The trial of alleged child killer Casey Anthony took a bizarre turn yesterday with the defense suggesting that tragic 2-year-old Caylee had been fathered by her grandfather or uncle — although DNA tests had previously ruled them out.
The defense began presenting its case yesterday, calling as its second witness FBI scientist Heather Seubert.
Anthony’s lawyer, José Baez, asked if she’d administered a paternity test to Casey’s father, George, and brother Lee.
Before she could respond, the Orlando, Fla., courtroom erupted in chaos.
Prosecutors screamed their objections as the defense yelled back and the judge furiously banged his gavel.
When Judge Belvin Perry finally restored order, he sent the jury out for lunch while he ripped into both sets of lawyers.
“All I’m gonna say is this: I don’t have a hearing problem,” Perry told both sides. “The amplification of questions, objections, I don’t need.”
Then he turned his outrage on Baez. “You are not to ask questions that will lead to an inference,” he warned, adding, “I’m not even going to venture a guess . . . as to your motivation.”
With the jury still out of the room, Seubert, a DNA analyst at the FBI laboratory in Quantico, Va., told the judge that both Casey’s father and brother had been tested — and that neither was the dad. Both sides had previously had access to the test results.
The name of Casey’s father has never been publicly disclosed.
Casey has previously claimed she was sexually abused by her father and brother. Her lawyers claim that Caylee drowned in her grandfather’s pool and that he disposed of the body.
Seubert also said DNA on duct tape over Caylee’s mouth when her body was discovered did not match Casey’s or her parents’.
The only match was to the DNA investigator, who apparently botched the test.
The next major courtroom drama may star Casey herself. Experts say that in view of the strong prosecution case, her only hope is to testify.
“My sense is that they need to, and ultimately they will, call her to testify on her own behalf,” Eric Rudich, a senior legal consultant at Manhattan-based Magna Legal Services, told The Post.
“Because of the massive amount of evidence the prosecution has displayed, it would make sense that they [the defense] will want her to explain herself.”
Caylee vanished three years ago yesterday. Her body was found in a wooded area near Casey’s parents’ home six months later.