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By Root 666 0

’d made statements to the press in the past as a consultant, in which he questioned some of the things Baez was doing, so we were a little surprised, but we all knew Cheney and knew he craved the limelight. Linda, Frank, and I had each known Cheney for years and thought well of him. I can’t recall if I had ever actually done a trial with him, though I had watched Linda in trial against him a year or so earlier. Cheney was in his sixties by then and quite a character. He probably won’t like this, but we had always referred to him as Foghorn Leghorn, in that his accent and speech pattern were a spot-on match to that lovable Looney Tunes rooster. Cheney tended toward the bombastic—not really a details guy on either the law or the facts, but he could be very persuasive.

Most of all, though, he was experienced and pragmatic. When he first got involved, I think he wanted to ride in on his white horse and resurrect this failing defense. We always hoped the addition of a new, reputable attorney would class up the defense team’s tactics. Unfortunately, we would find in the weeks and months ahead that instead of Cheney raising Baez to his level of professionalism, Baez seemed to bring Cheney down to his.

The first time I saw Mason in court with Lyon, I knew they were oil and water. Mason was an old Southerner type who seemed fine with women in certain roles, like being protégés, but seemed to have trouble with women who were his professional equals. He showed that side in his dealings with Linda once, not a mistake you want to make twice. Lyon, meanwhile, was a big-city lawyer who could give as well as she took. Big city versus old country, we on the prosecution team knew this would be fun to watch. He would say disrespectful things to us about motions Andrea had filed, such as how ridiculous they were. You could tell they would never get along. As predicted, Lyon would leave the case as soon as the death penalty motion was argued, citing cost issues.

Ann Finnell entered the case in September 2010. Ann was a very experienced capital litigator, much like Andrea Lyon, only less abrasive. I actually liked working with Ann, though I am sure she was not happy to be working on Baez’s team. There were a number of occasions when she would lament to me privately about what an insane situation this was, referring to the lack of coherent management in the defense team and how she regretted getting involved.

The last to enter was Dorothy Sims, a civil lawyer from Ocala. She was touted as an expert in cross-examination of medical experts. During trial, however, she was relegated to the role of hand-holder and gal Friday. I thought Baez and Mason treated her very disrespectfully.

Ultimately, this defense team was not Kumbaya. It was all about who could survive in what was undoubtedly a difficult atmosphere, one in which Baez would perpetually govern every decision. When the dust settled there were four left standing, the four that would be our opposition for the trial: Baez, Mason, Finnell, and Sims.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

ORDER IN THE COURT

Shortly after Cheney Mason officially joined the case in the spring of 2010, the defense filed a motion to disqualify Judge Stan Strickland. Their reason for the recusal was that a blogger named Dave Knechel, known online as Marinade Dave, had engaged in conversations with Strickland about the Anthony case. The defense found that this showed a bias and said the judge should withdraw. They also accused Judge Strickland of being a publicity hound, which, in my opinion, was an accusation more applicable to them. It was not lost on Judge Strickland that the defense filed its motion at 4:48 P.M. on a Friday, just as it had done with the Kronk blindside. As we had seen before, no one from the Anthony defense team provided him with a copy, so he learned about it on the news. This was Baez’s MO.

In his response to the allegations, Judge Strickland said that the accusation that he was biased in favor of the prosecution “must serve as a source of bemusement” to Linda, Frank, and me. “Each of whom has verbally