Jose Baez facing criticism for his actions! Home in foreclosure

I wasnt sure where to post this - you might want to move it to a different place

ORLANDO, Fla. -- A possible new witness in the case against Casey Anthony is leading to more criticism against Casey's lead attorney, Jose Baez. The issue revolves around a phone call Baez received from a state prison inmate.

Baez wants the recording of that phone call kept secret; he says he didn't know he was being recorded. But when prison inmates make calls, they start with a message that the call is being recorded and prosecutors say he had to have heard it, because he followed its instruction to press "1" on his phone to accept inmate Robin Lunceford's call.
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A month and a half later, Baez denied it. After prosecutors called him on it, he filed new paperwork claiming he doesn't remember.

Baez is now being called into question for the same kinds of inconsistencies his client, accused child murderer Casey Anthony, has been caught in. Baez told Chief Judge Belvin Perry he didn't know he was being recorded when Lunceford called him, so he said it was illegal and asked the judge to seal it.

Baez says Lunceford can show that two other inmates lied about Casey to investigators.

“This person taped it or the institution taped it?” Judge Perry asked Baez at a previous hearing.

“The institution,” Baez replied.

But prosecutors say Baez not only heard the prison's warning that he was being recorded, he was told again by Lunceford during their phone call, and he was expecting her collect call from Lowell Correctional Institution, according to his assistant.

“At worst, it's an intentional misrepresentation to the court. At best, it's a faulty memory,” WFTV legal analyst Bill Sheaffer said Tuesday. “He has damaged his credibility with Judge Perry in either event.”

Baez's claim of faulty memory came after prosecutors told him they had heard the call and heard the warning he got before taking the call. In court at a previous hearing, Baez actually joked that, by asking to seal what he argued is an illegal recording, he was protecting the prosecutor from getting arrested for listening to it.

“I don't want her to get arrested,” Baez said in court with a laugh.

Judge Perry set him straight.

“Well, it would be up to the state attorney, Mr. Lamar, to determine that,” Judge Perry said.

The judge hasn't decided whether the public will get to hear that recorded phone call.

Lunceford is in prison for life and is under criminal investigation for playing with the prison phone system, partly for having her calls forwarded to people she's not authorized to call.

ORLANDO, Fla. -- The financial fallout from the case against Casey Anthony could cost lead defense attorney Jose Baez his home.

Foreclosure documents indicated Baez owes more than $650,000 to creditors. Baez said he blames his foreclosure on the real estate downturn.
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Baez purchased his lakefront home three years ago for $670,000. On Wednesday, he admitted it's only worth about half of that amount.

In a foreclosure complaint, Baez's creditor, U.S. Bank, claimed, "the installment which became due on the note and mortgage on Sept. 1, 2009, and each payment thereafter have not been paid."

In the mortgage he signed, Baez financed $601,000. He agreed to pay $4,500 a month plus interest. In the foreclosure complaint filed in May, he owed $655,000.

It's just the latest financial hit for Anthony's defense team and her family. Earlier in July, Anthony's parents settled a foreclosure claim on their home.

On June 30, death-penalty expert Andrea Lyon withdrew from the defense team citing the expense incurred by travel.

On March 19, Anthony was declared indigent after her $275,000 defense fund was exhausted. One day earlier, attorney Cheney Mason agreed to join her legal team for free.

"I'm sure they're strained," attorney Jeff Deen said.

Deen supervises a team of 70 lawyers. He said a complex capital case will eventually consumer a small criminal defense firm.

"You get stuck on it because it's the main thing you're doing in your life. You get married to it. I've had a case like this," Deen said.

Real estate attorney Matt Englett said Baez will likely have to negotiate a settlement over his home's lost value, how much creditors will absorb, and the penalty he will have to pay. That may be his best option, Englett said.

"He is going to lose a lot more money by keeping this house than by defaulting now, cutting his losses and moving on," Englett said.

At the time the state chose to see the death penalty against Anthony, Deen said Baez should have asked himself whether he was qualified to remain on the case and whether he could afford it.

"You don't talk about the business end of it, but that's part of it. That's a huge part of it," Deen said.
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Someone might want to move these two new posts.
Not sure where they belong. In the case of the foreclosure, its not an indication of his funds so much as far as I can see but the devaluation is so huge, it doesnt make sense to keep it. I still think Baez is going to make some major money after this trial.
I heard he had something going on with Telemundo TV after the case is over.