Casey Anthony Prosecutors Defend Their Ethics, Cite Misdirected Email on Software Issues
Prosecutors in the Casey Anthony case are defending their ethics after a computer expert appeared to imply they failed to disclose his warning that his software incorrectly found the defendant searched for the word “chloroform” 84 times.
John Bradley, who designed the CacheBack software used to support the 84-search assertion, now says Anthony visited the suspect website only once. He told the New York Times he found an error in CacheBack after he learned during his court testimony that a different software program had identified only one visit to the website, which gave information about the use of chloroform in the 1800s.
The State’s Attorney’s office defended itself in a press release that references a misdirected email from Bradley and a defense awareness of discrepancies in the software results. “We are dismayed at the suggestion made by the defense that prosecutors would withhold exculpatory material,” the release said. “Court records show that the defense was completely aware of the issues, utilizing these facts at trial.”
Legal Ethics Forum linked to the press release and WESH.com has a story.
According to the press release, Bradley contacted prosecutors on June 23 and recommended they use the software that found one site visit. Prosecutors discussed the discrepancy between the two software programs with defense lawyer Jose Baez on June 27, and both sides agreed on the one-visit analysis.
“During jury deliberations Mr. Bradley admitted to sending additional report information to the wrong email address but was able to deliver information to prosecutors on the evening of July 4th,” the press release says. “On July 5th prosecutors prepared a Notice of Supplemental Discovery for defense but it was never provided because the jury had reached their verdict.”
Meanwhile, Bradley’s lawyer, Gregory Mair, has released a statement saying his client disputes “erroneous media reports” suggesting he insinuated wrongdoing by prosecutors, the Associated Press reports.
Hat to Above the Law.
