Jan. 8: Casey Anthony is ordered to appear in court for an evidence hearing. (FNC)
Orlando mother Casey Anthony and her lawyer were back in court Thursday when a federal judge ruled on motions to release a suicide note written by her father and to force prosecutors to turn over evidence dealing with DNA tests and investigative reports, MyFOXOrlando.com reported.
Anthony, 22, is in jail on a first-degree murder charge and other offenses related to her 2-year-old daughter Caylee's killing.
Brad Conway, attorney for George and Cindy Anthony, filed a motion to prevent prosecutors from releasing the note that George wrote weeks after Caylee was found murdered.
George Anthony disappeared in January for about 24 hours, seeking refuge in a motel room and sending messages to relatives about wanting to end his life.
The family argued that his suicide note shouldn't be made public because it is a private matter.
Orange Circuit Court Judge Stan Strickland granted the motion to keep the note private, but did leave open the possibility of revisiting the issue, MyFOXOrlando.com reported.
Anthony's lead attorney, Jose Baez, questioned crime scene investigator Gerardo Bioise, who processed Anthony's 1998 Pontiac Sunfire GT on July 16.
The car had been inspected by several law enforcement officials before defense experts were able to inspect the car.
"They took items out and never notified the defense," said Baez, according to MyFOXOrlando.com. "We were granted an order to inspect the vehicle as it was inspected by law enforcement. I think the issue is clear here, where evidence was taken out of that vehicle."
Anthony's defense also tried to get access to crime scene evidence.
Attorney for the defense Linda Kenney-Baden argued that her team did not received a complete accounting of bench notes regarding DNA testing, claiming the methodology behind the testing was important to the case.
"In any scientific case, it's not the report that's important to the case. It's procedures and guidelines," said Kenney-Baden, according to MyFOXOrlando.com.
The prosecution responded with Assistant State Attorney Jeff Ashton who said it was not incumbent upon the state to provide that information and that the defense could have gotten the notes by making a phone call.
Judge Strickland found the request to be moot and said the defense could request the information from the FBI and labs that tested the evidence.
Casey Anthony has been ordered to attend all court proceedings in her case. Her trial is scheduled for Oct. 12.
Last week, the Orange County Sheriff's Office released about 1,100 pages of interview reports and photos this week, part of an unusual strategy of periodically publicizing troves of evidence in the case against Anthony before the case goes to trial.
The latest documents showed that Anthony apparently collected photos of skulls and sketches of skeletons kissing.
Caylee disappeared in early June but wasn't reported missing for about a month by her family. Police records show the images of skulls and skeletons were posted to Casey Anthony's online photo account on June 26.
The reason for Anthony's interest in the images wasn't clear. One skull image, labeled "apple of death," appears to be a photograph of an apple carved into the shape of a skull.
In one transcript of an interview with police, she gave a tepid assertion of her innocence.
"I try to keep an open mind when it comes to things, but if I'm innocent, that's, that's as far as it goes," Anthony says. "I'll take this as far as I need to prove my innocence, which I guess is my point in all this."
Anthony has maintained that she last saw her daughter when she left her with a baby sitter — who she says kidnapped the girl. Police have said that story is a lie and that no such baby sitter exists.
She has pleaded not guilty to all the charges against her.
Click here for the documents and more from MyFOXOrlando.com.
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox