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May 28, 2009 Death penalty lawyer joins Casey Anthony defense teamPosted: 04:24 PM ET
NEW YORK – We got our first look at a new member of the Casey Anthony defense team inside an Orlando, Florida court Thursday and she will play the primary role in saving Anthony's life.
Casey Anthony with Jose Baez, far left, and new attorney Andrea Lyon, right Anthony is facing the death penalty, if convicted of first-degree murder charges involving the death of her two-year-old daughter, Caylee. Attorney Jose Baez introduced Andrea D. Lyon to the judge and prosecutors at a hearing Thursday. Lyon is qualified to handle death penalty cases, Baez is not. He informed the court of her resume, "Professor Lyon has tried over 130 homicide cases. In [sic] over 30 of those occasions, the state has attempted to seek the death penalty and it had never been successful." 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. Her resume includes a stint as a former public defender in Illinois, where she served on the homicide task force. Lyon plans to file motions challenging the state's use of the death penalty. The two sides also argued over two critical defense motions. Anthony's attorneys were hoping to convince the judge to prevent authorities from releasing jailhouse video which allegedly shows Anthony breaking down when learning that the remains of her daughter were found last December 11. Defense attorney Todd Macaluso reacted to any plan to release the tape by saying, "This is cruel. This is inhumane. This is illegal." The court would not rule on the matter until a hearing with the media was scheduled to determine why the video should be public record. On another issue, the judge ruled that the defense can access some of the cell phone records they were seeking, but asked Anthony's attorneys to refile a more narrowly focused motion for the records of Anthony's former fiancé, Jesse Grund, Anthony's former friend Amy Huizenga and meter reader Roy Kronk - whose phone tip led to the discovery of Caylee's remains. The trial is currently slated to begin October 12. -Bob Regan, In Session senior executive producer Filed under: Casey and Caylee Anthony |
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