Casey Anthony Trial: Day 29
It’s back to forensics at the Casey Anthony murder trial. The Defense is still trying to counter Prosecution’s claims that the body of two-year-old Caylee Anthony had been in her mother’s trunk.
FOX News Radio’s Eben Brown is at the courthouse in Orlando:
Casey Anthony is charged with first degree murder and could face the death penalty, if convicted. Her Defense Attorneys claim Caylee Anthony accidentally drowned in the family’s swimming pool.
Here’s a full recap of the day’s proceedings from FOX Producer Kathleen Reuschle, who was in the courtroom:
Defense attorneys worked today to convince the jury that the Orange County Sheriff’s office focused their investigation solely on Casey Anthony and neglected other vital details in their pursuit of incriminating evidence against her. They also called a forensic chemist to dispute the notion that human decomposition had occurred in Casey’s trunk. They finished the day with a shaky video from a private investigator’s walk in the woods off Suburban Drive – a month before Caylee’s body would be recovered there – to raise doubt about how long the skull was there and allude to the possibility of foul play- that couldn’t have involved Casey since she was in jail during the time.
The longest day of the trial so far, Judge Belvin Perry allowed the day’s session to go to just after 7pm, in an effort to regain some of the time lost when court was abruptly canceled on Saturday. The Defense had filed a motion to determine whether Casey was competent to continue her trial – the filing stated it was based on priveleged conversations with her and was made in good faith . Judge Perry signed an emergency order for Casey to be examined by 3 psychologists who saw her Saturday and Sunday, but they ultimately reported back that Casey was, in fact, competent to continue.
Death penalty-qualified Defense attorney Ann Finnell was present in the courtroom and questioned witnesses for the first time in their presentation today. She also filed a motion urging the court to take several steps in the wake of June 20th ruling by a Florida judge declaring Florida’s death penalty scheme unconstitutional. The motion asks for the judge to declare a mistrial and to begin jury selection again with a non-death penalty qualified jury. Judge Perry said this evening the motion will be heard this Wednesday or Thursday at the conclusion of court proceedings..
The defense began the morning with OCSO lead detective Yuri Melich. He admitted he misspoke on Friday to jurors about phone records he had retrieved for both George Anthony and Roy Kronk (man who found caylee’s remains). He obtained George Anthony’s cell records for june and july 08, but never plotted his whereabouts for the time period. He had Roy Kronk’s cell records for June and July of 08 as well, but not for the period Kronk was calling in tips (August) and when he found the body (December). Melich also admitted he never examined Kronk’s computer.
Jose Baez then went to the the trouble of calling 3 witnesses to make the point that cadaver dogs had not been deployed on George or Cindy’s car… nor in the Anthony home. He also demonstrates that at a previous hearing in March, out of 4 law enforcement officers who were asked to draw a replication of the forensics bay where Casey’s car was kept – only one included a second car in their drawing. Cadaver dog handler Deputy Jason Forgey told the court there was indeed an anonymous blue vehicle next to Casey’s in the forensics bay to act like a control when the cadaver dog was deployed. The defense reasons, if officers neglect to mention this other car, what else are they leaving out of reports? Baez finished his redirect of crime scene tech Gerardo Bloise stating, “your job is to focus on the details?” “Yes.” ”In fact, down to the very minute details?” “Yes.”
Dr. Kenneth Furton was called next – and he put up a powerpoint presentation to explain to the jury the scientific research being done on volatile chemical emissions from both living and dead humans. He testified it is his opinion that there is no scientifically validated method or instrumentation to determine an instance where human decomposition has occurred based on chemical compounds alone. He said all the scientists in the world working on the issue have only come to a consensus of 4 chemicals that occur in decomposition. When he begins to question whether cleaning products Velveeta and salami residue could account for the chemical signature in Casey’s trunk – prosecutor Jeffrey Ashton was up to his old tricks again – ripping the items out of their evidence bags and bringing them up to the witness stand to hold the scientist accountable. He asked him half a dozen times if the items were sufficient enough to explain the chemical signature.. as well as the odor in the Casey’s trunk that had remained (even when the trash bag was removed)- for over 2 years. The witness conceded it was “unlikely” and conceded “something” decomposed in the trunk but he wasn’t sure what.
Jurors were allowed to pass around the items.
Defense then called James Hoover and Dominic Casey who were involved in an incident in which they searched for Caylee’s remains in the woods off Suburban Drive a month before she would ultimately be found there – and had a video of the area where they walked. They went to the area 2 days in a row – Nov 15-16 in 2008 – spent 12-15 minutes there – walking about 20 ft off the road into the woods. They never found the skull, skeleton or Disney bag. The defense played the video for the jury – and freeze framed areas to show them how similar the area was to where Caylee’s body was found.. pointing out a rotting log etc. trying to convince the jury the body wasn’t there – or these men would have found it. Casey, a private investigator who acted as security for Cindy and George Anthony – explained he had a tip from a psychic to look in the area – and also an abandoned house across the street – he said he was to look for 3 white stone pavers. He also looked for and opened black plastic bags he found to no avail. He stated the area was wet and had areas of water up to his ankles. He was asked to mark a map of where he exactly walked by prosecutor Frank George – however in redirect the witness stated it had been 3 years – his markings were an estimation and not exact. The defense made a point to ask him if law enforcement ever brought him in to question him about his walk in the woods and map it out. “Not to my knowledge” he said.
Jurors were seen actively taking notes most of the day and became very engaged during the portion with the private investigators, leaning forward in their chairs and watching the witness and furrowing their brows as they viewed the video on their monitors. George Anthony was seen tapping his foot and blowing air nervously with his hands on his knees. A few of them were less engaged during the testimony on decomposition compounds… with few twiddling thumbs, rocking chairs etc.
Casey was noticeably taking notes throughout the afternoon.
