Jurors on Wednesday have acquitted Casey Anthony for murdering her two-and-a-half-year-old daughter Caylee Anthony.
Casey Anthony was let off from first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse, and aggravated manslaughter. However, she was convicted for four misdemeanor counts of providing false information to law enforcement officials.
The jurors, including five men and seven women, who heard 91 witnesses in the month-long trial and took nearly 11 hours, said We, the jury, find the defendant not guilty.
Anthony will appear on Court on Thursday to hear the sentence over lying to law enforcement officers. Anthony could face a maximum of one year in county jail for each count she was found guilty of.
However, it is possible that she may be let free on July 7 as she had already spent almost three years in county jail awaiting trial.
But, the mystery remains unsolved over how Caylee, the bubbly little girl with big brown eyes, died.
Casey Anthony took up to 31 days before reporting that her daughter Caylee went missing. This raised many concerns and was determined to be one of the major points that could lead to Casey’s guilty conviction. The failure to report her missing child was considered devastating to the defense and showed that the mother was not in grief or holding a guilty conscience. ReutersBalloons and toy teddy bears sit at the wooded location of where the body of Caylee Anthony was found in 2008 in Orlando July 5, 2011. A Florida jury found her mother, Casey Anthony, not guilty of murder in the death of her 2-year-old daughter.ReutersCasey Anthony reacts as she approaches the podium to hear Judge Belvin Perry confirm that she is not guilty on first degree murder charges of her daughter Caylee at the Orange County Courthouse Orlando, Florida July 5, 2011.ReutersSpectators, media and law enforcement gather after hearing the jury's verdict acquitting Casey Anthony of first-degree murder at the Orange County Court House in Orlando, Florida July 5, 2011. A Florida jury on Tuesday found Casey Anthony not guilty of murder in the June 16, 2008 death of her 2-year-old daughter Caylee, in a case that riveted millions since Caylee was first reported missing that year.ReutersNeighbors gather at the wooded location of where the body of Caylee Anthony was found in 2008 in Orlando July 5, 2011. A Florida jury found her mother, Casey Anthony, not guilty of murder in the death of her 2-year-old daughterReutersQuestions remained unanswered as of how Caylee died. Some descriptions involved Casey killing the 2 year old Caylee while another story told of the toddler’s accidental drowning in a swimming pool. The factual evidence was that Caylee’s mouth was covered with duct tape after she was dead. Questions arose on why the duct tape was applied in the case of an accidental drowning. The death was not accidental and it was said that Casey kept it a secret.Prosecutors said Casey killed Caylee by using chloroform to suffocate the toddler then duct taping her mouth and nose. Other signs of a non-accidental death involved an absent report that was received 31 days later and that Caylee’s remains were disposed of in bags.
ReutersLee Anthony wipes tears while testifying during his sister Casey's murder trial at the Orange County Courthouse in Orlando, Florida, June 24, 2011. Lee Anthony broke down in tears on the witness stand, recalling how Casey and their mother refused to acknowledge Casey's obvious pregnancy to him until three days before she gave birth. Casey, 25, is charged with later killing daughter Caylee and dumping the 2-year-old's body in woods a short walk from the Anthony home in the Orlando area. Prosecutors say Casey smothered her daughter with duct tape.Reuters
