In the course of watching on television some of the trial in Florida of
Casey Anthony for the murder of her daughter Caylee, a question has
occurred to me.
Clearly, a mother whose daughter is missing and who then parties and
shows no grief and makes up a story about Zanny the Nanny having
kidnapped her daughter is some sort of psychopath. Her attorney said in
his opening statement that he would show that she was sexually abused by
her father and by her brother, but both have denied it on the stand. So
one wonders, and the commentators on Dateline have discussed whether
Casey Anthony will take the stand since there appears to be no other way
to demonstrate the abuse. The commentators have said that putting her
on the stand would be extremely risky (and I am aware that criminal
defendants rarely take the stand), and that the defendant is likely to
be demolished in cross examination.
Anyway, the question I have is this: If the defense attorney puts her on
the stand, questions her only about the alleged abuse by her father and
brother after having instructed her in advance to be very careful to
limit her answers to what has been asked, is the prosecution then
limited to questioning her only about what she has testified to? Or can
the prosecution also question her about the lies she told police about
Zanny the Nanny (with the jury told only to view it in relation to her
credibility)? Or is it possible for the prosecution to question her
more broadly concerning the murder she is charged with?
I am sure that the answer to my question is covered in a first course in
criminal defense, but I have never studied law.
Steve
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