JURORS DELIBERATE OVER CASEY'S FATE

Marion Pellicano Ambrose

The jury for the Casey Anthony murder trial is in deliberation. This morning, closing arguments ended with the prosecution presenting Casey  as a pathological liar who diverted attention away from herself by claiming her dead daughter, Caylee, had been kidnapped.

State Prosecutor Linda Drane Burdick played portions of jailhouse tapes of Casey Anthony lying about her daughter being kidnapped by a fictional nanny and the 911 call made by Casey Anthony's mother, Cindy Anthony, to report Caylee missing, further showing Casey’s lies despite the anguish it caused her parents.

"When you use your common sense, you can listen and hear that there's nothing that's wrong with Casey Anthony that can't be explained using two words: pathological liar," Burdick said.

"At the end of this case, all you really have to do is ask yourself the simple question, 'Whose life was better without Caylee?'" Burdick said.

The prosecution ended by showing a picture of a “party girl” Casey  and the tattoo that read "Bella Vita," Italian for the beautiful life, all while Caylee was supposedly missing.

Earlier,Prosecutor Jeff Ashton, showed jurors images of the skull and skeletal remains of Caylee. He reminded them of the state’s claim that pieces of duct tape on the remains were placed on Caylee before she died.

“We believe the evidence in the case supports the scenario that Casey Anthony chloroformed Caylee so that she would not suffer, placed duct tape over her nose and mouth…and then disposed of her body," Ashton said.

"Any way you slice it...Casey Anthony is guilty of murder in the first degree in this case," Ashton concluded

According to ABC News, Judge Belvin Perry instructed jurors how to proceed in their deliberations. He gave jurors the option of finding her guilty of a lesser crime such as second degree murder, manslaughter or third degree felony murder. Those crimes do not carry a death sentence.

Along with the first degree murder charge, Anthony faces charges of aggravated child abuse, aggravated manslaughter and four charges of lying to law enforcement.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/casey_anthony_trial/casey-anthony-trial-jury-begins-deliberations/story?id=13992868

CASEY ANTHONY: JUNE 7th AFTERNOON UPDATE

Marion Pellicano Ambrose

Deputy Forgey and Gerus

Judge Belvin Perry dismissed the jury a little early today after the testimony of Orange County Deputy Jason Forgey and videos of the canine search for remains. Deputy Forgey remained calm even as Baez poured on the pressure. He was also cross examined intensely by the Prosecution.  The Defense hoped to prove that Forgey was speculating on the behavior of his canine, Gerus.  Forgey reported that his canine jumped into Anthony’s car and made a beeline for the back seat, reaching toward the trunk. When led to the trunk, Gerus gave his “final alert” indicating that he detected the presence of decomposition of a human body. The dog also hit on an area in front of Caylee’s playhouse in the Anthony’s back yard. The impressive record and education of the dog was highlighted, as was the training and experience of Deputy Forgey.

FBI agent Dr. Michael Rickenbach testified today that he found miniscule amounts of dried chloroform residue in the carpet of the car. Baez pointed out that the amount of chloroform found was equal to that of what could be found in cleaning products.  This was in contrast to previous testimony that large amounts of chloroform were found in the air sample.

Judge Perry will start the day tomorrow with the testimony of yet another Canine Officer. He chose to wait until tomorrow rather than keep jurors past their usual end time of 5pm. The judge announced that he had several details to work out which included meals and scheduling for tomorrow.