ORLANDO, Fla. — Casey Anthony's defense team lined up 35 witnesses to question Friday. They were all law enforcement officers.
JUDGE'S ORDERS: Status Hearing | Set Schedules VIDEO REPORT: Officers Questioned By Lawyers
That means dozens of cops were off the street Friday, sitting in an office away from their duties. Some of the officers spent hours just sitting and waiting.
The 35 law enforcement officers had no choice; they were subpoenaed. Some sat here for hours, not knowing when they'd be called for their depositions. Most were on duty and had other work they needed to be doing Friday.
There were homicide detectives, sex crimes detectives, a U.S. Secret Service officer and a crime scene tech, among others, all of whom had minimal roles in the first-degree murder case against Casey Anthony.
One detective told WFTV he was frustrated that he couldn't work his cases while he was waiting and said he'd never been to this kind of deposition before, where he did not have a specific appointment time. Homicide Detective Chris Dillon was one of the 17 officers who were scheduled for 1:00pm depositions.
"What would you be doing if you weren't here today?" WFTV reporter Kathi Belich asked Dillon.
"Solving homicide cases," he said.
Most of them sat around for an hour or so, only to be questioned for five minutes or so. Defense attorney Jose Baez canceled several law enforcement depositions over the summer. WFTV asked him why he tied up so many officers for hours in one day when he's had two years to do it.
"This was, hands down, the fastest and most efficient way of dealing with these issues and these witnesses," Baez said.
But WFTV legal analyst Bill Sheaffer says the depositions could have been scheduled every ten minutes to prevent wasting so much taxpayer time.
"You don't want to pull them all off the street, tie their time up, when they should be protecting and serving," Sheaffer said.
Chief Judge Belvin Perry told Baez that he will meet his deadlines even if Perry has to schedule his depositions for him, even on nights and weekends, but then witnesses would suffer, too.
WHAT'S NEXT IN THE CASE?
The prosecution must finish their expert witness depositions by September 30. The deadline for depositions for all other witnesses is October 31.
The next status hearing is scheduled for September 27.
Casey's trial starts May 9, 2011.
LAWYERS GIVE UPDATED TIMELINE ON CASEY CASE
Attorneys for both sides in the Case against Casey Anthony were in court Monday afternoon to give an updated timeline on the case. Casey wasn't required to attend.
One change that came out of Monday's hearing is that motions must now be heard within 15 days of being filed.
STATUS HEARING: Part 1 Of 2 Part 2 READ: Amended Defense List | Motion To Intervene VIDEO REPORT: Case Timeline Updated
Casey's attorney, Jose Baez, also fired back about recent comments a lawyer made about him.
"I know I'm competent, I know I'm doing what's good for my client and, what's more important, she does, and so does my team. So I could really care less what a lot of people say," Baez said.
Casey's lawyers have scheduled more depositions for Friday. They plan to question nearly three dozen law enforcement officers. Those depositions must wrap up by September 30.
Also, Casey's attorneys filed a new motion Monday that changes their witness list. The list now contains 64 witnesses the defense plans to call at trial, which include George and Cindy Anthony, Casey's brother Lee, and Casey's ex-fiance, Jesse Grund.
The defense added to the witness list Tuesday, state prison inmate, Robin Lunceford and two other female inmates.
WOMAN SAYS CASEY CASE LEADING TO THREATS
A woman who runs a charity to give shoes to poor orphans told WFTV she's getting threats because of the case against Casey Anthony. The threats came after word got out that Cindy Anthony was going to donate Caylee's old shoes to the charity.
VIDEO REPORT: Case Leading To Threats
The woman who runs the charity didn't want anything to do with the case. She doesn't want anything to do with publicity either, good or bad. She was in tears Thursday over it and it all started over little girls' shoes.
A report that Cindy was going to donate her granddaughter Caylee's shoes to the Children of Love Foundation, which donates food and clothing to orphans in Central Florida and in Honduras, has sparked outrage.
The founder of the foundation, Doris Patalano, who grew up an orphan in Honduras, often going barefoot, is getting calls from people threatening to protest her "Operation Barefoot" shoe drive on Friday and Saturday at the Walgreen's where she works.
Doris wouldn't talk to WFTV on camera, but said she's known Cindy since before Caylee was murdered. She said Cindy offered to help with the shoe drive on Saturday, but never mentioned donating Caylee's shoes.
Doris does not believe Cindy meant to hurt the effort, but she might have at a time when charities are having a difficult time raising money.
Thursday, employees of the House of Hope in Orlando, a well-established and well-known charity, found out some of them might not get paychecks.
"It is so tough out there to raise funds. I was just talking to our staff; we don't have enough money to make our next payroll," House of Hope Founder Sara Trollinger said.
Trollinger said, in today's economy, negative publicity has done some ministries in.
"I understand about 50% have closed down, some from bad reports," she said.
Doris is worried about how the negative publicity is going to affect her shoe drive. WFTV asked Cindy Anthony's new lawyers about all of it Thursday; they wouldn't talk on camera but said they are preparing a news release.
CASEY'S PARENTS HIRE NEW ATTORNEYS
The parents of accused murderer Casey Anthony have hired new attorneys. Mark Lippman and Jennifer Craddock, from the Lippman Law Firm, are now representing the Anthonys.
The announcement of their new attorneys came after the departure of their last attorney. Earlier this month, the Anthonys' former attorney Brad Conway resigned. He said in an e-mail that Casey's defense attorneys made false statements about him in relation to a dispute over Texas EquuSearch records.
Before Conway, Mark Nejame stopped representing the Anthonys, in part, because they would not follow his counsel while searching for Caylee.
Lippman told WFTV on Thursday that he will be more conservative in how he represents the Anthonys. Lippman says he will not be doing a lot of national television interviews.
WFTV legal analyst Bill Sheaffer says the biggest challenge for both attorneys is controlling their clients.
"They must get their clients under control. They must get their clients to listen to their advice and as we have seen thus far, there hasn't been a lawyer that's been successful in doing that," Sheaffer said.
Lippman says he represented the Anthonys during their recent home foreclosure case.
Sheaffer says regardless of whom the Anthonys have represent them, they are still witnesses in their daughters case and will testify when it goes to trial next May.
CASEY'S DEFENSE WANTS TO BLOCK RELEASE OF DOCS
Casey Anthony's defense team filed a new motion late Tuesday afternoon asking Judge Belvin Perry to block certain documents from being released to the public.
READ: Motion To Block Documents
Jose Baez says the Orange County jail has been releasing Casey's commissary purchases to the media. He calls the information "ridiculous" and says it will poison the potential jury pool.
The defense also wants Chief Judge Belvin Perry to reverse any prior rulings relating to public disclosure.
Previous Stories: August 31, 2010: Lawyers Give Updated Timeline On Casey Case August 26, 2010: Woman Says Casey Case Leading To Threats August 26, 2010: Casey Anthony's Parents Hire New Attorneys August 24, 2010: Casey's Defense Wants To Block Release Of Docs August 23, 2010: Attorney No Longer Representing Casey's Parents August 13, 2010: Cindy Says She's Not Convinced Caylee Is Dead August 12, 2010: Casey Anthony Owes The Jail Money Again August 11, 2010: Casey May Have License Suspended Over Owed Fees