Casey Anthony murder trial focuses on 'trash' versus 'garbage'
Prosecutors and defense counsel in the Casey Anthony murder trial argue over how to describe a plastic bag of refuse found in the trunk of her car. Does it link to the body of Caylee Anthony?
Dr. Neal Haskell, an expert in forensic entomology, testifies during the trial of Casey Anthony, Saturday, June 11, at the Orange County Courthouse, in Orlando, Fla. Anthony is charged with murder in the 2008 death of her daughter Caylee.
Joe Burbank/AP
Prosecutors and defense counsel in the trial of a Florida woman accused of killing her two-year-old daughter are waging a running battle over how best to describe a plastic bag of refuse found in the trunk of the mother鈥檚 car.
The state attorneys office insists that it be referred to as 鈥渢rash.鈥� Defense lawyers counter that the contents of the white plastic bag were 鈥済arbage.鈥�
The issue arose anew on Saturday during a special weekend session of the Casey Anthony murder trial in Orlando.
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Prosecutors had called Dr. Neal Haskell, a forensic entomologist, to testify about maggots found on a wad of paper towels in the white plastic bag that had been left in the trunk of Ms. Anthony鈥檚 car. Dr. Haskell鈥檚 expertise is helping the authorities identify the time of death based on which kinds of insects are breeding and feeding on the decomposing remains of a victim.
He told the jury that as the chemical composition of a decomposing body changes, the cadre of insects attracted to the corpse changes as well. By knowing when those changes take place, an entomologist can establish a timeline that can help investigators solve a crime.
The state鈥檚 theory in the case is that Ms. Anthony killed her daughter, Caylee, and then hid her body in the trunk of the car before dumping the body in a wooded area not far from the family home.
Caylee was last seen alive on June 16, 2008. Her remains were discovered six months later on December 11.
Prosecutors build circumstantial case
Prosecutors have no direct evidence that Anthony harmed her daughter. Instead, they are working to build a circumstantial case linking the toddler鈥檚 decomposing body to her mother鈥檚 car.
Several witnesses have testified that in the summer of 2008 Casey Anthony鈥檚 car contained a strong odor that resembled the stench of a decomposing body.
This is where the distinction between trash and garbage becomes crucial. Defense lawyers say the stench in Anthony鈥檚 car was a result of her mistakenly leaving that plastic bag of 鈥済arbage鈥� in her car trunk for several days in Florida鈥檚 hot summer sun.
Prosecutors counter that the stench is the lingering evidence of the mother鈥檚 crime against her daughter. A plastic bag of 鈥渢rash鈥� is incapable of producing such a strong and distinctive smell, they say.
The issue is further complicated by the fact that investigators found maggots and other insect activity on a wad of paper towels in the white plastic bag. Prosecutors have suggested that the paper towels may have been used to clean up fluid that had flowed from Caylee鈥檚 decomposing body while it was still in the car trunk.
Dr. Haskell was asked a hypothetical question that directly tracks the state鈥檚 theory in the case. If the body of a young child was stored in the trunk of a car for some time and then moved, would that fit with the insect activity he had found?
鈥淎bsolutely,鈥� Haskell testified.
He said based on the type of insects he鈥檇 found in the paper towels he estimated the body would have been in the car trunk three to five days.
On cross-examination, Defense Attorney Jose Baez challenged Haskell鈥檚 assumption that whatever was on the paper towels that attracted the insects must have come from human decomposition. Wouldn鈥檛 left-overs from a restaurant forgotten in a hot car attract the same flies, Mr. Baez asked.
Not that quantity, Haskell said.
That鈥檚 when Assistant State Attorney Jeffrey Ashton asked Haskell the difference between trash and garbage.
鈥淭o my thinking garbage is primarily decomposing organic material,鈥� he said, 鈥渧ersus trash which is any inorganic stuff you are throwing out.鈥�
Haskell said the insects he studies are searching for decomposing organic material, both animal and plant, to 鈥渃olonize and try to raise their kids in it.鈥�
He said the white plastic bag contained trash 鈥� a collection of inorganic materials that were not decomposing.
鈥淵ou weren鈥檛 present when they collected the trash or garbage,鈥� Baez asked.
鈥淣辞.鈥�
鈥淪o you wouldn鈥檛 know if it was soaking-wet with organic material or not,鈥� Baez said.
鈥淭here鈥檚 nothing to suggest it was,鈥� Haskell testified.
Was evidence inadvertently destroyed?
Baez had earlier criticized crime scene investigator Gerardo Bloise for placing the material from the white bag in a drier for two days before storing the dried contents in the evidence room.
In testimony on Tuesday, Mr. Bloise said he took inventory of the contents before drying them. His inventory does not list items of garbage except perhaps an empty pizza box, an empty cheese wrapper, and an empty frozen dinner carton.
He testified that the white bag smelled like 鈥渢rash,鈥� but had a different odor than Anthony鈥檚 car. He said it was department protocol to place such items in an evidence drier.
鈥淵ou had no idea the evidence would be altered,鈥� Baez asked.
鈥淣o,鈥� he said.
The routine drying may have undercut the state鈥檚 investigation as much as defense efforts.
Had they been preserved as found and immediately tested, the maggot-covered paper towels might have provided a direct link between Caylee鈥檚 dead body and her mother.
Haskell said it is possible to retrieve human host DNA from lice, maggots, and even bed bugs. It is unclear whether the procedure was attempted given the state of the evidence.
Casey Anthony is charged with first-degree murder. If convicted she faces a possible death sentence.
She has pleaded not guilty. Defense attorneys say Caylee died in a swimming pool accident and that Casey Anthony and her father participated in a coverup of the death.
The trial is set to continue on Monday.