Court official says Casey Anthony to be freed July 13
ORLANDO, FL
Then she turned stone-faced as the sentence was pronounced:
Freedom wouldn't come just yet. She'd have to spend six more days
in jail for lying to investigators about the death of her
2-year-old daughter, Caylee.
Late Thursday, Orange County corrections officials said they had
"conducted a detailed recalculation of the projected release
date" and that Anthony would actually not be freed until July 17.
Thursday's actions mean Anthony will go free nearly two weeks
after she was acquitted Tuesday of first-degree murder and other
charges in Caylee's death.
The extra time in jail did little to satisfy throngs of angry
people convinced of her guilt who gathered outside the courthouse.
But it could provide time for the public furor over her acquittal
to ease somewhat and give Anthony's attorneys a chance to plan for
her safety.
Two days after the verdicts, most of the jury remained silent,
with their names still kept secret by the court. One juror
explained that the panel agreed to acquit Anthony because
prosecutors did not show what happened to the toddler.
When she is released, the 25-year-old Anthony must decide
whether to return to a community in which many onlookers long ago
concluded that she's a killer, or to a home strained by her defense
attorneys' accusations of sexual abuse.
Judge Belvin Perry gave her the maximum sentence of four years
for four convictions of lying to authorities. He denied a defense
request to combine the misdemeanor counts, which could have made
her eligible for immediate release.
"As a result of those four specific, distinct lies, law
enforcement expended great time and resources looking for Caylee
Marie Anthony," the judge said.
With time served and credit for good behavior, she is now due
out on July 17, her 1,007th day in jail.
Outside the courthouse, a cluster of protesters chanted
"Justice for Caylee" as they waved signs that said "Arrest the
Jury!!" and "Jurors 1-12 Guilty of Murder." One man had duct
tape with a heart-shaped sticker over his mouth, similar to the way
prosecutors contend duct tape was used to kill Caylee. Increased
police presence included officers on horseback.
"At least she won't get to pop the champagne cork tonight,"
said Flora Reece, an Orlando real estate broker who stood outside
the courthouse holding a sign that read "Arrest the Jury."
Anthony's parents were present for the hearing but left without
speaking to reporters. Prosecutors and defense attorneys did not
comment either.
Anger continued to spread online, with commenters vilifying
Anthony on social media networks. Nearly 22,000 people "liked"
the "I hate Casey Anthony" page on Facebook, which included
comments wishing her the same fate that befell Caylee.
The potential for Anthony to profit off the case was infuriating
to many who said they feared she could become rich by selling her
story to publishers or filmmakers or signing a lucrative television
contract.
"I would not read the book," Jeff Ashton, the prosecutor in
the case, told CNN's John King on Thursday. Ashton said he would
not believe any version Anthony provided "unless it's one that
accounts for all the evidence."
"If anybody could find a rational, reasonable explanation for
why you put duct tape on a child that died by accident, then I'd
love to hear it," Ashton said, referring to the defense claim that
the child accidentally drowned.
Whatever future she chooses, Anthony's release next week
promises to mark the start of a new, probably difficult chapter for
her.
Mary Tate, a former public defender who heads the University of
Richmond's Institute for Actual Innocence, said Anthony's defense
team is probably seeking help from a variety of advisers as they
seek to rebuild her fractured life.
"She's going to be bombarded with a lot of financial offers.
She's going to be bombarded with random hostility. She's just
entering an extraordinarily exhausting two or three years," Tate
said.
Dr. Phyllis Chesler, a psychologist who authored "Mothers on
Trial," said Anthony will have to deal with an "absolutely
primitive blood lust" that's been unleashed, even though she's
been acquitted.
"How is she going to cope with the hatred?" Chester asked.
At a separate hearing Thursday, Perry also expressed concern for
the safety of jurors and postponed his decision on whether to
release their names. The judge said he wanted to allow for a
"cooling-off period" of at least a couple of days. The Associated
Press and other news organizations have argued that the jurors'
identities should be released.
"It's no big secret that some people disagree with their
verdict, and some people would like to take something out on
them," Perry said.
"I doubt you would have had this same uproar if the decision
would have been different. But juries aren't supposed to make
decisions based on public opinion polls," he added.
Anthony's release will come nearly three years after Caylee was
reported missing. After the report was made on July 15, 2008,
Anthony was interviewed by police and made the statements that led
to her conviction for lying.
She lied about working at the Universal Studios theme park,
about leaving her daughter with a non-existent nanny named Zanny,
about telling two friends that Caylee had been kidnapped and about
receiving a phone call from her.
The defense claimed Caylee actually drowned a month earlier in a
pool at the home of Anthony's parents, George and Cindy Anthony,
with whom the child and her single mother lived.
The defense argued Anthony acted without remorse in the weeks
after her daughter's death because she was a victim of sexual abuse
by her father, resulting in emotional problems, though her
attorneys produced no witnesses bolstering the claim. The defense
also alleged that George Anthony, a former police officer, helped
cover up the death by making it look like a homicide and dumping
the body near their home, where it was found by a meter reader six
months later. George Anthony has vehemently denied any involvement
in Caylee's death, the disposal of her body or molesting his
daughter, Casey.
"I do not believe for a moment that George Anthony had anything
to do with disposing of his granddaughter's body," Ashton told
CNN.
Prosecutors alleged that Anthony suffocated her daughter with
duct tape because motherhood interfered with her lust for a
carefree life of partying with friends and spending time with her
boyfriend.
Jurors have mostly declined to discuss their verdict, though one
told ABC News it was an emotional decision reached because the
prosecution failed to show what really happened to Caylee.
"I did not say she was innocent," said Jennifer Ford, a
32-year-old nursing student. "I just said there was not enough
evidence. If you cannot prove what the crime was, you cannot
determine what the punishment should be."
Near the Anthony home, at the swampy, mosquito-filled site where
Caylee's remains were found, several people visited a makeshift
memorial to the child Thursday. Two-dozen flower bouquets wilted in
the Florida heat, helium balloons swayed in the breeze and hundreds
of stuffed animals lay in a pile on the ground. Some mourners
attached hand-written notes, many of which disparaged Anthony.
The Orange County Sheriff's Office has erected no-parking signs
throughout the area so curious crowds cannot block the roadway. The
neighborhood is being patrolled by deputies on four all-terrain
vehicles and six patrol cars. Horses were being brought in for
mounted officers.
Sheriff's spokesman Jeff Williamson said he could not comment on
the number of officers in the area, and there is no estimate yet of
the cost to taxpayers.
Authorities "don't know who will come here or what people will
do," he said. "We're here to handle any problems and protect the
community."
Ray DeBattista came with his family of five and said he thought
the verdict was "mind boggling." The St. Cloud retiree said he
watched his 2-year-old grandson recently and the child slipped away
while he answered the door. He said he called 911 less than 30
seconds later.
"My heart was racing, and I ran around frantically looking for
him," DeBattista said. "He was playing hide-and-seek under the
pool table in a laundry basket. I just cannot understand how Casey
went 31 days without reporting her daughter missing."