Legal Questions for Our VERIFIED Lawyers #1

[ZsaZsa]

But he didn't have any direct knowledge of her guilt or innocence when he was stating his opinions on the news! His former opinions are not evidence.

Yes, I see. Thanks. I guess I was expecting that since he is a an Attorney with many years of experience, he had formed his guilty opinion after reading the evidence. He was hardly a casual observer, his opinion was sought precisely because he is an expert.
I just find it odd that someone who makes public statements as to a persons guilt can be believed at all in the role of her defender.

 

[AlwaysShocked]

Scott Peterson's attorney, Mark Geragos, did the exact same thing. On the Larry King Live show.

 

[Jolynna]

You are right, what was I thinking. Her attorneys should just advise her to plead guilty, give up all hope, and agree to the imposition of the death penalty.

RH,

Would Casey have to take the stand to bring in sexual abuse as mitigating evidence? If you were Casey's defense attorney how would you transition from "Zanny did it" to an accident & cover-up defense (imo, Casey's best hope)? Would you put Casey on the stand to explain the "accident"?

 

[semisweet]

So here's the question that's been on my mind all day (TIA to our lawyers!).

We've seen the 'Casey' letters, and from reading them we know she was in turn getting letter from Robyn. Would there be any legal reason that we would not get to see Robyn's letters to Casey? It seems to me that there could be more to be learned from them. Besides just answering Casey's notes, she might have commented on things they discussed through the 'bean hole' or when they were actually together. Would Robyn's notes be protected somehow from the Sunshine law because she is not the defendant in this case? Again, TIA!!

 

[rhornsby]

So here's the question that's been on my mind all day (TIA to our lawyers!).

We've seen the 'Casey' letters, and from reading them we know she was in turn getting letter from Robyn. Would there be any legal reason that we would not get to see Robyn's letters to Casey? It seems to me that there could be more to be learned from them. Besides just answering Casey's notes, she might have commented on things they discussed through the 'bean hole' or when they were actually together. Would Robyn's notes be protected somehow from the Sunshine law because she is not the defendant in this case? Again, TIA!!

Yes, the question depends upon "active" versus "passive" involvement of a state agent in eliciting the letters (Technically it is a violation of the Sixth Amendment right to counsel - long explanation). I was going to blog about it, but the jail calls have taken me a different direction.

 

[fay]

Hi, due to the voluminous amount of evidence and hearing after hearing and now these letters, is it possible the trial could be delayed or is the date set in stone?
I just saw a show about a murderer and the case went to trial 10 years after arrest! wth?
Is that normal in high profile cases like this?
thank you

 

[semisweet]

Thanks RH. I saw your post about the Robyn calls. Different direction for sure. Seems like every time we 'nail' Casey, it dissolves into thin air......

 

[rhornsby]

Hi, due to the voluminous amount of evidence and hearing after hearing and now these letters, is it possible the trial could be delayed or is the date set in stone?
I just saw a show about a murderer and the case went to trial 10 years after arrest! wth?
Is that normal in high profile cases like this?
thank you

Normal. no 5 years is max I see. But sometimes the defendant is found incompetent to proceed and has to be sent to state hospital to try and be brought back to competency. In that rare circumstance the trial can be delayed 10 years.

 

[nancy botwin]

RH,

Would Casey have to take the stand to bring in sexual abuse as mitigating evidence? If you were Casey's defense attorney how would you transition from "Zanny did it" to an accident & cover-up defense (imo, Casey's best hope)? Would you put Casey on the stand to explain the "accident"?

Not RH, but I can answer the first question. The defense does not have to put Casey on the stand to introduce childhood sexual abuse as a mitigating factor at sentencing. The defense can instead call an expert to testify about his/her examination of Casey Anthony-- Casey's allegations would have been revealed during examination and formed the basis of the expert's findings-- so Casey's allegations come in through the backdoor and Casey doesn't face cross-examination.

 

[butterfly1978]

Who can file a complaint against an attorney, would it be the state, or does it have to be another attorney or judge?
What I am asking is, Why hasn't a complaint been filed against JB for all the rules he has broken? There are at least 5 diffrent incidents where JB has broken rules and yet he still remains. Look at the fact that he was passing letters to Casey, this was stated by BC, KC, GA, CA and KH, not to mention that he had smuggled the bracelet in, and KC was talking about him smuggling food and puzzle books. Completely disregarding the rules of the jail, who would file a complaint about that? If any volunteers are needed I will file the complaint if I'm allowed.

 

[AZlawyer]

Who can file a complaint against an attorney, would it be the state, or does it have to be another attorney or judge?
What I am asking is, Why hasn't a complaint been filed against JB for all the rules he has broken? There are at least 5 diffrent incidents where JB has broken rules and yet he still remains. Look at the fact that he was passing letters to Casey, this was stated by BC, KC, GA, CA and KH, not to mention that he had smuggled the bracelet in, and KC was talking about him smuggling food and puzzle books. Completely disregarding the rules of the jail, who would file a complaint about that? If any volunteers are needed I will file the complaint if I'm allowed.

Anyone could file. You know what would be most effective, though? If a fellow criminal defense attorney filed (cough cough RH ).

 

[darnudes]

Anyone could file. You know what would be most effective, though? If a fellow criminal defense attorney filed (cough cough RH ).

Richard has talked about this before, may have to try and find his blog about it. Going by his credo though I'm not sure he'd 'RAT' out another defense attorney.

 

[darnudes]

Casey mentions on page 74 of the letters, dated 4/1/09, that she will be going home late summer.

So if she wrote this at the beginning of April and late summer in the US is what, the end of August (?) what was happening court-wise that led her to believe this was going to happen?

 

[notthatsmart]

I have a question for Rh. How often does the information after the time of death play a bigger role than the information leading up to the death? It seems the longer this trial awaits the more new information we get. But its never anything about what happened leading up to the time of death. For the last year, the doc dumps have not provided much in the way of info leading up to the death. Do they focus the trial on that time frame first? or do they mix it all up? These tapes and letters to me are just another one of those things that really have nothing to do with premeditated murder. Thanks

 

[AZlawyer]

Richard has talked about this before, may have to try and find his blog about it. Going by his credo though I'm not sure he'd 'RAT' out another defense attorney.

He said on another thread today that he did not believe it was unethical to sneak contraband into the jails.

I disagree.

Florida Rule of Professional Conduct 4-8.4 Misconduct

A lawyer shall not:

...

(c) engage in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation;

...

ETA: If you're a lawyer, here's a good way to check whether you are being honest with yourself when you decide that something is not unethical. Ask yourself if you are willing to pick up the phone, call the State Bar counsel (who "prosecutes" ethics violations), and ask him/her if they agree that you are doing nothing wrong.

 

[AZlawyer]

Casey mentions on page 74 of the letters, dated 4/1/09, that she will be going home late summer.

So if she wrote this at the beginning of April and late summer in the US is what, the end of August (?) what was happening court-wise that led her to believe this was going to happen?

Craziness? Seriously, though, that's a good question, although not really a legal question. I would go back through the "news" threads and try to figure out what could possibly have made her think this.

 

[AZlawyer]

He said on another thread today that he did not believe it was unethical to sneak contraband into the jails.

I disagree.

Florida Rule of Professional Conduct 4-8.4 Misconduct

A lawyer shall not:

...

(c) engage in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation;

...

ETA: If you're a lawyer, here's a good way to check whether you are being honest with yourself when you decide that something is not unethical. Ask yourself if you are willing to pick up the phone, call the State Bar counsel (who "prosecutes" ethics violations), and ask him/her if they agree that you are doing nothing wrong.

It also appears to be a third-degree felony in Fla. to sneak "any written or recorded communication" into a jail:

http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=Ch0944/Sec47.HTM

BTW, it is against the ethics rules to "commit a criminal act that reflects adversely on the lawyer's honesty, trustworthiness, or fitness as a lawyer in other respects." Rule 8.4(b).

 

[rhornsby]

It also appears to be a third-degree felony in Fla. to sneak "any written or recorded communication" into a jail:

http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=Ch0944/Sec47.HTM

BTW, it is against the ethics rules to "commit a criminal act that reflects adversely on the lawyer's honesty, trustworthiness, or fitness as a lawyer in other respects." Rule 8.4(b).

You may be onto something, but there is the little corpus delicti issue. I am not saying you are wrong, just I am not going there unless I see him do it.

 

[rhornsby]

He said on another thread today that he did not believe it was unethical to sneak contraband into the jails.

I disagree.

Florida Rule of Professional Conduct 4-8.4 Misconduct

A lawyer shall not:

...

(c) engage in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation;

...

ETA: If you're a lawyer, here's a good way to check whether you are being honest with yourself when you decide that something is not unethical. Ask yourself if you are willing to pick up the phone, call the State Bar counsel (who "prosecutes" ethics violations), and ask him/her if they agree that you are doing nothing wrong.

Based on your Florida statute cite, I may agree their is a potential criminal violation if corpus could be proven. But I would never agree that giving a client a letter from her parents constitutes dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation.

 

[AZlawyer]

Based on your Florida statute cite, I may agree their is a potential criminal violation if corpus could be proven. But I would never agree that giving a client a letter from her parents constitutes dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation.

It's not the passing of the letter that's deceitful--it's the sneaking it in part. When you go into the jail, you are impliedly representing that you are willing to follow the rules and not commit any third-degree felonies while there.

I understand what you mean about the "corpus delicti" issue. In law school, I had 3 people tell me that someone else was cheating off my exam in my Intellectual Property class. After reading the honor code, I decided I couldn't turn him in since I didn't have eyes in the back of my head.

So I absolve you of all responsibility for turning him in. Now Brad C, on the other hand, IIRC mentioned the letter-passing on TV. Maybe he is not a criminal lawyer and didn't know it was wrong? But he should know now...