ORANGE COUNTY, FL -- A jailhouse video showing Casey Anthony reacting to news that her daughter Caylee's remains had been found should be sealed permanently because making it public would be "cruel" and "inhumane," her attorney told a judge Thursday.
Circuit Judge Stan Strickland delayed a decision on whether to release the video, saying he wanted input from lawyers from media organizations before he rules.
Casey, who was at the hearing, has been in jail since October, accused of murdering her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee Anthony. Her trial is set for October.
Defense attorney Todd Macaluso told the judge that releasing the surveillance video would violate Anthony's right to privacy since it was filmed while she was in a medical office at the Orange County Jail seeking medical treatment.
Anthony's attorneys have alleged that her jailers worked with the Orange County Sheriff's Office to have the television news on in the medical office so Anthony's reaction could be recorded. The Orange County Sheriff's Office has said there was no orchestration with the jail.
"This is cruel. This is inhumane. This is illegal. This unconstitutional," Macaluso said. "This defies any common sense of what law enforcement should and should not do."
Anthony's attorneys also asked a judge for the cell phone records of several witnesses in the case, including Roy Kronk, a meter reader who discovered Caylee's remains last December. Kronk's attorney, as well as attorneys for the other witnesses, told the judge that the request was too broad and amounted to a "fishing expedition."
The judge asked Anthony's attorneys to refile their motion for the phone records so that the timeframe of the information they're requesting is more narrowly focused.
NEW DEATH PENALTHY ATTORNEY JOINS ANTHONY DEFENSE TEAM
An attorney who is qualified to handle death penalty cases in Florida is joining Casey's defense team.
Andrea D. Lyon is a clinical professor of law at the DePaul University College of Law in Chicago where she also directs the law school’s Center for Justice in Capital Cases.
Lyon, who will be the attorney of record in Casey's murder trial, is expected to be introduced by lead attorney Jose Baez at a hearing today.
Baez is not qualified to be the attorney of record in a death penalty case. Lyon has been involved in more than 130 murder cases.
