Casey Anthony: WESH, WFTV analyze ‘battle of bug experts’
Caylee Anthony: Her mother is charged with her murder.
The state deposed a bug expert on Casey Anthony’s team today, and WESH-Channel 2 foresaw “the battle of bug experts.”
The reason: The defense entomologist, Dr. Tim Huntington, was trained by the state’s expert, Dr. Neal Haskell.
What could that connection mean? “This could make Huntington’s job more treacherous in Anthony’s murder trial,” WESH’s Bob Kealing speculated.
Anthony is charged with first-degree murder in the death of her daughter, Caylee. As WESH has reported, Haskell has formulated that Caylee’s remains were dumped near the Anthony family home in June or July 2008.
Kealing explained that Huntington will be there to support the defense view that the toddler’s remains were dropped there later — after Casey Anthony was jailed.
Orlando attorney Richard Hornsby, who offers analysis for WESH, sized up the entomologist battle this way: “Why should you believe the trainee over the trainer?” Hornsby saw this challenge: If Huntington discredits Haskell, Huntington will discredit himself.
WFTV-Channel 9’s Jeff Deal said the case could hinge on the coffin flies that Haskell found in Casey Anthony’s trunk — evidence a dead body had been there. “With so much circumstantial evidence that will be presented, the defense needs to start poking holes in the forensic evidence,” Deal said.
Deal noted that Huntington, who is based in Nebraska, was deposed via Skype. WFTV legal analyst Bill Sheaffer said Huntington will attack the evidence found in the trunk. “If Caylee’s remains are associated with either Casey’s automobile or the residence, it certainly is strong indication that Casey was responsible for Caylee’s death,” Sheaffer said.
Deal also weighed in on the bug-expert battle: “Our legal expert says even if the forensic experts do cancel each other out in terms of who jurors believe, the defense will still have an uphill battle because of all the circumstantial evidence that points towards Casey.”
WESH’s Kealing reported the defense team late today filed a motion “asking to throw out potentially inflammatory evidence that someone put a heart-shaped sticker on the duct tape across Caylee Anthony’s skull. Now the FBI admitted that the evidence of the sticker residue on the tape was destroyed during fingerprint tests. … The defense says it was never there.”
WFTV also noted that Casey Anthony is expected to be at a hearing at 1:30 p.m. Monday. Prosecutors want sanctions against the defense team and accuse the team of ignoring Judge Belvin Perry’s orders to provide specific evidence about what defense witnesses will testify about, anchor Vanessa Welch said.