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Casey Prosecution Won't Use Some High-Profile Evidence

FACES OF CASEY: Recent To Oldest

ORLANDO, Fla. — It's becoming clearer how prosecutors will try their case against Casey Anthony. Documents obtained by WFTV (read it) show prosecutors will not be using certain pieces of evidence in the case; that's including the jail video that shows Casey's reaction after she learned her daughter's remains had been found.

READ: State's Witness List And Evidence Schedule BILL SHEAFFER: Analysis Of State's Change In Plans VIDEO REPORT: Prosecutors Drop Some Evidence

That's not the only thing prosecutors will leave out of the trial. They're also not going to call one of Casey's jail pals to testify, and won't tell the jury what Casey said to investigators during her arrest on a first-degree murder indictment in October 2008.

All that evidence is a mixed bag or comes with too much baggage.

Casey Anthony did not cry when she saw WFTV's report about her daughter Caylee's remains likely being found in the woods near their house. Instead, jail guard Tammy Unser said Casey appeared to be hyperventilating, sweating and complaining that her waist chains were tightening around her.

There's video of that, partly because sheriff's investigators told jail guards to monitor her reaction, but prosecutors have decided not to show it to the jury.

"The more participation the sheriff's office had, the more it was staged to get her reaction, the greater danger it is that it could become an issue on an appeal," WFTV legal analyst Bill Sheaffer said (watch full interview).

Sheaffer says statements made by Casey's jail pal, Maya Derkovic, are too dicey to present to the jury, because her story grew with time. She told WFTV that Casey talked about chloroform, but never mentioned that to investigators.

"Why sully your case? Why endanger a conviction by using this type of evidence?" Sheaffer questioned.

And the day Casey was indicted and arrested for first-degree murder, she told investigators they would not trick her into a confession and that she would do what it takes to prove her innocence.

"If her statements aren't viewed as self-serving, they certainly are equivocal and you can spin on it what you want," Sheaffer said.

Sheaffer says iffy evidence weakens the strong case the state has with its forensic evidence and long chain of circumstantial evidence linking Casey to Caylee's murder.

WHAT'S NEXT IN THE CASE?

This is a busy week in the case against Casey. Hearings are scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday. We expect to hear Casey's lead lawyer, Jose Baez, argue why he should not be held in contempt of court for missing deadlines.

The defense will also talk about late witnesses they just added within the past two weeks.

WFTV CORRECTS JOSE BAEZ COMPLAINT STORY

CORRECTION: A spokesperson from the Florida Bar Association says a grievance filed against attorney Jose Baez does not concern misrepresenting facts to the judge in the case against Casey Anthony. Channel 9 had reported the case did concern misrepresentig facts to the judge. The spokesperson said the grievance against Baez dealt with "ethics or misrepresentation." The spokesperson also confirmed Baez had been informed of the complaint filed against him. The Bar refused to say who had filed the complaint.

For the second time, Casey Anthony's lead defense attorney, Jose Baez, is being accused of lying in court to a judge. This time, however, it's dealing with the tax money paying for Casey's defense.

DOCUMENT: Reporter's Complaint Against Baez BILL SHEAFFER: On Complaint Against Baez

The owner of a Tennessee court reporting service said Baez and his co-counsel, Cheney Mason, lied to Chief Judge Belvin Perry, saying that he raised his rates on them after the fact. He wrote a letter to the judge and included email exchanges to prove his point.

The defense team's failure to cut a deal in writing for court transcripts cost taxpayers $800 more than it should have, on top of the tens of thousands taxpayers have already paid for Casey's defense, after her lawyers blew through almost $300,000.

Three months ago, Mason told Judge Perry that a Tennessee court reporting service backed out of its original deal and raised its rates for transcripts of defense depositions taken there.

"They said they would do it based on the indigencey rates, but when it got down to their doing it they said, 'Hold it, wait a minute, this, this will be too long, uh, it's gonna cost too much,'" Mason said in court.

The owner of the Knoxville-based court reporting service said that's just not true. Gerald Stogsdill wrote a letter to Judge Perry, saying, "At least one of the attorneys and/or staff involved in this matter has made false statements to the court."

The attached emails between him, Mason's and Baez's office show no agreement to a specific rate. Stogsdill said he never would have agreed to the discounted rate Florida pays for indigent defendants.

WFTV legal analyst Bill Sheaffer said Mason's office was sloppy and Mason's explanation to the court was inadequate at best.

"In a case like, this it's even more important to measure your words," Sheaffer told WFTV.

CASEY'S DEFENSE ADDS MORE WITNESSES

Casey's defense team added more people to its list of witnesses Tuesday. They include two prison inmates.

Both Robin Adams and Maya Derkovic were Casey's jailhouse friends. Also on the list are Texas EquuSearch volunteers, and WFTV's Kathi Belich, though Casey's lawyers haven't said why she is on the list.

DEFENSE QUESTIONS CASEY'S EX-BEST FRIEND

Casey Anthony's defense team questioned her former best friend under oath Monday.

Amy Huizenga accused Casey of stealing her checks, and using them at stores such as Target, while Caylee Anthony was missing. Casey was caught on surveillance video using the checks.

Casey was charged with check fraud, but that took a back seat to the murder charges against her for allegedly killing her daughter Caylee.

CASEY'S DEFENSE FIGHTS "DEAD BODY" SMELL CLAIMS

Casey Anthony's defense filed a motion Thursday night asking the judge to throw out comments about the smell of a dead body in Casey's car trunk.

READ: Defense Motion To Exclude "Dead Body" Smell

Casey's defense claims the rotting smell in Casey's trunk came from a bag of trash with spoiled food. They want the comments tossed out so the jury can't hear them.

JUDGE RULES ON KEY EVIDENCE IN CASE

Chief Judge Belvin Perry ruled on several key motions in the case against Casey Anthony on Thursday regarding which evidence the jury will be allowed to hear.

JUDGE'S ORDERS: Tattoo | Lazaro | JibJab | Lying/Stealing | MySpace "Diary" | Shovel | Rosciano | Cindy on MySpace

There are no real surprises in the judge's rulings, according to WFTV legal analyst Bill Sheaffer; much of it goes to Casey's state of mind in the days after her daughter disappeared.

Casey claimed she was distraught and doing her own search, but the evidence the judge says the jury will hear tells a different story.

Prosecutors can tell the jury about Casey's history of lying and stealing, and her dark MySpace "diary" from days after Caylee's disappearance talking about death and deception.

The jury will also hear how Casey borrowed a shovel from her neighbor, Brian Burner, the week after Caylee disappeared, and about a tell-tale tattoo, which says "Beautiful Life" in Italian, she got during that same time period when she claims she was searching for Caylee.

The jury will also hear limited details about Casey's sex life with ex-boyfriend Tony Lazzaro, who told prosecutors Casey was having nightmares and never told him Caylee was missing.

"It is important to show her state of mind and her conduct, because it is inconsistent with a mother whose child is gone missing," Sheaffer told WFTV.

The defense had tried to keep all of that evidence out, but the judge ruled that it is relevant to the case and the jury should hear it.

CASEY'S ATTORNEY GETS LECTURED BY JUDGE

The lead attorney in the case against Casey took some more heat late Friday afternoon; Jose Baez was lectured for missing more court deadlines, and this has already gotten him in trouble before.

STATUS HEARING 2/4: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 DOCUMENT: Status Hearing Details VIDEO REPORT: Lead Attorney Takes Heat

The defense says it still needs more time, even though one defense expert who hasn't yet written her report is "Tweeting" about nursing her sick cat, working on her new book, and vacationing in Tahiti.

The judge did not give Baez as much time as he wanted and is obviously losing patience with him.

"The experts, do they have telephones?" Judge Belvin Perry asked Baez rhetorically in court Friday.

Judge Perry asked Baez pointed questions after the defense missed Perry's deadline by ten days to give prosecutors reports of defense experts' opinions. Four are not done, which are holding up prosecutors' depositions.

Baez claims two of his experts are not even returning his calls.

"If they don't have the reports in by February 15, I guess they will not be testifying," Judge Perry said.

The defense has also missed the court deadline for telling prosecutors the results of its own DNA testing on Caylee's shorts and the laundry bag her remains were found in; the judge is going to call the lab himself.

WFTV also found out Friday that investigators are testing the ink on Casey's diary in which she wrote, "This is the happiest I have been in a very long time. I hope that my happiness will continue to grow," and that she knows she made the right decision. It's dated June 21 without a year, and there are pages missing.

Investigators want to find out if Casey wrote it just five days after Caylee disappeared. The defense wants to keep it out.

"I don't like the whole thing," Baez told the judge.

Friday, Baez would not answer WFTV's questions about a grievance filed against him with the Florida Bar accusing him of lying to the judge about evidence in the murder case.

Baez was already fined almost $600 for missing court-ordered deadlines, but Friday there was no talk of finding him in contempt of court, which the judge had said at the last hearing could be the next step.

NEW ETHICS COMPLAINT COULD COST CASEY'S LAWYER

Casey Anthony's lead attorney, Jose Baez, was hit with another ethics complaint. This one is so severe, he could lose his ability to practice law if it proves to be true.

BILL SHEAFFER: Analysis Of New Ethics Complaint VIDEO REPORT: Ethics Complaint On Baez READ: Brad Conway Interview With Investigators

WFTV legal analyst Bill Sheaffer says it shouldn't impact Casey's criminal case, because the investigation probably won't be done until after Casey's murder trial is over. The Florida Bar Association might make sure of that so it doesn't affect her trial, but it could affect Baez's credibility with the judge.

WFTV has confirmed someone, though it's not clear who, has filed a grievance against Jose Baez for allegedly misrepresenting facts to the court.

"If this is true, other than stealing or being accused of stealing a client's money, there is no more serious charge that a lawyer can face," Sheaffer said.

Sheaffer, who served as the vice chair of the Florida Bar Association's Grievance Committee says, on a scale of one to 10, as charges go, it's a ten. The grievance apparently comes from an accusation made by Casey's parents' former attorney, Brad Conway.

Conway told Orange County sheriff's investigators four months ago that Baez lied to Chief Judge Belvin Perry about how Conway had seen evidence showing Caylee's body was not in the woods four months before her remains were found, but Conway told them, "I certainly did not see that, wasn't aware of it."

Conway said, at the time, he was thinking, "Bull****, it didn't happen."

The controversy swirls around Laura Buchanan, who had searched for Caylee's body with the volunteer group EquuSearch. Conway said Baez kept pressing him to get EquuSearch documents from Buchanan, which Baez said proved Caylee's body was not there in late summer, and Conway kept refusing.

Buchanan is under investigation for falsifying documents; she admitted to adding notes to EquuSearch documents she had taken home with her. During the time Baez pressed Conway to get the so-called important documents from Buchanan, Baez and Buchanan were in email communication.

The Florida Bar Association won't say who filed the grievance or when, yet, but Sheaffer says you might now see Judge Perry ordering Baez to document any material claims he makes in court.

Previous Stories: February 25, 2011: Judge Grants Casey Defense Team Motions February 11, 2011: Casey's Defense Fights "Dead Body" Smell Claims February 10, 2011: Judge Rules On Key Evidence In Casey Case February 7, 2011: Casey's Lead Attorney Gets Lectured By Judge February 2, 2011: New Ethics Complaint Could Cost Casey's Lawyer January 31, 2011: Evidence: Pen Pal Reveals Details In Casey Case

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