The trial of Casey Anthony, the 25-year-old mother accused of killing her 2-year-old daughter Caylee, is drawing so much media attention that the judge is keeping the location of jury selection secret until the proceedings begin. Jurors selected in the case will have to put their lives on hold for almost two months. They will be transported to Orlando and sequestered at a hotel. The estimated cost is $300,000.
Anthony also is charged with aggravated child abuse, aggravated manslaughter of a child and providing false information to law enforcement. She has pleaded not guilty and says a baby-sitter kidnapped Caylee.
The Anthony case became a media sensation, as HLN talk show host Nancy Grace gave her the moniker “Tot Mom.” Protesters suspecting Anthony had a role in her daughter’s disappearance demonstrated outside of the home Anthony shared with her parents.
Caylee’s decomposed remains were found in December 2008 by a municipal meter reader in woods not far from where the little girl lived with her mother and grandparents in Florida. Detectives said residue of a heart-shaped sticker was found on duct tape over the mouth of her skull. The local medical examiner, Jan Garavaglia, who once had her own national television show, “Dr. G: Medical Examiner,” ruled that a cause of death could not be determined. The autopsy said that Caylee’s bones didn’t suffer trauma.
Some outside experts said the lack of a cause of death could make it hard to get a first-degree murder conviction.
“If you can’t say how she died you’re kind of hamstrung on saying what the defendant’s intent was,” said David Hill, an Orlando criminal defense attorney. ”
Prosecutors want to use evidence from the car Anthony was driving in the days before Caylee disappeared.
Forensic testing found in the car’s trunk traces of chloroform, which is used to induce unconsciousness and also a component of human decomposition.
