Imperfect Justice_ Prosecuting Casey Anthony - Jeff Ashton [104]
I filed a motion asking the judge to clarify what Baez had to file, though it seemed crystal clear to me. The judge apparently believed that the words were clear as well, and so he upped the ante. Judge Perry listed five specific questions that the defense had to answer about each expert, including every opinion they would give at trial and the factual basis for each of them. He then gave the defense another deadline.
When that deadline arrived, I received another filing. It contained mostly sarcastic comments about me, but little new information and nothing to clue us in about what opinions the experts would enter. I couldn’t believe that Baez had essentially dared Judge Perry to enforce the order. It was like my eight-year-old son—you tell him to hurry up and he slows down just to be defiant. Since Baez had been given two opportunities to comply and was still refusing, I filed a motion asking that he be held in contempt and be fined for every day he failed to comply.
At the hearing, Baez had no real response except to attack me. Judge Perry found that he had not complied with the prior orders and was in violation of the discovery rules, but rather than hold him in contempt, he ordered that the experts file reports that would provide essentially the same information that was supposed to have been in the prior orders. He also made Baez pay the state of Florida for the time I had spent preparing all these motions. It ended up being almost six hundred dollars. Eventually we got reports that appeared at the time to comply with the order.
The issue would arise again less than a month later. Baez had filed a motion requesting a Frye hearing to determine the admissibility of Dr. Vass’s odor analysis testimony. The motion was no surprise. We had all been expecting it for over a year. After I read his motion, though, I couldn’t figure out exactly what he was arguing was new or novel in Dr. Vass’s work. Certain things Vass did were indeed new, and we were prepared to argue those. But the way Baez had written his motion, I could see an ambush on the horizon, if all of a sudden he started arguing about an issue that I thought would not be challenged because it was already a commonly accepted technique.
I raised the matter with the judge, and upon reviewing the motion, he agreed that it was not sufficiently specific. In open court, he asked Baez what he was challenging, and Baez gave an answer that I felt adequately limited the issue and gave me what I needed to be prepared. Perry then ordered Baez to file the motion again, and essentially just repeat what he’d said in court. Instead of listening to the judge, Baez filed a response to Judge Perry’s order that once again was completely vague and had little connection to what Baez had said in court.
It was maddening. After the last round with him about the experts, it was apparent that this wasn’t just an issue of misunderstanding; it was obstinacy. As familiar as I was with Baez’s game, I was annoyed enough to file my own motion.
“Judge, he is not following your order again,” I stated. “You should hold him in civil contempt.” If Judge Perry was to find him in contempt, Baez would have to pay a fine or be jailed—no more wasting time waiting for him to comply. In response to my motion, Jose filed a response filled with attacks. This one went above and beyond anything he had said to date, specifically singling me out, calling me a liar, making accusations that were very personal, very nasty, and very much directed at me rather than at the team.
At the conclusion of other hearings one day, it was time to take up the issue of contempt. Judge Perry said to both of us, “I would prefer that y’all work it out, but I am willing to hear your motion.”
Everybody went into a side room: Linda, Frank, Baez, Cheney Mason, Dorothy Sims, and