Case Anthony doesn't take the stand as defense rests

Judge in the Casey Anthony capital murder trial expects testimony to conclude Friday, saying the case could be in the hands of the jury by the weekend.

Orange County Chief Judge Belvin Perry Jr. told the courtroom that rebuttal witnesses will likely conclude Friday and closing arguments will be held Saturday morning, with jury instructions to follow and deliberations likely to begin by that afternoon.

Anthony's defense rested Thursday in her capital murder trial without calling her to testify, ending weeks of speculation about whether she would take the stand in her own defense.

Perry questioned Anthony to ensure the decision not to take the stand was hers. She answered, "Yes, sir," or "yes" to his questions.

Casey Anthony, 25, is charged with seven counts, including first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse and misleading police, in the 2008 death of her 2-year-old daughter Caylee. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against her. She has pleaded not guilty.

Anthony's defense team is trying to discredit the prosecution theory that the Orlando woman rendered Caylee unconscious with chloroform, duct-taped her mouth and nose, and stored the child's body in her car trunk for a few days before dumping it in the woods.

Also recalled George Anthony to ask if he had supplied duct tape he used to put up posters of his granddaughter when she was missing. He said he couldn't remember. Lead defense attorney Jose Baez also asked him if he buried his pets after their deaths in plastic bags wrapped with duct tape. Anthony said he had on some occasions. Prosecutors have contended Caylee's body was disposed of in a similar manner. Under prosecution questioning, he said he had never thrown their carcasses in a swamp.

Caylee was last seen in mid-June 2008. For the next month, Casey Anthony avoided her parents, telling her mother and her friends that Caylee was with a baby sitter named Zanny.

Casey's parents soon got a notice that their daughter's car had been towed. George Anthony and the tow lot operator both said the Pontiac Sunfire smelled like death.

Prosecutors played a tape of a frantic 911 call made by Anthony's mother, Cindy, reporting her granddaughter missing. She tells the operator, "It smells like there's been a dead body in the damn car."

Casey Anthony then told detectives that Caylee had been kidnapped by the nanny, and a massive search was launched. Over the next several weeks, hundreds of volunteers scoured central Florida for any clues to Caylee's whereabouts. Meanwhile, numerous photos surfaced of Casey Anthony drinking; some of them allegedly taken in the month after Caylee disappeared.

Caylee's skeletal remains were reported in December 2008 by a municipal meter reader. A key part of the defense case was trying to discredit the meter reader, Roy Kronk, saying that he had actually discovered the body in August.