The highly-anticipated trial of Casey Anthony is moving forward, three years after her daughter, 2-year-old Caylee Anthony, went missing in Orlando, Fla.
But because the casel has received so much attention, jury selection has been moved from Orlando where the trial will be held. Jurors are now being selected in Pinellas County, in Clearwater, Fla.
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CBS News correspondent Kelly Cobiella reports that attorneys for the defense and prosecution have just five days to find twelve jurors and eight alternates.
Can impartial jurors be found on a case that's been thrust into national focus?
On "The Early Show" former Casey Anthony defense attorney Linda Kenney Baden said finding jurors is going to be "very, very difficult."
"Anyone you talk to on the street has an opinion on this case," she said. "And because it's been saturated with news media, especially in this day and age of social media, Twitter, Facebook, etc. it's going to be a very tough job."
Kenney Baden, a longtime attorney of Anthony's, left her defense team in October. She cited financial limitations in continuing to represent her. The New York-based attorney said she had incurred travel costs in Florida and elsewhere, but said, due to restrictions by the Justice Administration Commission, she could not be paid for these costs as an out-of-state attorney.
Kenney Baden told co-anchor Chris Wragge it's unrealistic to find jurors in the short five-day span they've been given.
"Usually, a death penalty case takes two-and-a-half-to-three weeks to select a jury," she said. "You want to make sure you take the time, because jury selection is the most important part of the case. If you don't take the time and get a good jury for both sides, neither side can get a fair trial."
The jurors, Cobiella pointed out, will have to give up two months of their lives sequestered in Orlando to decide whether Casey Anthony is guilty of killing her daughter and, if so, whether she should be put to death.
Kenney Baden said the problem with the jury today is sequestering them.
She said, "We haven't had a jury since (the) O.J. (Simpson murder trial) that's been sequestered for that long a period of time. And to try to take people away from their lives for two months, they're going to feel like they're in prison. The jurors are going to feel like they're subject to some type of problems. That is another problem. The people that can be sequestered for two months. Think about it. You can't have normal, real lives."
The trial is slated to begin May 17. The defense is already promising a "bombshell" on Day One.
Due to attorney-client privilege, Kenney Baden couldn't discuss the case in detail, but said she doesn't think the death penalty should be the punishment, should Casey Anthony be convicted.
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http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/05/09/earlyshow/living/parenting/main20061025.shtml
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