Anthony murder trial pushed to 2010

At a scheduling conference on Tuesday, Orange County Circuit Judge Stan Strickland canceled the October 2009 trial date for the State vs. Casey Anthony.

Judge Strickland did schedule a pretrial hearing on January 21, 2010, at 10:00 a.m., with plans for a trial date sometime next summer. 

The scheduling of a definitive date has been mired by dozens of motion hearings to sort out everything from submissible evidence to trial venue.  Just last month, a motion to withhold autopsy findings from the public was denied.  However, a video which shows Casey Anthony's reactions on the day that she learned her daughter's remains were found will not be released.

Anthony, 23, has pleaded not guilty on charges that she killed her daughter, 2-year-old Caylee Marie, claiming a baby sitter kidnapped her toddler. Caylee was last seen in June of 2008, but she was not reported missing until a month later. Her remains were found in woods near the family's home in December.

Defense attorneys have asked that the trial be moved to South Florida because of the intense media coverage in Orlando. A hearing has not been scheduled yet to determine whether the case will be moved out of Central Florida. Prosecutors say they will seek the death penalty if she is convicted of first-degree murder.

Also yet to be determined is a date for the civil case brought against Anthony by Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez. Attorneys for Anthony had asked to dismiss the lawsuit.

Fernandez-Gonzalez claims Anthony defamed her when she told police that her daughter had been kidnapped by a nanny named Zenaida Gonzalez. The lawsuit asks for money from lost wages and punitive damages.

In addition to the civil case presented by Fernandez-Gonzalez, prosecutors want to proceed in a check fraud case against Anthony. That trial could be scheduled before the end of the year.