2011.01.03 - Today's Current News **NO DISCUSSION HERE PLEASE**

Stay with WFTV for continuing coverage of Monday's hearing, which WFTV.com will be streaming live.

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A judge has ruled that attorneys for a Florida mother charged with killing her 2-year-old daughter have violated a court order to turn over information about expert witnesses who will testify on her behalf.

Circuit Judge Belvin Perry said Monday in Orlando that Casey Anthony's defense attorneys missed deadlines last month.

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Perry said the defense must comply with the order and agreed that the defense's violation of the deadlines was "willful."

Ashton suggested that a charge of civil contempt and fines of up to $500 per day were appropriate.

Instead, Perry said the defense will be fined in an amount equal to the state's cost for bringing the motion for sanctions.

The state will have to determine such an amount and submit paperwork to the court before Perry issues a final order on the amount of the fine.

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Perry then asked Baez about missing the deadline.

"Did it occur to you that you should seek an extension of time?" Perry asked. "Did not that (the court-ordered deadline) mean anything to you?"

Defense attorney Cheney Mason says there should be no sanctions. His team is working hard on a "remarkably time-consuming event . . . We're doing what we can."

In his ruling, Perry said defense experts must provide reports and opinions in seven days. Anything not expressed in their reports or opinions or during their depositions will not be allowed at trial. The rules of criminal procedure provide for exchange of discovery to avoid "trial by ambush," he said.

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The state said it plans to file responses to the defense's stance on several motion before Perry issues a ruling. Several other motions will require a separate hearing to determine if the science behind the evidence is reliable enough to be presented at the trial.

Drane-Burdick argued that many of the defense motions regarding evidence should have been filed by Nov. 30.

Perry said that he will hear the motions, but again reminded the defense that they are on a short leash. He suggested that Ashton's idea of civil contempt would be his next step.

"Deadlines mean deadlines, folks," Perry said.

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The other issues covered today include:

• A defense motion to restrict telephoto courtroom photography and "audio eavesdropping of defense."

• A motion to compel the Judicial Administrative Commission to pay for transcripts of the depositions of state experts from Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Perry granted these costs.

• Two motions regarding statements of former Casey Anthony boyfriends Anthony Lazzaro and Anthony Rusciano. The defense wanted the so-called "sexual interrogation" statements of those two men kept out of the trial.

• A defense motion to bar testimony about an "opinion" from Texas EquuSearch President Tim Miller that Casey Anthony on certain occasions was "about to mark on a map where the body was." This motion also was granted.

• Defense motions to preclude information about Casey Anthony obtaining a shovel from a neighbor and to block evidence about a table knife found in her car. Perry did not rule on this matter while the state prepares a response.

• A defense motion to block statements from George Anthony, who indicated that his daughter has "a history of lying and/or has a history of stealing." The defense team has said that "character evidence" information is irrelevant to the charges she faces.

• A motion to suppress a jail interview of the defendant. This will require an evidentiary hearing later on.

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