ORANGE COUNTY, Fla.,None — There was drama inside and outside of the courtroom on Friday in Casey Anthony's murder trial. A potential defense witness spoke out for the first time on Friday and a defense expert was at the center of a debate that the jury never heard.
The defense entered its second day of calling witnesses, and Friday marked day 32, including jury selection, of Casey's murder trial. She is accused of killing her daughter, Caylee Marie Anthony.
DAY 32: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6| 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 BILL SHEAFFER: Analysis Of Day 32 WATCH BRAWL: Casey Spectators Fight RAW VIDEO: Casey Watcher Talks About Fight CASEY WALKS IN: See Images | Raw Video NEWS CONFERENCE: "Surprise" Witness Talks IN COURT: Images Of Casey, Witnesses, Attorneys VIDEO REPORT: Drama In, Out Of Court FACES OF CASEY: Most Recent To Oldest EVIDENCE ARCHIVE: Casey Anthony Case CASEY COVERAGE On Twitter | On Facebook
Prosecutors challenged the expertise of a defense expert on insects, and outside of the courthouse, an Orange County man challenged the defense about why his name was ever brought up as a possible witness. Also, early Friday morning, a brawl broke out among spectators waiting in line for Casey trial tickets.
Casey entered the courtroom just before 8:50am, wearing a button-down lavender shirt and black pants. She had her hair pulled back in a tight bun. George and Cindy Anthony were present.
Court was called to order at 9:00am and the defense called their first witness, Dr. Timothy Huntington, a forensic entomologist from the University of Nebraska.
Huntington testified about the insects in the trunk of Casey's car and at the scene where Caylee was found.
The defense claims the smell from the trunk came from trash. Prosecutors say it came from Caylee's body.
Huntington was questioned about whether maggots in the trunk of Casey's car prove decomposition.
During the exchange, both sides sparred once again.
"Mr. Baez is texting again," said prosecutor Jeff Ashton.
Judge Belvin Perry's frustration revealed itself.
"I don't care if Mr. Baez is standing on his head," replied Perry.
The defense's expert witness also testified about what he'd expect to see in the trunk of a car with a decomposing body, based on research about what happened to decomposing pigs inside car trunks.
In that research, which took place in September 2010 in Nebraska, Huntington put dead pigs in the trunks of cars and observed them as they decomposed. He referenced finding blow flies, or the first type of flies drawn to decomposing material, soon after death. He also noted the presence of a pronounced stain of decomposition fluid on the carpeting of the trunk.
Huntington said he would expect to find hundreds of flies and a distinct human decomposition fluid stain around a dead body left in a car trunk.
"If we assume that a body was in the (Anthony) trunk, you expect to find many flies," Huntington said. "... I would expect to find hundreds, thousands of those dead insects as I did in the experiment."
Huntington described the decomposition fluid he observed in the pig experiment as distinct.
"It is a sticky, greasy, disgusting material," he said. "Once it soaks in there, I'm not sure a professional cleaner could get it out."
The morning also included a long period -- about 45 minutes -- in which the jury was sent outside the courtroom by Judge Belvin Perry while the attorneys argued over prosecutors' objections about whether Huntington was going to testify specifically about the stain its expert said was on the carpet in the Casey's car trunk.
Huntington reviewed reports made by prosecution bug expert Neal Haskell but never examined the trunk himself. Also, the pig research was conducted during September in Nebraska and not in Florida's hot summer months, when Caylee was reported missing.
Haskell testified last week that he found only a small number of bugs on the toddler's remains in the woods and on paper towels inside Casey's trunk. He also said that insects related to decomposition were found along with decomposition fluid on paper towels in the trunk.
Haskell estimated that the child's remains were inside the trunk for at least three days.
Huntington testified Friday that the only flies he found inside the trash bag taken from Casey's trunk were those usually found in household garbage and not the ones attracted to the early stages of decomposition.
However, the most interesting information from the defense's case came outside the courtroom as Vasco Thompson held a press conference. He's the man Jose Baez wants to call as a surprise witness because he was convicted of kidnapping in a domestic violence case and George Anthony called his current phone number in July of 2008.
Thompson came forward to claim that when George Anthony dialed his cell phone number, it was more than seven months before he even got that phone or that number. So when the call was made, the two never spoke.
"I have no idea who George Anthony is," Thompson said. "The phone number they got, I didn't have that number until February of 2009. I don't know why they dragged me into all this mess."
Thompson has hired the same firm suing Casey on behalf of a real Zenaida Gonzalez, Morgan and Morgan.
Attorney Matt Morgan referenced Jose Baez's tactics.
"I think it's really his last bad faith attempt to create a scapegoat to create reasonable doubt," said Morgan.
Early Friday morning, outside the Orange County courthouse, two men tried to cut in line, sparking a brawl and shouting match as others in line fought back. (watch video) .
Spectators line up outside the courthouse each morning, hoping to secure seats in the courtroom where 25-year-old Casey is standing trial.
Many arrive at the courthouse in the wee hours of the morning to get in line and some camp out overnight.
The fight broke out as the crowd was moving to a location closer to the courthouse entrance.
Twenty-seven-year-old Jessie Dorris says she was shocked when the men "just cut in front of us."
Dustin Ballard told WFTV another man put him in a headlock, when he thought he was helping a women skip ahead of the line. (raw interview) The two men traded punches and some of the ladies even got in on the fight. Police quickly restored order and one of the men was dismissed from the line.
There were no arrests made, but four people were trespassed and will not be allowed back at the courthouse.
Court officials are trying to avoid another fight and the overnight camp outs by changing the rules for tickets.
People wanting tickets must line up at 4:00pm the day before with their identification. The names of the first 50 in line will be written down for the next day's trial. Those wanting to get into Monday's trial need to be in line at 1:00pm Saturday. Deputies will be on hand to keep things in order.
Casey is charged with first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse, aggravated manslaughter of a child and four counts of lying to law enforcement. She has pleaded not guilty and faces the death penalty if convicted.
The state says Caylee was suffocated by Casey with duct tape. The defense contends she drowned in her grandparents' swimming pool.
Caylee's skeletal remains were found in the woods behind the Anthony home on Suburban Drive in December 2008.
Casey's trial will resume at 9:00am on Saturday.
Previous Stories: June 16, 2011: Mistake, Objections Spark Fireworks In Casey Trial June 15, 2011: Defense Motion For Acquittal Denied In Casey Trial June 14, 2011: WFTV Duct Tape Video Used As Evidence In Casey Trial June 13, 2011: Prosecutors Almost Finished In Casey Murder Trial June 11, 2011: Crime Scene, Insect Experts Testify In Casey Trial Day 27 June 10, 2011: Casey Gets Angry, Cries As Caylee Autopsy Pics Shown June 09, 2011: Casey Becomes Sick During Testimony On Remains June 08, 2011: Expert: Casey Searched Neck-Breaking, Death On Web June 07, 2011: Deputy: Cadaver Dog Alerted To Playhouse, Casey's Car June 06, 2011: Expert: Tests Show Body Was In Trunk Of Casey's Car June 04, 2011: Forensic Expert Testifies On Evidence In Casey's Car June 03, 2011: Day 20: Parts Of Casey's Car Trunk Shown As Evidence
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