ORLANDO, Fla. -- A Florida jury found Casey Anthony not guilty of first-degree murder Tuesday in the death of her 2-year-old daughter Caylee.
After the verdict was read, Anthony, 25, wept and smiled as she hugged her attorneys. She could have faced the death penalty if convicted.
"While we're happy for Casey, there are no winners in this case," defense attorney Jose Baez said during a news conference after the hearing.
"Casey did not murder Caylee. It's that simple. And today our system of justice has not dishonored her memory by a false conviction," he added.
Anthony was also acquitted of aggravated child abuse and aggravated manslaughter of a child.
She was, however, found guilty of four counts of providing false information to law enforcement and could receive up to a year in jail for each of those counts. She has already served nearly three years behind bars.
Judge Belvin Perry set a sentencing hearing for Thursday at 9:00am ET.
The jury of seven women and five men had begun deliberations Monday after a 35-day trial -- involving dozens of witnesses and some 400 pieces of evidence -- that started nearly three years after Caylee went missing.
She had not been seen for about a month when she was reported missing by her grandmother on July 15, 2008. During that time, Casey Anthony had claimed the little girl was with a nanny that did not exist. Caylee's remains were found in December 2008 in the woods near her family's home south of Orlando, Fla.
The prosecution had argued that Anthony drugged her daughter with chloroform before suffocating her with duct tape. They argued that the body was then kept in the trunk of Anthony's car before it was dumped in the woods.
The defense had claimed Caylee accidentally drowned in her family's swimming pool and that Casey Anthony's lies and carefree behavior in the wake of the incident were triggered by alleged sexual abuse she had suffered as a girl at the hands of her father.
No comments:
Post a Comment