Emotional testimony marks 6th day of Anthony trial

Associated Press

ORLANDO, Fla.

The mother of a Florida woman charged in the death of her 2-year-old daughter cried and buried her face in her hands Tuesday as prosecutors played a series of 911 calls, including one that reported that the toddler had been missing for 31 days.

Cindy Anthony became emotional during the sixth day of testimony in the murder trial of her 25-year-old daughter, Casey Anthony. During the final 911 call played, Cindy Anthony said her daughter had just told her that her 2-year-old granddaughter, Caylee, had been missing for 31 days.

Casey Anthony is charged with first-degree murder and could be sentenced to death if convicted. She has pleaded not guilty and initially said a babysitter took the child. Her defense attorney now contends Caylee died in an accidental drowning in the family’s swimming pool. The prosecution says Caylee was suffocated by duct tape placed over her mouth.

Casey Anthony was born in Warren in 1986 to George and Cindy Anthony, who lived in Howland before moving the family to Florida in 1989.

The 911 calls solicited the most-emotional witness testimony to date. On a handful of occasions, jurors could be seen glancing in the direction of Casey, who also cried during her mother’s testimony. Jurors also looked toward Casey when the prosecution played a recording of her first call home from jail after her July 16, 2008, arrest.

Judge Belvin Perry stopped the proceedings twice for 5-minute recesses to allow Cindy Anthony to regain composure. During a break, her husband, George Anthony, had to hold her up as they walked outside.

Minutes before listening to the 911 call in the courtroom, Cindy Anthony recounted how she had overheard Casey telling her brother that Caylee had been missing for a month

“I lost it,” Cindy Anthony said between sobs. “I just went into the room and yelled at Casey, ‘What do you mean she’s been gone? Why didn’t you tell us?’”

Later, Casey’s friend Amy Huizenga testified about witnessing an argument between Casey and her mother had when she tracked Casey down at her boyfriend’s apartment July 15 — the same day of the 911 calls.

“It was very confrontational,” Huizenga said. “A massive explosion of mother and daughter.”

Huizenga also testified about text messages she exchanged with Casey in late June in which Casey spoke of needing to get rid of a “bad smell” in her car.

“There was definitely a dead animal plastered to the front of my car,” Casey texted Huizenga.

Earlier in the morning, Cindy Anthony also testified about the car that Casey Anthony had been driving. The car was abandoned and then towed to a lot where her father picked it up in mid-July 2008. In the 911 call, Cindy Anthony described the odor in the car as that of a dead body. But she said Tuesday that it was merely an expression she used and at that moment she didn’t think a body had been in the car.