Casey Anthony Update: Defense Can't Tell Jury about Roy Kronk's Past, Says Judge
ORLANDO, Fla. (CBS) The defense team for Casey Anthony, the Florida mother accused of murder in the 2008 death of her 2-year-old daughter Caylee, has learned that they will not be able to tell the jury about the alleged abusive behavior of Roy Kronk, the man who found Caylee's remains, according to news reports.
PICTURES: Casey and Caylee Anthony, Personal Photos
On Thursday Chief Orange-Osceola Circuit Judge Belvin Perry ruled that Roy Kronk's "inappropriate or abusive behavior" held no real evidentiary value in the case against the young mother and said that the defense team was barred from questioning Kronk about his past, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
Anthony's defense argued that the jury should hear that Kronk had a "possible history of inappropriate behavior with young girls," and that he had a history of abusing and restraining women with duct tape and lived in "an imaginary world of fantasy and violence," the paper reported.
Kronk found Caylee Anthony's remains in December 2008 in a wooded area behind the home of Casey Anthony's parents, nearly six months after the child was reported missing.
The ruling could be considered a big blow for the defense because Kronk was briefly considered a suspect immediately after he discovered Caylee's remains, although police quickly ruled him out, and calling attention to his alleged deviant behavior could take some of the attention off their client.
Anthony is expected to appear in court Monday and her attorneys are expected to ask for an additional 300 hours for a private investigator, or $12,000 in state funding. Anthony was declared indigent last year and since then the state has been responsible for funding her defense, CBS affiliate WKMG reported.
Anthony is jailed on first-degree murder charges. Caylee was 2 years old when she was reported missing by her maternal grandmother in July of 2008.
Anthony has pleaded not guilty and maintains that Caylee was abducted by her babysitter. The trial is scheduled to begin in May.