Casey Anthony listens to her attorney Dorothy Clay Sims before the start of her murder trial at the Orange County Courthouse, Thursday, June 9, 2011 in Orlando, Fla. Anthony, 25, is charged with killing her daughter Caylee in the summer of 2008.By KYLE HIGHTOWER
Associated Press
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - Casey Anthony cried, dabbed her eyes with a tissue and looked away as pictures of her 2-year-old daughter Caylee's skull were displayed in Florida courtroom Thursday morning.
A few jurors could be seen wiping their faces and others began to glance away as more photos were shown of the December 2008 discovery of the toddler's remains during the 14th day of her mother's murder trial.
Judge Belvin Perry warned people in the courtroom that graphic photos would be shown. He asked anyone who might become queasy to leave during a short recess before prosecutors called a crime scene investigator from the Orange County Sheriff's Office.
Jurors viewed a series of photos depicting the wooded area near the Anthony home where Caylee's remains were found in December 2008. Duct tape was on the child's skull
Anthony is charged with first-degree murder. Prosecutors say she used duct tape to suffocate her daughter in the summer of 2008. The defense contends that the little girl drowned in her grandparents' pool. The child's remains were found about six months later.
Jurors first heard a 911 tape from December 11, 2008 when a utility worker said he found a human skull in the woods near the Anthony home.
A crime scene investigator who photographed the scene guided jurors through it via the pictures she took. She identified several items that were also found with the remains, including a strip of duct tape found across the front of the skull. Other items included a white canvas bag, a black plastic bag, a red plastic Disney bag and a pair of child's shorts.
The judge asked that all photos depicting the girl's skull be blurred and not shown over the court room video feed that is being broadcast on multiple local and national outlets.
Casey Anthony's parents, George and Cindy Anthony, were not present in the courtroom while any of the photos were shown. It was the first day so far since the trial started that they were not present for part of the testimony.
Casey Anthony's brother, Lee, also testified Thursday that his sister told him a nanny took her daughter in June 2008 because she didn't believe the Orlando woman was being a good mother. It was the second time that he has testified.
Lee Anthony testified his sister told him about the nanny while she was free on bond in August 2008. According to his testimony, Casey Anthony told him the nanny, called Zanny, met her in an Orlando park and held her down with the help of her sister.
He said his sister told him "it was Zanny's opinion that Casey was not being a good mother for Caylee and that she was taking Caylee from her to teach her a lesson."
Lee Anthony said his sister told him the nanny told her not to go to the police. According to testimony, Casey Anthony told her brother she didn't try to stop the nanny from taking the child because she was scared and "didn't know what to do."
He said Casey Anthony told him the nanny had taken control of her MySpace account and was sending her messages that instructed her where to go as she searched for Caylee. He said his sister told him she had to "fulfill obligations" in order to see the child again.
According to Lee Anthony's testimony, she said the nanny changed his sister's password for her MySpace account to timer55. He said Casey Anthony told him the password had something to do with the number of days between the date Caylee was taken and Aug. 9, 2008, when the child would have turned 3.
"It was her hope she would get her back on that day," Lee Anthony testified.
Testimony began Thursday with defense attorney Jose Baez cross-examining John Dennis Bradley, a computer forensic expert who testified Wednesday about Internet searches he found on the Anthony family's desktop computer.
He testified Wednesday that someone had searched the website Sci-spot.com for "chloroform" 84 times on March 21, 2008, months before Caylee disappeared.