Defending Casey Anthony

The case of Caylee Anthony will stick in our minds forever.  It was a horrific story of at first a missing little girl, then a murder investigation, and finally a very public trial with a surprising outcome.  We all watched along with what seemed like never-ending media coverage.

As a mother, it's so hard to believe that Casey Anthony did not have something to do with her daughter's death.  She told so many lies, covered the whole thing up for a month, and then threw out allegations about how her father allegedly abused her and helped hide evidence of Caylee's death.

Because this case was so public, most people formed an opinion on Casey's innocence or guilt.  The whole ordeal had such an impact on the prosecuting attorney, Jeff Ashton, that he ended up writing a book about his experience.  That book is now a Lifetime movie.  "Prosecuting Casey Anthony" premieres this Saturday, January 19th at 8pm.7c.

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I had a chance to chat with Oscar Nunez, of "The Office" fame, who plays the attorney defending Casey.  The number one question I had for him was how difficult it must have been to play someone that most people have no respect for.  But Oscar didn't have an issue at all.  He believes that the man who defended Casey Anthony (Jose Baez) was just an attorney who saw an opportunity to make a name for himself and he ran with with it! "It happens all the time," said Oscar.  "People say how can you represent this guy, but someone's got to do it".

Oscar admits that he didn't have any interaction with the real Jose. He watched a little bit of the case footage to get a sense of the attorney, but that was all.  He had read the script and was familiar with the case, but hadn't paid much attention to the trial while it was happening, as he believed it was a slam dunk.  His personal opinion is that the jury really fumbled this one.

I asked Oscar if he thought that Casey was guilty: "Something definitely happened," he responded. "I think [Caylee] died on accident and she tried to cover it up. Was she that stupid? Yes. People are that stupid."

To close on a light note, I couldn't end the interview without asking Oscar how it was to work with Rob Lowe, who plays Jeff Ashton in the movie.  One word seemed to sum it up, "fantastic!".  He also mentioned - without me asking - that Rob looks as good in person as he does on screen, and that he has managed to "get better with age" throughout the years. Well said.

Don't miss Oscar Nunez, and Rob Lowe, in Prosecuting Casey Anthony this Saturday night at 8pm.7c on Lifetime.

You can also find more information on Casey Anthony by checking out her Bio.com profile and video.  And learn more about Jeff Ashton here.