'Casey Anthony wasn't guilty because she was mentally ill': Defense lawyer's book offers inside view of explosive case

By Associated Press Reporter and Daily Mail Reporter

Published: 00:34 EDT, 27 June 2012 | Updated: 08:00 EDT, 27 June 2012

Casey Anthony was never guilty of murder, or even of lying to police, because she was mentally ill and unstable when she sent detectives chasing after her two-year-old daughter, a new book claims.

Anthony's attorney, Jose Baez offers that stunning assessment in Presumed Guilty, Casey Anthony: The Inside Story, due out July 3.

Mr Baez gives an inside look at the explosive trial from one of the people who knew it best -- including a description of the elaborate trickery involved in sneaking Anthony away from court after her acquittal so that reporters couldn't follow her. Casey Anthony cries with her attorney Jose Baez after she was acquitted of murder charges at the Orange County Courthouse on July 5

He also supplies some intimate details: Anthony's first meal out of jail was a cheeseburger, fries and milkshake from Steak 'n Shake.

Mr Baez said detectives should have realised Casey Anthony had built a 'fantasy world,' and her lies weren't evidence of guilt but signs of someone with 'serious mental health issues'.

Anthony is serving probation for an unrelated charged at an undisclosed location in Florida. She couldn't be reached for comment yesterday.

Describing how Anthony led detectives on a wild goose chase, even taking them to Universal Studios where she falsely claimed she had a job, Mr Baez writes, detectives 'should have stopped and realised, "Wait a minute, we're not dealing with someone who is playing with a full deck"'.

Anthony originally told detectives that her daughter, Caylee, was taken by a babysitter in June 2008, and that she didn't report her missing for more than a month because she was searching for the toddler on her own. Anthony had been accused of murdering her two-year-old daughter Caylee in 2008 and was found not guilty of manslaughter in the first degree Insider: Jose Baez (left) was the lead defense lawyer for Casey Anthony (right). He claims Anthony lied about her daughter's death because she was mentally ill and unstable Criticism: Mr Baez (left) and Cheney Mason (right), address Judge Belvin Perry

Anthony panicked from the traumatic effects of being sexually abused by her father and George Anthony hid the body, according to the defence argument.

George Anthony denied the defence's allegations that he abused Casey and helped her cover up Caylee's death. Tell-all: Mr Baez gives an insider's look at the Casey Anthony case

Mr Baez repeats the allegations of sexual abuse in greater detail in the book, saying it contributed to Anthony's mental health issues.

Mark Lippman, an attorney for George Anthony, refused to comment on the book yesterday because he hadn't read it.

Anthony's defence contemplated having her testify until the very end of the trial but then decided it wasn't necessary.

'We had everything to lose and very little to gain,' Mr Baez writes.

After escorting Anthony out of the Orange County Jail and into a waiting SUV, Mr Baez rode with Anthony to a parking garage where five cars driven by members of the legal team were waiting.

Mr Baez and Anthony got into one car which departed the garage at the same time as the other four. Each car drove in a different direction so reporters following Mr Baez and Anthony wouldn't know which one they were in or where they were heading.

Mr Baez and Anthony then drove to a municipal airport where a private plane took them to the Florida Panhandle resort community of St George Island. Hiding: Anthony is currently serving jail time for unrelated charges at an undisclosed location. She has hidden from the public ever since her acquittal Gone: Anthony's toddler daughter Caylee, whose body was found in woods near Anthony's home in 2008

Mr Baez takes aim at the reporters who covered the case, detectives who investigated it, 'groupies' who attached themselves to it and the case's original judge who Mr Baez says filed a complaint against him with the Florida Bar.

The complaint was later dropped. Prosecutor Jeff Ashton undergoes the harshest criticism by Mr Baez, who calls him 'a coward' for not showing up at Anthony's sentencing for the misdemeanors since he was making the talk shows round after the trial.

Mr Baez is critical of many of Circuit Judge Belvin Perry's rulings during the trial but praises the judge for allowing him to pick a fair jury.

The three-year case took an emotional toll on Mr Baez, according to his book. He suffered depression after the complaint was filed against him and he found it difficult to find joy in his wife's pregnancy.

Mr Baez also criticises the way he was portrayed in the media as an inexperienced attorney taking on one of the highest-profile criminal cases in recent memory.

'The public may have been convinced that I was an idiot but I let it all roll off my back,' he writes.

Jose Baez book: Casey Anthony wasn't guilty because she was mentally ill
[null, {"document_url": "https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2165291/Jose-Baez-book-Casey-Anthony-wasnt-guilty-mentally-ill.html", "unformatted_src": "https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/furniture/facebook/DailyMail/DailyMail.png", "src": "https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/furniture/facebook/DailyMail/DailyMail.png", "formatted_filename": "DailyMail"}, null, {"document_url": "https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2165291/Jose-Baez-book-Casey-Anthony-wasnt-guilty-mentally-ill.html", "unformatted_src": "https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/06/27/article-2165291-13CE6573000005DC-928_634x713.jpg", "src": "https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/06/27/article-2165291-13CE6573000005DC-928_634x713.jpg", "formatted_filename": "article CE DC", "alt_text": "Casey Anthony cries with her attorney Jose Baez after she was acquitted of murder charges at the Orange County Courthouse on July 5", "rendered_width": 634, "rendered_height": 713}, null, {"document_url": "https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2165291/Jose-Baez-book-Casey-Anthony-wasnt-guilty-mentally-ill.html", "unformatted_src": "https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/06/27/article-2165291-13CE6563000005DC-125_634x423.jpg", "src": "https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/06/27/article-2165291-13CE6563000005DC-125_634x423.jpg", "formatted_filename": "article CE DC", "alt_text": "Anthony had been accused of murdering her two-year-old daughter Caylee in 2008 and was found not guilty of manslaughter in the first degree", "rendered_width": 634, "rendered_height": 423}, null, {"document_url": "https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2165291/Jose-Baez-book-Casey-Anthony-wasnt-guilty-mentally-ill.html", "unformatted_src": "https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/06/27/article-2165291-13CE0669000005DC-351_634x458.jpg", "src": "https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/06/27/article-2165291-13CE0669000005DC-351_634x458.jpg", "formatted_filename": "article CE DC", "alt_text": "Casey Anthony", "rendered_width": 634, "rendered_height": 458}, null, {"document_url": "https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2165291/Jose-Baez-book-Casey-Anthony-wasnt-guilty-mentally-ill.html", "unformatted_src": "https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/06/27/article-2165291-13CE0676000005DC-23_634x286.jpg", "src": "https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/06/27/article-2165291-13CE0676000005DC-23_634x286.jpg", "formatted_filename": "article CE DC", "alt_text": "Criticism: Mr Baez (left) and Cheney Mason (right), address Judge Belvin Perry", "rendered_width": 634, "rendered_height": 286}, null, {"document_url": "https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2165291/Jose-Baez-book-Casey-Anthony-wasnt-guilty-mentally-ill.html", "unformatted_src": "https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/06/27/article-2165291-13CE2EF7000005DC-591_306x457.jpg", "src": "https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/06/27/article-2165291-13CE2EF7000005DC-591_306x457.jpg", "formatted_filename": "article CE EF DC", "alt_text": "Presumed Guilty", "rendered_width": 306, "rendered_height": 457}, null, {"document_url": "https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2165291/Jose-Baez-book-Casey-Anthony-wasnt-guilty-mentally-ill.html", "unformatted_src": "https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/06/27/article-2165291-13CE0846000005DC-242_634x380.jpg", "src": "https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/06/27/article-2165291-13CE0846000005DC-242_634x380.jpg", "formatted_filename": "article CE DC", "alt_text": "Casey Anthony", "rendered_width": 634, "rendered_height": 380}, null, {"document_url": "https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2165291/Jose-Baez-book-Casey-Anthony-wasnt-guilty-mentally-ill.html", "unformatted_src": "https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/06/27/article-2165291-0C3F191B00000578-202_634x486.jpg", "src": "https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/06/27/article-2165291-0C3F191B00000578-202_634x486.jpg", "formatted_filename": "article C F B", "alt_text": "Gone: Anthony's toddler daughter Caylee, whose body was found in woods near Anthony's home in 2008", "rendered_width": 634, "rendered_height": 486}, null, null, {"document_url": "https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2165291/Jose-Baez-book-Casey-Anthony-wasnt-guilty-mentally-ill.html", "unformatted_src": "https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/04/15/undefined-undefined-1D1F693100000578-8_136x135.jpg", "src": "https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/04/15/undefined-undefined-1D1F693100000578-8_136x135.jpg", "formatted_filename": "undefined undefined D F", "alt_text": "match.png", "rendered_width": 136, "rendered_height": 135}, null, null]