ORLANDO, Fla. – With less than a month until Casey Anthony's first-degree murder trial, prosecutors fild a motion to prevent mental health experts for her defense from testifying.
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Prosecutors said they do not want the psychiatrist or psychologist who examined Anthony for the defense to testify, and if that happens, that state wants its own expert to examine Anthony.
The state does not want the defense to mention to the jury in any way what the experts believe or what they have been told by Anthony unless Anthony takes the stand herself to make the statements relevant.
The two defense experts are prepared to testify about what was going through Anthony's mind in the days and weeks after her daughter, Caylee Anthony, disappeared in June 2008.
Prosecutor Jeff Ashton filed motions Wednesday and Tuesday asking Judge Belvin Perry to block any mention of their opinions from the case, especially what Anthony told them about "events which are remote in time" to Caylee's death.
Local 6 legal analyst Mark O'Mara said the defense will have to show the testimony is relevant.
"It's going to be tough for them to carry that burden, to get that evidence in," O'Mara said. "If she testifies, then it becomes much more relevant. then, maybe, they can present testimony concerning state of mind, what she was thinking, why she was acting this way."
Ashton said in his motion that the defense experts have not diagnosed Anthony "as suffering from any recognized clinical or personality disorders." The state plans to use Anthony's sometimes carefree behavior in June and July 2008 against her.
O'Mara said only after Anthony testified could Perry properly decide what is and is not relevant for the mental health experts to testify about.
It will not be known if Anthony will testify in her own defense until several weeks into the trial.
Caylee was reported missing in July 2008. Her remains were found in an east Orange County wooded area in December 2008.