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Anthonys' High-Profile Lawyer Calls George And Cindy "Victims"

Posted: 4:24 pm EDT September 9, 2008Updated: 1:24 pm EDT September 10, 2008

The high-profile Central Florida lawyer who now represents Caylee Anthony's grandparents says they are the victims and people are blurring the lines between the parents, George and Cindy, and their daughter, Casey.


VOTE: Grandparents Are Victims? | Allow Casey To Leave? | George Justified?
NEJAME DEFENDS: Watch Raw Interview | Video Report
CASEY VISITS ATTORNEY: Images From September 9 Visit
WOMAN TAKES TRASH: See Images | Watch Interview
PSYCHIC PROBLEMS: Gail St. John Under Investigation
"ANGEL KILLER" PROTESTERS: See Images | Watch Interview
ARCHIVE: Read Previous Reports On Anthony Case
MESSAGE BOARD: Talk About Anthony Case

"They have been maligned, misrepresented in the press, been vilified by the press, blogs, by individuals," said Mark Nejame. "People are forgetting that these are grieving parents."

MARK NEJAME DEFENDS
Watch Raw Interview

Nejame spoke for the first time about the case to Eyewitness News before appearing on several national talk shows. He said he believes accusing George and Cindy is the worst form of judgment.

"Families are victims," said Nejame. "People have forgotten that I represent George and Cindy Anthony. I do not represent their daughter."

George Anthony faces two battery charges after he pushed two people off his lawn and into the street (SEE: Images | Raw Video | Incident Report). Nejame said his client has a right to protect his property.

"Mr. Anthony thought that he had somebody on his property and he has the right to move them off of his property," said Nejame. "There is a vague line as to where they were."

Nejame said there is no line of demarcation as to where the property line actually starts, and he had a final word for those he believes are making the Anthonys out to be suspects.

"Shame on you for vilifying this victim. You are part of the problem. You are not part of the solution," he said.

NeJame said George and Cindy are working with authorities, answering calls about possible sightings of the little girl, but they aren't digging up dirt looking for bones.

"They believe, they desperately believe that Caylee is still here and that's their right," he said.

There has been speculation of possible book deals with the Anthonys. NeJame said the family has no intentions of doing that. Also, he said the family did not pay one penny to bond their daughter out of jail last week, but they did sign a promissory note to look after her.

"If the person leaves, clearly the Anthonys don't have that net worth, but the bondsman will have something to go after and take everything they own," NeJame said.

Late Wednesday morning, Cindy Anthony released the following statement via email regarding their relationship with NeJame: "We went to Mark NeJame for assistance in dealing with our rights to privacy. Mark will be handling any of our legal questions and concerns. Larry Garrison is the Anthony family spokesperson. Larry and Mark will be working together as a team for the family. Larry and I have agreed to let Mark clear up any questions regarding his role in assisting us legally."


IS ANTHONY HOUSE BUGGED?

Who's listening to Casey Anthony? Has her house been bugged? She spent six hours meeting with her attorney Tuesday and is scheduled to be back at Jose Baez's office Wednesday. The visits are leaving some to wonder if she's afraid to speak inside her own home.

Eyewitness News covers criminal cases every day, but never before has a lawyer and a client met so often and for so long.

CASEY VISITS ATTORNEY
Images From Sept. 9 Visit

Caylee Anthony was first reported missing 55 days ago. Eyewitness News has new information about three places detectives believe Casey may have left Caylee's body. Now, Casey's own neighbors are starting to turn against her by digging through her trash.

Casey Anthony spent five hours at her attorney's office Tuesday and Monday and plans to every day this week. That's a lot of billable hours for her attorney if they're working on the case the whole time.

The amount of time begs the question: Does Casey not feel comfortable being at home for some reason? The jail says Casey Anthony has every right to work on her case with her attorney and her house arrest cannot interfere with that, but several hours every day for a child neglect case?

When Casey left jail the first time, her attorney told Eyewitness News she doesn't feel comfortable speaking freely at the jail, even though she meets with him in total privacy there, suggesting the jail could be bugged.

But what about the Anthony's house? Are they worried it's bugged? Could it be?

Law enforcement experts told Eyewitness News that investigators would have a tough time convincing a state or federal judge to allow them to do it. Casey is a "person of interest" in daughter Caylee's disappearance, but the law says investigators would have to show that Casey is revealing real evidence about the case at home and the only way for them to get it is to secretly record her. But investigators say all she's done is lie to her family and friends.

Investigators apparently will have to find some other way to explain why, two days after Caylee disappeared, Casey traveled to an area near UCF where there are woods and water, and to similar areas by the airport and Jay Blanchard Park, out of the way places for her considering her routine.

Investigators will also have to find some other way to find out why Casey had a dinnerware knife in the car that she abandoned, the car where investigators now say they believe Caylee's body had been.

Mark Nejame, who is representing George and Cindy Anthony dismissed claims of the house being bugged saying the Anthonys had nothing to hide.


NEIGHBOR SEARCHING THROUGH ANTHONY TRASH

There was another strange twist Tuesday in the search for missing toddler Caylee Anthony. An Orange County woman is now conducting her own investigation by going through the Anthony's trash.

WOMAN TAKES TRASH
Images | Watch Interview

The woman doesn't want to be identified other than as Lorraine. She told Eyewitness News she decided to find out exactly what is going on inside the Anthony home by looking through their garbage.

George Anthony wheeled out his trash to the road Tuesday morning as he has done in the past. He placed boxes and three black garbage bags at the end of his driveway to be picked up.

"The curiosity," Lorraine told Eyewitness News, explaining what tempted her to drive to the Anthony's Hopespring Drive home and take a bag of trash.

She wanted to do her own Casey Anthony investigation.

"If she's on the computer 24 hours a day, maybe she printed stuff, maybe they thought it wasn't shredded. So that was just my theory," she said.

Lorraine hauled the bag away to her SUV and then drove the garbage to her neighborhood just a few miles away. Eyewitness News was there as she rummaged through the Anthony's trash bag with yellow gloves on. She spread the trash across her driveway and found what looked to be a handwritten note from Casey to her father.

"This one says, 'Dad please call OCSD so we have security for the prayer tonight,'" Lorraine read.

Also found was a tattered hat, a media request for an interview and piles of letters from people around the country.

"I think this might lead to clues as to where she is," Lorraine said as she went through the trash Tuesday morning.

As for what happened to Caylee, Lorraine has her own idea.

"Zanny the nanny, it really was Xanax. She drugged the baby so she could go out and party, over-drugged the baby and died," Lorraine said.

Lorraine spent close to an hour rummaging through the trash, the letters, notes and email correspondence. She told Eyewitness News she didn't find anything incriminating enough to send to authorities and added that she wishes she would have taken the other trash bags to see what was in those.

The Orange County Sheriff's Office told Eyewitness News that taking trash from the curb side is legal; it's on public property. The Anthony spokesperson told Eyewitness News people should put their energy into searching for Caylee rather than picking garbage.


PROTESTERS REMAIN OUTSIDE ANTHONY HOME

ANGEL KILLER PROTESTORS
Images | Watch Interview

It was fairly quiet outside the Anthony's home Monday evening, with the exception of two protesters. Nancy Jones, from Orlando, and her friend Dixie Shelton protested in front of the home Tuesday evening. Both held angel-shapped signs that read "Angel Killer."

"I just want to slap her and the parents in the face. She killed an innocent angel baby just so she could be a party girl," Jones said.

All neighbors could do was stand, watch and wonder what will happen next.

"For the mother to not even come out in the front yard to come to a candle light vigil or even open the window to hold a candle and say, 'Please find my baby.' It's unforgivable," Shelton said.

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