If Mr. Baez Doesn’t Know How He Became Lead Defense Attorney in the Caylee Anthony Murder Trial, Who Does?

A mere two weeks before jury selection in the most prominent case in which defense attorney Jose Baez has ever been involved, let alone led the defense efforts, he found time to give a lengthy multi-part interview to a national television news organization.  During the interview, Mr. Baez is asked questions about how he met his client Ms. Anthony.  The comments of Mr. Baez may be seen and heard at the following link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkIDPgvXAgo

Reporter: “How did you get to this spot?  Running one of the biggest cases many people say since OJ, how did you get to this place?”

Jose Baez: “I really don’t know.  And that’s my honest… that’s my honest uhh… answer.”

“really” – This word is a signpost of dishonesty.  The presence of this word in a declarative statement forces the astute listener to question the truthfulness of the statement because the speaker is highlighting a personal sensitivity to his statements being accepted as truth, especially the statement to which the “really” applies.  Does Mr. Baez “really” not know?  Since Mr. Baez and the reporter treat this answer as a joke, the audience is led to believe this is not the true answer and Mr. Baez does “really” know how he became involved in the Casey Anthony case and how he ended up on national television giving an exclusive interview just two short weeks prior to jury selection in the biggest trial of his career.

Reporter: “How did you end up getting involved with Casey Anthony?”

Jose Baez: “Well… apparently, there were a couple of people in the jail that referred…gave her my name and referred me to her.  So… I’ve heard people say “Ahh, he’s lucky this landed on his lap”, and it didn’t do that.”

“apparently” – This word is another of the easily spotted signposts of dishonesty.  This word allows the speaker to shed personal responsibility for the statement as this is not his answer, but the apparent answer, the answer all can see.  Mr. Baez is not attempting to shed any light on subject, in fact, he is avoiding answering the question.  Mr. Baez states what he believes everyone already knows.

“there were a couple of people in the jail” – Mr. Baez states there were an unknown “couple” who gave his name to Ms. Anthony.  Although there is an urban myth Ms. Anthony was referred to Mr. Baez by someone she spoke to in jail, no such person has ever come forward and taken public credit for this act in almost three years.  Now, Mr. Baez adds a second such person to the myth.

“referred me to her” – This phrase is confusing as it could mean someone referred Mr. Baez as an attorney to Ms. Anthony or it could be the reverse, someone referred “me”, Mr. Baez, to Ms. Anthony as a client.  In other words, this sentence could mean someone at the jail notified Mr. Baez of a possible client in need of his services.

“it didn’t do that” – This case did not land in the lap of Mr. Baez.  He did something, he put forth effort, he affected events, so this case became his.  Mr. Baez is affirming he did not become involved in this case by accident and he does know how he became involved contrary to his initial answer of “I really don’t know”.

Jose Baez: “So, I think I landed this case through hard work.”

Mr. Baez thinks, but others may “think” differently.  The belief of Mr. Baez is he “landed this case through hard work”.   Mr. Baez worked and the result of his efforts was involvement in this case.  Mr. Baez put forth effort to become involved in this case.  Others “think” Mr. Baez did not work to get this case, but he knows he did.  What did Mr. Baez do to convince Casey Anthony he was the attorney she needed?

We have learned Mr. Baez knows how he became involved in this case and with Casey Anthony.

We have learned Mr. Baez does not wish to reveal any details of the first meeting between himself and Ms. Anthony.

We have learned Mr. Baez worked to become a part of this case, work he was able to accomplish in less than a day as he was the attorney of record the day after Ms. Anthony was booked into jail.