The defense team of the mother of Caylee Anthony the two year old child that was murdered in June 2008, has yet lost another high powered attorney from their team.
Linda Kenney Baden apparently filed a motion to withdraw from the case as counsel yesterday in Orlando. Baden is a forensics and cross-examination expert that has been working with the defense since 2008. She is also the third attorney to drop out of the team this year. The others were Todd Macaluso and Andrea Lyon.
Baden claims that since the tot mom was declared indigent there were too many rules placed on spending in the case by the Justice Administration Commission. She stated, “As out of state counsel I have been traveling to Florida and elsewhere to properly represent Ms. Anthony.†Now she says it is her understanding that the JAC prohibits payments of such costs to out of state attorneys even though they have rendered and are rendering their services free of charge.
So now Baden says she cannot remain an attorney for the defendant in the absence of substantial funds to cover the costs of travel and reimbursement for expenses which they do expect to raise the closer the date for the trial comes. She had to travel to Orlando from New York so she could be in the courtroom with the defendant. She claims she would prefer to stay and continue on the team but she is forced to withdraw because the state of Florida fails to reimburse out of state pro bono attorneys for expenses.
As a high powered attorney that this woman is supposed to be it seems to me that she should have known all this before hand. I would have thought that any attorney on this team should have known Florida’s rule once the defendant was declared indigent. If all of them are going to cry now that they aren’t being reimbursed for their expenses, they never should have gotten involved in the case to begin with. I always was under the understanding that “pro bono†meant free of charge. Why should the taxpayers have to pay for the defense and their expenses anyway? I don’t think this defendant is so special that she would deserve to have the taxpayers foot her entire defense team bill to begin with. If she can’t pay for an attorney she should have had to settle for a court appointed attorney like any other defendant would have.
My question is, did Linda Baden really step down because of financial reasons or does she now feel like the defense is going to lose their case and she would rather not be a part of a losing team? True she is denying this but one has to wonder. Of course we wouldn’t expect her to announce that she was leaving the team because she now thinks the defendant is guilty but I can’t help but wonder if that is really why she is leaving. I can bet that I am not the only one to think this way as well.
I have always wondered if that was why Andrea Lyon left. She took pride in her claim that she never lost a case before in the death penalty phase, so maybe she thought for sure she would lose in this case if she stayed, so to protect her record she decided to leave. Of course this is all just questions in my mind, I have nothing to prove it but I am sure others think the same as I do.
As you all know, Caylee Anthony’s mother (sorry but I refuse to type out her name, she doesn’t deserve her name to be in print) has been in jail for about 2 years now since a grand jury handed down an indictment against her for first degree murder of Caylee. The state is also asking for the death penalty in the case that she is found guilty. She is scheduled to go to trial on these charges in May 2011. America will be watching and I know I will be waiting for justice in this case to finally be done so little Caylee can finally rest in peace. God bless her little soul.
Let us not forget all the children missing, including little Adji Desir and Haleigh Cummings, both from Florida to name a few. I pray that one day they will be found and they too will get the justice they so well deserve. God bless them all. I pray for them all everyday and won’t stop til they are found.
Jan Barrett
18 users commented in " Caylee Anthony’s Mom’s Defense Loses Another Lawyer "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackLogic states that attorneys are backing out because they know this is a losing battle. It was clear that Baez has been using the “It could not have been Casey because she was in jail when Caylee’s body was dumped where it was found” defense and now with that falling to pieces, I think they are all running scared.
If Baez’s quote that the “Scores of people have been telling us, all day long…” were actually true, then there would have been numerous people deposed by now, who could have truthfully cast doubt as to when Caylee’s body was dumped there. And even if there really were people to say that they searched the area, and she wasn’t there, then there is still the forensic evidence that they would have to try to disprove–that is going to be even harder to dispute.
Yeah, my bet is that these attorney’s don’t want this on their records, prosecuting a high-profile murder trial and losing. That is defiitely not going to help them attract new clientelle to represent.
I am sure they knew in advance that pro-bono meant they weren’t going to be getting a cent. How can they expect to even claim expenses for a pro-bono case. That is not even logical, and it now likely the only excuse they can think of to back out without losing what’s left of their dignity.
Jan,
How glad I am to read your post!
I was thinking of Caylee reading that book today. I would have loved to read to that beautiful child. So many people want children and would be good to them. I wish the evil people would place them for adoption rather than hurt them. We must all work for justice for the children.
Caylee’s mom will receive justice here and in the next world. Be assured.
Great article. I agree it is not money that lawyer left over. She had other reasons. The financial situation has been the same for 2 years. Why leave now??
Hi, Jan!
So glad to see another great article by you! I miss you and Simon!
I agree with your thoughts in your article.
In my opinion, money was not a factor. I think LKB bailed long ago but it just was not formalized. That is why Baez brought the other attorney on board some weeks ago or has it been months ago?
Pro Bono means just that! In my county, attorneys that are pro bono do not get reimbursed for travel, lodging, and meal expenses. There are not a lot of pro bono attorneys handling cases versus court appointed in my area. They rarely surface!
When Baez was searching for his “dream team” (LOL), all of the lab results were not available yet.
I think he presented the case to the other attorneys and stretched the truth, which he is a pro at!
I think these attorneys hopped on board to promote their own agenda. Lyon promoted her book as well as LKB. Isn’t Maculosa now disbarred in California?
To save face, they used “money” as the reason to jump off of the sinking ship! If one checks the jail house visitor logs for Casey Anthony, LKB did not visit that frequently.
Who the he$$ is Casey Anthony that she should have these attorneys from all over the U. S.?
She sold pictures of Caylee for $200,000 to ABC and Baez pi$$ed through it; then Casey is indigent. From the get go, this POS so called mother, should have been appointed a court appointed attorney.
What a mockery of our justice system! I bet the taxpayers of Florida are livid! I know I would be if I was a Florida taxpayer!
The next one to jump the sinking ship will be Mason. I don’t understand how he hopped on board because he stated Casey was guilty or something to that effect as this case unfolded. Some time later, he is on board the sinking ship! It appears he and Casey do not have a rapport during court appearances!
This is a circus with a revolving door and a sinking ship! LOL
Thanks for the great article, Jan!
Thank you, Jan, for a great article about little Caylee. Just a little over six months to the trial! (We hope!)
Hi, Everyone!
The only things I have to add to the discussion is that I think initially Linda Kenny Baden had expectations of some kind of remuneration. I think it was at the indigent hearing? When the judge asked her she said she had had an “agreement” but she had just torn it up.
So her leaving could be related to $$ or the case or both. OR – maybe Baez himself? Or the way he’s running this case is driving people away?
Great article, Jan. It’s like rats leaving a sinking ship-and I don’t blame the lawyers for bailing! This case seems to taint everyone associated with it.
Excellent article Jan. I completely agree with you that she doesn’t deserve her name to be in print!! How could she sleep at night knowing what happened to her beautiful daughter? I can’t wait to watch the trial next year. Seems so long! I still pray that justice will be served. Also that devil’s child will NOT get away with the torture and suffering she brought onto Caylee.
I totally agree with you Jan. In fact do I not only think they are leaving because they don’t want to lose, I think they now know what kind of person she is and they don’t want to hang their hat on that loser. So glad to see you are back. I REALLY miss your shows.
I totally agree. Linda K.B. would not say “I am leaving because I think she is guilty” but it would obviously be the right thing to if you felt that way. I have a hunch that if all these lawyers truly believed in her innocence, that they would care enough about her life to represent her. They don’t care and that is because they see her guilt. BTW, thank you for not typing her name because I feel the same way. When I want to see updates on the case I only google “Caylee Anthony” because I don’t want what’s-her-face to have the satisfaction of hearing that her name was one of the most googled names of the year. LOL. It’s silly, I know, but I think it was in 2009 that her name WAS one of the most googled names of the year and you know she relished in that fact so I hope others take the same approach and only google Caylee 🙂
To me it doesn’t really matter who comes or goes on this team. All I car about is justice for caylee. I don’t think lkb would have stayed either way…I think she knew from day one that casey was guilty, but bozo had her convinced that they together could get her off. Thinking of the $$, she stayed. Now that all the evidence is pointing right at casey, lkb knows this is not going to go good for casey, so she bailed. Thanks for the update Jan.
The only thing that surprises me is that it took THIS long for the attorneys to start bailing! It isn’t the money that is causing them to bail. It is being on the losing team that is causing them to bail. They all jumped on board when they thought they had a chance to win. This was a high profile case and they all saw $ signs, face time on camera, book and movie deals and of course more clients. But now that they know they have no chance of winning they are jumping overboard. I just hope Bozo goes down with the ship. Let this be a career ender (not that he really ever had a career as an attorney) for him.
JAN – SO very happy to see you writing an article about Caylee. God Bless you! Caylee WILL have her justice. Still praying for Haleigh to receive hers! 😥
And for anyone following the Zahra Baker case, they’ve arrested the dad….just on the bad check charges…..for now. He isn’t due in court until Nov. 18th. I’m hopeful that by then they’ll be able to add some charges for him and the stepmother. These people are WICKED and Zahra deserves justice. Praying LE finds what they need to convict these two!
They’ve found the mattress that belonged to Zahra that her parents got rid of days before they reported her missing. If you have read the transcript or heard the 911 call….please do. It will truly open your eyes. The father makes small talk, even chuckles and starts laying out the kidnapping theory during the call. He isn’t upset, anxious, excited, nothing. And we’re supposed to believe he’s truly reporting his daughter missing and possibly kidnapped. 🙄
Let’s hope LE gets evidence from the mattress they need to charge the dad and stepmother. Justice for Zahra and all the angels who have been taken from us too soon. 😥
**haven’t*** – not *have* 😳
I dont believe they should be excused..they were all jumping on ship for the publicity..did they believe her to have money to afford them..dont think so…so why are they allowed to jump the ship and claim I cant afford to help now…you jump in for free for the publicity then you pony up the cash for the fame and publicity you seek !!!see how many Attorneys think before they jump in the future…commercials made be cheaper for the publicity seeking hounds!!!
SV – well said! These fools were all jumping at the chance to get their ugly mugs in front of the camera. What exactly do they think Pro Bono means? Do these attorneys not know the law and that these expenses would not be covered? Or were they betting on a big win and now see that as impossible? Whatever their motives for signing on and now bailing, I’m sure they are less than honorable. I say stop with the side show, send all these “Pro Bono” fame seeking loud mouths packing and give Casey a Public Defender. Why is she so special to get all this attention anyway? She’s a baby killer! She’s a lying, thieving, self-absorbed, twisted, skanky, horse-faced, pole-hunching, baby killer! She doesn’t deserve all they high powered attorneys!!!! 👿 GRRRRR!
I think when she went over the coffin flies,in the trunk.LKB though its time to GET from here!!! lol
Ill put some of my other thoughts down later.
Who cares if she lies or not. Obviously she is panic stricken and afraid. But there is no cause of death. So how can you say she committed murder? What if the child died by accident, or even neglect? The people who killed thousands in 9/11 were not put to death? They killed children too. More then one. Why should this woman? Because you don’t like her? She may not have done it. People lose all reason when they see cute little children, and it leads to unfairness. Its obvious a persons life loses value as they stop having chubby cheeks and hands.
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