poor Casey is not getting a fair defense because they are out of money! LoL I can also see Cindy waiving her fingers that Baez will not allow her visits..

Who else could she complain to?:dance:

 

[cyberborg]

This is pure speculation, but suppose Baez promised that he would stick with her based on his assumption of big payoffs through publicity, books, movies etc. Nothing in a contract, mind you, as I believe this would be illegal and unethical (??). And now here we are, the defense is out of money to pay for the basic expenses of this case, ie deposing witnesses. Baez and company has to leave, either willingly or forced. Could KC come back and file a lawsuit based on his promises and the fact that he may have convinced her she was best off seeing this thru to trial?

That's the classic! It is one thing to volunteer your time pro bono or based on some future compensation BUT it is completely another to manage the operating expenses of a prolonged case and trial. As Sheaffer states, maybe KC sold all of Caylee's photos but being a rookie JB did not manage the expenses well, had a major Defense team but lots of expenses and so now the well is drying out.

JB has to have operating cash to pay others, such as Labs, Depositions, ancillary services, etc, etc. Once again, had he been expedient he might have done it on the cash he had but ..... playing poker face and dragging this out and the DP going back on the table combined with the SA looking into his finances --- it looks like he bit himself in the butt.

KC may have had an appeal based on this if it did not break but given we are are looking at May 2011 I think this will be resolved and KC will be getting good counsel before much longer.

 

[denjet]

I completely agree.

Where I do support the A's is in the attorney representation of KC. While it is fun to poke at JB I don't think he is doing the right thing for his client. There were a LOT of missed opportunities to take an early plea deal and even plea before the DP was ever back on the table. The SA would have done a deal to save the cost of the searches as well as the trial. KC had a chance to seem repentant.

I do agree that KC is her own worst enemy but she needed a strong attorney to lay it out and not a naive rookie to promise the impossible. Now KC is stuck between a rock and a hard place and the inevitable is to take it to trial and hope for a technicality or juror to save her.

Taking this all of the way to the Trial of the Century is great for JB and his team in terms of notoriety but there is a good chance that KC ends up with the DP.

JB is playing with fire. He doesn't want to call 'indigent' and open that can but time is running out, as well as the money. It takes courage and maturity to know when to call it quits and recognize he is not serving his clients best interest.

bbm
AND integrity ! Baez has none of these qualities ... but KC has approved of her defense and has said she's happy with them so ... oh well

 

[cyberborg]

Quite a pickle our Casey has got herself in. Out of money and can't declare indigency unless she reveals that she paid for her defense of murdering her sweet baby Caylee by selling images of her sweet baby she murdered.

The public outcry from revealing that will be swift and severe.

And they'll instantly lose any teeth they might have had in their claims that poor Casey's been unfairly vilified in the press. Like for the COV.

Think about it.

Sweet, isn't it?

If LE is aware of this it fits the new information and materials coming from an investigation that the SA wants to preclude from the Defense and not allow into public discovery.

 

[RR0004]

If it was me and based on the opinions of others, like Sheaffer and Hornsby, I'd seek to file something against JB _but_ the catch is KC is his client and calls the shots so whether you can do something today versus after trial and a verdict is a question.

AL did say that the A's can visit KC but obviously that has never happened, so that's something to pursue, are the A's able to communicate properly with KC -- not that KC may listen to them since she killed Caylee and maybe wants to remain distanced .... so does not have a LOT of options.

Well, AL says how important it is to involve the family...but something tells me they would never leave Casey alone to talk to her folks (even if those private meetings had been granted).

 

[The World According]

Is Casey Anthony's team running out of money?

The announcement by the spokeswoman for Casey Anthony's defense that she has resigned is raising questions about whether the accused child killer's team is running low on cash.

Marti Mackenzie, a well-known public relations executive, offered no explanation for why she was leaving the case. But high-profile Orlando attorney Mark Nejame says it does make him wonder.

"That would be one of the first places you would look (if money is running out)," Nejame told WDBO. "That's just a luxury and maybe a determination has been made that too much has been spent already."

more at link

Article
http://wdbo.com/localnews/2010/02/is...m-running.html

 

[RR0004]

I've believed from the beginning that the finances in Casey's representation have not been very legitimate. Casey even lied to Baez that she had some money in the bank to pay him. He didn't see $$ from her bank account because there wasn't one.

Based on the complexity of the case, this will literally cost millions to defend.

In the meantime, the defense is nickle and diming the defense. They haven't done very many depositions and a couple of them were in relation to the video of Casey's reaction to the news of the discovery of remains on Suburban Drive.

At the latest hearing, when I heard Andrea Lyon mention the idea of declaring Casey indigent for the purpose of the Jill Kerley deposition, bells went off in my head.

I think this may be coming fairly soon, if Andrea Lyon has her way. She is very legally savvy and knows that the defense needs to get moving.

I also have a sneaking suspicion that Baez isn't shorting himself financially. Would he be willing to open up the books to show the defense finances in order to have Casey declared indigent? I have my very sincere doubts about that for reasons we who have been on the case from the get-go know very well.

Also, would Baez be willing to continue on the case on the payroll of the State of Florida???

...as JBean stated, he may not have a choice. I don't think this is turning out how JB wanted it to AT ALL!!

 

[The World According]

You gotta love Kathi B!!!

I can just picture her winning an award and saying this is for all those mean girls who were hateful to me in high school..called me a nerd and a bookworm... and now...I'D LIKE TO NAME THEM.

 

[cyberborg]

...as JBean stated, he may not have a choice. I don't think this is turning out how JB wanted it to AT ALL!!

If I was JB I would have ridden the coat tails of TL, the DP-qualified attorney, as a co-counsel. He seemed to have a good strategy that made sense to me, originally got the DP off the table and -- JB could have gotten a relative success under his belt and moved on.

"Anytime there is a struggle between doing what is actually right and doing what seems right, then your ego is interfering with your decision." --Darren L. Johnson

 

[RR0004]

If LE is aware of this it fits the new information and materials coming from an investigation that the SA wants to preclude from the Defense and not allow into public discovery.

...would be nice if we could tie DC to it as well.

Just speculating!

 

[RR0004]

If I was JB I would have ridden the coat tails of TL, the DP-qualified attorney, as a co-counsel. He seemed to have a good strategy that made sense to me, originally got the DP off the table and -- JB could have gotten a relative success under his belt and moved on.

"Anytime there is a struggle between doing what is actually right and doing what seems right, then your ego is interfering with your decision." --Darren L. Johnson

You're right...too much ego.

 

[logicalgirl]

I agree that they have not liked JB since day 31, I think GA said as much if not CA.

However, MN was their attorney at first and this article talks of BC who did not join until Dec. when the A's went on LKL and Caylee was found. So if it is true that BC petitioned this new attorney to work on contingency then it was more recent -- although there were likely other coup attempts to remove JB.

"Eyewitness News was told the Anthonys and their lawyer, Brad Conway, were looking for a lawyer to represent Casey who was willing to forego getting money upfront."

http://www.wftv.com/news/22593225/detail.html

Thank you Cyberborg, I certainly understand that and I also understand that MM was not going to jump up and doing whatever GA and CA wanted him to do. He may very well have said - get a grip - only Casey can do this - go and sit down. But we know differently about Brad - he's the "how high" type of lawyer.

 

[logicalgirl]

That's just it - paid or not paid by I don't think when this is finally over that Baez is going to get a lot of deep pocketed customers to defend. He's going to be right back where he started.

However...I've been thinking, which can be dangerous mind you so back up a bit...can the A's throw a wrench into the trial now because they'd file against Baez for not representing KC to the fullest? Or maybe they'll claim that her bad decision in keeping JB on is a sign of mental illness?

Believe me, I'm just grasping at straws, it ain't fact.

Interesting. Since Casey has been declared mentally competent, would the court even care about a filing like that?

 

[strawberry]

The whole thing makes me a little sad...here the As questioned the representation of their daughter...and what does Baez do...forbid Casey from seeing them...because of the Sunshine Laws...yeah, right. I wonder what's been talked about in those letters.

GA was not happy with Baez from the get-go. He told LE that in an interview and he mentioned it a few times to KC. I believe that's when he promoted her to head of her own corporation, IIRC, and wanted her to call the shots instead of Baez.

 

[strawberry]

I wonder if she were declared indigent, if Baez could represent her but would only be paid PD wages. LOVE IT. I think Ms. KC may be up a creek unless Atticus Finch is available.

 

[nums24]

I think this is really interesting and belongs on this thread, it's an article by T. Lenamon titled "The Cost of a Life: Representing the Indigent Accused of Crimes in Florida Courts Today"

Here is the link:

http://www.deathpenaltyblog.com/the...nt-accused-of-crimes-in-florida-courts-today/


Here's an excerpt:

Indigent Defense in Florida

In Florida, every county with a population of 35,000 or more must have a public defender program. However, as the 2009 Justice Denied report by the Constitution Project revealed, county budgets across Florida have been slashed steadily over the years, and public defender programs have lost millions of dollars in these budget cuts. Some Florida counties today actually charge indigent convicts fees to cover litigation costs. Others are refusing to take on new indigent defense cases, telling the courts that to do so will be unethical (and unconstitutional) as they simply cannot provide effective counsel given their limited resources.

 

[Kentjbkent]

Posted this in VERIFIED Lawyer thread (in response to AZLawyer) but since there is no discussion on that thread, thought I would copy here as well...

Comments?



I am still trying to understand what will happen if KC is declared indigent in this particular case as opposed to Baez soliciting the court for Deft Atty Due Process Costs later in the case.

In reading over the court docs for the Nilton Diaz (Lake County) murder case, Jose Baez was the retained attorney. After Mr. Diaz was convicted, Baez solicited the court for Deft Atty Due Process Costs, which leads me to believe that the defense "ran out of money" at some point during the case but I do not see a court document where Diaz was declared indigent until AFTER his conviction, but he was declared indigent for purposes of his Request for Appeal (due to ineffective counsel)

DEFT NOT PRESENT FOR MOTION HRG; ATTY JOSE GARCIA PRESENT (VIA TELEPHONE) FROM ATTY JOSE BAEZ'S OFFICE; ATTY BRAD BISCHOFF PRESENT (VIA TELEPHONE) FROM JAC; RE: DEFENSE'S MOTION FOR DETERMINATION OF ATTORNEY'S DUE PROCESS COSTS: ATTY BAEZ'S OFFICE AND J.A.C. TO GO OVER COSTS IN QUESTION AND SUBMIT PROPOSED ORDER TO COURT.

http://www.lakecountyclerk.org/servi..._Court_Records

So I am wondering if something very similar will transpire in this case, and wonder if Mr Diaz did NOT have the option of applying for indigent status AFTER he had already retained counsel, so Baez only option was to request the state pay the remaining costs of the trial? (But would assume Baez would be SOL on any attorney fees he claims were due to him?)

 

[Sun]

http://lakecountyclerk.org/online_court_records_detail.asp?case_id=78899567

Nilton Diaz --- the eariler murder case of Baez's. Interesting to scroll down and read how Baez is still trying to get payment from the court from that case. Baez is no stranger to asking the court for money. :waitasec:

 

[Bobbisangel]

If they declare her indigent, does the defense then have to show what money they had come in and justify how it was spent? Will we know how much Baez paid himself? Baez certainly wouldn't want this information to be public knowledge.

One more question -- if she is declared indigent, will the present defense team be able to stay on and be funded by the State? I've asked this question in the question and answer thread, but don't think if was ever answered. Does anyone know?

Part way or more through Scott Peterson's trial his attorney said that he was indigent and the state of Calif picked up the cost for the rest of the trial. I would guess that all states work the same way. The same attorney's would stay but they would get paid what ever the state is paying.

 

[Kentjbkent]

Just an interesting side note....

A month ago, I was served with a subpoena to testify as a witness in a Federal Criminal Case as a witness (first time..scary!) After my very brief testimony, I remained in the courtroom to hear the rest of the trial. The defendant was represented by a public defender.

I was shocked at how poorly he represented his client, esepcially when it came to closing arguments. The defendant was convicted of all charges.

Outside the courthouse, I learned that the public defender was a real estate and bankruptcy attorney who had NEVER tried a criminal case before (been in practice over 15 years).

That's when I learned that the law guarantees your right to an attorney, but not necessarily one who specializes (or has experience) in a particular field. Kinda made me question the whole "fair is fair" issue...

So perhaps declaring KC indigent and appointing a PD comes with some risk to her?