Fla. mom’s lawyers have spent $205K in murder defense; She requests public funds for her case
By APFriday, March 19, 2010
Fla. mom seeks funds to pay for murder defense
ORLANDO, Fla. — Before Casey Anthony was arrested on a charge of killing her 2-year-old daughter, ABC paid the Florida mother and her relatives $200,000 for exclusive use of family photos and videos.
Anthony’s defense team told a Florida judge Thursday the money is gone, and they asked that she be declared indigent, which would mean taxpayers would pay for part of her defense. Her attorney, Jose Baez, said that the money was used for her legal defense after she was arrested in October 2008.
The judge hasn’t ruled on whether she can use public money and how the legal fees for her defense team would change if the request is granted. Judges in Florida can set limits on how much defense attorneys charge when they are paid with taxpayer funds.
Baez told the judge Thursday that in addition to the money from ABC, Anthony’s defense fund had received $70,000 from another attorney on the defense team and a $5,000 anonymous donation. Some of her lawyers have worked pro bono.
All that money is gone, and Anthony has no source of income, Baez said.
Circuit Judge Stan Strickland asked Baez to provide a more detailed account of how the money was spent.
ABC spokeswoman Cathie Levine said the deal to acquire a library of Anthony photos and videos was made in August 2008, two months before Anthony was arrested for murder. The money went to an attorney who was representing Casey Anthony and others, and the images have been used by the network’s broadcast and online divisions as well as its affiliates, she said.
“No use of the material was tied to any interview,” Levine said. “It was a story we were covering and we licensed photos and footage in the use of coverage of that story.”
Casey Anthony has pleaded not guilty and has said a baby sitter kidnapped Caylee. The toddler’s remains were found in December 2008, six months after she was reported missing.
Anthony’s trial is scheduled to start in May 2011.
