Casey Anthony, pictured in an undated Orange County Sheriff's Office file photo. On October 14, 2008, a Florida grand jury indicted Anthony on charges of first-degree murder in the death of her daughter. (UPI Photo/Orange County Sheriff's Office) |
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ORLANDO, Fla., June 16 (UPI) -- Experts who testified Thursday in the Orlando, Fla., murder trial of Casey Anthony said they found no DNA evidence linking her to her daughter's death.
Lorie Gottesman, an FBI forensic document examiner who was one of seven defense witnesses during the day, testified she found no evidence of a heart-shaped sticker or heart-shaped residue on a piece of duct tape prosecutors allege Anthony used to suffocate her 2-year-old daughter Caylee, The Christian Science Monitor reported.
Gottesman said the only traceable DNA evidence found on the tape recovered near Caylee's remains belonged to the FBI expert herself. Gottesman said she had "no idea how it happened or when."
Gottesman also said she found no match between black plastic bags containing a portion of the girl's skeletal remains and similar bags removed from the Anthony home.
Anthony, 25, is accused of killing Caylee in 2008. Coincidentally, the defense started presenting its case Thursday, three years to the day authorities determined the child died, the Monitor noted.
Earlier in the day, FBI examiner Heather Seubert said she examined samples from Anthony's car, including carpeting and spare tire covers, the Orlando Sentinel reported. She said she found no evidence of blood or DNA.
Orange County Sheriff's Department crime scene investigator Gerardo Bloise, who also had testified for the prosecution, said he examined clothes Anthony was said to have been wearing the last time Caylee was seen but found no evidence of blood. He noted, however, the pants had been washed.
Prosecutors rested their case against Anthony Wednesday.
During opening statements, defense attorney Jose Baez claimed Caylee drowned in the family swimming pool, that Casey Anthony's father helped get rid of the body and that a meter reader found the remains but moved them.
The defense also sought a mistrial several times, but each request was denied by Orange-Osceola Chief Judge Belvin Perry, who also declined to issue a directed verdict of acquittal.
