jimbud wrote:Robert: Great info!! There is no better info than local reputation. I imagine the FL Bar in your area is as incestuous as ours is here.... No offense -- and I know you aren't a prosecutor now -- but I have rarely come across a non-DICKHEAD prosecutor. When I saw him laughing during Baez's argument, I wanted to put my fist through the screen. I do civil, and have only tangential dealings with them. Didn't realize Baez was an unknown. That is very surprising, and I know what you mean re: going with the proven guns in the jurisdiction. In our Bar Association, some of the key death penalty qualified guys go for a week every year to Gerry Spence's Trial College that has a special seminar on death penalty defense. Same guys, over and over, and they are good. Noted that Cheney opened with an anecdote about Hartford, CT, which I enjoyed.
Maybe I didn't express it correctly: As far as most prosecutors go, he's a MAJOR ******. Whine, Whine Whine.
Smirk, Smirk, Smirk. Facial gestures galore. I saw nothing wrong with Baez calling him out on it and directing the jury's attention to Ashton. This is a death trial- not misdemeanor arraignment- where accuseds say the darnedest things...
Baez has been practicing for about 8 years now. No one understands how she ever got to him, with so many choices out there. Funny thing is that the parents' first lawyer, Mark Nejame, would have been a great pick by Cassey. He's a media savy/whore, who is very creative. Prosecutors don't want' to mess with him.
Rumor id that Judge Perry is about to retire. I see a book deal in his future.
Here is what concerns me the most. Every single lawyer commentator on TV has ridiculed Baez' strategy and how bad he messed up by making an Opening Statement when he did, let alone what he said about an accidental drowning. So too has Retired Judge Eaton who, despite his total lack of on-air personality, is the most knowledgeable death-penalty judge in Florida. How does she NOT get a re-trial due to ineffective counsel?
Lots of potentially improper, novel expert testimony, such as on "the odor of decomposition"...