Orange County Sheriff’s Deputy Jason Forgey, a dog handler spent hours on the witness stand on day twelve in the Casey Anthony murder trial.
Prosecutor Linda Drane-Burdick had Deputy Forgey clearly detail the training that K-9 “Gerus” had received prior to him been called to assist in finding the remains of 2-year-old Caylee, who was last seen on July 16, 2008. Prosecutors have charged Casey Anthony, the child’s mother with first degree murder in the death of Caylee.
Deputy Forgey explained to jurors that “Gerus” is a full service canine, trained on alerting on human remains and residual odor. He said “Gerus” alerted on the presence of human decomposition in the trunk of Casey’s white Pontiac Sunfire and in the backyard of the Anthony family home near a kid’s playhouse.
Prosecutors believe that Casey murdered her daughter and drove around for several days with Caylee’s body in the trunk of her car. They believe too, that Caylee’s body was at one time placed in the backyard of the Anthony family home, before it was disposed of in a wooded area close by.
Deputy Forgey, who has spent the last ten years handling canines, testified that “Gerus” was trained on “distractions” such as decomposing animals, hamburgers, pizza, dog urine, feces, among others, and would not alert on these items.
Defense attorneys have said that the bag full of garbage which was found in the trunk of Casey’s Pontiac Sunfire explains the smell that several witnesses have testified to, was the smell of human decomposition.
But Deputy Forgey said, not only did “Gerus” alert on human decomposition when Casey’s trunk car was swept, but he also smelled the odor of human decomposition. He said he was “overwhelmed” when the trunk of the car was opened.
“I know what I smelled, I smelled it clear as day”, Deputy Forgey told defense attorney, Jose Baez on cross-examination.
Deputy Forgey told jurors that “Gerus” did give him a ‘trained final alert’ near the kids play house and picnic table in the backyard of the Anthony home when he was first called to search there. He said when he went back to the Anthony family home, “Gerus” did not alert on the second occasion and believed this happened because the yard had been scraped by investigators.
Before Deputy Forgey was called to the stand, prosecutor Jeff Ashton was forced to call Dr. Arpad Vass who had testified all of Monday, to correct testimony.
Ashton said he had mis-identified a can introduced as evidence, which Dr. Vass had mistakenly testified to as well. Baez used the error to again make the point that Vass was not used to handling evidence as he works in a research laboratory and not a forensics lab. Vass said he is not used to handling evidence.
Another witness, Dr. Michael Rickenbach, an FBI chemist, also testified on Tuesday.
Rickenbach confirmed his analysis that there was the presence of chloroform in the trunk liner of Casey’s car. He told jurors he was “surprised” to find chloroform on the spare tire liner, even more because the sample had not been sent to him in an air tight container. Chloroform, he said, evaporates easily.
On cross-examination, Rickenbach admitted that there are trace elements of chloroform in household items like cleaning detergent. He could not say whether chloroform could be found in water from a swimming pool that had been treated with chlorine.
Casey’s defense attorneys have claimed that Caylee accidentally drowned in the family swimming pool and George Anthony, Casey’s father covered up the crime. The defense has also said that their client was sexually abused by George, and her brother Lee.
Casey, if convicted, could face the death penalty.
