It was another emotional day for Casey Anthony on Friday, Day 15 of her murder trial, as jurors were shown a parade of photographs of the remains if Caylee, her 2-year-old daughter, who prosecutors have said she murdered.
A forensic doctor, John J. Schultz, who led the collection and excavation of Caylee’s skeleton, walked jurors through a map of where her skull, arms, legs and other bones were found. Schultz testified that her skull, arms with hand bones, lower legs and left foot were found in one location, while her whole torso and pelvis were dragged to another area and had been chewed upon by wild animals.
Schultz told jurors that 20 ribs were found at another location, and that some tissue held them together. He explained that it was the natural process of decomposition that had caused the body to break down and that it had been dispersed and gnawed upon by animals.
For most of Schultz’s testimony, Casey turned away, did not look at her monitor, and could be seen wiping her eyes and nose with wads of tissue. Meanwhile jurors stared at their monitors in court, as Schultz pointed to the various areas where he and his forensics team recovered Caylee’s remains.
On cross-examination, defense attorney Cheney Mason, got Schultz to testify that when Caylee’s skull was found duct tape covered her mouth and not her nose.
But Schultz, on re-direct by prosecutor Jeff Ashton, said Caylee’s nose was missing, so no duct tape was found over that area.
The placement of the duct tape is significant as prosecutors believe that Casey suffocated Caylee by placing duck tape over the child’s nose and mouth. They believe that she drove around with her body in the trunk of her car for sometime, before dumping the body in the woods. Duct tape, found on Caylee’s skull was similar to what was found in the Anthony family home. Unusually large amounts of chloroform were also detected in the trunk of Casey’s car and several witnesses have testified to the smell of human decomposition.
Next, prosecutors called Chief Medical Examiner, Dr. Jan Garavaglia to the witness stand.
Garavaglia testified that while she was unable to determine the cause of little Caylee’s death, she was certain that the manner of death was homicide.
“In this particular case, do you have an opinion of the manner of death?”, Ashton asked Garavaglia.
“Yes. Homicide”, Garavaglia replied.
Garavaglia further elaborated that three main reasons led to her conclusion that Caylee’s death was a homicide–the failure to report that Caylee was missing for 31 days; the body was hidden, thrown out into a field and found in a plastic bag and that duck tape was found on the lower half of Caylee’s face.
On cross-examination, defense attorney Mason tried to get Garavaglia to admit that there is no scientific evidence to determine that the manner of Caylee’s death was a homicide.
But Garavaglia was adamant that the circumstances of the child’s death did not fit anything other than a homicide and it is the only logical conclusion.
Garavaglia told jurors that every death she investigates, the circumstances have to be looked at. She said that known systematic and observational studies have shown that when deaths are not reported, a body is tossed into a field, put into a bag, and duct tape attached to the face–all this indicates a homicide. Garavaglia added that 100 percent of the time accidental deaths are reported.
“No child should have duct tape on its face when it dies”, Garavaglia testified. “There is no reason for the child to have duct tape after it dies.”
Dr. Michael Warren, a Forensic Anthropologist and Associate Professor at the University of Florida, testified that the duct tape found on Caylee’s skull was sufficient to cover her nose and mouth.
Jurors were shown a photograph of Caylee, her skull with duct tape superimposed on it, showing it could have covered not only her mouth, but nose as well.
The defense team had wanted to keep out this testimony by Warren, arguing that it would be inflammatory for jurors. But Chief Judge Belvin Perry ruled it in.
Warren did testify that the duct tape covering Caylee’s nose and mouth was one possible scenario. But he also said that the duct tape was placed there before decomposition of the body, as the jaw was still in tack with the cranium and nothing else was there to keep it in place.
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.
