Found this. Sounds a little like a tempest in a teapot, but at this point the defense might be ready to try almost anything to give them some advantages.
Casey Anthony Judge OUT: Stan Strickland Steps Down In Central Florida Case Stan Strickland, who became Central Florida's most recognized judge while presiding over the combustible Casey Anthony case, left some piercing words for her defense attorneys Monday before recusing himself.
In an order granting Casey Anthony's request for him to step down, Strickland wrote: "At its core, defense counsel's motion accuses the undersigned of being a 'self-aggrandizing media hound.' Indeed. The irony is rich."
Casey Anthony's defense team filed a motion late Friday asking the Orange circuit judge to disqualify himself from her first-degree-murder case because of a "personal relationship" he has with a blogger who's been critical of their client.
Anthony, 24, is accused of killing her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee Marie, in the summer of 2008.
According to the defense's motion, Anthony feared she wouldn't get a fair trial because of the relationship between Strickland and blogger Dave Knechel — known online as "Marinade Dave."
In his order, Strickland noted that he did talk to the blogger in court — with a TV camera rolling, microphones on, and in front of the attorneys.
Strickland wrote that he recently began looking at Internet material and blogs to get an idea of what people are saying about the case, which is relevant to the defense's motion for change of venue.
The judge noticed Knechel "admonished and frequently chastised those who came onto his blog for the sole purpose of bashing the defendant and her family."
Strickland thanked him for being "fair and civilized."
"The content of my words and context (open court) both seemed unremarkable," the judge wrote.
Strickland noted that no one from Anthony's defense team provided him a copy of the motion when they filed it "(courageously!) at 4:48 p.m." Friday.
"Obviously, defense counsel's intent was to maximize exposure, and minimize or delay any response," Strickland wrote.
He noted that Anthony's defense has filed a litany of motions in the last 20-plus months, "in between media interviews, guest appearances on television shows, and press conferences."
Strickland also stated that Anthony's defense was aware of his "brief discussion" with Knechel for months.
The defense "seems to have only recently lost confidence in the court's ability to be fair and impartial," Strickland wrote.
"The Court takes heed of the Defendant's present uneasiness," he stated.
"If past is prologue, some defense motions may be denied," Strickland wrote. "Since the undersigned has now been accused of bias and wrongdoing, potentially each denial of a defense motion will generate renewed allegations of bias."
Strickland said the effect "will be to elevate an otherwise meaningless situation into a genuine appellate issue."
Strickland also noted that the accusation that he's biased in favor of the prosecution "must serve as a source of bemusement" to the three prosecutors assigned to Anthony's case, "each of whom has verbally sparred with the Court many times…"
With Strickland off the case, Orange-Osceola Chief Judge Belvin Perry Jr. will now take over.
Perry, known as a no-nonsense judge who doesn't put up with much from attorneys, is no stranger to high-profile cases.
He has handled a slew over the years, including the murder trials of two men who shot off-duty Orlando police Officer Al Gordon in 2007.
Perry is currently assigned to the murder case against Jason Rodriguez, accused of killing one and wounding several others in a downtown office building last year.
In other developments in the Anthony case Monday, defense attorneys filed several more motions:
•In one of the motions, Anthony's defense team argues that Florida's capital sentencing procedure is unconstitutional. The defense argues because Florida's law is unconstitutional, "death is not a possible sentence."
Based on their argument, the defense claims the court must enter an order precluding imposition of the death penalty in the event Anthony is convicted.
•In another motion, Anthony's defense claims state prosecutors decided to seek the death penalty to make it prohibitively expensive for her to defend herself.
The defense team claims prosecutors found out during a March 12, 2009, hearing how much money Anthony had to fund her defense, and that amount "was insufficient to fund a death penalty case."
The defense claims prosecutors knew that by seeking the death penalty, Anthony would have to hire more lawyers because her already retained attorney, Jose Baez, was not qualified to defend a death case in Florida.
"The Prosecution knew that this would financially break the defense," defense attorney Andrea Lyon wrote.
The defense team asks the court to set a hearing date as well as a private hearing with a judge, where the court "may hear additional evidence from the defense" in support of their motion.
•In a separate smotion, Anthony's defense claimed the prosecution unjustly sought the death penalty partly because of sexism.
"Researchers have found that when women defy traditional gender stereotypes, and commit ‘men-type' crimes, they are punished more severely than comparable male offenders," Lyon argued. "The defense … has found four cases in the last five years where Orange County prosecutors have declined to seek the death penalty against fathers who murdered their children."
Anthony's lawyers also asked the court not to release any information about witnesses the defense may call during the trial's penalty phase, if she is convicted of murder. They claimed identifying witnesses favorable to Anthony might prevent them from testifying.
www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/os-casey-anthony-motion-20100419,0,6561827.story