Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Defense calls key witnesses - George Anthony and Roy Kronk

Day 30 in the Casey Anthony capital murder trial featured two witnesses the defense painted as key suspects in the theories presented in its opening statements.

Lead defense attorney Jose Baez called Casey Anthony's father, George Anthony, to the stand Tuesday morning to ask him about an alleged affair with a woman who helped search for then-missing Caylee Anthony.

Baez pushed George Anthony if he ever had a romantic relationship with Krystal Holloway, or River Cruz. George Anthony replied, "No, sir.....I find that very funny."

George Anthony testified for the defense Tuesday
The defense tried to bolster its theory that George Anthony, while sharing an intimate moment with Holloway, told her Caylee's death was "an accident that snowballed out of control." George Anthony denied any such conversation ever took place.

George Anthony did admit to visiting Holloway at least three times at her gated condominium complex to "console" her because she was sick with a tumor. If nothing else, it raises the question of why was George Anthony visiting a search party member's home alone.

Though his testimony was brief Tuesday, and wasn't the "home run" many thought the defense was looking for, truTV's Sunny Hostin did say it was at least a "base hit" for the defense.

George Anthony's testimony may not be done. The defense may recall him to question him on other theories they've thrown out, like that he sexually abused Casey. This was brought up in cross-examination during George Anthony's testimony for the prosecution when he testified May 24.

Roy Kronk testifies

Roy Kronk, a meter reader who found Caylee Anthony's remains, also testified Tuesday. Baez called Kronk "a morally bankrupt individual" who thought he found "a lottery ticket" in opening statements. The defense claimed Kronk hid the body to cash in the reward money.

During his testimony, Kronk said he first noticed something that "looked like a skull" when he went to relieve himself Aug. 11, 2008, while working in the Anthony's neighborhood. He tried to get co-workers to check it out but they were too busy looking a dead rattlesnake.

Kronk called police in August about the skull, but essentially was ignored, or wasn't taken seriously. The defense claims Kronk called his estranged son a month before the body was discovered on Dec. 11, 2008 and told him to watch the news because he was going to be famous.

Defense attorney Cheney Mason didn't get Kronk to admit he hid the body but Kronk did admit to poking the skull and rotating it with his meter-reading stick, and to picking up the bag that contained the skeletal remains. This does raise questions as to how much that movement contaminated the crime scene, and to what else Kronk was doing in the four months before the authorities found the body.

The defense team continues to voice its theories on what happened, yet haven't been able to get any corroborating testimony from its witnesses.

SIDE NOTE: Casey Anthony's former fiance took the stand Tuesday afternoon outside of the jury's presence. James Grund spoke on conversations between he and Casey about her brother Lee Anthony's past behavior. Grund told Judge Belvin Perry Jr and both sets of attorneys that Casey told him Lee Anthony had groped her while she was sleeping, and on a separate instance, she awoke to find him standing over her. He also said Casey said she didn't want Lee Anthony around then-newborn Caylee, a statement proved by Lee Anthony's own testimony when he said he wasn't allowed to ask questions about Casey's pregnancy or be present during the birth.

Prosecutors claimed Grund's testimony is hearsay and not admissible. Judge Perry has not ruled if Grund can testify in front of the jury yet.

(Photo credit: Creative commons)

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