Andy Dick to stand trial on W.Va. sex abuse counts (AP)

By HARRY R. WEBER, Associated Press Harry R. Weber, Associated Press – Sat Jul 30, 2:11 am ET

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – A West Virginia judge ordered actor-comedian Andy Dick on Friday to stand trial on felony sexual abuse charges stemming from a nightclub incident last year.

Cabell County Circuit Judge Paul Farrell set trial for Jan. 17 and ordered the entertainer to submit to a urine test. The judge said the test was standard to determine if defendants are positive for drugs, but he also told Dick, "I suspect you may be." Farrell told Dick he would be jailed if he returned to court for a pre-trial hearing in September under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

"I understand. I've been sober," the blond-haired, bespectacled actor, wearing a dark suit and black tie, told the judge.

Prosecutor Sean Hammers said he had no objection to Dick remaining free on bail.

Dick, 45, was not asked to enter a plea. He quickly left the courtroom after the brief hearing and got into an elevator with attorney Marc Williams without speaking to reporters, who peppered Dick with questions.

The comedian is accused of grabbing a bouncer's crotch and groping and kissing a male patron earlier at a Huntington bar in January 2010. He was in town for a performance at the Funny Bone Comedy Club.

Dick has been in trouble with the law several times before.

He's been arrested in California on drug and battery charges, to which he pleaded guilty in 2008, and on charges of being drunk and disorderly in a restaurant in May of this year. A Texas man sued Dick earlier this year, claiming the comedian exposed his genitals at a Dallas performance.

Dick had a long-running stint in the 1990s on NBC's "NewsRadio." He briefly had his own program, "The Andy Dick Show," on MTV. He also has had roles in several movies, including "Dude, Where's My Car?" and "Old School."

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Defendants rest case in Alabama corruption trial (AP)

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The nine defendants in a corruption trial involving Alabama gambling legislation are resting their case after calling just one defense witness.

The defendants include current and former legislators, lobbyists and casino owners. They are accused in a scheme to buy and sell votes on a bill to legalize electronic bingo in Alabama.

Prosecutors based much of their case on wiretaps of telephone conversations. Three legislators who wore wires testified they felt they were being offered money to vote for the bill, but defense attorneys say they did not hear any talk of bribes being offered to legislators.

The judge will hear arguments Monday from defense attorneys who want the charges dismissed. Closing arguments are expected Wednesday.

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Sex, drugs and porn barred from Jeffrey Gundlach trial (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Evidence allegedly showing that star fund manager Jeffrey Gundlach kept a stash of drugs and porn in his office will not see the light of day at trial, a judge ruled in a lawsuit pitting Gundlach against his former employer.

More evidence related to Gundlach's alleged sexual liaisons with former co-workers also will not be allowed in the high-profile trial scheduled to begin next week between Gundlach and Trust Company of the West, a California judge ruled on Thursday.

TCW sued Gundlach, its former chief investment officer, in late 2009. The company Gundlach formed upon getting fired, DoubleLine Capital, used stolen proprietary data including contact databases to develop a client base, thereby engaging in "an ongoing pattern of wide-ranging, systematic unfair competition," TCW says in its complaint.

TCW is seeking in excess of $375 million in damages, according to Peter Viles, its corporate communications head.

Gundlach fired back with a countersuit, claiming that TCW owes him damages from his termination. He is seeking $500 million in damages, according to his defense team.

"Unrelated evidence" found in Gundlach's office would not be considered except under exceptional circumstances, said Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Carl J. West on Thursday.

"Collateral evidence will drag us down and take an untoward amount of time," West said, claiming that the extraneous evidence would be a distraction from the serious issues of fraud, proprietary theft, and damages stemming from Gundlach's termination.

"The fact that Jeffrey Gundlach kept hard core pornography, sexual devices and drugs at his TCW offices is not in question, and clearly demonstrates an unacceptable pattern of unstable and unprofessional behavior," Susan Estrich, an attorney for TCW, said in a statement emailed to Reuters.

"The heart of this case is and always has been Mr Gundlach's theft of trade secrets and confidential information from TCW, and his betrayal of the trust placed in him by his former employer and its investors."

DoubleLine Capital was content with the decisions made on the eve of the trial.

"We're pleased that Judge West once again has ruled correctly on pretrial issues in favor of DoubleLine and adverse to TCW's meritless lawsuit," Lew Phelps, a spokesman for DoubleLine Capital, told Reuters.

West also noted that the power of two "well-heeled" legal teams was overwhelming his office.

"You guys are taxing me here," he said, adding that the lawyers were submitting so much paper and so many motions that he and his staff could not read it all.

Jury selection for the trial begins on Monday, July 25.

The case in Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles is Trust Co of the West v. Jeffrey Gundlach et al, BC429385.

(Reporting by Mary Slosson; Editing by Gary Hill)

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Witness tampering alleged at Casey Anthony trial (AP)

ORLANDO, Fla. – Authorities were looking into allegations of witness tampering during Casey Anthony's murder trial, a Florida sheriff said Tuesday during a wide-ranging news conference with his top investigators in what he said was an effort to bring closure to a case that polarized the country.

Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings also revealed that prosecutors were considering perjury charges against Anthony's mother, but a spokeswoman for the state attorney's office later said they would not be pursued.

Casey Anthony was acquitted a week ago on charges of killing her 2-year-old daughter Caylee in 2008. Anthony was found guilty on four charges of lying to law enforcement officers. She is to be released from jail Sunday.

The sheriff held the news conference to defend his investigation and because his office had been besieged with interview requests since the verdict.

"The ultimate goal ... is that our personnel can get back to work doing the business of the taxpayers and residents of Orange County," Demings said. "This is the only way that we can move forward."

Demings wouldn't say who was accused of witness tampering, but it didn't involve Casey Anthony's mother, Cindy. She stunned prosecutors during the trial when she testified that she had done searches for chloroform on the family's computer. Prosecutors believed, along with sheriff's investigators, that Casey Anthony had performed the search as she plotted to kill Caylee.

Later, testimony by two of Cindy Anthony's co-workers that the company's electronic records showed that she was logged into her work system for most of the day on both March 17 and March 21 when the chloroform searches were done.

Cindy Anthony said she had performed the Internet searches for chloroform while looking up information on chlorophyll, a green pigment found in plants. Chloroform is a chemical that can be used as a sedative and is fatal to children in small doses.

A co-worker said the system would not have recorded Cindy Anthony's presence if a person hadn't been actively using the work computer.

The government presented evidence at trial that chloroform was found in Anthony's car trunk and insinuated that she could have used it to render Caylee unconscious.

As for the alleged witness tampering, detective John Allen would only say the sheriff's office has interviewed some witnesses.

"In regards to where we will go, it really depends on what information we get and what people come forward to provide additional information," Allen said.

The investigators at the news conference sat at a table alongside a big picture of Caylee. The sheriff said it was a reminder of what his investigators were pursuing during the three-year case that dominated his resources.

"This is what this was all about," Demings said. "It was about a missing child. That's what motivated our staff and our community."

Demings said his office followed up on more than 600 tips and worked with more than 100 FBI agents. He said he is still in the process of working with his accounting department to total up substantial investigative costs. Prosecutors want Anthony to incur those costs because they said the lies she was convicted of telling investigators directly led to the expenditures.

"Obviously those were resources that could have been put toward finding other missing children," Allen said.

Texas Equusearch, the private group that conducted several searches for Caylee in 2008, filed a lawsuit against Anthony on Tuesday, seeking $15,000 for what it spent on searches. The lawsuit claimed Anthony made misrepresentations to the group's founder, causing extensive, costly and time-consuming searches for Caylee.

Anthony's defense said Caylee accidentally drowned in the family pool and her father, a former police officer, helped cover it up. Anthony's partying and shopping during the month before her daughter was reported missing was caused in part by her father's sexual abuse, her attorneys said.

George Anthony denied the claims in court, and investigators said Tuesday they were rebuffed by the defense team when they tried to interview her about the allegations.

Allen and the case's lead detective, Yuri Melich, said they wouldn't do anything differently in the case, despite not winning a conviction.

"Ultimately, it's up to the jury to decide," Melich said. "We respect that and honor that."

The sheriff did acknowledge that finding Caylee's remains earlier could have built a stronger case. The remains were found by a meter reader in December 2008, six months after Caylee was reported missing. The meter reader initially called authorities as early as August about seeing what might have been a skull in the woods.

Demings said the investigator called out after the meter reader's report no longer works at the sheriff's office, and he believed authorities correctly focused on Anthony.

"I certainly don't have any doubt," Allen said. "... I think our work was solid."

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More grisly details in trial of alleged Ohio serial killer (Reuters)

CLEVELAND (Reuters) – Testimony in the capital murder trial of alleged serial killer Anthony Sowell continued here on Tuesday with more grisly details of the evidence authorities collected at his home.

Dr. Elizabeth Balraj, the former chief deputy coroner for Cuyahoga County who autopsied five of the bodies, spent almost two-and-a-half hours on the stand Tuesday morning as the trial entered its third week.

She and others testified the victims were strangled and bound with apparently random items, including shoe-strings, socks, a belt, a bag strap, a coaxial cable and a cell-phone charger cord.

Sowell, 51 is accused of killing 11 women and assaulting four others. Their remains were found in 2009 after police executed a search warrant at Sowell's house on a rape charge.

Sowell, who has pleaded not guilty to the charges, faces the death penalty if convicted.

Police and SWAT found two bodies on the floor in a room next to Sowell's bedroom and eventually discovered three more bodies and a skull in the house and five more bodies buried in shallow graves in the back yard.

Balraj also provided more details about the state of the victim's bodies found at Sowell's house, testifying those she examined were nude or nude from the waist down, some wrapped in blankets and plastic and bound at the hands and wrists.

Sowell, wearing a light-colored short-sleeve shirt, was stoic while listening to doctor's testimony and viewing autopsy photos.

Balraj testified that the plastic bucket that held the skull of Lasanda Long had "no evidence of decomposition" and that the bucket had "non-human bite marks" around the rim.

"I couldn't draw any conclusion when the skull was placed in the bucket," Balraj admitted to prosecutor Rick Bombik.

On Balraj's cross-examination, defense attorney John Parker continued to question the validity of the date of death given to the victims, pointing out Balraj had changed the date of death for Janice Webb after a family told her she had seen her alive after the date Balraj had originally provided.

Parker also took issue with part of the autopsy report on Amelda Hunter that stated she was strangled by "a male" and asked Balraj, "How could you know that information based on her autopsy?"

Balraj said she consults police reports and uses that information to help determine cause of death. She has come under fire from local media in the past for a perceived bias toward prosecution and police.

Kristopher Kern, who had been a forensic scientist with the coroner's office, and Curtiss Jones, the supervisor of the trace evidence department with the office, also took the stand Tuesday.

Kern testified to testing a number of items of clothing and "ligatures" used in the strangulation of the bodies.

Kern identified both a shoelace and sock for the prosecution that he removed from the neck of Nancy Cobb and what looked like a cell-phone charger from Tonia Carmichael.

According to Kern, Cobb was also wrapped in six different plastic bags and a blanket when she came in for autopsy.

During his testimony, Kern described removing shoestrings from one of the wrists of one of the victims, Janice Webb, and said: "They were bound so tightly, I had to cut them to remove them."

Jones testified he removed coaxial-type cable from around the partially clothed body of Crystal Dozier and found trace fibers of blue polyester from the plastic bag around another victim.

He said those fibers were consistent with the fibers from the carpet in Sowell's bedroom and were found on the clothing of other victims.

As he has with all of the other prosecution witnesses, defense attorney Parker pointed out a mistake in Kern's reports and asked how much time he spent at the crime scene.

Parker kept Kern on cross from almost an hour-and-a-half as he went through an exhaustive list of women's clothing that was collected, tested for DNA and semen, and returned without testing positive.

The trial is scheduled to continue on Wednesday with more witnesses for the prosecution.

(Editing by James B. Kelleher and Jerry Norton)

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APNewsBreak: New trial sought in sweat lodge case (AP)

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – Attorneys for a self-help author convicted of negligent homicide stemming from three deaths at a sweat lodge ceremony are seeking a new trial based on what they say was egregious misconduct by prosecutors.

James Arthur Ray's attorneys outlined 10 categories in a motion filed Monday in which they allege misconduct throughout the trial.

The defense says one of the most recent examples was that prosecutors played an audio clip that never was admitted into evidence. Jurors heard the clip before deliberating on aggravating factors.

Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk acknowledged the error. But she says the information was cumulative and did not prejudice Ray.

The judge won't decide on the motion this week.

Three people died following the ceremony led by Ray in October 2009 near Sedona.

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Trial set for woman in Maryland yoga shop killing (AP)

ROCKVILLE, Md. – A trial date has been set for a woman charged with killing a coworker who suspected her of stealing from an upscale yoga clothing shop in Maryland.

A judge Friday set Oct. 24 for the trial of Brittany Norwood. The trial is estimated to take eight days.

Defense attorney Douglas Wood said he's open to negotiations on a possible plea deal but is preparing for a trial.

Norwood is charged with murder in the March death of Jayna Murray at the Lululemon Athletica store. Police say Norwood killed Murray after Murray found suspected stolen merchandise in Norwood's bag.

Police say Norwood tried to conceal the homicide by tying herself up and blaming the attack on two masked men who she said entered the store after it closed.

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Casey Anthony trial: As it draws to a close, deep mysteries remain (The Christian Science Monitor)

On the eve of closing arguments, the Casey Anthony murder trial is ending exactly as it began – shrouded in mystery over what really happened to Ms. Anthony’s two-year-old daughter, Caylee.

Nearly 100 individuals testified and more than 400 pieces of evidence were presented to the jury in a month-long trial. But it is still unclear precisely how the toddler died.

There’s been no confession, no eye witnesses have come forward, and investigators have found no direct physical evidence capable of telling the tale with scientific certainty.

IN PICTURES: Key players in the Casey Anthony

Nonetheless, on Sunday morning in the Orlando courtroom of Chief Judge Belvin Perry, prosecutors will attempt to sidestep that glaring hole in their case while urging a jury of five men and seven women to find Casey Anthony guilty of the premeditated murder of her daughter.

If convicted, she faces a possible sentence of death by lethal injection.

Prosecutors have presented a theory that Ms. Anthony used chloroform to subdue her daughter and then murdered her by pressing pieces of duct tape over her mouth and nose.

They say she hid the body in the trunk of her car for several days until it began to decompose and smell. Then she dumped it in a wooded area about a quarter-mile from the family home. The skeletal remains were discovered six months later in December 2008.

Defense claims accidental drowningIn contrast, the defense theory is that Caylee accidentally drowned in the familya€™s swimming pool and her mother panicked. Rather than call 911, they say Casey and her father, George Anthony, engaged in a cover up to make the death look like the result of a kidnapping.

George Anthony denies any knowledge of how his granddaughter died or that he played any part in a cover up. Casey Anthony declined to testify at the trial.

Both the prosecution theory and defense theory share the same weakness a€“ there is no evidence proving one way or the other that the childa€™s death was an accident or an intentional act of murder. Instead, both the prosecution and defense cases are framed around circumstantial evidence that might point the jury one way or the other.

That’s why Sunday’s closing arguments are particularly important and could be decisive in whether Ms. Anthony is sentenced to death, receives a lesser punishment, or is acquitted.

Although the defense faces no legal obligation to prove or disprove anything in the case, Defense Attorney Jose Baez made shocking claims of sexual abuse and a cover up during his opening statement, many of which remain unproved. The danger for the defense is that jurors may hold it against Mr. Baez and his client.

But the real focus during jury deliberations, as Chief Judge Perry will instruct, must be on whether state prosecutors proved their case beyond a reasonable doubt.

Key evidenceAmong key pieces of evidence in the case:

DUCT TAPE – Prosecutors say the murder weapon was three pieces of duct tape, six to eight inches long, recovered near Caylee’s remains. Because some of the tape was found still attached to a mat of Caylee’s hair, they say it must have covered her mouth and nose and ended her life by suffocation. In a controversial move, prosecutors showed the jury an animated video of Caylee’s skull and face with pieces of duct tape superimposed over the image in various positions to show how it might have covered both her nose and mouth.

Defense attorneys objected to the video, saying it was meant to inflame the jury. They say no fingerprints were recovered on the tape and the only unidentified DNA detected on the duct tape excluded Casey Anthony as the donor. They add that there is no proof that the tape covered both the mouth and nose. If the tape only covered the mouth it could not be a murder weapon.

CHLOROFORM – A research scientist at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee detected traces of chloroform in the trunk of Ms. Anthony’s 1998 Pontiac Sunfire. Prosecutors say the evidence suggests that Ms. Anthony drugged her daughter with chloroform before killing her with duct tape. In addition, someone conducted Internet searches on the Anthony’s home computer for the words “chloroform,” and “how to make chloroform.” The searches were conducted when both of Ms. Anthony’s parents were at work.

Defense attorneys counter that Caylee’s remains were tested for the presence of chloroform and other drugs and no toxic substances were detected. They suggest the computer searches were done for curiosity because one of Casey’s friends had posted a gag photo showing a man and woman in a romantic restaurant with the caption: “Win her over with chloroform.” They say investigators never recovered any chemicals, mixing materials, or receipts related to the making of chloroform. Also, an expert in chemical analysis testified that chloroform is present in many household items, including bleach, and could have been in the trunk from an innocent source.

HAIR – A single nine-inch strand of hair was discovered in the trunk of Casey’s car. An FBI forensic expert said the hair was consistent with Caylee’s hair and that it showed signs of having come from a decomposing body. The same expert admitted on cross-examination that trying to identify hair as having come from a decomposing body is still an evolving area of forensic science.

SMELL – Several witnesses – including Casey’s father, George – testified that the lingering foul odor in Casey’s car in the summer of 2008 was the distinct smell of human decomposition. A cadaver dog signaled its handler that a dead body might be in the trunk. A research scientist at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory tested the molecular makeup of the odor and found it consistent with chemicals disbursed from a decaying human body.

In contrast, a University of Central Florida chemist tested the same odor from the car trunk but said he could not say conclusively that the detected compounds indicated the presence of human decomposition. He said there were other environmental sources that might produce the same compounds. An expert in forensic chemistry at Florida International University said the Oak Ridge tests were too experimental and were not reliable enough to be entered as evidence in a criminal trial. Findings like those from the Oak Ridge research have never before been entered as evidence in a criminal case.

Could Caylee have gone into the pool?SWIMMING POOL – The defense presented a series of photographs demonstrating that Caylee enjoyed swimming and was always eager to jump into the pool whenever given the opportunity. Casey’s mother, Cindy Anthony, testified that on June 16, 2008 she returned home from work and was alarmed to discover the ladder to the above-ground swimming pool was in place and that a side gate leading to the backyard was open. The defense also showed a photo of Caylee apparently opening a sliding glass door to the backyard on her own.

A prosecutor asked Mrs. Anthony whether Casey had ever told her there had been a fatal accident in the pool. Cindy Anthony said her daughter had not. “In fact she continued to assert to you that the child was kidnapped by a baby sitter,” the prosecutor asked. “That’s correct,” Mrs. Anthony replied.

LIES – Casey lied to her friends, family, and the police concerning the whereabouts of Caylee. In late June and early July 2008, Casey told her friends and her mother that Caylee was with a nanny. Casey spent much of that time with her new boyfriend, partying at nightclubs, on shopping excursions, and getting a tattoo that read “Bella Vita” – Italian for beautiful life. Later, as questions about Caylee persisted, she said that Caylee had been kidnapped by the nanny. Investigators quickly determined that the nanny did not exist. They also discovered that Casey had falsely claimed to be working at Universal Studios.

Defense claims Casey Anthony had been abusedDefense attorneys had argued in their opening statement that Casey’s lies and her cold behavior after Caylee was missing were a product of years of sexual abuse by her father and brother. No evidence of such abuse was presented to the jury. During testimony, George Anthony denied ever abusing his daughter. It is unclear whether the defense will raise the issue during their closing argument.

ROY KRONK – Defense attorneys sought to suggest to the jury that Caylee’s skeletal remains had been moved or at least disturbed by the county meter reader, Roy Kronk, who called authorities on December 11, 2008 to report that he’d found a small skull in a wooded area near the Anthony’s house. What makes Mr. Kronk a wild card in the case is that he actually found the remains four months earlier in August, but police never followed up by checking the location.

In testimony, Kronk admitted that he moved the skull slightly with his meter reading stick and briefly picked up a bag of Caylee’s remains, but he denied moving evidence from the site or otherwise altering the evidence. The suggestion was that Kronk was hoping to collect a $255,000 reward for finding Caylee. But the reward was only offered for the safe return of the toddler.

IN PICTURES: Key players in the Casey Anthony

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Casey Anthony trial: Records undercut mother's testimony on Internet search (The Christian Science Monitor)

Casey Anthony’s mother could not have performed home computer searches for “chloroform” on the dates and times she suggested in testimony last week, according to records introduced by prosecutors on Friday at the Casey Anthony murder trial.

The disclosure completely undercuts Cindy Anthony’s surprising testimony on June 23 that it was she – not her daughter – who conducted Internet searches for chloroform on the family’s home computer in March 2008.

The dramatic reversal came as prosecutors concluded their rebuttal case, bringing the evidence and testimony portion of the month-long trial to a formal end. Chief Judge Belvin Perry said closing arguments would begin Sunday morning.

IN PICTURES: Key players in the Casey Anthony trial

Mrs. Anthony’s earlier testimony was important because prosecutors allege that Casey Anthony used chloroform to subdue her two-year-old daughter, Caylee, before pressing pieces of duct tape over the toddler’s mouth and nose to suffocate her.

Many analysts had speculated that Cindy Anthony was shading the truth – and risking a potential perjury charge – in an effort to create reasonable doubt in the minds of the jurors and save her daughter from a spot on Florida’s death row.

Assistant State Attorney Linda Burdick had questioned how Mrs. Anthony could be home in the middle of the afternoon when payroll records from her employer showed that she had been at work when the Internet searches were conducted.

Mrs. Anthony said that, as a salaried employee who often worked overtime without pay, she had the freedom to go home early although her pay records would reflect a full day at work.

Shortly after Mrs. Anthony’s testimony, Ms. Burdick had investigators contact the employer.

The subpoenaed records were delivered by John Camperlengo, general counsel of Gentiva, the home health care company that employed Mrs. Anthony in March 2008.

Prosecutors sought production of the documents to prove that it was impossible for Cindy Anthony to conduct Google Internet searches on her home computer for chloroform on March 17 and March 21 in the middle of the afternoon because she was at work on both days.

Prosecutors argue that the searches were conducted by Casey when her parents weren’t home. The searches sought information about chloroform and the words “how to make chloroform.”

Computer forensic experts said the searches were conducted between 1:43 p.m. and 1:55 p.m. on March 17 and between 2:16 p.m. and 2:28 p.m. on March 21.

In her June 23 testimony, Mrs. Anthony was asked if she was home from work at those precise times. “It is possible,” she replied, twice.

“Were you, or weren’t you,” Burdick asked.

“If I had access to my work computer I could tell you when I left that day,” she replied.

Documents obtained from Gentiva show that someone was logged in on a Gentiva computer as Cindy Anthony and was updating computerized patient files at Cindy Anthony’s workstation in Winter Park, Fla., from 1:41 p.m. until 2:22 p.m. on March 17, and from 2:22 p.m. to 4:06 p.m. on March 21.

Mr. Camperlengo testified that the records were accurate and that they indicated that Mrs. Anthony was present in the company’s office on those dates and those times.

Mrs. Anthony had justified her “chloroform” search with the explanation that she intended to search for “chlorophyll” and that “chloroform” was suggested as an alternative search. She said she was worried that her dogs were eating bamboo leaves and wanted to learn more about chlorophyll to see if it might make them sick. She also said she was concerned about the use of hand sanitizers around young children like her granddaughter, Caylee.

Two computer forensic examiners from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office testified that they searched the Anthony’s home computer – including the section of the hard drive containing deleted files – for the words chlorophyll, hand sanitizer, and bamboo. They told the jury they found nothing for “chlorophyll” and “sanitizer,” and under “bamboo” they discovered items related to furniture, lanterns, floors, and tiki bars, but nothing about bamboo leaves.

At the close of the state’s case, Judge Perry asked defense attorney Jose Baez whether he wanted to put Mrs. Anthony back on the witness stand. The defense declined.

Also on Friday, defense attorney Cheney Mason renewed an earlier motion for a mistrial based on prosecutors introducing a video animation showing a photo of Caylee’s face superimposed over her skull with a piece of duct tape positioned over the mouth and nose.

Defense attorneys say there is no evidence of when the duct tape was applied to the toddler’s face and whether it was applied over both the mouth and the nose, or a different portion of the face.

Judge Perry denied the motion.

He also denied a renewed defense motion for judgment of acquittal. Such motions are routinely made by defense counsel prior to closing arguments and are routinely denied by trial judges. Judge Perry cited no reasons for denying both motions.

Casey Anthony is charged with first-degree murder in the death of her daughter. Prosecutors allege that Ms. Anthony hid Caylee’s body in the trunk of her car for several days before dumping it a wooded area a quarter-mile from the family home.

Defense lawyers say Caylee died in a swimming pool accident and that Casey panicked. They say she and her father, George, tried to cover up the death.

George Anthony denies any knowledge of how his granddaughter died and denies any involvement in a cover up.

IN PICTURES: Key players in the Casey Anthony trial

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Closing arguments to begin in Casey Anthony trial (AP)

ORLANDO, Fla. – The case that played out on national TV beginning with a toddler's disappearance in 2008 and continuing up to her mother's murder trial today reaches a milestone Sunday with the expected start of closing arguments in a Florida courtroom.

After more than 33 days of testimony and 400 pieces of evidence, prosecutors and defense attorneys in the first-degree murder trial of 25-year-old Casey Anthony are to deliver final arguments to jurors in the death of Anthony's 2-year-old daughter, Caylee.

Judge Belvin Perry, who gave attorneys Saturday off to prepare for final arguments, has said deliberations by the jury of seven women and five men could begin as early as Sunday evening.

During opening statements in May, prosecutors contended that Caylee was suffocated with duct tape by a mother who loved to party and shop and who crafted elaborate lies to mislead everyone from investigators to her own parents. Defense attorneys countered that the toddler accidentally drowned in the family swimming pool, and that her seemingly carefree mother in fact was hiding emotional distress caused by sexual abuse from her father.

However, jurors heard that a medical examiner never determined precisely how Caylee died, and Casey Anthony's DNA was not found with her daughter's skeletal remains when they were discovered in December 2008 in a wooded area near the Anthony family home. The defense team never offered firm proof of how the girl died, either, and never offered any evidence that Casey Anthony was molested by her father, George, who has firmly denied the claim.

The trial has been broadcast across the country. Captivated observers have traveled from distant states and camped outside the Orlando courthouse, jockeying for coveted seats in the gallery to witness the unfolding of the court drama.

Casey Anthony has pleaded not guilty to a charge of first-degree murder. She could face a possible death sentence or life in prison if convicted of that charge.

Anthony also is charged with aggravated child abuse, aggravated manslaughter of a child and four counts of providing false information to law enforcement. The child abuse and manslaughter charges each carry a 30-year prison term if convicted.

Prosecutors finished their rebuttal case Friday, after which defense attorney Cheney Mason argued that the judge should grant a request to acquit Anthony. He said in part about the state's case: "If you separate facts from fiction and inferences stacked on top of inferences ... there is no proof."

Indeed, the burden of proof falls to prosecutors. They relied on a highly circumstantial case, focusing on what they called the lies told by Casey Anthony in the 31 days after Caylee was last seen alive. They also heavily focused on an odor in the trunk of Casey Anthony's car, which the prosecution's forensics experts said was consistent with the smell of human decomposition.

No physical evidence ever linked Casey Anthony to traces of chloroform found in the trunk, though, and Perry ruled that the jury would not get to smell air samples taken from that trunk.

Nonetheless, the defense offered no evidence supporting their theory that Caylee drowned. Nor did they offer proof of the molestation allegations, which the attorneys said explained why Casey continued to party and hang out with friends after her daughter disappeared in the summer of 2008.

Absent definitive evidence, Florida A&M professor Karin Moore said jurors might lean on the most glaring thing presented to them.

That could mean judging Casey Anthony's actions during the month Caylee was missing, Moore said.

"If she knew her child had died or was missing, she was not acting like a grieving mother," Moore said. "It may be enough for a jury."

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Casey Anthony trial resumes after unexpected recess (Reuters)

ORLANDO, Fla (Reuters) – The Casey Anthony murder trial resumed on Friday following an unexpected recess called by the judge to allow defense attorney Jose Baez to investigate evidence that prosecutors planned to present.

Judge Belvin Perry recessed the trial for the morning after Baez asked for time to interview two prosecution witnesses the defense attorney said are providing new opinions on the autopsy of Casey's toddler daughter Caylee, whose skeletal remains were found in December 2008.

Casey, 25, is accused of smothering Caylee with duct tape on June 16, 2008 so she could "live the good life" free of the demands of motherhood. Prosecutors say Casey stored her 2-year-old daughter's body in her car trunk, then dumped it in woods near her home.

If convicted of first-degree murder, Casey could face the death penalty.

Jurors hearing the high-profile case have been sequestered in Orlando, Florida for more than six weeks, and Perry is pushing to get the case to them soon for deliberations so they can decide a verdict and go home.

Baez also told the judge he needed to interview computer experts who prosecutors contend will contradict the defense case, which wrapped up on Thursday without Casey being called to testify.

The judge told Baez he intended to verify for himself if the state's evidence was contained in earlier reports or was a surprise to the defense, as Baez maintains, thereby justifying a delay.

Prosecutor Jeff Ashton said the opinions were in the experts' original reports produced before the trial began.

"I don't want to read a report and find out" the information was known to the defense, Perry said. He implied he could impose a penalty "if I find out this is an imaginary problem."

QUESTIONS ON AUTOPSY

Ashton said the rebuttal testimony will contradict defense witnesses, including one who accused the prosecution's medical examiner of conducting "a shoddy autopsy" in which she neglected to open Caylee's skull.

One witness being called by prosecutors will testify that normal protocol for autopsies did not require Caylee's skull to be cut open, Ashton said.

The computer experts' testimony relates to prosecution evidence of an unusually large amount of chloroform, a once-popular anesthetic, found in Casey's trunk where prosecutors say she stored Caylee's body for several days.

To prove Caylee's murder was premeditated, computer experts previously testified someone in the Anthony home conducted Internet searches on the family desktop computer before Caylee's death for terms such as chloroform, how to make chloroform, neck-breaking, death, head injuries, internal bleeding and making weapons out of household products.

Casey's mother Cindy Anthony later surprised prosecutors by testifying for the defense that she was the one who searched for information on chloroform, although her job records indicated she was at work at the time. Cindy said she was a salaried employee who could come and go at will.

Cindy said she was trying to research information on her dog, who had been eating bamboo leaves and not feeling well. She said her search led her from chlorophyll to chloroform, as several types of chlorophyll can produce chloroform.

Prosecutor Linda Drane Burdick told Perry the computer experts conducted a second examination of the desktop after Cindy's testimony, and will testify there is no sign the searches Cindy described were ever performed on the computer.

Burdick also obtained additional work records this week for Cindy, the contents of which the prosecutor is expected to reveal when the trial resumes.

Baez on Thursday told Perry he also planned to subpoena more of Cindy's work records, but they might not be available until next week due to the Fourth of July holiday weekend.

Perry did not indicate how that would affect his desire to get the case to the jury this weekend.

(Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Cynthia Johnston)

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Prosecutors begin rebuttal in Casey Anthony trial (AP)

ORLANDO, Fla. – Prosecutors in the Casey Anthony murder trial began the rebuttal portion of the case on Friday with testimony from a lawyer for the company that once employed her mother.

Gentiva Health Services Chief Compliance Officer John Camperlengo was the first witness called when the trial resumed after a morning-long recess. Judge Belvin Perry called the recess before jurors entered the courtroom so the defense could take depositions of prosecution witnesses.

Camperlengo answered questions about Cindy Anthony's work history during the week of March 17, 2008.

Earlier this week, Cindy Anthony testified that she had run computer searches for the term "chloroform" while looking up information on chlorophyll, a green pigment found in plants. Prosecutors have contended that Casey Anthony made the searches as she plotted to kill her daughter. Cindy Anthony's testimony was a surprise to prosecutors.

She testified that she was home on the days when the computer searches were run. She said she could leave work when she wanted, and that the work records might not have reflected her absence.

Earlier Friday, lead defense attorney Jose Baez said prosecutors had failed to disclose all the information a computer expert and forensic anthropologist planned to testify about. Baez wanted the evidence and witnesses to be excluded, but Perry only gave him the option of taking their depositions.

"Your honor, I will stay here and do the work, and stay here as long as it takes," Baez said.

Casey Anthony is charged with first-degree murder in the 2008 death of her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee. If convicted of that charge, she could face the death penalty.

The witnesses are on the prosecution's rebuttal list to challenge testimony offered by witnesses during the case presented by the defense, which rested Thursday. The state planned to call a handful of witnesses and rest again Friday evening.

While the defense rested Thursday, experts said defense attorneys may have left lingering questions and failed to deliver on promises they made at the outset to explain how the toddler died.

Casey Anthony did not take the stand and the defense did not present concrete evidence that Caylee wasn't killed, but accidentally drowned.

Her attorneys also never produced any witnesses bolstering the claim made in opening statements that Anthony had acted without apparent remorse in the weeks after her daughter's death because she had been molested by her father as a child, resulting in emotional problems.

"If you do not at least present facts to support that argument, the jury is going to think you have no credibility," said Tim Jansen, a former federal prosecutor and criminal defense attorney in Tallahassee.

Instead, their 13-day case primarily focused on poking holes in the prosecution's contention that Anthony killed Caylee in June 2008 by covering her mouth with duct tape. Prosecutors said the woman dumped Caylee's body in the woods near her parents' home and then resumed her life of partying and shopping.

The prosecutors' case relied on circumstantial and forensic evidence, and it did have holes. They had no witnesses who saw the killing or saw Casey Anthony with her daughter's body. And there was no certain proof that the child suffocated.

The defense said in its opening statement that Caylee drowned and that her grandfather George Anthony, a former police officer, helped cover up the death by making it look like a homicide and dumping the body near their home, where it was found by a meter reader six months later. George Anthony has vehemently denied any involvement in Caylee's death, the disposal of her body or molesting his daughter, Casey.

Florida A&M law professor Karin Moore said she was "confused" throughout the case by the defense's approach.

"The defense could have attacked George Anthony weeks ago on cross-examination during the state's case, but waited until late in the trial," she said. "I think they waited too long to ask the big questions and got themselves in trouble."

The defense's final witnesses Thursday included Krystal Holloway, a woman who claims she had an affair with George Anthony that began after Caylee disappeared. She said he told her in November 2008 that Caylee's death was "an accident that snowballed out of control." George Anthony has denied having an affair with her but admitted visiting her home on several occasions.

They also recalled George Anthony to ask if he had supplied duct tape he used to put up posters of his granddaughter when she was missing. He said he couldn't remember.

Baez also asked him if he buried his pets after their deaths in plastic bags wrapped with duct tape. Anthony said he had on some occasions. Prosecutors have said Caylee's body was disposed of in a similar manner. Under prosecution questioning, he said he had never thrown their carcasses in a swamp.

The prosecution began its rebuttal case with photographs of clothing taken at the Anthony home. Court was adjourned for the day later in the afternoon, with prosecutors set to continue Friday.

___

Associated Press reporter Brent Kallestad in Tallahassee, Fla., contributed to this report.

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Casey Anthony murder trial: Has the defendant displayed grief? (The Christian Science Monitor)

Jurors at the Casey Anthony murder trial heard testimony on Wednesday from a grief expert who was called by defense attorneys to try to explain how a young mother might respond to the death of her child by partying at bars, getting a tattoo, renting movies, and going on shopping excursions.

Sally Karioth, a professor at Florida State University, said no two people grieve in exactly the same way. She said young adults, like Ms. Anthony, can sometimes be “reluctant grievers.”

The testimony came on the 31st day of the Orlando trial of the Florida mother accused of killing her two-year-old daughter, Caylee. If convicted, Ms. Anthony could face the death penalty.

IN PICTURES: Key players in the Casey Anthony trial

The testimony is important because it sought to address one of the most perplexing questions raised in the Anthony case. How could a young mother fail to tell her family, friends, and the police about her dead or missing child for 31 days while she partied with friends and acted as if nothing was wrong?

To set up Professor Karioth’s testimony, Defense Attorney Dorothy Sims presented an elaborate hypothetical example which was actually a detailed description of certain factors in Casey Anthony’s life as viewed under the defense theory of the case.

The woman in the hypothetical case was described as a 22-year-old mother of a young child who had a loving bond with the toddler. The woman also lives at home with her parents, who resisted the reality of her unwed pregnancy. Also living in the house was an older brother who was angry for being excluded from any discussion of the pregnancy.

“Add to it that during the 31 days after the child is gone, the mother leaves the home, rents movies, goes shopping, goes to bars, and gets a tattoo that indicated ‘Beautiful Life,’ ” Ms. Sims said.

Karioth said that a young person in such a situation might respond by saying that nothing had happened. They will often engage in risky behaviors, like drinking too much and spending money they don’t have. She added that some hope they can shop their way out of the problem.

Karioth said that people who come from uncommunicative families that don’t talk or feel or share, may engage in denial and what she called “magical thinking.”

As Karioth continued her testimony, Casey Anthony’s eyes turned red. Soon she had a Kleenex out and began dabbing tears away. What made that reaction particularly striking to many observers is that only a few hours earlier she had sat at the defense table cold and expressionless – appearing almost bored – as her father, George Anthony, sobbed on the witness stand while describing his decision to try to kill himself in January 2009 because of his own grief over the loss of his granddaughter, Caylee.

During cross-examination of Karioth, Assistant State Attorney Jeffrey Ashton offered a hypothetical example of his own. In his hypothetical the young mother – within a half day of the child’s death – goes to her boyfriend’s house, rents a movie, spends the night with him, returns secretly to her parents house, and then over the next month doesn’t tell anyone that the child has died or is missing. Then, for the next month, she lies to her mother and her friends by suggesting that the child is with a baby sitter.

a€?Is that conduct consistent with the type of denial you see in mothers,a€

“I would call that more magical thinking,” Karioth said. “If I can keep all these balls in the air, maybe it won’t be true that I’m fearful may have happened,” she said, suggesting a grieving mother’s possible reasoning.

Ashton asked the professor to consider an additional element to the hypothetical. a€?Leta€™s add that the mother deliberately killed the child,a€

Sims objected. She told the judge there was no evidence that the mother killed the child.

The exchange underscored the surreal aspect of offering “hypothetical” testimony to a jury that isn’t hypothetical at all.

Karioth said denial can be a coping mechanism.

“For guilt,” Ashton asked.

“It can be,” the professor said.

Ashton then asked about compartmentalization.

“Compartmentalizing traumatic episodes is a typical way of going on with your life,” Karioth explained.

“So one could compartmentalize an unspeakable act, put it in a box, and then go on and act as if nothing happened,” Ashton asked.

Karioth said questions dealing with psychology were beyond her expertise. But she said she has worked with people who engage in “magical thinking.”

She described a mother who had recently lost a child. The mother was concerned because it was dark outside and the weather was turning bad. The little boy had never been in the dark and the rain alone. Karioth said she told the mother she’d be right over. She found a blanket and some umbrellas and sat with the grieving mother until the rain stopped.

“Now that is magical,” she said, “but it is something we needed to do.”

Ashton asked one last question: “You will agree that the bond between a mother and child is hard to break, even with death.”

“I don’t think it breaks,” she said.

The trial is expected to continue on Thursday.

IN PICTURES: Key players in the Casey Anthony trial

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Judge orders ex-ESPN commentator to stand trial (AP)

LOS ANGELES – Former ESPN commentator Jay Mariotti must stand trial on charges he stalked, injured and assaulted his ex-girlfriend, a judge ruled Tuesday.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mark Windham found there to be sufficient evidence for Mariotti to stand to trial on one felony count each of stalking, corporal injury to a spouse or cohabitant and assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury. He also faces two misdemeanor counts of disobeying a domestic court order.

Prosecutors say Mariotti confronted the woman at a restaurant Sept. 30, the same day he pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor battery count stemming from an August incident with her.

In that plea, he was sentenced to 36 months of probation, community service and a domestic violence course.

Mariotti, a former Chicago Sun-Times columnist, is also accused of grabbing his former girlfriend outside a Venice restaurant on April 15. He allegedly pulled a chunk of her hair out and took her cell phone from her while shouting at her.

Mariotti's lawyer, Shawn Holley, called the allegations meritless.

"We look forward to trial when we will have the opportunity to present a strong and vigorous defense," Holley said in a statement.

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Casey Anthony trial: Should investigators have found Caylee four months sooner? (The Christian Science Monitor)

The man who discovered the skeletal remains of two-year-old Caylee Anthony testified Tuesday in the murder trial of her mother that he tried three times in August 2008 to get the sheriffa€™s department to investigate what appeared to be a childa€™s skull in a wooded area not far from Cayleea€™s home.

Roy Kronk, a county meter reader, said he called the Orange County Sheriff’s Office on three consecutive days, but no one from law enforcement went into the swampy woods to investigate.

One deputy, after a cursory look around, even berated him for wasting the department’s time with a frivolous report.

Four months later on Dec. 11, 2008, Mr. Kronk said he returned to the same place in the woods near a distinctive log.

IN PICTURES: Key players in the Casey Anthony trial

He told the jury that he saw a plastic bag. “I held the bag up,” Mr. Kronk said. “The contents of the bag shifted and that’s when I discovered the skull. It was at my feet.”

Kronk’s testimony has been highly anticipated among those closely following the Casey Anthony murder trial. In most cases, Kronk would be hailed a hero for helping to bring closure to the grim vigil for the missing toddler. But defense attorneys are hoping to use the unusual circumstances surrounding the discovery of Caylee’s remains as a way to suggest reasonable doubt to the jury.

In his fiery opening statement, defense attorney Jose Baez accused Kronk of moving and hiding Caylee’s remains.

a€?We are not saying he had anything to do with her death, but he is a morally bankrupt individual who took her body and hid her,a€

It is unclear why Kronk – or anyone else – would risk the legal consequences of tampering with evidence. Defense lawyers have suggested that he needed money and was hoping to receive a $255,000 reward offered in the nation-wide search for Caylee. But hiding the remains would not boost the reward.

Rather than implicating Kronk in some ill-defined conspiracy, his testimony on Tuesday raises serious questions about the basic competence of investigators with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.

Had law enforcement responded to Kronk’s first phone call to police on Aug. 11, forensic experts would have had a significantly better chance to lift fingerprints, DNA, or other direct physical evidence from the deteriorating duct tape found near Caylee’s skull.

The defense suggests that police conducted thorough searches in the wooded area and were unable to locate Caylee’s decomposing body because it had been moved and hidden for a period of time.

Prosecutors maintain it was not detected because the area was underwater for much of the summer due to a tropical storm and heavy rains.

The truth may never be known. Kronk testified that the first time he entered the wooded area on Aug. 11 a€“ less than two months after Caylee is thought to have died a€“ he saw a gray vinyl bag and what looked like it might be a small human skull. He said there was no peculiar odor in the area.

Later that night he called the sheriff’s department. “I don’t know what it is,” he told the dispatcher. “I’m not saying it is Caylee or anything. This could be nothing.”

Kronk was asked by Defense Attorney Cheney Mason whether he saw the same grey vinyl bag when he returned to the scene four months later on Dec. 11.

“No,” he said.

Kronk said he wasn’t sure the skull was real, or even a skull. He said he prodded the object with his meter-reader stick “and tipped it up. I apologize for doing so, but I didn’t know what it was.”

He added: “I gently pivoted it up.”

“It wasn’t stuck in the mud, was it?”

“No,” Kronk said.

Kronk’s testimony was different than the first written statement he gave to police in early 2009. In that statement he said that the bag opened and a small human skull with duct tape and hair dropped out.

“That was my original statement,” he acknowledged. He said he “made a mistake” in the statement.

“Did the skull come out in any way,” Mr. Mason asked.

“No sir.”

“You recognize that you said that under oath before, but now you are saying something else,” Mason said.

“That whole period for me is a little fuzzy,” Kronk said. “After finding what I found, it kind of unnerved me.”

Kronk’s testimony came on Day 30 of the first-degree murder trial of Casey Anthony, the Florida mother accused of using chloroform and duct tape to kill her toddler daughter. Prosecutors say she kept the child’s body in the trunk of her car for several days before dumping it in the wooded area around the corner from the family home.

Defense lawyers maintain that Caylee accidentally drowned and that her mother, Casey, panicked. Rather than call police, she hid the body with the help of her father.

George Anthony denies any involvement.

In other testimony on Tuesday, the defense team called Mr. Anthony to the stand and confronted him with accusations that he had an extra-marital affair with Krystal Halloway, a former volunteer in the Caylee search effort.

“Did you have a romantic relationship with her,” Baez asked.

“No sir,” he said. “To me that is very funny.”

Baez wasn’t done. “Were you ever intimate with her,” he asked.

“No sir. That also is very funny.”

Mr. Anthony acknowledged going “a few times” to Ms. Halloway’s home, but he said his actions were noble. She had told him she was dying of a brain tumor and he said he went to comfort her.

The defense attorney also asked whether Mr. Anthony had ever told Ms. Halloway that Caylee’s death was “an accident that snowballed out of control.”

“That conversation was never there. I never confided in any volunteers,” Mr. Anthony said.

“You never told Krystal Halloway while the two of you were being romantic that this was an accident that snowballed out of control,” Baez asked.

“I never did.”

On cross-examination, Assistant State Attorney Jeffrey Ashton threw in a zinger question of his own.

“Did you ever tell [Halloway] that while your daughter was home on bond that you grabbed her by the throat, threw her up against a wall, and said ‘I know you did something to Caylee, where’s Caylee,’ ” Mr. Ashton asked.

Mr. Anthony responded: “No sir. I’d never do something like that.”

The trial is set to resume Wednesday morning.

IN PICTURES: Key players in the Casey Anthony trial

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Parents back on the stand in Casey Anthony trial (AP)

ORLANDO, Fla. – Casey Anthony's father has broken down crying while describing his emotions when he learned that granddaughter Caylee's remains had been found in a wooded area near his Orlando home.

George Anthony testified again Wednesday in the murder trial of his daughter. Court was adjourned so the former police officer could compose himself.

His wife also returned to the witness stand earlier Wednesday.

The defense attorneys have continued their strategy of painting the Anthony family as dysfunctional.

Casey Anthony has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in Caylee's death and could face the death penalty if convicted of that charge.

The prosecution contends she used duct tape to suffocate the toddler. The defense says the girl drowned in her grandparents' swimming pool.

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1978 NJ killings defendant ruled fit for trial (AP)

NEWARK, N.J. – A judge has ruled a man charged with killing five teenagers in Newark, N.J., in 1978 is competent to stand trial.

Superior Court Judge Patricia Costello ruled Monday defendant Lee Evans is capable of understanding the case against him.

The judge denied a motion by the Essex County prosecutor's office that would've required Evans to undergo a psychological examination.

Assistant prosecutor Peter Guarino tells Newark's The Star-Ledger newspaper he filed the request to try to head off the possibility Evans would argue on appeal that he was incompetent.

Evans and a cousin are charged with luring the teens to an abandoned building, tying them up and setting the building on fire in a dispute over stolen drugs. The bodies were never recovered.

Evans and his cousin have pleaded not guilty.

___

Information from: The Star-Ledger, http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ap/ap_on_re_us/storytext/us5_missing_teens/42026359/SIG=10uea1937/*http://www.nj.com/starledger

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Judge rules Casey Anthony competent to stand trial (Reuters)

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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Casey Anthony murder trial enters 30th day (AP)

ORLANDO, Fla. – The meter reader who found Caylee Anthony's remains is being questioned at the murder trial of the toddler's mother.

Roy Kronk discovered Caylee's remains in December 2008 in a wooded area near the Anthony family's Orlando home.

Casey Anthony's attorneys began questioning Kronk on Tuesday about an August 2008 visit to the same area when he thought he saw something suspicious in the woods. Kronk had called authorities three times over the next three days but they found nothing at the time.

Kronk returned to the area in December 2008 and discovered the bag containing Caylee's remains.

Anthony has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and could face the death penalty if convicted of that charge.

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Trial opens for accused Cleveland serial killer (Reuters)

CLEVELAND (Reuters) – Prosecutors named each of the 11 women Anthony Sowell is alleged to have murdered and where their decomposing bodies were found buried in or around his house in opening statements for his trial on Monday.

Sowell, 51, has been charged with the aggravated murders of the Cleveland women, whose bodies were discovered by police in his house and backyard in fall 2009. Prosecutors seek the death penalty.

Cuyahoga County prosecutor Rick Bombik told jurors the case would be one they would never forget. Prosecutors outlined when each woman went missing, where in Sowell's house or backyard their bodies were found, and in what condition.

"It will be burned into your memories as long as you live," Bombik said.

Most of the homicides for which Sowell has been charged were caused by "ligature strangulation" and all of the victims were found nude or naked from the waist down.

Sowell's attorney, John Parker, described his client as a man with a "regular job" and who "had a relationship" in a statement that ran a little more than 11 minutes.

Parker said there were "no eye witnesses, no fingerprints and no DNA," in the case. The "forensic evidence will be greatly disappointing," he told the jury.

The defense also said there was no evidence of kidnapping or "planning" that would justify the aggravated circumstances of the murder charges and questioned the "credibility" of the witnesses who will testify against Sowell.

The trial before Judge Dick Ambrose is expected to include testimony from three alleged survivors. Prosecutors also are expected to present more than 8 hours of taped interviews between Sowell and the police.

On Monday prosecutors presented testimony from the first officer who arrived on the scene at Sowell's house and the owner of a sausage shop next to his house.

Earlier in the day jurors were taken to the home where Sowell lived and where the bodies of the 11 women were found.

(Editing by David Bailey and Jerry Norton)

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