Back when Jose Baez requested that Judge Stan Strickland be removed from presiding over the Casey Anthony case, I–and a lot of others–suspected it might be a change that would worsen his defense position. It turned out we were right.
Strickland gave Baez and the defense team a lot of leeway in the courtroom. The new judge, Belvin Perry, is well known for a more no-nonsense approach. In this case, he has ordered regular pre-trial update hearings. has insisted there will be no further delays and made it clear that he does not suffer fools.
Now, Baez is asking for something else that might not been in his client’s best interest: touch DNA testing on the shorts thought to have been worn by Caylee Anthony and the laundry bag found with her body. Touch DNA analyzes skin cells left behind by assailants when they touch a person or object. It was this technology that cleared family members in the death of Jon Benet Ramsey.
Baez wanted the testing done by Richard Eiekelenboom’s Dutch lab, Independent Forensic Services. Baez and his sidekick Cheney Mason argued that the labs in Florida were all connected to law enforcement and therefore, biased against the defense.
Perry granted the defense request to have testing done, but insisted that it be within his jurisdiction so that the lab technicians could be compelled to testify if the defense chose not to use the results at trial and the prosecution wanted the jury to hear that evidence.
If Casey Anthony’s touch DNA is found on either item, it would another nail in the coffin the state is building for Baez’s client. So why does he even want to go there? But he has. He got what he requested. Now, we’ll wait and see if he soon regrets this move, too.
MOMMY’S LITTLE GIRL by Diane Fanning is available online and at book stores everywhere.