ORLANDO, Fla. -- Two of Casey Anthony's nationally recognized defense attorneys said they were just doing their jobs -– and the state's -- as they made national television appearances naming the man who found Caylee Anthony's body as a suspect in the girl's death.
"It's an attempt to do the state's job for them. We brought them evidence," said Linda Kenney Baden during an interview Friday with Local 6.
Others, though, wonder if it's not a calculated ploy to contaminate potential jurors with information that may never make it into their client’s murder trial.
Neither Kenney Baden nor co-counsel Andrea Lyon could cite any evidence that former meter reader Roy Kronk had any contact with Caylee while she was alive -– unlike their client, who was the last person seen with Caylee.
"The evidence we have is circumstantial in nature," said Lyon. "The evidence the prosecution has against this young woman who they are asking the state of Florida to kill is entirely circumstantial."
They also conceded they have no evidence of human decomposition in any of Kronk's vehicles, unlike what the state claims its experts will say was found in the trunk of Casey Anthony's car.
But the national media has also left unchallenged some sweeping statements made by the defense, at least one of them inaccurate, according to some of more than 12,000 pages of information released to attorneys and the public in a legal process known as discovery.
In an interview last month with CBS News' 48 Hours, Kenney Baden and co-counsel Todd Macaluso focused on so-called mystery DNA found on the duct tape that was placed around Caylee's skull.
"Another party that did not belong the FBI, did not belong to the law enforcement, did not belong to Casey or any of her family members (left DNA) on that duct tape," Kenney Baden said on 48 Hours, as Macaluso chimed in, "A stranger. There was a stranger involved."
But a DNA expert consulted by Local 6 said it is possible that a tiny fragment of DNA was deposited by an FBI fingerprint unit lab analyst. She would be the second analyst to have contaminated the tape during testing; the FBI found enough of a DNA sample elsewhere on the tape to confirm that material came from a DNA analyst.
But the so-called mystery DNA was so miniscule, only a partial profile could be produced. It is significant enough to exclude the Anthonys and other known subjects, but it does not exclude the FBI fingerprint analyst.
Still, Kenney Baden and Lyon continued to promote the mystery DNA theory during their media tour last week.
Asked if she was aware the one FBI employee could not be excluded as the source, Kenney Baden stated, "I am aware of exactly the alleles with regard to it, but there is no indication that that person contaminated the evidence."
But there is an e-mail, at page 8710 of the discovery, showing the analyst who could not be excluded did swab the duct tape in question.
Last week, the defense team filed a motion asking the judge in Anthony's murder trial to let them introduce "prior bad acts" of Kronk, based on unsworn, videotaped interviews with former wives and estranged family members.
The women claim he has a history of using duct tape to perpetrate violence, and his son said he told him he had found Caylee's body about a month before he actually led police to the remains on Dec. 11.
Kronk tried three times in August 2008 to draw law enforcement's attention to what he thought may have the body in the woods, but a deputy who finally appeared failed to thoroughly check and was fired because of it, according to the sheriff's office.
From the beginning, defense attorneys have decried what they call law enforcement leaks about evidence purportedly against their client, and have moved for a change of venue from Central Florida because of the publicity those leaks have created in the local media. Yet they have repeatedly taken to a national audience -– including viewers in Miami, where they want the trial moved -– to comment on inflammatory, unchallenged assertions included in defense motions filed the day before they take to the national airwaves.
Asked if they're not doing the same thing they accused the state and detectives of doing, Kenney Baden said, "The local media, with the exception of some of the reporting that we have seen, ... has taken everything they've seen at face value or the leaks they saw early on and publicized them improperly against our client. Here we're at the national media because at least they will give Casey a fair shake."
The two attorneys are part of an impressive legal and forensic team assembled by Casey Anthony's original attorney, Jose Baez, prompting many to wonder if they're being paid and, if so, how. Asked if they're being paid by anything other than the publicity attached to the case, Kenney Baden said, "We don't think publicity is payment, but we don't discuss payment at all, but publicity isn't payment for any lawyers, all of us are not in this case for publicity."
When prosecutors questioned whether entertainment deals were funding the defense, Baez denied it or any other conflict of interest. After a closed-door meeting with the attorneys, Judge Stan Strickland said he was satisfied there was no conflict.
"We're doing our best to see to it that she gets a fair trial with real investigation and real hard work and real motions practice and challenging the evidence the way it ought to be done," said Lyon. "The idea that there's something shady or weird about actually interviewing witnesses and talking to people and digging deep and trying to find out what really happened as though that's somehow cheating – that’s what a good lawyer does."
Casey Anthony has admitted in a court paper that she has refused a plea agreement, but when asked if a plea were still possible, the attorneys balked.
"She did write that affidavit, she did make that statement," said Lyon, adding, "but as I said, that's something we cannot discuss. That would be inappropriate."
Asked how their client was holding up in the Orange County Jail, where she's been held without bond since her indictment on Oct. 14, 2008, Lyon said, "She's scared. I mean, wouldn't you be scared? She's scared. She's sad. She's grief-stricken and she's terrified."
Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.
Previous Stories: - November 20, 2009: Kronk's Ex-Wife: I Thought He Probably Killed Caylee
- November 20, 2009: Motion: Kronk Could Have Killed Caylee
- November 11, 2009: Lab Analyzes Syringe Found Near Caylee
- November 6, 2009: Report Focuses On Caylee's Remains
- November 3, 2009: Anthony Wants Murder Charge Tossed
- October 29, 2009: 'Tot Mom' Play Based On Anthony Case
- October 23, 2009: 'Love Sponge' Offers Anthonys $25K
- October 19, 2009: Anthonys Take Cruise To Escape Media
- October 16, 2009: '48 Hours' Issues Clips From Casey Show
- October 16, 2009: Judge Rules On Casey Motion; Family Admits To TV Deal
- October 9, 2009: Tattoo, Other Pics Out In Casey Case
- October 7, 2009: New Hearing Scheduled In Anthony Case
- October 6, 2009: State To Get George Anthony Testimony
- October 6, 2009: State: Casey Dismissal Motion 'Flawed'
- October 1, 2009: E-Mails Detail Search For Caylee
- September 30, 2009: Casey Defense Files Motion To Dismiss
- September 29, 2009: FBI: Child Outline Seen In Casey Trunk
- September 14, 2009: Motion: Casey P.I. Info Not Privileged
- September 10, 2009: State Wants Anthony's Defense Evidence
- September 9, 2009: Civil Judge: Anthony P.I. Won't Testify
- September 4, 2009: Padilla: I Thought Caylee Was Alive
- September 3, 2009: Judge Makes Ruling On Casey Trial Date
- September 1, 2009: Bar Clears Baez Of Ethics Complaint
- August 25, 2009: Anthony Tattoo Pic, Docs Turned Over
Copyright 2009 by Internet Broadcasting Systems and
ClickOrlando.com.
All rights reserved. This material may
not be published, broadcast, rewritten
or redistributed.