ORLANDO, Fla (Reuters) – Week six of the Casey Anthony murder trial opened with talk of a psychic, a Velveeta cheese wrapper and the revelation an emergency mental evaluation of the young Florida mother was behind the abrupt cancellation of Saturday's court session.
Judge Belvin Perry ruled on Monday that 25-year-old Casey was competent to assist in her defense based on evaluations over the weekend by three court-appointed psychologists.
In his emergency motion for the mental health checks, defense attorney Jose Baez wrote that he based the request on unspecified "confidential communications" with Casey.
Perry sealed the psychologists' reports and ordered the trial to resume.
Prosecutors say Casey smothered her 2-year-old daughter Caylee with duct tape on June 16, 2008, drove around with the child's body in her car trunk for several days and dumped the remains in woods near their Orlando area home.
Evidence showed Casey spent the following month happily partying with her boyfriend.
Baez contends Caylee accidentally drowned in the Anthonys' backyard pool, and that Casey's inappropriate reaction stemmed from a history of sexual abuse.
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
Perry has yet to rule on a motion filed by the defense team on Monday asking the judge to declare a mistrial and start over with a jury that was not selected based on its willingness to impose the death penalty.
Defense attorney Ann Finnell argued that a federal court in Miami recently declared the state's death penalty unconstitutional on technical grounds. The ruling does not invalidate the statute.
Finnell said Casey's defense team challenged Florida's death penalty before the trial began on the same grounds cited by the federal court, but Perry denied the motion. Finnell is asking Perry to reconsider.
BODY VAPORS
Baez on Monday called a biochemist to the witness stand to rebut key prosecution evidence that chemical vapors from Casey's car trunk could be the result of Caylee's body decomposing there for several days.
Kenneth Furton, a professor at Florida International University, testified that the science behind the chemical analysis is not yet fully developed or reliable.
Both Furton and the prosecution witness said this was the first time either had provided evidence in court on the science of chemical vapors given off by a decomposing body.
Furton testified that scientists around the world disagree on whether it is possible to identify human remains from chemical signatures.
"There is no instrumental method that's been scientifically validated" to identify a human body from chemical compounds, Furton said.
During cross examination, Furton agreed that a decomposing human body could cause the chemical signatures found in Casey's car trunk, but insisted garbage also was a possibility.
Prosecutor Jeff Ashton pressed Furton to identify anything else found in the trunk that could give off the same vapors and overpowering odor described by numerous witnesses.
Ashton held up the contents of a trash bag found in the trunk, including an empty salami package. He gave the jury an empty Velveeta cheese foil wrapper to pass around and make their own judgments.
The food containers "would be unlikely to produce a substantial odor," Furton conceded.
The defense spent more than three hours questioning two witnesses who followed a psychic's instructions to look for Caylee in the woods where her remains ultimately were found on December 11, 2008.
Jurors saw a videotape of private investigator Dominic Casey walking around in the woods in November 2008 while talking on a cell phone to the psychic. Both he and a helper, James Hoover, testified they did not find a body.
Perry extended the court session on Monday until after 7 p.m., almost two and a half hours later than normal. Even after losing more than five hours of court time due to the quick end of Saturday's session, Perry indicated he still expects the defense to wrap up its case by Wednesday.
If the projection sticks, the judge hopes to give the case to the jury by Saturday morning at the latest to begin deliberations.
(Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Jerry Norton)
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