Casey Anthony Trial Day 10: Caylee’s hair, human decomposition odor and “junk science”

Casey Anthony’s trial ended its second week run on Saturday with the prosecutors suggesting that the hair and odor of human decomposition was of Caylee’s, even as defense lawyers tried to debunk the claim.

On Saturday, Karen Korsberg Lowe, an FBI expert who specializes in microscopic examination of hair samples, testified that the hair found in the trunk of Casey Anthony’s car could have belonged to 2-year-old Caylee.

Lowe testified that a single 9-inch-long brown hair, which was found in the trunk of Casey Anthony’s car, saying that the hair was consistent with one that would be found on a decomposing body and suggested that the hair was similar to a hair found on a Caylee’s hairbrush.

Lowe said the hair is the root banning, which means the hair is from a decomposing body.

It has darkened bands at the root portion. This is consistent with apparent decomposition, Lowe testified. I made a determination that it was similar to a hair in a hairbrush that was identified as belonging to Caylee Anthony.

Actually, the root banning of the hair has never been used as evidence in a U.S. trial to prove the existence of a dead body.

Lowe also testified that mitochondrial DNA testing has linked the hair to Caylee and her maternal relatives.

But Lowe admitted that there are limitations in the findings. She said she couldn’t absolutely confirm that the hair is from a dead body with scientific certainty, nor could she claim with absolute certainty that it was Caylee's hair.

At the end of the day I can't say absolutely that hair came from Caylee Anthony, Lowe said.

Except the hair, the odor in the trunk was also in focus on Saturday.

Michael Vincent, Orange County crime scene supervisor, testified that the authorities had collected several air samples from the trunk of Casey Anthony's car and had sent them for analysis to Dr. Arpad Vass at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee.

Dr. Vass is expected to take the stand in the third week of Casey Anthony’s Trial.

Defense attorney Jose Baez contended the examination was junk science, which is unreliable and cannot be trusted.

Casey Anthony was accused of killing her 2-year-old baby girl Caylee Anthony. Caylee was last seen on June 16, 2008 and it was not until June 15 that she was reported missing to the police. Five month later, Caylee’s decomposed remains were found in a wooded area near Casey’s parents’ house. Caylee’s skeletal remains were found wrapped in a Winnie the Pooh blanket. The police found that her skull was taped in duct tape.

Prosecutors alleged that Casey had killed her daughter and for nearly a month had pretended to her parents and friends that Caylee was alive.

Prosecutors claim Casey killed Caylee because the little girl was becoming an obstacle to Casey’s life, which revolved around parties, night clubs and shopping.

Casey’s lawyers, on the other hand, claim Caylee accidentally drowned in the family swimming pool and Casey’s father knew about it and helped Casey to keep it a secret.

The trial is expected to take 4-6 weeks more before the jury reaches a verdict. If Casey is convicted of first-degree murder, she could be sentenced to death.