ORLANDO, Fla (Reuters) ? An internationally known forensic pathologist placed a stark, white human skull on the witness stand during Casey Anthony's murder trial on Saturday, bringing the defendant to tears.
Dr. Werner Spitz assured the court the skull did not belong to 2-year-old Caylee Anthony, who prosecutors say was killed by her mother three summers ago.
Spitz, testifying for the defense, used the prop to explain his belief duct tape found on and near Caylee's skull was not put on her face before her body started to decompose.
His testimony contradicts the prosecution contention that 25-year-old Casey smothered her daughter on June 16, 2008 using duct tape.
The child's skeletal remains were found in woods near the Anthony family's home in the Orlando area on December 11, 2008, following a nationwide search.
"There was no evidence of skin on the duct tape. There would have been DNA on that tape if it had been placed on the face," Spitz said.
Saturday marked the end of the high-profile trial's fourth week, during which prosecutors concluded their presentation and the defense team began making its case.
Casey's attorneys maintain Caylee accidentally drowned in the Anthony family's backyard pool, and no one reported her death.
To rebut the allegation that Casey stored her daughter's dead body in her car trunk, the defense has presented experts who said they found no DNA or blood on material from the trunk and a lack of the type of bugs to be expected around a decaying body.
Before recessing until Monday, Judge Belvin Perry warned attorneys the trial was not moving along quickly enough and threatened to extend each work day by an extra hour.
BATTLING EXPERTS
Spitz, a member of the pathology panel that testified to Congress about the assassinations of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and President John F. Kennedy, has also testified at the murder trials of music producer Phil Spector and athlete-turned-actor O.J. Simpson.
Spitz said Dr. Jan Garavaglia, the prosecution's medical examiner and star of the Discovery Channel reality show "Dr. G: Medical Examiner," conducted "a shoddy autopsy" in which she neglected to open Caylee's skull.
He used photos of Caylee's skull, which he cut open during a later autopsy, to point out brain residue he said showed the skull's position as Caylee's body was decomposing.
Prosecutor Jeff Ashton made several attempts to discredit Spitz's assertion that opening the skull was basic autopsy procedure. Spitz said he had conducted more than 60,000 post-mortem examinations in his 56 years of practice, and he knew these things from experience.
Ashton showed him a thick text on forensics, co-written by Spitz, and asked him to point out any instruction about always opening the skull during autopsies.
Spitz's reply: "Sir, this is not a book of protocols, but a book of findings."
DEFENSE ATTORNEY SCOLDED
Earlier on Saturday, another defense witness was asked to leave the stand after he said there was no way any scientist could say for sure where duct tape was located on Caylee's skull.
William Rodriguez, a forensic anthropologist who studies human decomposition at the University of Tennessee's Body Farm, offered the duct tape opinion after defense attorney Jose Baez abruptly changed the subject from general information about crime scene investigations.
Rodriguez's testimony prompted Judge Perry to dismiss the jury. He then accused both the defense team and prosecution of playing games, and threatened Baez with contempt of court.
Perry said the duct tape opinion had never been entered into court documents, despite orders to do so.
"It appears to me that this was quite intentional, it was not a slip and it was not inadvertent," he said, admonishing Baez.
Perry reserved his decision on the contempt issue until the end of the trial, saying, "it would be totally unfair to Ms. Anthony to have this important testimony excluded."
Perry said the witness should give a deposition Saturday afternoon -- telling the court all the opinions he would be offering -- and should return to the stand on Monday.
(Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Jerry Norton)
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