Death of Caylee Anthony: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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Human identification laboratory director Michael Warren presented an animation featuring pictures of a still-living Anthony with her mother that were superimposed with Anthony's decomposed skull and the duct tape found with the body.<ref name="Dr. Jan"/> Warren said it was his opinion that the duct tape had been placed on Anthony prior to her body's decomposition.<ref name="Dr. Jan"/> FBI latent-fingerprints examiner Elizabeth Fontaine said that she had observed the outline of a heart-shaped sticker on the duct tape found with Warren, though by the time she tried to photograph the outline, it was no longer visible.<ref name="Herald">{{cite news|title=FBI expert found heart shape on Caylee Anthony duct tape|newspaper=[[Sydney Morning Herald]]|date=June 14, 2011|url=https://www.smh.com.au/world/fbi-expert-found-heart-shape-on-caylee-anthony-duct-tape-20110614-1g17s.html}}</ref> Fontaine said that she had not found fingerprints on the tape, though she had not expected to.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/casey-anthony-trial-csi-finds-heart-shape-caylees/story?id=13830078|title=Casey Anthony CSI: Outline of Heart Decal On Duct Tape|first1=Bryan|last1=Lavietes|first2=Janice|last2=McDonald|date=June 13, 2011|work=[[ABC News]]}}</ref> And FBI [[hair analysis#In forensic toxicology|hair analyst]] Sebastian Shaw said that a hair discovered in Casey's trunk belonged to Anthony and displayed root banding; Shaw said that a study he had been running and had expedited for the trial had "so far" shown that such banding only occurred post mortem.<ref name="Herald"/> Finally, over defense objections to scientific reliability, [[Arpad Vass]] of the [[Oak Ridge National Laboratory]] reported that [[Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy|air-sampling procedure]] performed in the trunk of Casey's car indicated decomposition and chloroform.<ref name="AP Vass">{{cite news|agency=[[Associated Press]]|title=Technique never used before introduced in Casey Anthony trial|url=https://www.jacksonville.com/story/news/crime/2011/06/08/technique-never-used-introduced-casey-anthony-trial/15900968007/|via=[[Florida Times-Union]]|date=June 8, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Lundy|first=Sarah|url=http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2008-10-25/news/casey25_1_casey-anthony-decomposition-anthony-attorney|title=FBI, Oak Ridge lab tests on Casey Anthony's car released|work=Orlando Sentinel|date=October 25, 2008|access-date=August 13, 2011|archive-date=March 21, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110321174140/http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2008-10-25/news/casey25_1_casey-anthony-decomposition-anthony-attorney|url-status=dead}}</ref> The defense noted that Vass had been unwilling to share his proprietary database and that his forensic technique had never previously been used in a criminal case.<ref name="AP Vass"/>

The defense began their case in chief in the fourth week, with forensic pathologist [[Dr. Werner Spitz]],<ref name="Battaglia"/>{{rp|1589}} who had performed an autopsy on Anthony. Spitz called Garavaglia's autopsy "shoddy", saying it was a failure that Anthony's skull was not opened during her examination. Spitz said that his own autopsy could not determine whether the child's death was a homicide and that his opinion was that the duct tape had been placed post-decomposition, saying that duct tape placed on skin would have had residual DNA.<ref name="Dr. Spitz">{{cite news|title=Day 22: Judge threatens Casey Anthony's lawyer with contempt |publisher=[[Central Florida News 13]]/cfnews13.com |date=June 19, 2011 |access-date=August 27, 2011 |url=http://www.cfnews13.com/article/news/2011/june/265206/ |author1=Jacqueline Fell |author2=Amanda Evans |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110828014523/http://www.cfnews13.com/article/news/2011/june/265206 |archive-date=August 28, 2011 }}</ref> Cindy, now testifying as a defense witness, said that she had been responsible for the chloroform search on the family computer, saying she had meant to search for ~~chlorophyl~~chlorophyll but had misremembered the term.<ref name="Battaglia"/>{{rp|1589–90}}<ref>{{cite news|work=[[Reuters]]|title=Casey Anthony's mother: I searched for chloroform|first=Jennifer|last=Greenhill-Taylor|date=June 23, 2011|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-crime-anthony/casey-anthonys-mother-i-searched-for-chloroform-idUSTRE75M60020110623}}</ref> Cindy said that work records indicating she had been at work at the time of the search were incorrect, as she said they often were because she was a salaried ~~employees~~employee. Finally, Cindy testified that their family buried their pets in blankets and plastic bags, using duct tape to seal the opening.<ref name=CFNewsDay32 /> Additionally, the defense called an FBI forensic- document examiner who found no evidence of a sticker or sticker residue on the duct tape found near the child's remains.<ref name=ABCStickers>{{cite news|first=Jessica|last=Hopper|url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/casey-anthony-trial-paternity-test-father-brother/story?id=13855375|title=Casey Anthony Trial: Defense Casts Shadow on Heart Stickers Found With Caylee's Remains|work=[[ABC News]]|date=June 16, 2011}}</ref>

On June 30, the defense called Krystal Holloway, a volunteer in the search for Anthony, who stated that she had had an affair with George. According to Holloway, George had said that Anthony's death was "an accident that snowballed out of control". During cross-examination, prosecutors pointed to Holloway's sworn police statement, in which she had said that George believed, rather than knew, it was an accident.<ref name=HayesJune29>{{cite news|first=Ashley|last=Hayes|url=http://www.kvia.com/news/28403325/detail.html|title=Defense Rests In Casey Anthony Trial|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927075701/http://www.kvia.com/news/28403325/detail.html |archive-date=September 27, 2011|work=[[CNN]]|via=[[KVIA]]|date=June 29, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|first=Barbara|last=Liston|url=http://www.torontosun.com/2011/06/30/casey-anthony-wont-testify|title=Casey Anthony won't testify|agency=[[Reuters]]|via=[[Toronto Sun]]|date=June 30, 2011}}</ref> During [[redirect examination]], Baez asked Holloway if George had told her that Anthony was dead while stating publicly that she was missing, to which she replied yes.<ref name=CFNewsDay32>{{cite news|url=http://www.cfnews13.com/article/news/2011/june/271726/|title=Day 32: Defense rests, Casey Anthony won't testify|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110904122155/http://www.cfnews13.com/article/news/2011/june/271726/ |archive-date=September 4, 2011|work=[[Central Florida News 13]]|date=June 30, 2011|first1=Jacqueline|last1=Fell|first2=Adam|last2=Longo|first3= Christine|last3=Webb}}</ref> In his earlier testimony, George had denied the affair with Holloway and said he visited her only because she was ill.<ref name=HayesJune29/> After Holloway's testimony, Judge Perry told jurors that it could be used to impeach George's credibility, but that it was not proof of how Anthony died, nor evidence of Casey's guilt or innocence.<ref name=HayesJune29/>