Casey Anthony To Be Released: Did Media Publicity Set Her Free With Not Guilty Verdict?

Casey Anthony, the young mother accused of murdering her 2-year-old daughter Caylee using duct tape and chloroform, will be released July 17. Sadly, the media's relentless publicity with the sexy young woman may have contributed to the trial's outcome.

Anthony's defense said that the child drowned in a swimming pool accident, prompting a cover-up by the family. The prosecution said that the young woman killed her small child by drugging her with chloroform and suffocating her using duct tape. The body was discovered December 2008 and was so badly decomposed that it was profoundly difficult to determine the cause of death. Internet searches for the terms chloroform, neck-breaking, and self-defense were found on Anthony's personal computer.

Anthony partied like it was 1999 after the child died in a swimming pool accident, procuring a new tattoo with the Italian words for Beautiful Life and entering herself into a hot body contest. Definitely a normal thing to do after your child drowns in a swimming pool accident.

Anthony told investigators that a nanny kidnapped her child and that she had been searching for her after her mother reported that the child had been missing for one month. A wild goose chase by the community ensued.

I'm amazed that it got so much attention that it's been almost nonstop, especially on Headline News, but also on Fox and MSNBC and elsewhere, said Al Tompkins, senior faculty member for the Poynter Institute's broadcasting and online group. This is not like a lot of other trials that have involved celebs or people that were famous, or somehow very high profile prior to the incident, he added.

Bill O'Reilly of The O'Reilly Factor said, Have we become a nation that does not make judgments any more about behavior? Is there always an excuse for everything? O'Reilly asked. Attorney Attorney Debra Opri claimed that the media was the 13^th juror in the Casey Anthony trial.