Judge Belvin Perry will likely swear in jurors on Friday, Day 11 of the Casey Anthony first degree murder trial, as he has reached the required 12, although getting eight alternates, as he had hoped for, remain very much in doubt.
On Friday, Perry began with 16 prospective jurors who had passed through both phases of questioning in the previous ten days and added three more to the list, making a total of 19. At 2:30 pm, when the court went into a brief recess, two additional potential jurors remained to be questioned.
Attorneys for the defense have one more peremptory strike which can be utilized, while the state has three left.
Friday morning in the Pinellas County Court was not without drama, as a woman in the gallery shouted, “She killed somebody, anyway!”, while Perry was questioning one potential juror.
The woman, Elizabeth Anne Rodgers, was escorted out by deputies, but Perry nonetheless held her in contempt of court.
“I will find that you are in contempt of court,” said Perry. Rodgers was sentenced to two days in the Pinellas County Jail.
The process of jury selection has proven to be protracted, as almost all potential jurors have some familiarity with the case, which has led to the dismissal of many, who said they could not presume Casey Anthony innocent. Both the defense and prosecution have questioned almost 200 potential jurors over the 10-day period of jury selection.
Casey Anthony is charged with murdering her two-year-old daughter, Caylee. She had initially claimed her daughter was kidnapped by a baby sitter, but that “story” was later debunked by her defense attorneys.
Court watchers believe that, based on questions posed to potential jurors by the Anthony defense team, it is almost certain that factors such as sexual, verbal, and emotional abuse will loom large as part of the Casey defense strategy. How these dots will be connected to Caylee’s murder, is anyone’s guess.
Perry said on Wednesday, opening arguments in the trial will commence next Monday, at the Orange County Courthouse, “if we have a jury.”
