Casey Anthony Trial: Day 17
Could the lengthy trial of Orlando mom Casey Anthony be nearing the end?
FOX News Radio’s Eben Brown has the latest:
Here is a summary of the Casey Anthony Trial: Day 17 from FOX Producer Kathleen Reuschle who was in the courtroom for the proceedings.
Trunk hair “consistent” with Caylee’s remains / heart-shaped glue residue on top piece of duct tape found at crime scene.
HAIR
FBI Hair and Fiber examiner Stephen Shaw testified this morning that he analyzed hair taken from the hair mat found with Caylee’s skull in the woods and compared it microscopically to the hair strand retrieved from Casey Anthony’s trunk. He determined they were consistent with eachother, however the woods hair mat showed indications of a latter stage of decomposition.
The trunk hair -so-called hair Q-12 is- is the specimen FBI analyst Karen Lowe testified exhibited characteristics of “apparent decomposition” and specifically a post-mortem root banding.
To answer the question whether this banding can occur due to any host of environment conditions and not just caused by decomposition, Shaw conducted a study where he took hairs from 15 live people and placed them in water, soil, and even in a car trunk to see what would happen. He prepared a power point presentation for the jury with over 30 color photos of hairs with and without root banding. Ultimately the judge allowed his testimony but not the presentation because the state had not given the defense enough notice nor had they provided them with the color photos. The judge reminded participants this is a death penalty case and defense is required to have access to materials in a timely fashion. The witness admitted he conducted the study AFTER he gave his sworn deposition and it was done primarily as a “validation” study.
Ultimately, the hair examiner testified the results of his study showed that none of the hairs taken from a live person – even though subjected to all types of environments- developed the “decomposition band” we saw on trunk hair Q-12. He also testified that while he can’t say with 100 percent certainty that Q-12 came from a dead body- in his experience he has never seen hair banding that did not come from a corpse.
HEART GLUE RESIDUE
The jury also heard testimony from FBI latent fingerprint analyst Elizabeth Fontaine who testified she did not find any fingerprints on the 3 pieces of duct tape she was given to analyze. She indicated she did not necessarily expect to after possible flooding in the area..
She did, however, spot what she said was a dime-sized glue-type residue in the shape of a heart at the end of one piece of tape. She detected the residue during the latter stages of her analysis- using the RUBIS technique – (reflective ultraviolet imaging system) – but when she got to the end of her process she was unable to see the residue again- and could not photograph it. She testified the peculiar residue was seen on the top piece of duct tape in a pair that was stuck together.
Judge Perry indicated the State’s case will conclude Tuesday and he hopes the Jury will deliberate as early as June 25th or 27th. Court will resume at 1pm ET on Tuesday June 14th.
