Casey Anthony wants heart sticker evidence excluded from trial Casey Anthony's defense team filed a motion Tuesday seeking to exclude references to the sticker or heart-shaped residue from her first-degree murder trial.

Casey Anthony's defense team doesn't want any mention of a heart sticker or heart-shaped residue — which was seen on duct tape that was uncovered with her dead toddler's remains — during the mother's first-degree murder trial.

In a motion filed late Tuesday, defense attorneys asked a judge to exclude the "phantom" evidence, claiming it violates Anthony's constitutional rights, including due process.

Anthony, 24, is accused of killing her 2-year-old daughter Caylee Marie in the summer of 2008. Caylee's remains were found in December 2008 in woods just blocks away from her family's east Orange County home.

The toddler's death was ruled a homicide, but the medical examiner couldn't determine how she was killed.

Orange County Sheriff's Office investigative documents earlier released said a piece of silver duct tape was placed over Caylee's mouth area.

Detective Yuri Melich wrote that when the tape was processed at a FBI lab, a technician noticed residue in the shape of a heart. It appeared to be consistent with a heart-shaped sticker, Melich wrote. He also noted investigators found a heart-shaped sticker similar in size to the residue in the search area.

"It appears that the sticker was put on the duct tape intentionally, Melich wrote.

But other investigative reports publicly released said the residue couldn't be detected after the FBI processed the evidence for fingerprints. No one took a picture of the residue before it was destroyed.

In his motion, defense attorney Jose Baez said the fingerprint examiner, Elizabeth Fontaine, only saw what she perceived as residue when she performed a procedure called "super glue fuming."

Fontaine said she wasn't certain exactly what she saw and did not authorize law-enforcement to "allege otherwise, the story of the 'heart sticker.'"

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/os-casey-anthony-heart-sticker-20101229,0,5749918.story

Didn't we see pictures of the duct tape with the residue in the shape of a heart on it? If they didn't take pictures, what did we see? How can a finger-print examiner tell LE what they can say about what they saw?

I thought there were pictures of it as well.....

Baez probably has another pot of spaghetti on the stove...Guess we can expect a lot of slinging up until the cut off date...Even then I really think there will be a lot of "objections" during the trial and I think we will hear more from Chinny Chin Chin...Anticipation is making me wait....

I believe there are pictures but they were taken after the lab techs claimed they saw residue in the shape of a heart. Which, BTW, they are now saying they can't be sure they saw. The pictures they do have of the heart shape is pretty questionable. I think it got destroyed by the FBI when they processed it a second time for prints. Really bad work on the FBI's end. Although I think this might be a win for the defenseless we still have the tape itself and that's the real "killer".

This is going to be a fascinating (but very long) trial and I can't wait.

But there will be an intense fight over the heart sticker residue evidence being admissable or not and the fact that the tech screwed up the documentation/photographing is going to work for the defense. I doubt it will be allowed.

kh

Thanks for the article KB! Most Excellent! I agree - sticker residue evidence will not allowed. That's okay. We have to pick our battles and the duct tape found at the Anthony house matching that found at the crime scene is going to be like a piece of gum on the bottom of the defense's shoe......very, very, very sticky.

KH - it will be so very fascinating to see Mr. Ashton argue to allow it though. I can almost virtually smell his cologne now (I'm assuming he will argue and not Ms. Burdick ???).

Here's an RC link to the duct tape pictures.

http://www.realitychatter.com/t671p20-the-duct-tape#12228

But a heart sticker was found at the scene, and did that sticker match the sheets of heart stickers found at KC's residence? It just adds a perverted touch of evil to what she did to Caylee, thus defense is going to fight it tooth and nail.