>>>
with this new drama at
casey
anthony
's murder trial. as prosecution prepares to wrap up the case, nbc's
kerry sanders
joins us from orlando with more on this story. kerry, good morning.
>> reporter:
good morning, ann. the prosecutors are entering their fourth week now in testimony. so far, they've laid out for the jury
casey
's lies, recorded jailhouse conversations, and
scientific evidence
, including the medical examiner's forensics.
casey
anthony
's defense team claims there never was a murder. 2-year-old caylee
anthony
accidentally drowned in the backyard swimming pool. but the medical examiner says, that doesn't square with the way parents react in crisis.
>>
100% of the time, let's say on a systemic review of drownings, it says one of the more common accidents, 100% of the time when the person finds the child, they call 911 because there is a chance that that child might live. there is -- they need to report that and give them a chance.
>> reporter:
but no one ever called for help in this case. dr. g, as she's known, because of her
cable tv
reality show
made the key determination that led to
casey
's murder charges. with only skeletal remains and no idea how caylee died, dr. g still ruled caylee's death a homicide.
defense attorney
cheney mason.
>>
you are saying that evidence to you it probably was a homicide.
>>
not probably, i think that is the only logical conclusion.
>> reporter:
a conclusion she told jurors she reached because of several
red flags
. that caylee was not reported missing for 31 days, that her body was hidden in a bag and dumped in the woods, and because of
duct tape
.
>>
besides the delay, besides the being found in a field decomposed, would be the
duct tape
somewhere located on the lower half of this face. there is no child that should have
duct tape
on its face when it dies. there's no reason to put
duct tape
on the face after they die.
>> reporter:
to emphasize that point in a clip too graphic for us to show on television, prosecutors showed caylee's face super imposed over her skull, and the
duct tape
from the
crime scene
then placed across her mouth and nose. included in that picture chosen for that demonstration, the adused murderer,
casey
, smiling at the camera.
casey
studied the image when the jury was out of the room. when the jury was back in court, she looked away and never once glanced at the monitor.
defense attorney
jose baez called the image prejudicial and asked for a mistrial.
>>
served only one purpose, was to inflame the jury.
>> reporter:
but the judge said --
>>
anything else from the defense?
>>
nothing.
>> reporter:
-- way up to the end of the trial so things move forward. meantime, this thursday it will be three years since caylee died. three years since caylee died, a 2-year-old
little girl
. it's taken longer to get to this point than she was alive, ann.
>>
point well taken.
kerry sanders
, thank you so much.
savannah guthrie
is "today's" legal correspondent. good morning to you. there was a lot about this video shown with
casey
's face superimposed over this image of caylee's face and the skull. they're asking for a mistrial, saying this photo is highly prejudicial. could this actually lead to a mistrial?
>>
the judge has denied the mistrial but he did say the defense can bring it up later if it wants to, if there's a conviction. this might be one of the points raised on appeal. it was very powerful. for one thing, it demonstrated for the jurors that one single piece of
duct tape
could conceivably have fit over both her mouth and her nose. it was powerful emotionally because this photograph, of course, had
casey
anthony
, the beaming mother, right next to this adorable
little girl
and it morphs into the skull, the actual photo from the scene where caylee's body was recovered. it was very powerful. i will say this, none of the prosecution experts have been able to say definitively that the
duct tape
was placed over the nose and the mouth. and without that kind of definitive evidence, some jurors might have a question about how she died.
>>
they're paying attention to this powerful testimony from the medical examiner. and she made a comment about how she said caylee's death was a homicide even though she couldn't actually pinpoint how she died. the question -- raises the question, how common is nonscientific testimony from a medical examiner in a case like this?
>>
it was interesting moment because actually this happened during cross-examination and yet i thought it was a strong moment for the prosecution. we are in the middle of a trial. fourth week now. and the testimony starts to kind of all flow together. this was a moment that stood out because here the medical examiner is putting the pieces to the for the jurors saying, you know, this death was not reported immediately, this child had
duct tape
on her face. and that's just not the
normal course of business
. this is a homicide. but at the same time, as you point out, this medical examiner could not rely on science to tell the jurors exact li how this child died. she had to rule it was homicide by undetermined means.
>>
meantime, over the course of the past week we have seen riveting images of
casey
looking at some of these pictures of her daughter and just emotional and having to leave the courtroom at one point. at some -- is there a possibility that this could actually create some sympathy in the jury for a mother who has lost her daughter.
>>
it might. i know that all of us who watch this, we all look at the defendant, we're always pouring over her reaction trying to learn something about her. in my experience, jurors, they do look at the defendant but not as much as observers like us do. they usually have their eyes on the
witness stand
or on the screens that are in front of them looking at some of the evidence. but they will still glance at the defendant. they will try to take a measure of this person president to the extent that her emotions are appropriate, seeing these awful pictures of her daughter, her skeleton lying in the woods, yes,
casey
anthony
cried a little bit and jurors, i think, would expect that kind of reaction.
>>
savannah guthrie
this morning. thank you. always great to get your perspective.
“ ”