Casey Anthony Trial: Day 25

It was a half-day at the Casey Anthony trial where the Defense continues trying to dispute the Prosecution’s forensic witnesses.   At issue, duct tape fibers found at the crime scene.

FOX News Radio’s Eben Brown reports from Orlando, Florida:

Here is a summary of the Casey Anthony Trial: Day 25 from FOX Producer Kathleen Reuschle who was in the courtroom for the proceedings:

Defense attorney Jose Baez continued with more forensic analysis Wednesday, working to raise doubt about the thoroughness and accuracy of the evidence the state presented against his client, and to primarily refute the theory Casey used chloroform or any other drugs on her daughter Caylee.

Baez called FBI Toxicologist Madeline Montgomery who testified she tested the hair mat from Caylee’s skull for over 9 drugs including xanax, rufis, horse tranquilizers and sleeping pills. All the tests came back negative. She is unable to test for chloroform and conceded hair is not the best test for drug exposure.

Baez then called University of Central Florida Forensic scientist Dr. Michael Sigman who testified he analyzed the air in Casey’s trunk – and the primary compounds he detected were consistent with gasoline. He said he did detect 3 other chemicals including chloroform but they were giving very low readings- and even though he is aware of Dr. Vass’ peer reviewed literature on compounds emitted during decomposition – he also took into consideration the 3 chemicals are found in dry cleaning, Clorox, onions, and soil- so could not “conclusively” say whether the chemicals present were an indicator of human remains in the trunk.

He had to concede his testing methods were not as “good” as Dr. Vass’ at Oak Ridge National Lab.

Next Baez called FBI forensic chemist Dr. Rickenbach who testified he found no chloroform on Casey’s steering wheel cover, Caylee’s car seat or Caylee’s doll.

Baez also asked him about an item found 7 inches from Caylee’s skull in the woods. A blue Gatorade bottle contained a syringe and liquid the witness said was primarily cleaning fluid and testosterone components. There was an amount of chloroform that was detected that was too small to even report.

Baez called two other witnesses today to demonstrate there is very little evidence to tie Casey to the crime scene.

FBI Forensic Geologist Maureen Bottrell testified she tested the soil found in Casey’s trunk and on the bottoms of 3 pairs of shoes.

She said the soil on the shoes DID NOT match the crime scene. And as for the trunk – the soil was mixed so there was no way for her to make a comparison.

Baez also called FBI Hair and Fiber expert Karen Lowe who testified that despite looking at possibly hundreds of hairs, from Casey’s closet, the trash bag in trunk, crime scene and Medical Examiner’s Office – she only found 1 hair that showed signs of decomposition. She also was unable to match duct tape from the residence to the scene. She did find one Caucasian hair at the scene that did not match Caylee, Casey or any of her lab colleague’s hair samples. The source was never found.

Jurors took notes sparingly, 2 never took any notes. Some took notes at Dr. Rickenbach’s testimony about the lack of chloroform in car seat and on doll.

George and Cindy were seen writing in their notebooks often including before court commenced.

Casey was seen having an animated discussion with Baez during a morning recess and seemed to work on her appearance more for today after the unfortunate droopy knit she had yesterday that she was forced to arrange awkwardly throughout the day.

Editor’s Note: The Anthony trial stands in recess until 9AM Eastern Time Thursday morning.