After a tense day of testimony in the Casey Anthony trial, the defense has rested. INSIDE EDITION has the latest from the courtroom.
Casey Anthony declined to testify at her trial. In a tense moment, the judge asked her several times if the decision was hers and hers alone.
"Has anyone used any force or pressure in making you arrive at that decision?" asked Judge Belvin Perry.
"No, sir," said Casey.
"And that decision is your decision freely and voluntarily?" Judge Perry asked.
"Yes, sir," said Casey.
Moments later the defense rested.
The development came after a day of drama and anguish in the courtroom.
There was dramatic testimony from the woman claiming to be George Anthony's mistress.
"Did you develop a relationship with Mr. Anthony?" asked Casey's lawyer Jose Baez.
"Yes, sir, I did," said Krystal Holloway.
"Was this an intimate relationship?" asked Baez.
"Yes," she said.
Holloway told the court she and George became lovers after she volunteered to help search for Caylee.
She wept as she recounted how George Anthony sent her texts and a love letter. One text read: "Just thinking about you. I need you in my life."
She said long before Caylee's body was discovered, George told her the child had been killed in an accident.
"He had said it was an accident that snowballed out of control. But, I was in shock," said Holloway.
She said she didn't question him further because he was weeping. "His eyes were filled with tears," she remembered.
As she testified, George and his wife Cindy sat together at the back of the courtroom.
Her testimony directly contradicts what George told the court earlier this week when he denied having a romantic relationship with Holloway.
True crime writer Aphrodite Jones was in court today. She tells INSIDE EDITION , "It was a harrowing experience for Cindy. I saw Cindy crying, she was tearful inside the courtroom and tearful more so when the cameras were not on, outside the courtroom in the hallway waiting for the elevators, and George was trying to comfort her."
George Anthony was not asked again about the affair when he was called back to the stand Thursday. As he finished his testimony, he looked at Casey and made a gesture as if to say he was washing his hands of her forever.
"What do you make of George Anthony wiping his hands clean [as he was] glaring over at Casey Anthony as he walked off that stand?" asks INSIDE EDITION's Paul Boyd.
"In my opinion, that is a deliberate attempt by George Anthony to tell the jury he doesn't want to be touched by this dirt being slung at him, he's above it all. And he, in a sense, is blaming Casey now for bringing out all the dirty family laundry," says Jones.
