mom begins her murder trial
Monday, May 9, 2011
, Posted by HTMZ.COM at 12:29 PM
If she is found guilty she could face the death penalty.
Jury selection for the trial of a woman charged with killing her two-year-old daughter began today.
And as more than 100 potential jurors filed into the courtroom in Clearwater, Florida, Casey Anthony broke down in tears.
The 25-year-old is charged with first-degree murder after being accused of killing her daughter Caylee in 2008.
Wearing a simple icy blue sweater and looking tired and drawn Anthony, of Orlando, Florida, dabbed her nose and eyes with tissues as Chief Judge Belvin Perry read out the indictment against her.
Anthony is also charged with aggravated child abuse, aggravated manslaughter of a child and four counts of providing false information to a law enforcement officer.
She has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Her trial is due to take place in Orlando but jurors are being selected at the Clearwater courthouse around 100 miles away because the case is so high profile.
Chief Judge Perry suggested the Orlando area had received such fierce media coverage over the case that it may now be too difficult to find an unbiased jury.
He hopes to have 20 jurors - including eight alternates - in place by the end of the week.
Accused: The 25-year-old is charged with first-degree murder after being accused of killing her two-year-old daughter Caylee in 2008
He also hopes to begin the trial on May 17. Over the course of selection potential jurors will be called up individually, undergo two rounds of questioning and be asked if they could recommend the death penalty for Anthony.
The jurors picked will have to in effect give up their lives for the trial which is expected to last for six to eight weeks and cost an estimated $300,000.
Little Caylee was reported missing on July 15, 2008 by her grandmother, Cindy Anthony.
Victim: Caylee's body was found on December 11, 2008 in a wooded area a 15-minute walk from the Anthony home
The grandmother called 911 and told the dispatcher she had not seen the little girl for a month.
Cindy Anthony also told the dispatcher her daughter's car smelled as if there had been a dead body inside.
During a five-month search in 2008 for Caylee, Casey Anthony told investigators she had left her daughter in the hands of a babysitter, a woman who now is suing Casey for defamation.
Caylee's body was found on December 11, 2008 in a wooded area a 15-minute walk from the Anthony home.
Photographs showing Casey partying at a nightclub at a time she claimed to have been searching for her daughter have also surfaced.
Over defence objections, Judge Perry recently issued an order to allow evidence concerning heart-shaped residue a fingerprint examiner saw but did not preserve on duct tape that covered Caylee's mouth.
Investigators found heart-shaped stickers in the Anthony home.
The judge has also approved a forensic botanist's testimony concerning how long Caylee's body lay in the woods based on plant growth on her bones, evidence of a stain found in Casey's car trunk that is consistent with volatile fatty acids from human decomposition, and elevated chloroform levels detected in Casey's car.
Investigators found records of a computer search for information about chloroform on the Anthony family computer.
However there is no DNA evidence tying Casey to the field where her daughter's body was found, according to CBS News.
The coroner's report ruled her death had been a 'homicide by undetermined means.'
Casey's lawyers maintain that she's not guilty.
The case continues
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1385234/Casey-Anthony-breaks-tears-jury-selection-begins-murder-trial.html#ixzz1LtfY6MTU
Jury selection for the trial of a woman charged with killing her two-year-old daughter began today.
And as more than 100 potential jurors filed into the courtroom in Clearwater, Florida, Casey Anthony broke down in tears.
The 25-year-old is charged with first-degree murder after being accused of killing her daughter Caylee in 2008.
Wearing a simple icy blue sweater and looking tired and drawn Anthony, of Orlando, Florida, dabbed her nose and eyes with tissues as Chief Judge Belvin Perry read out the indictment against her.
Anthony is also charged with aggravated child abuse, aggravated manslaughter of a child and four counts of providing false information to a law enforcement officer.
She has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Her trial is due to take place in Orlando but jurors are being selected at the Clearwater courthouse around 100 miles away because the case is so high profile.
Chief Judge Perry suggested the Orlando area had received such fierce media coverage over the case that it may now be too difficult to find an unbiased jury.
He hopes to have 20 jurors - including eight alternates - in place by the end of the week.
Accused: The 25-year-old is charged with first-degree murder after being accused of killing her two-year-old daughter Caylee in 2008
He also hopes to begin the trial on May 17. Over the course of selection potential jurors will be called up individually, undergo two rounds of questioning and be asked if they could recommend the death penalty for Anthony.
The jurors picked will have to in effect give up their lives for the trial which is expected to last for six to eight weeks and cost an estimated $300,000.
Little Caylee was reported missing on July 15, 2008 by her grandmother, Cindy Anthony.
Victim: Caylee's body was found on December 11, 2008 in a wooded area a 15-minute walk from the Anthony home
The grandmother called 911 and told the dispatcher she had not seen the little girl for a month.
Cindy Anthony also told the dispatcher her daughter's car smelled as if there had been a dead body inside.
During a five-month search in 2008 for Caylee, Casey Anthony told investigators she had left her daughter in the hands of a babysitter, a woman who now is suing Casey for defamation.
Caylee's body was found on December 11, 2008 in a wooded area a 15-minute walk from the Anthony home.
Photographs showing Casey partying at a nightclub at a time she claimed to have been searching for her daughter have also surfaced.
Over defence objections, Judge Perry recently issued an order to allow evidence concerning heart-shaped residue a fingerprint examiner saw but did not preserve on duct tape that covered Caylee's mouth.
Investigators found heart-shaped stickers in the Anthony home.
The judge has also approved a forensic botanist's testimony concerning how long Caylee's body lay in the woods based on plant growth on her bones, evidence of a stain found in Casey's car trunk that is consistent with volatile fatty acids from human decomposition, and elevated chloroform levels detected in Casey's car.
Investigators found records of a computer search for information about chloroform on the Anthony family computer.
However there is no DNA evidence tying Casey to the field where her daughter's body was found, according to CBS News.
The coroner's report ruled her death had been a 'homicide by undetermined means.'
Casey's lawyers maintain that she's not guilty.
The case continues
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1385234/Casey-Anthony-breaks-tears-jury-selection-begins-murder-trial.html#ixzz1LtfY6MTU
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