Cindy Anthony resumed her testimony on Tuesday in the murder trial of her daughter, Casey.
Cindy, as she was last Saturday, emotional at times, telling jurors of the several attempts she made to speak with Caylee, her 2-year-old granddaughter, after she had not seen her since June 15, 2008. She also told of the many excuses Casey made as to why she would not come home in the intervening period.
On July 15, 2008, when the Anthonys were made aware that Casey’s car had been taken to a tow yard, Cindy said that she told her daughter she needed to be home, as she had a lot of explaining to do.
After the Pontiac Sunfire vehicle which Casey drove was collected, Cindy said it “smelled that something had died in the car.” She also said that one of Caylee’s dolls and a pair of slacks, belonging to Casey found in the vehicle, also smelled like the car. Jurors heard how she sprayed the doll with Free-breeze and wiped it down to get rid of the smell. She also sprayed the car and placed the slacks in the washing machine.
Cindy stuck by her original story, telling jurors that, while the “smell in the car was pretty strong and she believed that something had died in the vehicle”, she did not identify it as decomposing flesh, although she is familiar with the smell of wounds and human decomposition, given her background as a nurse.
Before jurors were called in on Tuesday, Chief Judge Belvin Perry ruled on a motion to exclude Lee Anthony, Casey’s brother, from sequestration, allowing him to be in the courtroom before being called to testify. The defense had hoped to keep Lee from listening to Cindy’s testimony before being called to the stand.
Perry also denied a defense motion to share George Anthony’s Grand Jury testimony, saying that he saw nothing inconsistent with it and what he had testified to on the stand. He said there wasn’t anything “beneficial to the defense in this case.”
Prosecutors have charged Casey with first degree murder in the death of her daughter Caylee. She has pleaded not guilty and initially said her daughter was kidnapped by a babysitter.
The Anthony defense has said two-year-old Caylee accidentally drowned in the family swimming pool on June 16, 2008, and that George Anthony, Casey’s father hid the child’s body and covered up the crime.
Casey, if convicted, could face the death penalty.
