State to seek death in Anthony case

Baez not qualified to defend death penalty case

ORLANDO, Fla. – The state attorney's has filed the paperwork with the clerk's office to announce its intent to seek the death penalty against Casey Anthony.

Anthony is being held at the Orange County Jail on first-degree murder charges in the death of her daughter, Caylee Anthony.

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In December, six days before Caylee's remains were discovered, the state announced it would not seek the death penalty.

Caylee, 2, was reported missing in July and her remains were found in December after months of searching. Her remains were found in a wooded area off Suburban Drive, a short distance away from the Anthony family home.

In the court filing, the state attorney's office said, "Based upon additional information that has become available since the waiver of the intent to seek the death penalty sufficient aggravating circumstances exist to justify imposition of the death penalty."

It is not known if new evidence has been revealed to initiate this filing.

Now that the state intends to seek the death penalty against Casey Anthony, defense attorney Jose Baez is not qualified to be the primary defense attorney.

In order to be qualified to try a death penalty case in the state of Florida, an attorney must have been counsel or co-counsel on at least two death penalty cases. The attorney must also have tried at least nine "serious and complex" cases to completion.

Baez's spokesman, Marti Mackenzie, issued a statement to Local 6 News on behalf of his client.

"This is not a death penalty case. We will do whatever is necessary to defend Casey Anthony from the State trying to take her life. We already have death-qualified defense lawyers on our team and are prepared for a vigorous defense," Mackenzie said.

Mackenzie had did not respond when asked who the qualified attorney's are.

Baez previously brought on Terry Lenamon, an attorney from Miami qualified to defend a death penalty case, but he was no longer involved in the case after the state attorney's office announced it would not seek the death penalty


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