Casey Anthony 's defense team claimed today that her daughter Caylee Anthony drowned in the family's swimming pool on June 16, 2008, a month before she was reported missing.
"How in the world can a mother wait 30 days before ever reporting her child missing? That's insane, that's bizarre. the answer is actually relatively simple. She never was missing," said Jose Baez, Anthony's defense attorney. "Caylee Anthony died on June 16, 2008 when she drowned in her family's swimming pool."
Baez also claimed that Casey Anthony 's father, George Anthony, found the body in the backyard pool and indicated that he helped dispose of the body. The defense lawyer even suggested George Anthony planted evidence to implicate his daughter and deflect suspicion from him.
"What makes this case unique is the family that it happened to. You will hear stories about a family that is incredibly dysfunctional, you will hear about ugly things, secret things, things that people don't speak about," Baez said.
The opening statements began in an Orlando courtroom today, nearly three years after Caylee was reported missing in the summer of 2008. Anthony, 25, faces a battery of charges including first degree murder, aggravated manslaughter of a child, aggravated child abuse and providing false information to law enforcement. She could face the death penalty if convicted.
Anthony wept as defense attorney Baez described Anthony and her family.
Anthony's defense team alleges that she was sexually abused by her father and brother and hid her daughter's death like she hid the secret of her alleged sexual abuse.
Watch the trial streamed live on ABCNews.com
"On June 16, 2008, after Caylee died, Casey did what she's been doing all her life, hiding her pain, going into that dark corner and pretending that she does not live in the situation that she's living in. it all began when Casey was 8 years old and her father came into her room and began to touch her inappropriately and it escalated," Baez said.
The defense lawyer said that Casey Anthony's actions were affected by the abuse she suffered as a child.
"Casey Anthony was raised to lie," Baez said. He added, "Sex abuse does things to us, it changes you."
The attorney said, "She's not guilty of murder. This is not a murder case. This is a sad, tragic accident that snowballed out of control."
Casey Anthony Murder Trial Begins With Tears
Baez alleged that after pulling Caylee from the pool, George Anthony screamed at Casey Anthony, "Look what you've done. Your mother will never forgive you. You'll go to jail for the rest of your life."
Casey Anthony, center, talks with her defense consultants Ann Finnell, left, and Dorothy Clay Sims, right, in the courtroom at the Pinellas Country Criminal Justice Center, May 16, 2011, waiting for the start of the seventh day of jury selection in her trial, in Clearwater, Fla.
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