A Florida judge has decided to release jailhouse video of Casey Anthony being told that the remains of her 2-year-old daughter had been found in 2008. In the silent video, Anthony can be seen slowly rocking back and forth.
Released video shows Casey Anthony’s reaction to body discovery
Barbara Liston
Reuters US Online Report Domestic News
Sep 30, 2011 20:38 EDT
ORLANDO, Fla (Reuters) – A Florida judge on Friday released a grainy video showing Casey Anthony’s reaction in 2008 to a news report saying the remains of her missing 2-year-old daughter Caylee had been found.
Anthony, 25, was acquitted in July of murdering Caylee, but the young mother was convicted of lying to investigators when she sent them on a wild goose chase searching for a nanny she claimed had kidnapped the toddler.
Anthony was in jail in Orlando and already indicted in Caylee’s death when the child’s remains were found on December 11, 2008. Investigators had Anthony brought to the waiting room of the jail’s medical unit so they could film her watching a news account.
In the video, Anthony can be seen staring at the television monitor, then doubling over in her chair. Several times, she sat up, then doubled over again. She appeared at times to clutch her stomach and wipe her eyes.
The video had been sealed prior to her murder trial by a judge who ruled that its contents were inflammatory and could affect her ability to receive a fair trial. Once the trial was over, Orlando television station WKMG filed a motion seeking to get the tape unsealed.
Anthony’s lawyer, Jose Baez, tried to stop the public release of the video, arguing in court this week that the tape showed the “intentional infliction of emotional distress.”
“She was sat down and in some form of torture they decided to turn on the television and at that point she was recorded, her physical reactions were recorded,” Baez told Judge Belvin Perry.
Baez said investigators probably hoped to record an incriminating statement or confession from Anthony, but didn’t get one. Baez said his client was given a sedative after seeing the news report.
The attorney had argued the release of the videotape would violate Anthony’s privacy, particularly because it took place in a medical facility.
But Perry concluded that Anthony had no expectation of privacy in a jail and that sitting in a waiting room did not violate medical privacy.
(Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Cynthia Johnston)
Source: Reuters US Online Report Domestic News
Source: Source One News
