Casey Anthony murder trial nearing an end

ORLANDO, Fla (Reuters) - The end is in sight for the weeks-long first-degree murder trial of Casey Anthony, the young hard-partying Florida mother who garnered national attention in 2008 when she falsely claimed her 2-year-old daughter Caylee had been kidnapped by a nanny.

Judge Belvin Perry on Friday made plans for the jury to begin deliberations by the end of next week.

Defense attorneys spent the day once again attempting to punch holes in the state's evidence.

Prosecutors say 25-year-old Casey smothered Caylee with duct tape on June 16, 2008, drove around several days with the toddler's body in her car trunk and then dumped the remains in woods near the Anthony family home outside of Orlando.

Caylee was reported missing on July 15, 2008, by Casey's mother, who was frustrated by Casey's excuses for why she couldn't see her granddaughter.

Cindy Anthony said she became alarmed when she smelled a stench she likened to death in Casey's abandoned car.

Despite Casey's initial statement to detectives that Caylee was kidnapped, her defense team contends the child accidentally drowned in the family's backyard pool and the death went unreported.

Defense attorney Jose Baez suggested to the jury in his opening statement that Casey's father, George Anthony, had some role in the disposal of the body.

Yuri Melich, the lead detective in the case, acknowledged on Friday that he saw a television report showing George had used the same distinctive type of duct tape found on Caylee's skull to hang a missing persons poster at the search command center he ran with his wife.

Melich testified that he never followed up and asked George about the tape.

Melich also said he told searchers to ignore a tip in August 2008 from meter reader Roy Kronk about possible human remains in the woods. Melich said the tip was vague but seemed to identify a location that previously had been searched by a cadaver dog.

On December 11, 2008, following another tip from Kronk, Caylee's remains were found in those woods but in a slightly different area than the tip specified, Melich said.

Baez also called to the witness stand one of the first deputies to go to the Anthony home in response to Cindy's 911 call on July 15, 2008.

Deputy Ryan Eberlin acknowledged that he didn't notice a horrid odor of decomposition emanating from Casey's car, in contrast to what many other prosecution witnesses testified they smelled.

The deputy mentioned he had briefly handcuffed Casey that night, a statement that led to the jury finding out that Casey was accused of credit card fraud by her mother.

Baez hammered at his theory that the Anthony family was dysfunctional. Baez contends that Casey's seeming lack of remorse over her daughter's death is a result of being sexually abused by family members. George specifically denied any such abuse from the witness stand.

Casey's brother, Lee, described how the family denied Casey's obvious pregnancy until just before she gave birth.

Lee, called as a defense witness, said he noticed Casey was pregnant in early to mid-2005 when Casey exited the bathroom they shared at the Anthony family home.

"When I went in, she was coming out. I could see her mid-section and she was showing," Lee testified.

Lee said he remarked, "'Excuse me. What the hell is that?' She kinda just waved me off."

Lee said he confronted his mother within a day or two. Cindy previously has testified that she thought Casey was just putting on weight or experiencing some bloating.

Lee said the next time he saw clearly that Casey was pregnant was later in the year when she picked him up at the airport. Lee said Casey's belly was "far enough out to where I knew she was not just putting on weight."

Lee cried on the witness stand as he testified that "regrettably" he did not visit Casey in the hospital after she gave birth to Caylee in August 2005. Pressed by Baez to explain why, Lee said, "I was just angry at everyone in general, that they didn't want to include me or felt it important to tell me (about the pregnancy), especially since I had already asked."

Earlier in the morning, over state objections, Baez tried to ask Cindy whether she and George had experienced marital problems.

Judge Belvin Perry asked Baez how that line of questioning fit into the defense theory of the case involving accidental drowning and sexual abuse. After a long jury break and a lengthy meeting between attorneys and the judge at his bench, the issue was dropped.

(Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Greg McCune)