New lawyer added to Anthony defense

ORLANDO, Fla., May 28 (UPI) -- The Florida defense team for Casey Anthony, accused of killing her daughter Caylee, says it has welcomed a veteran death penalty expert from Chicago.

Anthony's legal team said in a statement Thursday that Clinical Professor of Law Andrea D. Lyon of Chicago's DePaul University College of Law has joined the defense as an additional attorney and expert, the Orlando (Fla.) Sentinel said.

"Professor Lyon has tried over 130 homicide cases. A former Cook County public defender in Illinois, she served as chief of the public defender's homicide task force," the defense team said.

The Sentinel said bringing Lyon on board the defense team was necessary given the fact lead defense attorney Jose Baez does not meet Florida state qualifications to try death-penalty cases.

Anthony, 23, is facing first-degree murder charges in Orlando, Fla., over the death of her daughter, 2-year-old Caylee Marie. Caylee went missing in June 2008, but her body was eventually found in December and her case was ruled a homicide.