ORANGE COUNTY, Fla.,None — A judge dismissed 49 potential jurors on day two of Casey Anthony's murder trial on Tuesday. Judge Belvin Perry ended jury selection early and dismissed the 49 potential jurors because someone was talking about the case while inside the jury room on Tuesday.
DAY 2: Part 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 DISMISSED POTENTIAL JUROR: Raw Interview CASEY ENTERS COURTROOM: Images | Video IMAGES IN COURT: Casey, Key Players VIDEO REPORTS: Jury Selection | Air Test CASEY INSIDE JAIL: Raw Video | See Images JAIL DETAILS: How Casey Is Being Housed? DOCUMENT: Casey Booking Info
WFTV found out that the gossiping juror is on the witness list and happened to be called, at random, for jury duty.
Just before 8:30am on Tuesday, Casey walked into a Pinellas County courtroom wearing dark grey slacks and a light grey button-down shirt, with her hair pulled up in a ponytail (images | video). Cindy and George Anthony were not present.
Casey is charged with first-degree murder in the death of 2-year-old daughter Caylee in the summer of 2008. Jury selection is being held outside Orlando because of intense media coverage. Casey, 25, has pleaded not guilty and says a babysitter kidnapped Caylee.
Everything has been pushed back another day in the already difficult process of picking a jury of people who will be willing to devote 6 to 8 weeks of their lives to the trial.
Perry began Tuesday's proceedings in Pinellas County by calling people from the original panel of about 110 potential jurors brought in Monday. Perry got through that initial pool early in the afternoon and then brought in an additional 50 prospective jurors.
One excused potential juror said no one had any idea they'd be called for the Casey Anthony murder trial, so just about everyone was talking about it.
When 49 of them were called into the courtroom, Judge Perry asked them to raise their hands if any of them spoke about Casey Anthony in the jury room before being called in. Several raised their hands, but Judge Perry dismissed all of them.
Patricia Young of St. Petersburg is the woman who was shoved by George Anthony in front of his house. She told WFTV she wanted to press charges against him, but Young later changed her mind.
Young was just deposed by the defense and was singled out to talk to Perry, because she's wasn't only called for jury duty in the case she was also called as a witness.
Judge Perry then said 50 more prospective jurors will be brought in on Wednesday morning.
Shawna Rizzo, a contractor, said only two in the large group of people called for jury duty on Tuesday, who were discussing the case, had never heard Casey Anthony's name.
Rizzo said all the others who had also already reached their own verdicts as to Casey's innocence or guilt (full interview) .
"They just said in their opinion she was already guilty. Everyone believes she killed her baby," she said.
"How many people said that?" WFTV reporter Kathi Belich asked Rizzo.
"Probably out of the tons of us who were in there today there were 20 or 30," Rizzo replied.
She said when her group of prospective jurors realized they were being called for Casey's case, they were shocked.
"Oh my God, that's Casey Anthony! Oh my God, I want to get out of here!"
"Why do you say that? What did you think when you saw her?" Belich asked.
"It's immediately sadness. It's just you really believe because of everything we know. We don't know the facts of the case, but we know what we read in the media, what were being told on the news and everyone believes she killed her kid," Rizzo said.
Casey's attorneys were just as shocked when they saw how many potential jurors said they had discussed the case in the jury assembly room.
So far, 106 jurors have been interviewed. Only 40 were passed through, 66 were dismissed because of hardships and another 49 weren't even considered because of the jury room gossip.
"So it's almost like, who can afford to serve on this jury? Who has the time and won't lose income," Rizzo said.
Those not dismissed because of anticipated hardships of serving jury duty for nearly two months will be brought back later this week for further questioning.
A woman called in late Tuesday morning told Judge Perry that the case is very disturbing to her. She said it hits close to home because Casey reminds her of her niece, who's had a lot of problems.
"I don't feel I could fairly… I… I'm, I've already prejudged three years ago," the woman said.
Perry asked her what her opinion is and she looked right at Casey and said, "Guilty."
Casey stared straight at her, blinked and moments later her eyes reddened.
Another prospective juror told Perry he's followed the case on Nancy Grace.
"There was a falling out with the parents or grandparents and I thought that looked very bad," he stated.
Also, Perry excused a woman whose nephew was murdered, who said she couldn't be fair.
A trauma nurse, a disabled man with seven dogs, and a Vietnamese-American, who speaks little English, were also excused.
Once the jurors are selected, they will be taken to Orlando and sequestered for the duration of the trial.
After jury selection ended, Perry immediately began hearing more on a defense motion about air tests.
He has already ruled that prosecutors can use a new scientific air test that showed signs of human decomposition in Casey's car.
But the defense is now complaining that scientists never revealed all the specific details of the test.
This is third time the defense has asked Perry to reconsider rulings he's made, allowing evidence against Casey to come in. Perry turned down the other two and on Tuesday he wasn't any more receptive to this attempt.
The defense once again, accused Perry of getting the law wrong. They argued that he didn't have enough information to rely on when he decided to allow the pioneer air tests on Casey's trunk, which show evidence of human decomposition, into her murder trial.
Prosecutors said the never-before-used air tests show that Caylee's dead body was in her mother's trunk. Prosecutor Jeff Ashton told Perry the defense is just rehashing.
"Your honor, the only thing that differs between the presentation today and the one at the hearing is the voice speaking it," Ashton said.
Perry denied the defense's argument, saying he lost a lot of sleep doing research to make his decision.
"Between the hours of 10 and 2:00am, constantly for about 7 to 8 days," Perry stated.
The air tests confirm a lot of other evidence showing that Caylee's body was in her mother's trunk, which is partly why Perry is allowing it in.
Jury selection will resume at 9:00am Wednesday.
WFTV POLLS POTENTIAL PINELLAS COUNTY JURORS
Perry wanted to select a jury in an area where there was not as much pre-trial exposure. An exclusive Eyewitness News poll shows he succeeded, to some degree.
Of those surveyed in Pinellas County, 35 percent said they are "very familiar" with the case. That's compared to 58 percent in Orange County.
Another 46 percent in Pinellas said they are somewhat familiar.
About 94 percent of potential jurors in Pinellas County already think Casey is certainly guilty or probably guilty. Of those WFTV surveyed, 93 percent in Orange County said the same thing.
One potential juror, who wasn't even asked, said he believes Casey's guilty.
"I feel that, you know, I know the verdict would be would be guilty," the potential juror said.
The 12 jurors and eight alternates eventually chosen to decide Casey's fate won't have an easy road ahead of them when they get to Orlando. Because of the high-profile nature of the case, jurors will be required to stay in court-provided hotel rooms and eat court-provided meals for the 6 to 8 weeks that the trial is expected to last.
The court also will mandate where they go, what they read and watch on TV and how often they speak with their families. A sequestered jury like this hasn't happened in Orange County in more than 20 years.
Casey will remain in protective custody at the Pinellas County Jail for the duration of jury selection (booking info) . Her cell is about 10 feet by 13 feet, with a toilet and sink. She has access to the commissary, but doesn't have any money in her account yet. She's allowed to have library books, mail and video visits, but will be monitored all the time.
WFTV asked if the jail is required to record those video visits like Orange County does, but hasn't heard back.
Previous Stories: May 9, 2011: Casey Rejects Plea Deal On Day 1 Of Jury Selection May 8, 2011: Casey Anthony Jury Selection To Begin Monday May 8, 2011: Report: Casey's Jury Could Be From Pinellas County May 7, 2011: Casey Anthony Rejects Mom's Request For Visit May 6, 2011: EXCLUSIVE: WFTV Polls Potential Jurors In Casey Case May 6, 2011: Appeals Court Returns Opinion, Casey Trial Won't Be Delayed May 6, 2011: Casey's Parents Will Be Allowed In Court For Trial May 6, 2011: Casey's Defense Loses Jury Selection Consultant
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