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Criminal Defense Attorneys for Casey Anthony respond to State
 Defense Attorneys for Casey Anthony have filed a motion that is a Casey Anthony’s reply to the state’s response to the motion to preclude death procedures. Filed by Jose A Baez and Andrea D. Lyon, criminal defense attorneys for Casey Anthony, the motion is in response to the answer given by the Florida State Attorney’s office. The motion to preclude the death penalty procedures was filed by criminal defense attorneys Jose Baez and Andrea Lyon on September 30, 2009. The motion asked the court to preclude the prosecution from seeking the death penalty against their client, Casey Anthony for the following reasons.
The defense attorneys stated that the prosecution sought the death penalty against Casey Anthony using motives that stemmed from bad faith, and that those motives infringed upon Casey Anthony’s civil rights. They also stated that the prosecution does not have a legitimate interest for seeking the death penalty against Casey Anthony. Due to the lack of physical evidence in the case, the defense states that there is not enough evidence, as required by law, to prove aggravating circumstances, or that those circumstances would warrant the death penalty.
Casey Anthony’s defense attorneys also stated that should the prosecution prove capital murder, there would only be one aggravating factor that would constitute a capital felony: that Caylee Anthony was under the age of 12 years old. Baez and Lyon stated that by law, the prosecution cannot prove that Casey Anthony committed a crime that was especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel. They also stated that the prosecution could not show that Casey Anthony was guilty of a cold, calculated, and premeditated murder.
Other specifics mentioned by Casey Anthony’s defense attorneys included that as a matter of law; the prosecution could not establish that Casey Anthony murdered Caylee Anthony after committing aggravated child abuse. They said that it is unconstitutional to seek the death penalty solely because the victim is under the age of 12 years old. They compared the case of Casey Anthony with previous Florida cases and said that should the prosecution prove that Casey Anthony, did in fact murder Caylee Anthony, the death penalty would not be appropriate since it wasn’t upheld in other cases.
Due to the lack of evidence against Casey Anthony, her defense attorneys concluded that the prosecution was seeking the death penalty against Casey solely to gain an advantage over the defense. They also said that the death penalty violated Casey Anthony’s civil rights and prejudiced her.
Click here to read the motion filed on September 20, 2009 regarding the death penalty against Casey Anthony
Click here to read the response filed by Casey Anthony’s defense attorney’s regarding the State’s response to the motion filed on September 20, 2090.
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