ORLANDO, FL -- The mother of a missing Florida girl charged with her murder reaffirmed her not guilty plea at an arraignment Tuesday and will stand trial starting January 5. (It may seem like that is a while, but the time will fly. And I wonder if they will broadcast the trial.)
Casey Anthony was not present at the arraignment. (I guess she doesn't want people to see her in handcuffs, they might get the idea that she is guilty.) The 22-year-old had entered a written not guilty plea on Oct. 17 to a charge of first-degree murder.
The state now has 15 days to turn over any evidence it plans to use in the trial to Casey's attorney.(At which point Jose Baez will try to have as much of the evidence thrown out as possible. But a lot of the evidence is good, weak but good. And when her former friends start testifying against her she can kiss her butt good-bye.) A pre-trial conference is scheduled for December 11.
Caylee Anthony disappeared in June but was not reported missing until July. She has not been found.
Last week forensic reports released by the State Attorney's office said that air tests of the trunk of Anthony's car revealed evidence consistent with the decomposition of a human body.
Spokesmen (I'm still wondering how they are paying for multiple spokesmen. They aren't a wealthy family.) for Anthony's parents and her lawyer said the report from Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee doesn't provide anything new. A judge ordered prosecutors to release it and they declined comment.
Air testing is used to detect compounds that are released when a body decomposes, and the report found five compounds consistent with body decomposition in Anthony's trunk. Tests also found evidence of decomposition on a hair strand described as "microscopically similar" to one found on Caylee's hair brush.
The child's grandmother first called authorities in July to say she hadn't seen Caylee for a month and her daughter's car smelled like death. (This is the fact that will probably convict Casey. Who has a daughter missing for a month and never calls police.)
Anthony told authorities she had left her daughter with a baby sitter in June and the two were gone when she returned from work. She says she spent the next month trying to find her daughter(in nightclubs and her boyfriend's bed) and didn't call authorities because she was scared. Investigators say they have poked several holes in her story.
Residue of chloroform, which can be used to render someone unconscious, was found on the spare tire cover and trunk liner, though a trace was also found in a control experiment on a similar trunk. No usable finger prints were found on a shovel in the trunk.
"I don't feel the report came out with anything different that what (prosecutors) have been saying already," said Larry Garrison, spokesman for Caylee's grandparents. He said the grandparents "believe Caylee Anthony is still alive and are actively pursuing tips on her whereabouts (My nine year old believes in Santa Claus, that doesn't make him real.)."
Todd Black, a spokesman for Anthony's attorney, Jose Baez, said nothing in the report links Casey Anthony to the death of her daughter.
Donald Jones, a University of Miami law professor who is not connected to the case, said the reports don't prove Caylee's body was in the trunk because they were only "consistent" with the presence of a decomposing body.
"If you're building a house, it's a brick, not a wall," Jones said. "It's a nail in her coffin, and that coffin already has a lot of nails."
Still, he said, the defense has a difficult battle and needs evidence that leads away from Casey Anthony as a suspect (And in the time since Caylee has been missing they haven't been able to come up with anyone else to point the finger at. Unless you count the imaginary babysitter. And I doubt that even a jury of twelve idiots would buy that story.).
"Casey needs good news," he said. "This is not it."
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Also of interest:
Caylee Anthony Update 28 October
Casey Anthony's Myspace Page About Caylee
Is Cindy Anthony Crazy
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