Casey Anthony Trial Day 15: Disgusting video, piece of rubbish and maggots

Casey Anthony's trial took a dramatic turn on Friday with the prosecutors horrifying the judge by showing a morphed video of Caylee to demonstrate how the 2-year old girl could have possibly died.

Prosecutors played a disturbing video, Friday, in a packed Orlando court to show how Caylee could have possibly died.

The video superimposed Caylee's skull on a photo of the toddler when she was alive.

Even as Casey seethed with anger and her lawyer made a motion for a mistrial, Judge Belvin Perry mulled whether the video should be shown to the jury.

Prosecutor Jeff Ashton said he wanted to call the video's creator Dr. Michael Warren to show the jury that a piece of duct tape found near Caylee's skull is big enough to fit over her nose and mouth when she was alive.

Though Casey's lawyers said the disgusting superimposition is nothing but a fantasy, Perry allowed the video to be shown to the jury, who have already seen photos of Caylee's skull the previous day. Moreover, the judge noted that the issue of duct tape had been brought up by both the prosecution and the defense in their previous lines of questioning.

Friday's trial focus was on what the authorities found near Caylee's remains.

Orange County's deputy chief medical examiner Dr. Gary Utz and the jury were shown several photos of tattered and torn clothes belonging to Caylee that were found near her remains.

Utz told the court he could not determine how Caylee had died and added that though the skeletal remains could have been disrupted, none of the bones collected from the crime scene were broken.

Dr. John Schultz, an associate anthropology professor at the University of Central Florida, also testified on Friday, saying he was called by the authorities to assist them with the examination of Caylee's skeletal remains.

Schultz said he had identified the bones collected from the crime scene and found that two femur bones were chewed upon by animals. He said it was his opinion that the remains had been lying in the wooded area for around six months.

Schultz said except for the child's right foot, most of the victim's bones were recovered by the investigators. He also said that it was his opinion that the body was relatively intact when it was disposed off in the woods. There was no evidence of trauma, he added.

The professor's observation disturbed the jury and made Casey burst out in tears, prompting the judge to call for a short recess. Earlier, the prosecutors had shown the jury photos of the bones and the skeletal remains of tiny hands.

Chief medical examiner Dr. Jan Garavaglia also testified on Friday, saying she believed that Caylee's death was a homicide and not an accident. Garavaglia based her decision on three reasons:

[1] The fact that Casey took 31 days before she reported Caylee missing raised a red flag

[2] The fact that Caylee's remains were tossed in a field to rot in bags...as though she was a piece of rubbish

and

[3] The fact that there's no reason for the duct tape to be put over Caylee's mouth after she has died or if she had died an accidental death.

Garavaglia said she couldn't say for sure how exactly Caylee died but said that in her experience, 100 percent of accidental drowning deaths were reported to 911. Accidental deaths are reported 100 percent of the time - unless there's reason not to, Garavaglia said.

The circumstances of death concerning Caylee led to the logical conclusion of homicide, she said, adding, I felt the manner of death was defensible scientifically.

Garavaglia also said it is absolutely possible that overexposure to chloroform could kill a child.

Dr. Warren, associate anthropology professor at the University of Florida, also testified while showing the video that the duct tape found near Caylee's remains must have covered Caylee's mouth prior to decomposition or else the mandible attached to the upper skull would have been displaced.

However, on cross-examination, Warren said he could not say for sure whether the duct tape actually caused the toddler's death.

Mike Vincent and Robin Maynard, Orange County Sheriff's crime scene investigators, testified that they had found and collected maggots from a garbage bag found in Casey's car Pontiac Sunfire as well as from the site where Caylee's remains were found. They said the samples were sent to forensic entomologist Dr. Neil Haskell.

The trial is expected to take 6-8 weeks before a verdict is reached.

The prosecutors say Casey chloroformed Caylee and then put duct tape over her nose and mouth, suffocating the girl.

Casey's lawyers claim Caylee was not murdered. They say the toddler accidentally drowned in the family swimming pool and George, Casey's father, helped her keep the death a secret. George has denied the claim.

Caylee was last seen alive on June 16 and it was only on July 15 that she was reported missing to the police. Cindy had alerted the police by calling a 911 dispatcher and saying that she had smelled a dead body in the trunk of Casey's car that was spotted in an impound lot. The car was later towed by authorities for forensic analysis.

Initially, Casey told the police that a babysitter had abducted Caylee. Investigations showed Casey was lying as the babysitter Zanny was fictitious. Five months later, in December 2008, Caylee's decomposed skeletal remains were found in a wooded area near Casey's house by a meter reader who was relieving himself.

Casey has been charged with seven counts, including first degree murder, aggravated child abuse and misleading the police in the death of Caylee. If she is convicted of first degree, she could be sentenced to death by the seven-woman, five-man jury.