Casey Anthony trial update: Defense attorney Jose Baez begins closing argument
CBS/WKMG/AP) ORLANDO, Fla. - Lead defense attorney Jose Baez began his closing arguments in the Casey Anthony murder trial at 11:15 a.m. Sunday morning telling the jurors that there are many unanswered questions in the case against his client.
Pictures: Casey and Caylee Anthony, Personal Photos
"How did Caylee Anthony die?" Baez said, reports CBS affiliate WKMG. .
Sunday morning, Baez emphasized that it is the state that has the burden of proof, not the defense, and as a result they are afforded to have the opportunity to have the last word in the trial. The state's closing arguments lasted just an hour, but they will have an opportunity to speak again.
Baez said the defense has no requirement to even present a case, because the burden is on the state.
He explained that his biggest fear with the case is that it will be decided based on emotion.
"I know there were times where every single person in here felt something deep down inside," Baez said, according to the station. "This case must not be decided for or against anyone because you feel sorry for anyone, or angry at anyone. That's because we want you to base your verdict on the evidence, not emotion."
Baez accused the prosecution of playing to the juror's emotions.
"They gave you two weeks of testimony that was completely irrelevant -- to paint Casey Anthony as a slut, as a party girl, as a girl who lies," Baez said.
Baez then went to tell the jury they were the first to in the state to ever hear about air tests and hair banding evidence indicating a body had been in Casey Anthony's trunk.
"I told you the very first day that this was an accident that snowballed out of control," Baez said, reports the station.
In the defense's opening statements, Baez said Caylee Anthony drowned in the Anthony family pool. Baez also claimed that Casey Anthony was the victim of sexual abuse at the hands of her father, and those years of abuse contributed to Casey Anthony failing to report that Caylee had drowned on June 16, 2008.
Baez said there is no doubt that Casey Anthony made mistakes. He said she should have called police, but the state does not have the right to over charge, or inflate a case for the sake of entertainment.
Baez then attacked Casey Anthony's father, George Anthony, for reporting gas cans missing to police. Baez said George Anthony knew the gas cans, and the brand of duct tape found on them, which was also found on Caylee's skull, would be important in the case. Casey Anthony took the cans to fill up her car in late June 2008.
Baez accused George Anthony of distancing himself from the case by not reporting anything when he retrieved Casey Anthony's car and noticed the "death smell." Cindy Anthony called 911 later that day and reported Caylee missing, saying "It smells like there's been a dead body in the damn car."
The state has said that Casey Anthony kept Caylee's body in the trunk of her car for a couple days before dumping Caylee's body in a swamp, but Baez said Casey Anthony's boyfriend at the time, Tony Lazzaro, did not smell anything when he helped Casey Anthony fill up her car in late June 2008, after Caylee had disappeared. Casey Anthony's friend Maria Kisch also testified that she did not smell anything odd in Casey Anthony's car.
Baez laid out photos of the people who said they smelled human decomposition in Casey Anthony's car, then a much longer list of people who did not smell anything in Casey Anthony's car. Baez said that creates reasonable doubt.
The Anthony's neighbor, Brian Berner, testified that Casey Anthony borrowed his shovel and returned it 45 minutes later. FBI experts testified that there was no evidence related to the case on the shovel.
"The state wants you to believe that Casey Anthony, in broad daylight, was going to borrow a neighbor's shovel, even though they had four or five shovels, and bury her child in the backyard. Is that reasonable? How does that even pass muster at all," Baez said, reports the station.
Baez then moved on to garbage found in the trunk of Anthony's car. He said it was intentionally destroyed by being dried out and altered.
Before getting into the computer evidence, Baez asked that they take a break for lunch at noon.
Before Baez, prosecutor Jeff Ashton presented his closing arguments which lasted just over an hour.
In the prosecution's closing argument Ashton explained that "The evidence in this case proves beyond any reasonable doubt that Casey Anthony decided on June 16 that something had to be sacrificed, that the conflict between the life that she wanted and the life that was thrust upon her was simply irreconcilable and something had to give. She chose to sacrifice her child to live the life that she wanted."
Anthony, 25, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in Caylee's death and could get the death penalty if convicted of that charge.
The Casey Anthony case was recently reported on by "48 Hours Mystery."