ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — The courtroom atmosphere became heated on Thursday as Casey Anthony's defense questioned its second witness during her murder trial. Objections, a defense mistake, and the judge's frustration, created fireworks inside the Orange County courtroom.
Thursday marks day 31, including jury selection, in Casey's murder trial. She's accused of killing her 2-year-old daughter Caylee. It also marked exactly three years since Caylee disappeared.
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Casey entered the courtroom after 8:50am, wearing a long-sleeved white sweater and grey pants. She had her hair pulled back in a bun.
The prosecution has already presented its evidence, and on Thursday, jurors looked toward Casey's attorneys to begin delivering on promises they made at the outset to explain why the 25-year-old's child died.
Heather Seubert, from the Firearms-Toolmarks Unit at the FBI Laboratory in Virginia, was called as the defense's second witness. Seubert entered as a DNA expert witness.
Seubert, while working at an FBI lab, examined duct tape found with Caylee Anthony's remains. She told jurors that DNA on the tape did not match the victim, her mother or her grandparents. Instead, it matched another forensic examiner who analyzed the duct tape.
The trial became heated when the defense questioned Seubert about a shovel that Casey borrowed from a neighbor.
"It's meaningless, it's not relevant," said prosecutor Jeff Ashton.
"Then why is the shovel in evidence?" defense attorney Jose Baez asked.
"It's not relevant because…" Ashton attempted to say.
"Mr. Ashton, Mr. Ashton, calm down. Sit down for a second," said Judge Belvin Perry.
Then, Baez mistakenly asked the witness about a blanket, which was not entered into evidence.
"My apologies, the blanket that was just described is not in evidence. I move to strike," said Baez.
Judge Perry instructed the jury to disregard that part of the testimony.
WFTV legal analyst Bill Sheaffer says those kinds of mistakes hurt the defense's case.
"That kind of mistake is sloppy and it undercuts, in the jurors' minds, his authority and credibility," Sheaffer said.
However, Ashton became even more frustrated as Baez questioned the witness about who Caylee's potential father may have been.
"Were you asked to conduct a paternity test as to Lee Anthony being the potential father of Caylee Anthony?" Baez asked.
"Objection!" said Ashton. "What is the relevance of that, other than to suggest to the jury that there's some information out there that they haven't seen?"
Even Judge Perry became frustrated as he scolded the defense and the prosecution about the level of their voices.
"I don't have a hearing problem, and the amplification of questions, objections I don't need, OK?" stated Judge Perry."I can hear in normal voices."
Earlier, a crime scene investigator was called to the stand as the defense's first witness. Garardo Bloise, a crime scene investigator for the Orange County Sheriff's Office, had already testified previously in Casey's trial.
Casey's lead attorney Jose Baez began questioning Bloise about Casey's clothes in her bedroom. He said no stains were found on the pants Casey wore on June 16, 2008.
Baez sparked an outburst of laughter from the courtroom when he asked Bloise about whether he talked while processing evidence.
"Do you speak while you're doing this?" Baez asked.
"No," Bloise said.
"Why not?" asked Baez.
"Because I'm by myself," he replied as the court filled with laughter.
Sheaffer says that type of comment may not hurt Baez, but he needs to be careful.
"It's not cute and it's not funny when a lawyer starts talking about evidence that is not in evidence," Sheaffer said.
Sheaffer said he doesn't think Casey will testify, but said her attorneys could call her father, George Anthony, as their own witness and may focus on his suicide attempt along with questions about whether he sexually abused Casey.
"Beat him over the head with their questioning, try to raise in the jurors' minds that there's a reasonable doubt that he in fact abused Casey," said Sheaffer.
The defense showed another crime scene investigator photos of several pieces of trash where Caylee's remains were found, pointing out that they were not tested for evidence.
However, lead prosecutor Linda Drane-Burdick only had one question to ask the investigator.
"Would it be fair to characterize the area where Caylee Marie Anthony's remains were discarded as a trash dump?" Drane-Burdick asked.
"Yes, that's what I would classify it as," replied the crime scene investigator.
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.
Court will resume on Friday at 9:00am.
Previous Stories: 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 June 02, 2011: State Exposes Lie After Lie From Casey On Day 19 Of Trial
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