Witness tampering alleged at Casey Anthony trial
ORLANDO, FL
Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings also revealed that
prosecutors were considering perjury charges against Anthony's
mother, but a spokeswoman for the state attorney's office later
said they would not be pursued.
Casey Anthony was acquitted a week ago on charges of killing her
2-year-old daughter Caylee in 2008. Anthony was found guilty on
four charges of lying to law enforcement officers. She is to be
released from jail Sunday.
The sheriff held the news conference to defend his investigation
and because his office had been besieged with interview requests
since the verdict.
"The ultimate goal ... is that our personnel can get back to
work doing the business of the taxpayers and residents of Orange
County," Demings said. "This is the only way that we can move
forward."
Demings wouldn't say who was accused of witness tampering, but
it didn't involve Casey Anthony's mother, Cindy. She stunned
prosecutors during the trial when she testified that she had done
searches for chloroform on the family's computer. Prosecutors
believed, along with sheriff's investigators, that Anthony had
performed the search.
Witnesses were later called to challenge Cindy Anthony's claim,
and in the days after the verdict, prosecutors hinted at possibly
charging her.
The government presented evidence at trial that chloroform was
found in Anthony's car trunk and insinuated that she could have
used it to render Caylee unconscious.
As for the alleged witness tampering, detective John Allen would
only say the sheriff's office has interviewed some witnesses.
"In regards to where we will go, it really depends on what
information we get and what people come forward to provide
additional information," Allen said.
The investigators at the news conference sat at a table
alongside a blown-up picture of Caylee. The sheriff said it was a
reminder of what his investigators were pursuing during the
three-year case that dominated his resources.
"This is what this was all about," Demings said. "It was
about a missing child. That's what motivated our staff and our
community."
Demings said his office followed up on more than 600 tips and
worked with more than 100 FBI agents. He said he is still in the
process of working with his accounting department to total up
substantial investigative costs. Prosecutors want Anthony to incur
those costs because they said the lies she was convicted of telling
investigators directly led to the expenditures.
"Obviously those were resources that could have been put toward
finding other missing children," Allen said.
Texas Equusearch, the private group that conducted several
searches for Caylee in 2008, filed a lawsuit against Anthony on
Tuesday, seeking $15,000 for what it spent on searches. The lawsuit
claimed Anthony made misrepresentations to the group's founder,
causing extensive, costly and time-consuming searches for Caylee.
Anthony's defense said Caylee accidentally drowned in the family
pool. Anthony's partying and shopping during the month before he
daughter was reported missing was caused in part by her father's
sexual abuse, her attorneys said.
George Anthony has denied the claims, and investigators said
Tuesday they were rebuffed by Anthony's defense team when they
tried to interview her about the molestation allegations.
Allen and the case's lead detective, Yuri Melich, said they
wouldn't do anything differently in the case, despite not winning a
conviction.
"Ultimately, it's up to the jury to decide," Melich said. "We
respect that and honor that."
The sheriff did acknowledge that finding Caylee's remains
earlier could have built a stronger case. The remains were found by
a meter reader in December 2008, six months after Caylee was
reported missing. The meter reader initially called authorities as
early as August about seeing what might have been a skull in the
woods.
Demings said the investigator called out after the meter
reader's report no longer works at the sheriff's office, and he
believed authorities correctly focused on Anthony.
"I certainly don't have any doubt," Allen said. "... I think
our work was solid."