Casey Anthony Trial Update: Another K-9 handler takes the stand
(CBS/WKMG) ORLANDO, Fla. - On day 13 of Casey Anthony's murder trial, state prosecutors have called a second dog handler, Deputy Kristin Brewer, as their first witness. Brewer and her dog were brought in to search for evidence of Anthony's missing daughter Caylee around the Anthony family's home in July 2008.
Pictures:
Casey and Caylee Anthony, Personal Photos
Caylee's skeletal remains were found in the woods near the home in December 2008. Anthony could be sentenced to death if convicted of first-degree murder. She has pleaded not guilty and her defense attorney says Caylee accidentally drowned in the family's swimming pool.
On Tuesday another K-9 handler Orange County sheriff's Deputy Jason R. Forgey took the stand. He explained the detailed training his multi-purpose German shepherd Gerus received to identify the scent of human remains, reports CBS affiliate WKMG.
Forgey said he brought Gerus to the forensic bay at the Orange County Sheriff's Office on July 17, 2008, two days after Caylee was reported missing. He said he noticed that Anthony's car smelled of human decomposition, but he asked that the car be removed from the bay to avoid extraneous smells within the bay, the station reports.
Forgey said Gerus alerted to the odor of human decomposition on the trunk of Anthony's car by putting his paws on it - his final trained alert. He said he was then told to go to the Anthony family home, where Forgey said he instructed Gerus to find human remains and the dog provided a trained final alert in an area of the backyard in front of Caylee's play house.
The next day, the surface where Gerus had alerted was scraped, and he did not alert again to the area. Forgey explained that had a body been placed on the surface, with the top layer disturbed and distributed, the smell could have disappeared, reports WKMG.
The deputy said Gerus once provided a false alert during a training session, but he had been working for 16 hours and was tired.
Gerus was retired in September 2010 after being diagnosed with a degenerative spinal condition, the station reports.
Numerous witnesses, including other members of law enforcement as well as Anthony's father, have testified that Anthony's car smelled of human remains when it was retrieved from a tow yard on July 15, after being there for two weeks.
The Casey Anthony case was recently reported on by "48 Hours Mystery."