Home News 

Story

George Anthony Set To Testify Against Casey In Front Of Grand Jury

Posted: 6:11 am EDT October 10, 2008Updated: 1:58 pm EDT October 13, 2008

Casey Anthony could find out Tuesday if she'll be charged in the murder of her daughter Caylee.


HEARING ON MOTIONS: Slideshow | Watch Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4
JOSE BAEZ LAUGHS: Laughing Attorney Avoids Answering Questions
READ MOTIONS: Read All 11 Motions Filed By Casey's Attorney (PDF)
VIDEO REPORT: Judge Grants Motions Requested By Anthony's Attorney
SEARCHING AGAIN? Group May Search For Both Caylee, Jennifer Kesse
CAST YOUR VOTE: Charge Casey Anthony With Murder?
SEE TARGET PURCHASES: View Images | Surveillance At Register
CASEY AT TARGET JULY 8: See Images | Enters/Exits Video | Checkout Counter Video
CASEY AT TARGET JULY 10: See Images | Enters/Exits Video | Checkout Counter Video
CASEY AT BANK: See Images | Raw Surveillance Video
NEW DOCUMENTS: Target Receipt | Image Of Check | Hoodie From Target | Huizenga Statement(PDFs)

Prosecutors said they have all the forensic evidence they need to ask a grand jury to indict Casey. Eyewitness News also learned her own father is expected to testify against her in front of the grand jury.

Meanwhile, a renewed search for Caylee Anthony could begin as early as this week. Equusearch organizer Tim Miller spent part of the weekend looking at areas that couldn't be searched in August because Tropical Storm Fay saturated the ground.

Miller said he'll call for more help if he decides conditions are good enough to resume the search.


VICTORY FOR CASEY ANTHONY'S LAWYER"

There was small legal victory for Jose Baez on Friday in the case against Casey Anthony. While her lawyer was in court fighting to get his hands on evidence in the case, she didn't show up.

Casey Anthony had gotten permission to attend the hearing on 11 motions filed by her attorney (read all motions). Bringing her to the courthouse, where people who've been convicted of crimes are milling around, might have weakened the argument that she needs to keep her schedule private because of concerns for her safety.

HEARING ON MOTIONS
View Slideshow
Watch Part 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

"We're not here for a homicide case," a prosecutor said during Friday's hearing.

"Sure you are. We have a shadow case that's been going on for three months," one of Casey's attorneys replied.

Prosecutors wanted to keep the evidence in Casey Anthony's child neglect case separate from the DNA evidence from Caylee's hair and the stain found in Casey's trunk, which investigators say shows Caylee is dead and that her dead body was in the trunk. They want to keep the cases separate, so they're not under the same speedy trial deadline in January to try her on any new more serious charges that could come from the grand jury next week.

Casey's charged with neglect for not reporting her daughter missing or searching for her, which prosecutors say has nothing to do with DNA.

"We are not going to use it," said prosecutor Jeff Ashton.

The judge agreed that the defense has a right to see results of the tests on the hair and stain in the trunk, to inspect Casey's car and even to take its own air samples.

"Are you happy with what you got today?" WFTV reporter Kathi Belich asked Baez after the hearing.

"Obviously," he said.

LAUGHING ATTORNEY
Watch Brief Interview

But Baez was not able to get his hands on the FBI's additional evidence supporting more serious charges against Casey, because prosecutors don't even have those documents yet.

The judge has not yet decided whether to allow defense experts to test the hairs and stain in the trunk, whether he'll allow Casey to keep her weekly schedule secret, or whether to allow her to secretly travel to local "points of interest" in the case.

"Posting of that information is creating a very imminent, a possibility of an imminent security risk, and that's the crux of the motion," Baez said.

Prosecutors and the jail are fighting those requests, arguing that, in effect, giving her so much freedom would be taking her off home confinement and that the jail would have to assign someone fulltime to follow her around.

Cutting off the public paper trail of her comings and goings would not protect her from harm, from protesters or the media, because nothing would stop anyone from following her from home.

Judge Strickland granted the following eight motions: Demand For Discovery And Inspection Relating to Digital Forensic Evidence, Motion To Inspect, Test And Photograph Evidence Held By The State Of Florida, Motion To Compel Department Of Children And Family Records, Demand For Discovery And Inspection Relating To Polygraphs, Motion To Compel Flight Manifest, Motion To Compel Results Of Forensic Testing, and Motion To Compel For Evidence Related To Any Zenaida Gonzalez.

The judge tabled the following three motions and said he would not rule before Monday: Motion To Preserve Forensic Evidence, Motion For Allowing Defendant To Travel To Places Of Interest and Motion To Seal.

Shortly after the hearing ended, the Anthony family released the following statement: "Judge Strickland's decision today to grant access to all of the tips regarding Caylee's sightings is a victory for Caylee Marie. This is the first step in bringing Caylee home safely."


GRAND JURY TO HEAR EVIDENCE NEXT WEEK

Detectives think they have a solid case against Casey Anthony and Eyewitness News found out Thursday that Casey's own father will testify against her in front of Orange County's grand jury next week.

Sources told Eyewitness News that prosecutors now have all the forensic evidence they need to ask the grand jury to indict Casey for the murder of her daughter Caylee.

Two members of the Anthony family now have key roles in the case against Casey, her father for what he's going to do and her brother Lee for what he didn't want to do.

Sources told Eyewitness News the Orange County grand jury will hear about high levels of chloroform in the trunk of Casey Anthony's car. The panel will hear how lab tests on the hair and the stain in the trunk will show that Caylee's body was in that trunk and that investigators also believe the little girl's body was at some point in the Anthony's backyard near her playhouse.

The focus on when Caylee was murdered is on the afternoon of June 16, sometime between mid-day, when Caylee's grandfather last saw her alive with Casey, and the evening, when Casey went to her boyfriend's apartment without Caylee.

Eyewitness News has learned George Anthony will testify against his daughter next week before the grand jury about, among other things what he's already told investigators, how in late June Casey prevented him from going near her trunk, which he later found exuded the smell of death.

"Her and I got into a little verbal, she don't want me to go in the trunk," Anthony told investigators during questioning.

George and Cindy Anthony voluntarily gave up DNA samples this week so investigators could scientifically exclude either of them as the source of the hair and stain in Casey's trunk, but investigators had to get a search warrant to get Casey's brother Lee to submit to a DNA test. He also has refused to take a lie detector test for the FBI.

The fact that a grand jury is being called to hear the case at all does not bode well for Casey. In Florida, a grand jury only has to be presented with a case for "capital" crimes, a charge of either first-degree murder or felony murder. It won't be as difficult to convince a grand jury to indict Casey as it would be to convince a regular jury to convict her.

Trial jurors have to convict defendants beyond a reasonable doubt. Grand jurors only have to have probable cause, meaning a reasonable person would conclude from the evidence that Casey committed the crime.


CHARGES EXPECTED TO BE FILED AGAINST 2 PROTESTERS

The protesters confronting Casey are starting to get more organized. They used to be just a group of rowdy people in front of the Anthony house, but now they have bumper stickers and logos.

George Anthony Grabbed By Protestor

AGGRESSIVE PROTESTERS:
See Images | Raw Video
Protesters Talk | Deputies

The Orange County Sheriff's Office will file charges against two protesters for misdemeanor battery. The sheriff's office said the protesters lost control and committed an act of violence on George and Cindy Anthony.

Kathy Harris confronted George Anthony while he was asking supporters for donations and getting the word out about his granddaughter Caylee. Harris is from a new, organized group of protesters called Justice For Caylee. The group has logos and a new sign.

Harris followed Anthony to the location he was raising funds, because she wanted to know why he isn't looking for the child and instead asking others to do it for him. George Anthony called deputies for help when the exchange got ugly.

"They want the right to show their side and what they believe. That's what we're asking too," Harris said.

She believes the child is dead and it's time to look for Caylee and prosecute her mother, the person they think is responsible.

"Someone just disposed of this body like it was trash and there is no justice for this baby," she said.

Meanwhile, Orange County investigators got the last piece of evidence they need to move forward on charges against two protestors. Video at the Anthony house shows one protester pull George by the shirt and another push Cindy Anthony. The two protesters face misdemeanor battery charges.

"This is a reminder, don't commit a battery, have control of yourself," Detective Freddie Sams said.

The charges will most likely be filed Friday.

More Headlines

Make WFTV Your Power On

Did you ever turn your television off at night and notice the next morning that your set comes on to a different channel? You can set your cable box so that your TV comes on to the station you want. It's easy! Full Story ››
Step-By-Step Text Instructions


Click Picks
Video Clips
AP Photo/Peter Kramer
Heidi Klum and her post-baby body led the parade at the annual Victoria's Secret fashion show, which returned to New York with some fresh faces after four years on the road. View Images ››


Strange News Photos

From brilliant to bizarre, our 99-photo slideshow captures a variety of strange news. Photos are added often. Take A Look!

County-By-County News

Get Hyper-Local On WFTV.com

Visit our County-By-County section for the latest news headlines out of your county. » County-By-County

When you take videos or photos of Central Florida news or weather events, iWitness is your place to upload them. » iWitness

Visit your headquarters for county-by-county news and resources, and a place to share community videos and photos. » 9Central