Casey Anthony Update: Member of Defense Team Steps Down Citing Financial Limitations

NEW YORK (CBS) Casey Anthony is set to go on trial in May for the 2008 murder of her 2-year-old daughter Caylee, but her defense team is dealing with a dwindling roster after her long-time New York-based attorney Linda Kenney Baden announced she was stepping down Friday.

PICTURES: Casey and Caylee Anthony, Personal Photos

Kenney Baden filed her motion to withdraw as counsel Friday afternoon, citing state rules about compensating out-of-state lawyers for travel expenses even when they are working pro bono, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

"As out of state counsel I have been traveling to Florida and elsewhere to properly represent Ms. Anthony," Kenney Baden states in her motion, adding that it is her "understanding that the JAC (Justice Administrative Commission) prohibits payment of such costs to out of state attorneys even though they have rendered and are rendering their services free of charge."

The motion comes a few days after the state agency funding Anthony's defense challenged recent cost requests, namely items like travel and lodging for another of Anthony's attorneys Ann E. Finnell. The agency also questioned the need for a private investigator or psychiatrist, according to the Sentinel.

Kenney Baden also stated that like Andrea Lyon, who also withdrew from the case as an out of state counsel earlier this year, she has worked hundreds of hours on the case.

"I believe in the client's innocence to the charges and do not wish personally or professionally to withdraw from this case," she wrote. "Nonetheless, because the state of Florida fails to reimburse out of state pro bono attorneys for expenses, I am forced to make this application..."

Anthony is jailed on first-degree murder charges in the death of her daughter, Caylee, whose remains were found in December 2008. Caylee was 2 years old when she was reported missing by her maternal grandmother in July of that year.

Anthony has pleaded not guilty and maintains that Caylee was abducted by her babysitter. The trial is scheduled to begin in May.

Complete Coverage of the Casey Anthony Murder Case on Crimesider.