Imperfect Justice_ Prosecuting Casey Anthony - Jeff Ashton [81]
Those bones that were too small or too buried to be detected visually were discovered by a sifting technique. First the search area was divided into approximately four-by-four-foot squares using a grid. Each square was given an alphanumeric designation. The ground cover was then removed to a designated depth and placed in buckets marked as to location and depth. The contents were then sifted through two levels of wire mesh. Any objects of interest were tagged and the bag labeled with location and depth information. The system was set up with the advice and assistance of Dr. John Schultz, an anthropology professor at the University of Central Florida and a contract consultant with Dr. G’s office. As suspected bones were found, they were shown to Dr. Schultz at the site, since he was often participating in the search, or in his absence they were given to Steve Hansen, the ME investigator, during his daily visits to the scene. It was through this rigorous combination of techniques that they were able to recover Caylee’s entire skeleton with the exception of some of the smaller bones of the foot. We were all very proud of the men and women who were so dedicated to showing Caylee the respect that she deserved, even in death.
Once Dr. G arrived on December 12, she began the process of examining the remains. Unfortunately, the tape had already been removed from the skull by the time she saw it. Dr. Utz had thoroughly documented the condition of the tape on the skull from every possible angle. The FBI was eager to send the skull to the lab for analysis, but in retrospect I wish they had been more patient and waited for Dr. G to see it for herself. As much as we try to use photos as a substitute, there is nothing like seeing something firsthand. We didn’t get good pictures of how the pieces of tape were configured over one another, since all the pictures were taken either after the tape was separated, or to provide exact measurements of the total width of the pieces together. Not having better photos hindered us somewhat in arguing precisely how the tape was placed on Caylee’s face. Who knows if it would have made a difference, but it was a source of frustration as we were deciphering all that we could from the remains.
Once Dr. G had a chance to examine the entire skeleton, she said it really didn’t tell us much. It was free of any evidence of injury and looked like the skeleton of a perfectly healthy little girl, but it was from this skeleton that Dr. G was tasked with discerning both the manner and the cause of death.
There is a difference between the manner of death and the cause of death. The cause of death is a purely medical determination of the biological mechanism that causes the body to cease to function. In a suicide by gunshot wound to the head and a murder by the same method, the cause of death is the same. The manner of death is a medical and legal determination that the medical examiner (ME) is required to make based upon both medical and investigative information. In the example above, though the cause of death is the same, the manner of death is different, since one is a suicide and one is a murder. It is not unusual for the cause of death to be undetermined but the manner of death to be homicide—in fact, in most skeletal cases or cases where the body has been incinerated, that is likely to be the case.
Such was the situation with Caylee. Dr. G rendered