I am no lawyer but even I know how ridiculous this new motion is that Casey Anthony’s defense team has reportedly filed. According to the Examiner.com and WFTV.com her attorney’s are asking the court to allow them to put someone on the stand on behalf of their client to tell her story about why she didn’t tell anyone about her daughter, Caylee Marie Anthony, missing for those 31 days before Casey’s mother reported it.

The Examiner used the titles “Casey Anthony Defense Motion Requesting Someone Other Than Casey Be Allowed to Tell Her Story at Her Trial” and “Casey Anthony team files motion asking someone testify on her behalf“. WFTV prefers “Defense Wants Someone Else To Tell Casey’s Story To Jury”

I almost fell out of my chair when I read these headlines. The reporters claim that this new motion came as a result of the Defense team having to give up their so called mental health experts testifying at the trial about Casey’s behavior after her daughter disappeared. If their witnesses were to take the stand it would give the prosecutors the right to have their own experts to examine Casey which could then lead to having her take the stand herself. Of course the defense doesn’t want that to happen.

According to both The Examiner and WFTV the defense claim that they want someone to tell Casey’s side of the story but apparently they don’t want the words coming out of her own mouth. OK so if this is allowed, wouldn’t this be someone testifying as hearsay? I always thought that was not allowed in courts. If someone else took the stand and only repeated what Casey Anthony says then it is just what she told them to say. That doesn’t make it a fact. Besides at this point what makes the defense team think after all this time of them keeping quiet that anyone would even believe her side of the story? I know I won’t.

Unfortunately neither WFTV nor The Examiner seemed to have bothered actually reading the Defense motion.

It is not about getting a ‘surrogate’ on the witness stand. It is about the admissibility and use of the two reports by ‘head doctors’ Danziger and Weitz. Neither doctor will be on the stand, but the defense would like the ability to use their reports.

Actually this is an interesting conundrum, if Perry permits it, how would it be procedurally introduced? If neither doctor will be taking the stand, the only ‘witness’ would have to be Casey Anthony herself. I find it very hard to believe that even a desperate defense would risk putting Casey in that situation. The prosecution would have a field day. It would make Discovery’s Shark Week look like a bunch of goldfish in a bowl.

As with much ‘news’ published these days the Latin term Caveat Emptor ‘Buyer Beware’ should be applied when reading these articles by The Examiner and WFTV.

Simon and Jan Barrett

Let’s all remember the reason for this trial to begin with… Justice for Caylee!!!

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