ORLANDO, Fla (Reuters) – The manager of the Florida impound lot where Casey Anthony's car was towed two weeks after she allegedly killed her daughter testified on Friday that he detected the "very, very unique, distinctive smell" of human decomposition emanating from the vehicle.
"The instant flash in my mind (was), whew, I know what that smells like," said manager Simon Birch, who examined the car within four to five days of it being stored at the lot.
Casey Anthony, 25, is on trial in Orlando on a first-degree murder charge and faces the death penalty if convicted of smothering her 2-year-old daughter Caylee with duct tape on June 16, 2008.
Her defense lawyer Jose Baez claims Caylee drowned that day in the backyard pool at the home Casey and Caylee shared with Casey's parents, George and Cindy Anthony.
No one reported Caylee missing until July 15, 2008, when Cindy and George went to the impound lot after receiving a notice that Casey's car was there.
After driving the car home and confronting Casey, Cindy called 911 and told police her granddaughter was missing. She said Casey wouldn't tell her where Caylee was, and that she smelled "a dead body" in Casey's car trunk.
Birch testified he worked several years for a garbage company and about 30 years in tow lots, where six or eight times he had smelled the odor of decomposing human remains in a vehicle. He said he recognized the difference between human decay and trash.
Human decomposition "is a very, very unique, distinctive smell," Birch said. When he examined Casey's car, he said, "It was an odor consistent with what I smelled in the past of (human) decomposition."
Birch was expected to continue his testimony after a lunch break.
WEEKS TO GO
Friday marked the fourth day of what is expected to be a weeks-long trial. The day began with Judge Belvin Perry denying a defense motion for a mistrial.
Baez objected to a string of prosecution witnesses this week who described Casey as happy and carefree, shopping, partying and getting tattoos in the days after Caylee died.
Baez argued the testimony showed lack of remorse by Casey, which he said was not permissible until the sentencing portion of a trial.
Perry sided with prosecutors who said the intent of the testimony was to show Casey's conduct.
The judge granted a motion filed by prosecutors to stop Baez from trying to get witnesses to say what Casey told them in various conversations without prior approval from the judge. Perry noted those kinds of comments were self-serving and not allowed by the defense.
Mallory Parker, the fiancee of Casey's brother Lee, testified that she and Lee tried to find Casey at a downtown Orlando nightclub on July 3, 2008, because Cindy wanted to see Caylee.
Asked by Baez about the relationship between Casey and Caylee, Parker broke down in tears.
"It was awesome," she said.
Jurors watched almost a dozen store surveillance videos of Casey shopping in the weeks after Caylee died, including a trip to the Ikea home goods store where her friend William Waters testified Casey wanted to look for furniture.
Several witnesses have testified that Casey told them she and a friend were planning to move into her parents' home, which she said her parents were leaving.
In an email response to questions from Reuters, George and Cindy Anthony's attorney said he didn't know what Casey had in mind concerning her parents supposedly leaving their home.
"No they were not planning on moving out, and I have no idea about Casey's plans other than her psychological report demonstrates she is deeply disturbed," Mark Lippman wrote to Reuters.
(Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Jerry Norton)
