A lot of lawyering, a lot of frustration

I arrived at the courthouse about a half hour early, early enough to breeze through security and go up to the 23rd floor. That afforded me enough time to have a good conversation with one of the senior reporters on this case before others arrived. We talked about several issues related to the case, and one of the topics dealt with journalists and bloggers.

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Get Bent

Dura lex sed lex. That's Latin for "the law is hard, but it is the law." Such will be a lesson learned by the defense in the courtroom today, I'm afraid.

What was scheduled to be a status hearing has turned into one of greater magnitude, and one that Casey must attend. She hasn't appeared in court since the July, when her mother and brother took the stand over the admission of Cindy's 911 calls.

While the status of the case will still be discussed, two defense motions will also be heard, and that will include counter motions filed by the JAC and theOrlando Sentinel. Defense attorney Ann Finnell recently filed a motionthat asked Judge Perry to set a cautionary budget for costs she expects to incur to properly represent Casey prior to a sentencing phase; to be prepared if she is convicted of capital murder. The next motion will once again ask the judge to reconsider prior rulings over the public's right to see Casey's jail records, including phone calls, visitor logs and commissary purchases.

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Woe is Mee

On February 16, 2007, I wrote a post about the poor St. Petersburg girl who couldn't shake off hiccups. Believe me, I could relate. Although hers lasted more than a month, mine only hung around for about 2 weeks. Doctors tried everything with her, but in my case, a heavy dose of one medication in particular knocked them for a loop. Today, at the first sign of a hiccup, I panic. No way do I ever want them again.

Interestingly, and in one of those "Whatever happened to..." moments, Jennifer Mee has resurfaced in the news, not that she ever reached an acclaim that gave us pause to wonder where she went to begin with. Today, the now 19-year-old sits in a jail cell in St. Pete, charged with first-degree murder, along with two cohorts. In a statement released late Sunday, Sgt. T. A. Skinner, of the St. Petersburg Police Department, said Mee had been arrested along with Laron Raiford, 20, and Lamont Newton, 22. All three had been taken into custody on Saturday in connection with the death of 22-year-old Shannon A. Griffin. Allegedly, Mee lured the victim to a house where the other two robbed him. When he struggled, he was shot several times. Dead. They admitted their involvement to authorities.

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Casey McDingles

HERE'S WHAT REAL WITNESS TAMPERING IS ALL ABOUT

There is a no-brainer running around like a chicken without its head who insists she knows what witness tampering is all about. She doesn't, and this will serve to quash any and all rumors she keeps firing into wasted Internet bandwidth. At the same time, it will explain exactly what it is. Merely interviewing someone is not. Suggesting they change the truth most assuredly is.

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As The World Burns

Brad Benson is the owner of a Hyundai car dealership in South Brunswick, NJ. In 2003, he offered Saddam Hussein a brand spanking new car if he would flee Iraq. That advertising campaign wasn't successful and he pulled the ad after it ran only two days, replacing it with an apology for any offense that may have been taken by anyone, Muslim or otherwise.

To give you a little background, in the 1980's, Benson established himself as an offensive lineman for the NY Giants, having played there for 12 seasons. Today, he is better known around the state for running his "Idiot Award" ads, where he's singled out celebrities like Roger Clemens, Mel Gibson and Lindsay Lohan.

"We don't have your typical car commercial," he said, and to be frank, they have been quite effective. Three years ago, he was selling about 60 cars each month. Today, in spite of the present economy, that number has grown to over 500 cars per month.

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A formidable presence

As quiet as a church mouse, Ann E. Finnell entered into the Ninth Circuit Court, a Notice of Appearance last Thursday, September 30.

ANN E. FINNELL, the undersigned attorney, hereby enters her appearance on behalf ofDEFENDANT, CASEY ANTHONY, joining attorneys Jose Baez, Esq., and Cheney Mason, Esq.,inter alia as an attorney for Defendant.

Inter alia, for those not familiar, is Latin for "among other things," meaning she is joining the crowd. The more, the merrier, so to speak.

What you may not have noticed, though, are two motions rolled into one that came attached with it; something she filed on behalf of her new client, Ms. Anthony. The nerve. Judge Perry wasn't even given a chance to acknowledge her notification yet.

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Worth losing sleep over

Last Friday evening, it rained. Of course, living in Florida, it can storm at a moment's notice, bringing with it the wrath of rumbling thunder and lightning. Anyone who reads my blog understands that I take an Internet time out from 7:00 pm to 7:30 pm Monday through Friday to watch Jeopardy. Last Friday was no different until, suddenly, in the middle of the Double Jeopardy round and without warning, an intensely brilliant white light burst through the living room window, accompanied by an immediate explosion of sound, louder than anything I'd heard before. CRACK! In that split second, it was gone, and so was our electricity. Within minutes, power returned, but no cable. After the box rebooted, the living room TV returned, but Jeopardy was over. Darn it! I missed Final Jeopardy.

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You be the judge

Central Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers 2010 Judicial Poll

I was planning on writing about my very eventful weekend, including the trip to Gainesville, but a Casey Anthony status hearing took place yesterday, and that takes precedent over personal matters. My story will come in due time. This one will actually be a two-parter; the first part will cover the hearing. The second part will be about a very interesting document that came into my hands.

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Another day of discovery

While Casey Anthony's defense team continues to depose forensic experts at Oak Ridge National Laboratory today, the prosecution released additional documents this morning. The lab conducted air tests on Casey's car and claimed that evidence showed signs of human decomposition...

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Pie in the sky?

The term "pie in the sky" originally meant to be a promise of heaven while continuing to suffer through living in the material world. It was coined by Joe Hill in a song written by him in 1911. Joe was a Swedish-born itinerant laborer who migrated to the United States in 1902. The Web site phrases.org.ukdescribed his radical songs as he fought for labor organizations. "The phrase appeared first in Hill's 'The Preacher and the Slave', which parodied the Salvation Army hymn 'In the Sweet Bye and Bye'. The song, which criticized the Army's theology and philosophy, specifically their concentration on the salvation of souls rather than the feeding of the hungry, was popular when first recorded and remained so for some years."

You will eat, bye and bye,
In that glorious land above the sky;
Work and pray, live on hay,
You'll get pie in the sky when you die.

Today, it can allude to many things, such as asking for more than you may end up with. You ask for the sky and end up with pie...

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Baez announces two new defense team attorneys

Jose Baez and Cheney Mason announced the names of two new members of the Casey Anthony defense team.

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A Portrait of War

There isn't a day that goes by where the heavy echoes of war escape us. Today, we live in a world filled with radical extremists, justified to maim and kill in the name of their god. The following story is my hideous wake-up call. It came at a time when wars were fought over more mundane causes - patriotism, democracy, communism, bigotry and territorial rights. This was back when building a bigger bomb was all the rage and nations proudly strutted their hardware in order to intimidate their neighbors and enemies.

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Slowly, the wiles of justice churn

"Carla was my very best friend. We talked about everything and anything together. It didn't matter where we lived. If Carla was there, it was home to me. Now I feel very alone.''

- Jim Larson in 1999

When John Huggins was arrested for the murder of Carla Larson in 1997, several ministers who knew him said no way. He was not capable of doing such a horrible act. After all, they proclaimed, this was a gentle giant, anointed by God to do great work. He had become a born-again Christian. He volunteered to go on many missionary trips to Haiti to help build schools, churches, and to run clinics. No, the preachers collectively agreed, John was a good man. For the sake of Carla and all her loved ones, law enforcement thought otherwise...

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When karma strikes twice

At 6:13 PM EDT on October 26, 2006, Danny Harold Rolling took his final breath. Florida's most notorious serial killer since Ted Bundy was executed by lethal injection for raping and carving up five college students in a ghastly spree that horrified and terrorized the University of Florida's campus in Gainesville back in August of 1990, just as the fall semester got underway. Each one was murdered with a hunting knife. Some were mutilated, sexually molested and put in gruesome poses. One of his victim's severed head was placed on a shelf, her body posed in a seated position...

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Trial by Ambush

PART I

I hate being late to anything, but on Monday, so many people were present at the courthouse waiting to go through security, it was a full 9 minutes before I entered courtroom 19D, meaning that I was 9 minutes late since Chief Judge Belvin Perry, Jr. is a stickler for being prompt. When a hearing is set to start at 1:30, it starts at precisely that time. Courtroom 19D holds some bittersweet memories for me, too. It's Judge Strickland's courtroom, and the one where I was called up to meet him on that fateful October day last year. Alas, life goes on, but it's a date I will never forget...

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The loud bark of low heeled derelicts

Last Tuesday, Cindy Anthony e-mailed Local 6 News saying she would give away a pair of Caylee's shoes to a nonprofit organization called Children of Love Foundation, which, primarily, donates shoes, food and clothing to orphans in Central Florida and Honduras. What a mess that simple e-mail created. After WKMG announced the news, the trolls came out in droves, like a festering cauldron of abomination boiling over...

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