If there is a time to show emotion, it would be today, day 14 of the Casey Anthony murder trial, and Casey did just that as prosecutors showed jurors photos of the remains of 2-year-old Caylee Anthony.
Casey broke down as jurors watched photos of the scene when Caylee’s remains were found, including graphic pictures of the little child’s skull and other items that were found. Casey held her head down for most of the morning’s testimony.
So graphic were the photos that Chief Judge Belvin Perry warned members of the public in the gallery the images might be disturbing and they were not allowed to show any emotion.
Witness Jennifer Welch, a crime scene investigator with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office told jurors that she took photos of a skull, a black plastic bag, an off-white canvass bag and a red plastic Disney bag, upon arrival at the wooded area off Suburban Drive on December 11, 2008. Welch said there were also “clothing remnants” including the collar of a shirt, a pair of shorts and a beer bottle.
Perhaps, most importantly, Investigator Welch testified that there was duct tape on the front of the skull of Caylee’s remains.
Prosecutors believe that Casey murdered her two-year-old daughter, Caylee and drove around with the child’s body in the trunk of her car for sometime. They believe that she was the one who placed duct tape on the child’s skull, before dumping the body in the woods. Prosecutors have said that the duct tape on Caylee’s skull was similar to what was found in the Anthony family home.
On cross-examination, defense attorney Jose Baez tried to suggest that the crime scene might have been staged and that Investigator Welch would not know what it is like before she arrived.
Jurors also listened to the 911 call from supervisors of Roy Kronk, the meter reader who first found Caylee’s remains in the wooded area off Suburban Drive, then called Deputy Sheriff Edward Turso to the stand.
Deputy Turso said Kronk told him he went into the wooded area to relieve himself when he came upon what he believed to be a human skull. Turso said he did not touch the bag with the remains. He told jurors that he requested Kronk to write a report on everything he (Kronk) had told him.
Baez on cross-examination tried to get Turso to say that Kronk had called previously from the site four months earlier, but the prosecution objected. Perry sustained the objection.
Lee Anthony, Casey’s brother was also called back to the witness stand for the second time.
Ever the reluctant witness, Lee told jurors that he did use the Anthony family computer to conduct Internet searches in July 2008 on the Sawgrass Apartments, where Casey had told him she last deposited Caylee with a nanny named Zanny.
Lee told jurors that Casey had told him Zanny took Caylee from her because she wasn’t a good mother and wanted to teach her a lesson. Casey claimed that Zanny held her down by her wrists, Lee testified.
After reviewing his deposition, Lee was able to recall in greater detail the description of Zanny–Zenaida Gonzales that Casey had provided to him. Casey described her as a Hispanic woman with a dark complexion, weighing about 100 pounds, Lee testified. He said, to this day, Zenaida never materialized.
Just before the lunch break, Dr. Steven Hanson, the medical examiner for District 9, took the stand. He told jurors when he arrived at the wooded area off Suburban Drive on December 11, 2008, it was cold and wet. As part of his medical examination, Hanson said that he took pictures of the scene where Caylee’s remains were found.
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.
