Tags
attorney/client privilege, Casey Anthony, Casey Anthony book, Casey Anthony trial, Caylee Anthony, Cindy Anthony, George Anthony, Jeff Ashton, Jeff Ashton book, Jose Baez, Jose Baez book, Lee Anthony, Presumed Guilty, privileged information, Tot Mom
I am a compulsive reader. When I say compulsive, I mean that I even read the toothpaste tube every time I brush my teeth, LOL. Needless to say, I have a huge collection of books. My hubby actually told me just the other day that I should open a used book store to get rid of some of them, LOL, but as I told him, that is never going to happen. I love the feel of books, and I even love the smell of them. I love holding them in my hands, and they bring me comfort for some reason I cannot explain. Needless to say, I am not a Kindle kind of gal, LOL.
Still, since I do buy lots of books of every imaginable description – my preference is nonfiction, reference and the classics – I am always interested to know what nonfiction books are being released.
I saw on The Huffington Post today that Jose Baez, former attorney for Casey Anthony, has written a book about the case. In that book, according to HuffPo, he discloses detailed information about the alleged abuse by her father, among other things.
This concerns me because, if the information was given to him by Casey Anthony during the preparation of her defense, and she did not disclose it to third parties, that information is privileged under attorney/client confidentiality. The privilege attaches to the client, so it cannot be disclosed without her permission. So I have to ask, is it privileged information? Did she give permission for him to disclose such sensitive information in a book? If she gave permission, did she realize exactly what she was permitting him to do with that information?
Even the idea of an attorney disclosing privileged information in a book makes me queasy. This has nothing to do with Casey Anthony, mind you, and everything to do with the fact that each person who hires an attorney has the absolute right to believe that nothing they say in confidentiality will end up in a book. Obviously, I do not know for a fact that what he is saying is privileged or that the privilege has not been knowingly waived, since the book has not even been released yet, but it sure seems like it is privileged information based upon the HuffPo article. That really and truly bothers me, as would be the case regardless of the client, because it eats away at the basis of our justice system.
It also concerns me a great deal because I seriously doubt that any of those sexual abuse allegations are true. This is a young woman who lies compulsively and seems to live in a world the rest of us cannot see, after all. In my opinion, she is quite obviously mentally ill (or as we say in these parts, nuttier than squirrel crap) and as such, no responsible person would ever repeat those kinds of allegations from her without proof that they were true. Yet if Baez had proof that the allegations were true, he would have presented that proof at trial, since he made the sexual abuse allegation a major part of his opening statement. I am therefore more than a little disturbed that those types of accusations are being repeated and even expanded upon in a book, from which this attorney will no doubt handsomely profit. It will thus be very interesting to see if he he ends up getting sued by George Anthony.
At any rate, I have seen lots of people on the internet saying they will not buy or read this book. However, I will not go so far as to say that, because it simply is not true. When excerpts show up on the internet, and they will, I will read them out of curiosity. I might also read the entire book if I can borrow it from a friend or the library. I might eventually even buy it if it shows up at one of the used book stores I frequent, or at the library sale we have several times per year here.
What I absolutely will not do, however, is put money directly into the pocket of an attorney who appears to be profiting by disclosing privileged information, especially about a case involving a dead toddler and a mother who is very obviously nuttier than squirrel crap. That is just me, and my personal ethics, and I do not expect anyone else to agree with that stance.
For the record, I did not buy the book by prosecutor Jeff Ashton either, because he is also profiting handsomely from the death of a child with a mother who is obviously nuttier than squirrel crap, and I find that absolutely abhorrent, especially since he was the prosecutor and therefore should be held to a higher standard than the defense attorney. This is not to say I will not one day read it, because if I can borrow it or buy it used, so he does not profit from my reading it, I probably will.
I guess I just have a problem with attorneys profiting by writing a book about a case involving a dead child and a mentally ill defendant, regardless of which side they may have been on. I say this because if they were giving all the proceeds to a legitimate charity, I would not feel the same way about it, as long as I did not have the feeling that they were disclosing privileged information. Again, that is just me, and I do not expect anyone to agree.
This brings me to the poll. Most online saying they will never read or buy the book give as their reason that they think Casey Anthony actually did kill her child, but I suspect most will buy it anyway. I actually expect it to be on the New York Times Bestseller List very quickly, and that most people who will buy it are the same people who are saying they would never do so. They are the ones still talking about the case on an ongoing basis a year after the verdict, after all, so they are the target audience for a book of this nature.
In this poll, you can reveal whether you will read or buy it, without anyone knowing who you are or what you may have said in internet comments about it, LOL. Please be honest when answering, because – being a big fan of books, who has taken an interest in this particular book due to the nature of its alleged content – I am truly curious.
Baez seems to think that we’ll buy his “Aha Moment” for a second time. There was no need to spend his state’s money for private investigation time for the story he concocted for the opening statements. I have no interest in hearing his ‘story’ since they are based on what a bonifide liar said in the first place. He showed much incompetency in his role as an attorney on record. He had already done plenty of narcissistic marketing while the case was under investigation. I am so over this woman – and her egotistical attorney. When people say they will not buy this book, I’d be quick to believe them.
RIP Precious Caylee – Karma will set things right.
Thanks for your comment! I agree, it seems to be a second Aha Moment, but what can he really say about it which is not purely prurient in nature at this point? I cannot even imagine, and I am not sure I want to know, simply because I doubt that any of it is true. If I recall correctly, she also accused her brother of molesting her for years. So either the Anthony family is a hotbed of sexual molestation, or Casey is lying. I tend to believe the latter, simply because she has lied about so many other things, both big and small.
I found a free copy of the book. I did not read it per se, but rather browsed through it for a few hours. It was neither well written nor informative. The book offered no significant revelations; the lawyer only expounds upon what he has already publicly asserted. He relays the content of conversations he had with his client, though I found his account of those conversations disingenuous. He pontificates a lot about the way he and his client were treated by the media, the prosecution, the police, etc. I admit, I was a little intrigued to take a look at his book, but I found nothing of great interest. The book essentially serves to justify his allegations against George Anthony, and as a medium for him to lambaste his critics. That’s about it.