Andrea Lyon Leaves Defense Team

Death penalty expert Andrea Lyon leaves Casey Anthony defense team

By Anthony Colarossi, Orlando Sentinel
6:07 p.m. EDT, June 30, 2010

Chicago attorney Andrea Lyon, who joined the Casey Anthony defense team to fight prosecutors' desire to seek the death penalty for the 24-year-old Orlando woman, is no longer on the team.

Lead Anthony attorney Jose Baez confirmed today that Lyon has left the defense because of financial issues. He filed paperwork with the Orange County Clerk of Court's office late today reflecting Lyon's departure.

"We're sad to see her leave, but we completely understand that it's a fiscal reason," Baez said.

He said Lyon will remain "fully accessible to us if we need her at any time."

Local attorney Cheney Mason remains on the team, and Baez said, "You're really not going to notice any difference in the way the team operates."

Casey Anthony's defense will not be jeopardized by the departure, he said.

"She would not have left if she felt it would affect Casey. I know that," Baez said.

In late May, 2009, Lyon, the nationally known death-penalty attorney, joined Casey Anthony's defense team.

Her team needed to find a qualified death-penalty attorney who met the state's criteria — which includes five years' trial experience and service as lead attorney in at least nine state or federal jury trials of serious or complex cases.

At the time, Lyon, a DePaul University law-school professor, had handled more than 130 murder cases and more than 30 potential capital cases.

"She is a fighter," said Terence M. Lenamon, a Miami death-penalty attorney who briefly worked on the Anthony case last fall. "She will do things the way she thinks they need to be done."

Anthony is charged with first-degree murder in the death of her daughter, Caylee Marie. The 2-year-old's remains were found Dec. 11, 2008, in woods less than a mile from her family home in east Orange County.

The state is seeking the death penalty against Anthony, and Lyon joined the team for that reason.

Lyon is a clinical professor of law and directs the law school's Center for Justice in Capital Cases, according to her Web site. In 1990, she founded the Illinois Capital Resource Center and served as its director until joining the University of Michigan Law School faculty in 1995.

Last year Lyon said prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for "strategic reasons."

"You will hear about those strategic reasons in motions that I will be filing, challenging their right to even ask for the death penalty in these circumstances," Lyon said at the time. "I believe Florida law simply doesn't allow asking for the death penalty in these circumstances."

Anthony Colarossi can be reached at acolarossi@orlandosentinel.com

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/caylee-anthony/os-casey-anthony-andrea-lyon-20100630,0,2682343.story

Is Mason qualified to defend Casey in the death-penalty trial? Or is this another way for the defense to delay the trial as they get another atty up to speed?

One of Casey’s lawyers quits case

By Adam Longo, News 13 Reporter
Last Updated: Wednesday, June 30, 2010 6:21 PM

ORLANDO -- News 13 has learned one of Casey Anthony’s attorneys is quitting the case.

Andrea Lyon is the second lawyer to depart from the case in less than six months.

She's actually losing money being a part of the case.

In the 13 months she spent on this case, Lyon was paid $22,500, which is almost 10 percent of the $250,000 Anthony's defense team spent before she was declared indigent.

In her motion to withdraw from the case, Lyon said that's not even a third of her actual costs.

Lyon came on board for her death penalty expertise, but she was traveling a great deal and juggling a busy schedule.

She's a law professor at DePaul University in Chicago.

Lead attorney Jose Baez said she is not leaving for ideological reasons.

Lyon has been a very visible member of the defense team.

She's been the driving force behind anti-death penalty motions, arguing for instance, a gender bias against Anthony.

Lyon went on national TV in January and compared this case to the Salem Witch Trials.

The defense doesn't have to look far for another death penalty expert.

New Anthony attorney Chaney Mason will fill those shoes, and Baez said Lyon will still consult with the defense team.


http://www.cfnews13.com/article/news/2010/june/115783/One-of-Casey%92s-lawyers-quits-case?cmpid=twitter

This doesn't surprise me at all..... ever since Cheney came on board, and especially since KC was declared indigent, I have believed AL would leave this case.

Besides, I think she can see the writing on the wall in this case..... and possibly she knows even the Great and Holy Angel of Death Row can't get KC out of this one.... AL doesn't want to ruin her record....

Bsides the money issue, I think she just couldn't handle Bozo's stupidity any longer. She's not used to playing 2nd chair, but Bozo was not giving up the lead.

Andrea Lyon Leaving Casey Anthony Defense Team

POSTED: 6:30 pm EDT June 30, 2010
UPDATED: 7:05 pm EDT June 30, 2010

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. -- A source close to the Casey Anthony investigation tells WESH 2 News that death penalty defense attorney Andrea Lyon is leaving Anthony’s defense team. The source said Lyon made her intentions known more than a week ago.

Lyon has only been a part of the defense team for a little over a year. She filed paperwork in June of 2009 asking for permission to enter the case.

Lyon originally said she said she would prove the Anthony case does not qualify for the death penalty because the state did not have sufficient evidence.

In recent weeks, Judge Belvin Perry has struck down numerous motions by the defense hoping to take the death penalty off the table.

Lyon has been successful in getting prosecutors to reveal their list of five aggravating factors they may use to pursue capitol punishment.

Anthony has successfully petitioned to the court to be declared indigent, meaning her defense is paid by taxpayers. However, the Justice Administrative Commission does not pay for travel for privately retained, out-of-state attorneys like Lyon, who is from Chicago.

Lyon’s participation started to come into question earlier this year with the addition of well-known Orlando criminal defense attorney J. Cheney Mason. He, too, was qualified to try death penalty cases.

According to Lyon’s website, she has defended more than 30 potential capital cases.

http://www.wesh.com/news/24101457/detail.html?treets=orl&tml=orl_break&ts=T&tmi=orl_break_1_06080106302010

Interesting that this article by Andrea Lyon was published today on the Huffington Post:

Fighting the Death Penalty: Hope for Change

Andrea Lyon
Author, Attorney, Professors of Law: DePaul University
Posted: June 30, 2010 01:50 PM

I have spent most of my professional life trying to save my clients from the death penalty. I often get asked questions like, how can I do this work? Wouldn't I want death for someone who killed one of my family? And sometimes the questions are more pejorative than that.

In circumstances where I have been asked to debate the death penalty, I have found recently that proponents of the death penalty have stopped trying to argue it deters crime -- they know it doesn't, or that it costs less -- they know that isn't true either (See for example "The Cost of the Death Penalty in Maryland" which estimates 37 million for one execution). They also have stopped saying that all victims want this, because while some do, many do not. In fact, all of the justifications for the death penalty come down to just one which they effectively argue: retribution. Put another way, many people feel that some people just shouldn't be on this earth, what they did was just too awful. The desire for retribution is a powerful one, and trying to deny someone the "right" to feel that way is foolish.

But here is what I know -- most people don't know these defendants intimately. They don't know their life stories, what circumstances drove them to be where they were and now are, and can't see their humanity until it's placed before them in a sentencing hearing -- if they are lucky enough to see a sentencing hearing done by someone competent and who cares.

It's a selective blindness that we develop -- we can't absorb all the pain around us, so we just don't look. We don't see the homeless man we pass by, or the mentally ill woman who is talking wildly to herself, or the children going to school day after day in the same clothes where they will eat their only meal -- the free school lunch. I am not saying that this blindness, this choice not to see the truth makes us bad, or inhumane -- we have to defend ourselves from overload or we can't do anyone any good. But while no one can do everything, everyone can do something.

And I have chosen to try to tell my clients stories, to help other lawyers tell their clients' stories and teach my students of the value of each of our clients' lives. I have represented gang members, a serial rapist-murderer, several paranoid schizophrenics, battered and abused women, and battered and abused men. Their stories are shocking, desperately moving and occasionally, in spite of everything, downright funny. Some, indeed, committed the acts they were accused of, and some did not. But no matter what they did or did not do, I believe that every person I have defended is a human being of value. Some are terribly damaged; some lack even tenuous connections with reality. Each of their lives tells us about the ways in which individuals and institutions can go horribly astray, but they also reveal what remains human and noble in the midst of such waste.

Once, I defended a young woman for killing the father who had been molesting her since she was five years old. Unfortunately, I made mistakes during the trial and I lost the case. At its conclusion, I rushed to reassure her that we would appeal. What did she say to me -- this young woman facing many many years in prison? "Are you okay? Are you all right to drive? I don't want you to be home alone tonight." She was more worried about me than about her own sad fate. Happily, I did get her conviction reversed on appeal, and we settled for time served in lieu of a new trial.

What this story demonstrates to me is that even people facing the most horrendous prospects are still capable of caring about someone other than themselves. Time and time again, I have seen incarcerated people find within themselves unexpected capacities. Some counsel younger inmates; some mediate family conflicts; many make a positive contribution to the world. And even those who have demonstrated total indifference to the lives of others can change. Redemption is possible. As long as there is life, even if it is a life in prison with no chance of parole, there is hope for change.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andrea-lyon/fighting-the-death-penalt_b_630975.html

Now I'm wondering if the mitigation specialist, Jeanene Barrett, will be the next to jump ship. She is one of Andrea's buddies from DePaul..... in order to keep her on the case, JB used the argument that she had already spent a year working with KC and someone new would have to start from scratch.

Hmmmmmm.... what an interesting turn of events. Can't wait to see what happens next.

THIS is NOT anything I anticipated in this case. I am blown away. I thought this was Andrea Lyons ultimate opportunity to make history as a Professor of Law, as a Lawyer.

WHAT can Casey think now??????????????????????????????

I actually thought this would be an easy "win" For Lyons, I thought with the sexual, verbal, physical abuse Casey (apparently) suffered in the Hopespringseternal home, that Ms. Lyons could get Casey LWOP on a temporary insanity deal.

More and more, it sucks to be an Anthony. (Well Caylee learned that the hard way over 2 years ago... ....)

Well she just told us why she left KC's case.

are still capable of caring about someone other than themselves.

KC cannot do this!

many make a positive contribution to the world. And even those who have demonstrated total indifference to the lives of others can change.

KC cannot do this.

Andrea has finally realized KC is a breed of her own, and cannot change.

You're right, eva... it does SUCK to be an Anthony..... and most of all, for little Caylee.

Along with Jeanene Barrett, there is also Mort the PI... and the spokesperson (the name escapes me at the moment)..... I believe they were from DePaul, as well.

At the indigency hearing, when AL had to admit how much of DePaul's funds she was using for KC's defense, I wonder if that caused some (or MOST) of their donations to dry up. IIRC, I believe AL said they had used something like $70K of funds from the program AL heads up there towards KC's defense......

Anyway, I think we haven't seen the last of people scooting from this case......

sitemama wrote:Well she just told us why she left KC's case.

are still capable of caring about someone other than themselves.

KC cannot do this!

many make a positive contribution to the world. And even those who have demonstrated total indifference to the lives of others can change.

KC cannot do this.

Andrea has finally realized KC is a breed of her own, and cannot change.

Mama, you may be right....... AL DEFINITELY doesn't want to ruin her perfect record for the likes of Casey Anthony.

No way, baby. She was losing money and once she reviewed the evidence herself........she thought what the hell am I doing here? Comes down to $$$ and reputation......she doesn't want to carry that with her the rest of her career. She supported a baby killer.........more will follow. I don't know what positive fame they thought they'd gain from this. Andrea knows PR wise, it's best to step away. JMO.
Who's next?

I also feel that Judge Perry made her think twice.......

I'm not so sure AL cares about her reputation since she received alot of flak some years ago being on former Illinois govorner George Ryan's defense team pro-bono. I think she discovered that the Anthony case hurt the funding of DePaul U's program such as was mentioned in a previous comment. But, I don't think she left because of financial reasons. There's ways around that and if this case meant alot to AL, she would go the distance. I thought this would be her opportunity to go for a moratorium on the death penalty in Florida. I thought this case would be her jump start to that since she has given numerous speeches on it prior to the Anthony case in Florida.

Oh, Sherry, with all due respect, I would have to disagree that AL doesn't care about her reputation. I believe that is extremely important to her.

My personal opinion is that she is leaving for a number of reasons:

1. She realizes she can't win this case and doesn't want to ruin her perfect record.
2. DePaul's program is losing donations because she's using their funds for KC's defense.
3. Personality/strategy disagreements with JB (i.e. JB doesn't want the A's visiting; AL is big on family involvement).

Baez was the first one in, and I think he will be the last one out.

I agree, Julie...... JB has no plans to go anywhere....... he sees a book deal for himself when this is all over.

BTW, does this mean that Andrea WON'T be helping KC get into DePaul Law School now?????????

I think she left because when she first came in, it was the case to be on. It was an interesting case, back in the beginning and about a year ago. The blogs used to be really interesting. The armchair sleuths were very interesting coming up with theories and research. But lately, the news in the case & the "evidence" has also dwindled into what....George having an affair, Casey's jailhouse letters, that kind of stuff. I think AL woke up and said this is not a criminal case, it's a circus, and I'm part of the sideshow.