Casey's Parents Save Home From Foreclosure

ORLANDO, Fla. — Casey Anthony's parents saved their home from foreclosure Wednesday and it only took them a few months to obtain the same loan modification that other homeowners have pursued for years.

VIDEO REPORT: Anthonys Save Home From Foreclosure

The Anthonys' attorney said he thinks it's because both parties wanted to keep the case out of court; if it went to court, it would have created a media frenzy.

For the past couple of months, people who live near the Anthony family thought their neighbors were going to move, but last month a new deal was made and now the Anthonys are going to be able to keep their home. Bank of America modified their loan.

"This foreclosure was one of the fastest ones I handled," Attorney Mark Lippman told WFTV.

Lippman, who represents the Anthonys, said it only took four months to settle the issue. They qualified for the federal program called Making Homes Affordable.

Bank of America started the foreclosure process in February. Documents show the Anthonys bought the home for almost $91,000 in 1991, but now owe more than $115,000.

Cindy is on disability and George lost his job. Lipton would not tell WFTV the amount of the new mortgage payment, but said it is 31 percent of their anticipated income.

"It was reduced to what they can afford," Lippman said.

Ana Biascoechea also lives in east Orange County. When she learned about the Anthonys' new settlement, she wasn't too happy. She has been trying to modify her loan through Bank of America for more than a year. WFTV found some cases can take up to two years.

"We are all in the same predicament as they are. Why should they get preferential treatment?" Biascoechea asked.

Lippman disagrees, but says both sides wanted to avoid a media circus.

"I think it was addressed because Bank of America and myself wanted to get this done without exposing this to the press," he said.

A Bank of America spokesperson said the Anthonys got their loan modification within a normal period of time. When WFTV asked about the other woman's loan, the spokesperson never returned the call.

BAEZ WANTS PARTS OF JAIL CALLS REDACTED

Casey's lawyer, Jose Baez, is trying to get portions redacted from some recorded jail phone calls.

An inmate told Baez that two other inmates, including Casey's jail pen-pal, made up lies about her. But Baez says he can't remember being warned that their conversation was recorded.

He's expected to ask a judge to at least edit out his comments before releasing the calls.

CASEY'S EX-FIANCE, KRONK TO BE QUESTIONED

Friday, Casey's ex-fiance Jesse Grund and his father will be questioned by defense lawyers. A paternity test proved Caylee was not Grund's child, but at one point Casey allegedly told her parents she didn't trust Grund and her parents asked detectives to investigate him as a suspect.

Also, Roy Kronk, the former meter reader who found Caylee's remains, will return for more questions. Kronk was also once talked about as a suspect.

CRITICISM FOR CASEY'S ATTORNEY OVER JAIL CALL

A possible new witness in the case against Casey Anthony is leading to more criticism against Casey's lead attorney, Jose Baez. The issue revolves around a phone call Baez received from a state prison inmate.

VIDEO REPORT: Baez Facing New Criticism

Baez wants the recording of that phone call kept secret; he says he didn't know he was being recorded. But when prison inmates make calls, they start with a message that the call is being recorded and prosecutors say he had to have heard it, because he followed its instruction to press "1" on his phone to accept inmate Robin Lunceford's call.

A month and a half later, Baez denied it. After prosecutors called him on it, he filed new paperwork claiming he doesn't remember.

Baez is now being called into question for the same kinds of inconsistencies his client, accused child murderer Casey Anthony, has been caught in. Baez told Chief Judge Belvin Perry he didn't know he was being recorded when Lunceford called him, so he said it was illegal and asked the judge to seal it.

Baez says Lunceford can show that two other inmates lied about Casey to investigators.

"This person taped it or the institution taped it?" Judge Perry asked Baez at a previous hearing.

"The institution," Baez replied.

But prosecutors say Baez not only heard the prison's warning that he was being recorded, he was told again by Lunceford during their phone call, and he was expecting her collect call from Lowell Correctional Institution, according to his assistant.

"At worst, it's an intentional misrepresentation to the court. At best, it's a faulty memory," WFTV legal analyst Bill Sheaffer said Tuesday. "He has damaged his credibility with Judge Perry in either event."

Baez's claim of faulty memory came after prosecutors told him they had heard the call and heard the warning he got before taking the call. In court at a previous hearing, Baez actually joked that, by asking to seal what he argued is an illegal recording, he was protecting the prosecutor from getting arrested for listening to it.

"I don't want her to get arrested," Baez said in court with a laugh.

Judge Perry set him straight.

"Well, it would be up to the state attorney, Mr. Lamar, to determine that," Judge Perry said.

The judge hasn't decided whether the public will get to hear that recorded phone call.

Lunceford is in prison for life and is under criminal investigation for playing with the prison phone system, partly for having her calls forwarded to people she's not authorized to call.

NEW IN THE CASE AGAINST CASEY

The defense has re-scheduled its depositions of prosecution experts at the Oak Ridge Laboratory in Tennessee.

The prosecution experts have tested air from the trunk of Casey's car. They say the results show chemical evidence of human decomposition.

This would be the first case ever to use this type of testing, but Casey's defense team maintains there is no proof the tests are accurate.

CASEY IS BROKE, OWES JAIL $40

Casey Anthony's jail account has gone into the negative, because her family hasn't deposited any money for months. Casey owes the jail more than $40.

George Anthony has not added any funds since the news broke that he wrote Casey an angry letter responding to her allegations of sexual abuse.

Meanwhile, Judge Belvin Perry appointed a special magistrate Thursday to watch over the defense when lawyers examine Texas EquuSearch records, which should happen next month.

CASEY JUDGE GETS RECORDED PRISON CALLS

Chief Judge Belvin Perry has the recorded prison calls between defense attorney Jose Baez and life prisoner Robin Lunceford.

DOCUMENT: Notice Shows Judge Received Calls

Baez wants the recorded phone calls prisoner Robin Lunceford made to him to be sealed. He claims he did not know the prison recorded the calls.

Baez interviewed Lunceford after she said she could discredit two key state witnesses.

STATE ORDERED TO TURN IN RECORDED CONVERSATIONS IN CASEY CASE

Chief Judge Belvin Perry ordered the state to give him a copy of a recorded phone conversation between defense attorney Jose Baez and life prisoner Robin Lunceford in the case against Casey Anthony Tuesday.

DOCUMENT: Judge's Order To State

Baez wants the recording sealed, claiming he did not know the state prison phone call was being recorded. He said Lunceford has information helpful to the defense about Casey's jail pals.

The judge also wants prosecutors to weigh in on whether it was a legal recording before deciding whether it will go public or whether to have a hearing on the matter.

CASEY'S DEFENSE INVESTIGATING GEORGE ANTHONY

There is a shift of the blame in the case against Casey Anthony. Documents released only to WFTV Monday show, for the first time, Casey's lawyers are investigating her father. WFTV legal analyst Bill Sheaffer said the defense may be trying to discredit him, or possibly blame George Anthony.

EXCLUSIVE DOCS: Invoice 1 | Invoice 2 | Pending Payment | Audit BILL SHEAFFER: Talks About Defense's Investigation VIDEO REPORT: George Being Investigated CASEY WALKS IN: See Images | Watch Raw Video CASEY CRIES: Images Of Casey Crying In Court CASEY CHATS WITH INTERNS: See Images

The documents WFTV obtained show how the defense is spending taxpayer money. Some of the ways the lawyers are spending that limited money is investigating George Anthony.

George testified against his daughter in her grand jury hearing.

The defense has spent about $4,000 of taxpayers' money so far on Casey's defense, and most of it on its private investigator.

Records obtained by WFTV show the defense is investigating George Anthony's suicide attempt. They did it to her ex-fiance, Jesse Grund, who was willing to raise another man's child as his own. The defense did it to meter reader Roy Kronk, who found Caylee Anthony's remains near the Anthonys' home on Hopespring Drive.

Now, the defense team could be doing it to Casey Anthony's father, trying to discredit George. Records show her defense team's private eye has investigated George's suicide attempt the month after Caylee was found.

"The defense will have to discredit George, because George has some information that is damning to the defense," Sheaffer said (full interview) .

Sheaffer says George's testimony helped prosecutors get a first-degree murder indictment against Casey even before her daughter's body was found. George said her car trunk smelled like a dead body and that, days after Caylee disappeared, Casey came home unexpectedly and prevented George from going into the trunk of her car.

At taxpayers' expense, the defense team spent hours at the Hawaii Motel in Daytona where George tried to take his own life. They also were at the Daytona Beach Police Department getting records.

"They would want to show he was mentally unstable," Sheaffer said.

Sheaffer says the defense might go even farther to try to make some jurors wonder whether George is the murderer; Casey could have laid the groundwork by accusing her father of sexually abusing her.

"He was the last person to see Caylee, along with Casey. The duct tape came from his house. The heart stickers came from his house," Sheaffer said.

If the defense can't convince a jury that George or someone else covered Caylee's face with duct tape and stuck a heart sticker over her mouth, they might try to use George's suicide attempt to portray Casey's family as dysfunctional to spare her from a possible death sentence.

Previous Stories: July 27, 2010: Criticism For Casey's Attorney Over Jail Call July 23, 2010: Casey Attorneys Back Off Claims Against EquuSearch July 23, 2010: Casey Anthony Broke, Owes Jail Over $40 July 22, 2010: Casey Judge Gets Recorded Prison Calls July 20, 2010: State Ordered To Turn In Recorded Conversations In Casey Case July 19, 2010: Casey's Defense Investigating George Anthony July 16, 2010: Casey's Attorney Hanging Hopes On Inmate July 16, 2010: Judge Denies Motion, Allows Cindy's 911 Calls July 14, 2010: Casey's Defense Wants More Testing On Evidence July 13, 2010: Casey's Lawyers Begin Evidence Examination July 12, 2010: Deadline Set In Casey Case For Release Of List

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