Not Guilty

(Posted on 05/07/11)

After 33 days of testimony and 10 hours, 40 minutes and 22 seconds of jury deliberations, the infamous trial of accused child killer Casey Anthony, is over with two words: not guilty. Charged with seven counts, including murder in the 1st degree, felony child abuse, manslaughter and 4 counts of lying to law enforcement, the jury cleared her of the most serious offenses and found her guilty on all four counts of lying to law enforcement.

Those convictions are misdemeanors and can result in up to one year in jail. Anthony spent the past three years in an Orange County, Florida jail. This means she could walk out of the courtroom on Thursday, when Judge Belvin Perry hands down sentencing on those charges, as a free woman. Her defense team will seek to have the sentences run concurrently, versus consecutively. Either way, though, it's not likely she will spend more than nine months in jail, even if the judge refuses concurrent sentences and orders her to serve that last year.

Emotions have run high throughout the U.S. as public opinion has ranged from outrage to relief. The majority believe she murdered her two year old daughter, Caylee, and then dumped her body in a swamp less than two minutes from her parents' home. The defense argued Caylee accidentally drowned and was found by Casey Anthony's father, George Anthony. The circumstantial case was built on theories that the defense quickly poked holes in. Her attorneys were also able to introduce evidence of police misconduct, lies that her entire family told and made unsubstantiated accusations that Anthony's father and brother molested her as a child.

The jury refused to speak to the media following the verdict and Judge Belvin Perry refused to release the names of the jurors at this point. Anthony's family released a statement late through its lawyer on Tuesday that read in part:

While the family may never know what has happened to Caylee Marie Anthony, they now have closure for this chapter of their life. They will now begin the long process of rebuilding their lives.
Despite the baseless defense chosen by Casey Anthony, the family believes that the Jury made a fair decision based on the evidence presented, the testimony presented, the scientific information presented and the rules that were given to them by the Honorable Judge Perry to guide them.
The family hopes that they will be given the time by the media to reflect on this verdict and decide the best way to move forward privately.

Solicitors in the U.K. had made their own predictions over the past several weeks. Many believed she would be found guilty and sentenced to death while others said the evidence was lacking.