ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Several witnesses were deposed Friday in the case against Casey Anthony. Casey's attorneys questioned several people under oath, but they wouldn't say why they handpicked those witnesses.
VIDEO REPORT: Witnesses Deposed
Friday's deposition list included a wide range of people. Every one from her mother's co-worker to their next door neighbor, who lent Casey a shovel, to her boyfriend's roommate was on the list.
Casey Anthony's defense team is on a tight schedule to finish up its depositions. Friday's depositions went quickly and they finished ahead of schedule.
Friday's first witness was Cindy Anthony's co-worker, Debbi Bennett, who said Cindy told her Casey's car smelled like "a dead body" the same month the car was found.
The defense also deposed Casey's friend J.P. Chatt, who was at Caylee's second birthday party and owns the condo where Casey hung out with her best friend, Amy Huizenga, and her boyfriend Ricky Morales.
Brian Burner, the Anthonys' next door neighbor who loaned Casey a shovel days after Caylee disappeared, was also questioned. He dodged WFTV's cameras and did not want to answer any questions.
Casey's boyfriend's roommate, Nate Leiniwicz, was also on the list. He told WFTV and CNN's Nancy Grace that Casey never mentioned that Caylee was missing and never acted worried; she cooked for them and partied with them as usual.
Orange County Sheriff's Office Investigator Samara Melich was Friday's last witness. She had investigated a reported sighting of Caylee at Orlando International Airport on July 2, 2008 and found no proof. Investigators say Caylee was murdered two weeks before that.
The defense isn't talking about what they found out Friday.
"As a policy, I don't talk about what we talk about in the depos unless they're filed and we have a reason to make them public. We try to keep them private," Jose Baez said.
CASEY'S FALL COULD LEAD TO CHANGES
The courthouse fall that injured Casey Anthony this week could lead to changes about how inmates are transferred.
WFTV reported on Tuesday when Casey tripped while getting in a courthouse elevator for a hearing. Casey was shackled at the time.
The county jail spokesperson said he'll recommend that court officers hold an inmate's arm or waist chains in the future to prevent similar accidents.
CASEY'S STATEMENT ON COURTHOUSE FALL RELEASED
A review released Thursday of what happened when Casey Anthony fell while going to court this week found no violation of any procedures.
DOCUMENT: Casey's Statement On Fall
Surveillance video showed Casey falling face-first, as she walked into an elevator on Tuesday. Investigators said her shackles got caught in the elevator door.
Casey was treated for minor injuries, including a busted lip, chipped tooth and a bruised knee.
In a part of the review of the incident, Casey wrote a statement about what happened: "Both officers helped me up, one calling for medical help, and the other assisting me in stopping the bleeding."
VIDEO RELEASED OF CASEY FALLING AT COURTHOUSE
WFTV obtained the surveillance video that captured accused child killer Casey Anthony taking a tumble inside a courthouse elevator (images of fall | raw video).
CASEY FALLS: See Images | Raw Video VIDEO REPORT: Casey's Fall Video Released
The fall kept Casey from showing up at her hearing on Tuesday. She was almost all the way inside the Orange County courthouse elevator when she got tripped up by her shackles and fell. She landed face first and quickly rolled over.
Caseyfalls060210-14 Caseyfalls060210-14 CASEY FALLS: Images | Raw Video The fall happened so fast, Casey's law enforcement escorts were not able to break her fall.
After checking Casey over, her escorts pulled her legs out of the way and shut the elevator doors. She was taken to Orlando Regional Medical Center with minor injuries and missed her hearing.
The jail is investigating Casey's fall. Officials expect to finish the inquiry in a couple of days.
Casey didn't want to go to court in the first place. During her last hearing, Judge Belvin Perry denied her request to not appear at future hearings.
While in court Tuesday, Perry shot down five of the six motions her defense team argued.
HEARING GOES ON WITHOUT CASEY
The latest hearing in the case against Casey Anthony wrapped up late Tuesday afternoon, but Casey wasn't there, because she fell at the Orange County courthouse and had to be medically checked out.
SLIDESHOW: Images From Inside Courtroom COURT HEARING: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 VIDEO REPORT: Casey Injured, Misses Hearing
The jail says Casey's restraints got tangled up and she fell forward and the officers escorting her were not able to catch her before she fell. She got medical treatment, but never showed up in the courtroom.
"Casey Anthony suffered a fall in the courthouse while being transported to the courtroom and received what appear to be minor injuries when her restraints became entangled and she fell forward. Escorting officers were unable to catch her before she fell. She is currently being seen by medical personnel in an undisclosed location [for security reasons]," Orange County Corrections spokesperson Allen Moore said in a Tuesday afternoon release. "Based on all information available, this was purely an accident."
It was the first major hearing in the case against Casey that she did not attend. Ironically, it was soon after she requested that she not be forced to go to court and face public scrutiny that she fell and avoided Tuesday's hearing.
"How is she? Does she have any broken skin or broken bones?" WFTV reporter Kathi Belich asked attorney Jose Baez after the hearing.
"Bad enough that she needed medical treatment," he said.
The judge has already told Casey she's required to attend all of her court hearings dealing with motions, but the judge went on with the hearing without her after her fall. The defense wanted to find out what evidence prosecutors plan to use to convince jurors Casey should face the death penalty if she's convicted.
Baez got tripped up a few times in court today, too. He lost every legal argument he made, but the judge is holding off on deciding whether he can order the jail to seal Casey's visitation logs, which are public for every inmate. The jail's attorney says, if Casey gets special treatment, every other capital case inmate will ask for special treatment, too.
"Are you alleging that there was some taint on Strickland's prior rulings or are you trying to get a second bite of the apple?" Judge Perry asked Baez.
Judge Perry did not override the orders of Judge Strickland before he recused himself, so the defense will not get the transcript of George Anthony's secret grand jury testimony against Casey or the sealed, illegal tape recording made by an EquuSearch volunteer when he was questioned by the defense about searching the area where Caylee was found months later.
The defense also will not get more death penalty specifics from prosecutors or from the Tennessee lab about chemicals of decomposition it found in the air in Casey's trunk.
The defense would not tell WFTV where Casey was being treated and would not give us any specifics of her injuries, but her mother, Cindy, stayed in court for the hearing; Casey's father, George, was not in court for the second hearing in a row.
WHAT'S NEXT IN THE CASE? Casey will not have to attend the next court hearing in the case. There's a status hearing set for June 21; Casey is no longer required to appear at status hearings.
Meanwhile, prosecutors are also expected to release more evidence in the case in the coming weeks.
Previous Stories: June 3, 2010: Casey's Statement On Courthouse Fall Released June 2, 2010: Video Released Of Casey Falling At Courthouse June 2, 2010: Casey A No-Show At Court Hearing After Falling May 27, 2010: Prosecutors File Response In Casey Case May 24, 2010: Lawyers Want To Question Casey's Pen Pal May 21, 2010: 586 Pages Of Evidence Released In Casey Case May 20, 2010: Casey's Lawyers File Motion To Strike In Case May 19, 2010: Casey's Defense Turns In Deposition Schedule
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