Casey Anthony Released From Jail After Nearly Three Years

[onehandle]

Source: Huffington Post

Casey Marie Anthony walked out of the Orange County Jail in Florida a free woman early Sunday morning. Anthony's release occurred exactly three years from the day that she made her first court appearance on multiple charges related to the disappearance of her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee.

Anthony, dressed in a bright pink shirt, walked out of the jail booking center with her attorney, Jose Baez, at about 12:10 a.m. Escorted by an armed contingent of law enforcement officers, the two entered a dark SUV and drove to the law office of J. Cheney Mason, a member of Anthony's defense team.

There is speculation the SUV is now headed for the Orlando Executive Airport but Anthony's destination is not yet known. According to jail officials, she had $537.68 on her when she was released.

Twelve days ago, a jury of seven women and five men -- after hearing 33 days of testimony, 400 pieces of evidence and more than 90 witnesses -- found Anthony not guilty of killing her daughter.



Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/17/casey-anthony-released-from-jail_n_899764.html

[SoDesuKa]

1. Armed Escort

Was it really necessary for the police escorting Anthony and her lawyer to have their fingers on the trigger? If they were really expecting an attack, shouldn't they have been wearing helmets in addition to the bullet-proof vests?

It looks to me like the prosecutors are offering not-so-subtle encouragement to the kooks who might want to shoot Casey Anthony.



Florida cop with helmet

[SnowCritter]

12. Look again.

Their fingers are not on the triggers, their fingers are on the lower receiver just above the trigger guard. Also, it's quite likely that the weapons are on "safe", but we can't know for sure because the safety is located on the opposite side of the lower receiver.

Also, I don't think the prosecutors would request an escort, that would be something the defense might request or it may have been provided by conscientious law enforcement officials (or just covering their asses - her safety is their responsibility until she leaves the property).

[SoDesuKa]

14. Small Difference

There's no reason for the police to be holding those weapons as if they needed to respond immediately. I think it's provocative, regardless of who requested the police presence. I don't think a display of firepower is called for in the situation, and I find it offensive.

Then again, that's how I usually respond to a display of firepower, whether it's cops with automatic weapons, jets flying overhead, or armored personnel carriers in the local Memorial Day parade.

[Incitatus]

77. You know how trigger happy cops can be, they were probably hoping for an incident.

If something was going to happen, it was going to happen, no matter how they were holding their weapons when they left the building Better prepared that not, thoug.

[Butch350]

20. Don't be a drama queen

The fingers ARE NOT on the trigger. It's standard police procedure. The fingers if you look closely
are outside of the trigger guard - the reason being...so they won't accidently pull the trigger.

LOOK, LOOK, LOOK!

[RSillsbee]

80. The cops had enough credible threats against her

to take precautions, they didn't want another Jack Ruby. There's also the deterrent factor, the cops had their guns right out there in the open as an overt display of force.

That said, I think Casey Anthony was an idiot for wearing that bright pink shoot ME shirt .

[Politicalboi]

2. Boo!

I can't think of anything other than I am disgusted with the outcome. Old Greta is interviewing one of the "jurors" now. Some thought George may have killed Caylee. Unbelievable. Here in Carmageddon Ca there is a high speed pursuit for the last 2 hours, and the news helicopter needs to fuel up. Then they flashed this huge countdown till the 405 opens again. Total hype.

[Tx4obama]

3. A tweet from Twitter

@TheFakeCNN
Casey Anthony fears release from jail Sunday. Police say "don't worry, if you need us we can be there in 31 days."

[Politicalboi]

5. LOL!

[juxtaposed]

4. who cares

[Keefer]

6. Another link: (More pics and a video)

http://www.gossipcop.com/casey-anthony-released-time-free-freed-jail-prison-july-17-photos-pics-video/

[July16th-20th]

7. American Justice at Work.

:sarcasm:

[on point]

11. When you don't prove your case, then you are supposed to go free

[wordpix]

52. the case was proven; the jury was stoopid

[happyslug]

60. It is up to the JURY to decide if the case was proven or not

The Jury decision on that matter is FINAL. What you think was proven or not proven is NOT relevant, it is up to the jury alone to decide if it was proven or NOT. Thus to say the case was PROVEN, but the jury was "stoopid" is a stupid statement, for it is the JURY to decide if something was proven or not, and in this case the JURY, the finder of Fact, found it had NOT be proven. You may hate that decision, but it is the JURY who heard all the evidence ruled relevant in this case and they convicted the Defendant of the only crime the Prosecution showed she violated, she lied to the Police. That does NOT show a stupid jury, but a jury demanding something called FACTS to convict someone, and the Prosecution had almost no facts relating the actual death of the child with her mother other then she was the child's mother. You need more then that to convict someone of MURDER.

[Taverner]

61. give me cause of death then

[LisaL]

67. Prosecution does not need to prove a cause of death.

Or Scott Peterson wouldn't be sitting on death row.

[Taverner]

68. Yes - and I had a problem with the reliance on circumstantial evidence in that case

If I were on that jury, I would have had reasonable doubt

[LisaL]

69. Well it a good thing you weren't, then.

[Taverner]

70. Did you think there was enough evidence to convict OJ?

I am not asking do you think he did it

But I am asking, with how badly compromised the evidence was that the prosecution had, was there enough usable evidence?

And back to Casey - again, was there enough evidence and enough motive to convict Casey Anthony of 1st Degree Murder?

That would rule out things like "She tried to drug the child, but the Caylee OD'd" or "She drowned in the pool"

I don't think there was. Yes, she was responsible for her daughter's death. But the DA going for what he thought was a slam dunk with 1st degree was insulting to the country. Second Degree, they would have had her. But the DA was trying to shoot for the moon, and as a result lost the case. His fault. HE fucked up, not the jury. And I, for one, am glad to see these circumstantial only cases getting tossed. It's about fucking time.

[LisaL]

71. There were lesser included charges the jury could have

convicted her of. They didn't.

[Taverner]

73. No - they were not offered any options that left room for the reasonable doubt

There were different counts of murder, but all 1st degree. Not 2nd degree.

And there was way too much reasonable doubt. You can pretend there wasn't, but without a cause of death AND no proof that the duct tape was indeed, on Caylee - there is too much room for reasonable doubt.

[LisaL]

74. That is simply not true.

In addition to first degree murder, there was a manslaughter and a child abuse charge.

[Taverner]

78. Link please

And even if - there was simply not enough physical evidence to convict Anthony. There was no evidence linking her to her daughter's death. None. There wasn't even a reasonable attempt at explanation as to how Casey did it.

As another DUer put it, the prosecution's case was "Something something duct tape something 31 days something KILL HER!!!"

It is up to the Prosecution to prove beyond a reasonable doubt. They did not do that.

[LisaL]

79. Funny how you changed you story

from prosecution would have had her if she was charged with second degree murder to there was not enough evidence to convict her of anything.

[Taverner]

81. No I gave an "even if," Miss Grace

I'd go back and hit the dictionary if I were you...

[Tunkamerica]

16. Somebody hates freedom!

[lbrtbell]

37. Casey's daughter misses HER freedom

But hey, what mother worries about losing track of her toddler for 31 days?

[Springer9]

8. Was that Al Cowlings driving the SUV?

[alp227]

9. She shall vanish as we all turn our backs towards her and re-focus on important stuff

like the US debt ceiling, unemployment, the wars

[boppers]

15. It's sad that I can't tell if you meant that as sarcasm.

Media seems to tell us what is, and isn't, important.

[localroger]

27. ...the Gulf oil, the Fukushima fallout... /nt

[defendandprotect]

10. Budget nonsense makes about as much sense as LIEBERMAN nonsense...!!!

Only thing DU could focus on was LIEBERMANN -- how much more powerful he

was than Obama or the entire Dem House/Senate -- !!


LIEBERMANN -- ah, I remember it well!!

Also remember he was also almost a Trojan Horse via Gore -- !!


It's not the movie playing on the screen -- it's what's going on behind the screen!!

[IamK]

13. yup...

[trud]

30. Arrest that woman - she smokes, she drinks, she's obviously a killer. n/t

[lbrtbell]

36. That picture reminds me of Rush Limbaugh

One got away with killing her daughter, the other got away with killing rational discourse in this country. :rofl:

[Tunkamerica]

17. Irrespective of the verdict and the case... 3 years in jail? Then found not guilty?

Speedy trials are gone.

[glowing]

19. In murder cases like these, its beneficial to waive one's right to a speedy trial.

This way all the evidence and experts can be obtained and the case can be better defended. Especially with throwing out evidence the prosecution wants to use before the trial begins.

[trud]

28. yeah, three years

I'd think she should be able to sue, unless she agreed to some of the delay.

[iamjoy]

32. She Got Three Years for a Reason

She was found guilty of multiple counts of lying to investigators. Combined, that allowed for a three year prison sentence. Once time served was considered, she had met her sentence and that's why she's going free now.

[Tunkamerica]

83. But if she had been found not guilty on all counts she would still have been in jail for 3 years

[rollin74]

39. she waived her right to a speedy trial in 2008

her defense team agreed to delay the trial

[wordpix]

53. defense team was searching for the "real killer" ---that's why

:sarcasm:

[BeyondGeography]

34. Seems she wasn't in a hurry to get to the bottom of things either

[rollin74]

40. speedy trials are gone if the defendant wants it that way

Casey Anthony and her lawyers waived her right to a speedy trial

[marions ghost]

18. This is just another sordid little case of child abuse

People get off after committing heinous crimes every day in this country. This one was played up to the hilt because of the somewhat unusual circumstances, but the result should not be surprising. The justice system isn't working too well these days. Lots of criminals get off, especially white collar ones.

Yes the Anthony trial was a travesty of justice. Child abuse is increasing as economic hardship deepens, and look at all the deaths caused to children by policies of our government every day. Where's the outrage? The media doesn't play that up.

[blueclown]

21. The prosecution couldn't prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt.

I don't call that a travesty of justice. I call that a reaffirmation of our justice system.

[glowing]

22. I agree. One is presumed innocent until proven guilty. She was not proved guilty.

It means that the system works... They had these jurors sequestered away from the public outrage and media's onslaught. They looked at the evidence (which there was little of and none of it was connected directly to Casey), and as much as they were abhorred at her behavior of partying, it didn't prove guilt. There have been cases where innocent people have been found guilty and served a lot of time or have been executed for crimes they didn't commit.

In this case, there wasn't even evidence of abuse. There was a lot of evidence supporting that she was a good mother.

[marions ghost]

25. OK so you agree with the verdict

in this case--OK. But what I'm saying is that it is naive to go on to say, "the system works."

You and I disagree that the system is working.

[glowing]

26. Do you have a suggestion in making it better? I'm serious.

The knee jerk reactionary suggestions that have been spouted because of this case are down right scary. Being judged by a jury of one's peers has been in place for quite some time. Perhaps the jury process should be changed? A lot of people try to get out of serving as a juror. Maybe if it actually paid a wage that wouldn't financially harm many people would be helpful. Its also odd to me that I've been called to jury duty 3 times; 2 of those times I've sat on a jury. My husband who has been at the same address and does vote and is a citizen has never been served a summons for jury duty. And each state does it differently. My mother in a different state was on "reserve" for up to a year to serve on a jury. Here in FL, its normally 1 day (that's how long most trial are and if they are longer than a day, the judge will say in case it causes too much of a hardship), it fulfills jury duty for a year, and its probably the reason we have really speedy verdicts.

Oh and btw, because of so many issues with cops down here and the state's attny offices, most people serving believe about 1/2 to none of what the police officials say "happen". I guess abuse, fraud, and cell phone cameras/ video has really worked against taking the "good" officers at their word. One of the cases I sat on was charges on police brutatlity. 3 cops testified. We didn't believe their "story" of the events taking place.. and basicly threw the case out. The judge acted mad at us and the prosecuor had us polled and was slamming around her file folders on her desk. It looked like a slam dunk, but we didn't believe the cops...

[marions ghost]

58. I think the jury system is flawed

it seems logical in theory but the way it's carried out is not working. I don't think we need jury trials whatsoever in low level civil cases. A terrible waste of time and money and most of the time people don't know enough about the law or the issues being debated to make a good decision. Let Judge Judy decide. Cases would be handled much more efficiently. The system is archaic and nobody wants to do it anyway. Foe example, I've had to try to decide whether a middle aged man who bought a clunker "vintage" sportscar got gypped (after he drove the car three years). You would not believe the endless BS on this case. I have better things to do. It's almost insulting to make working people be hostages to decide a case like this. Let Judge Judy decide this little stuff.

I think we do still need juries for high dollar white collar crime (ie. criminal) and for other criminal offenses. But there are so many ways that juries can be skewed, persuaded, corrupted these days that I think it's very difficult to trust the verdict. So I would like to see several reforms in how juries are handled. You can probably imagine what some of those might be if you have served on a jury.

To really answer your question I'd have to write a dissertation, but that's the gist. I think our justice system is crumbling and is failing us now.

[neverforget]

62. Let judges decide? They would have no agenda whatsoever

:eyes: Seriously bad idea

[marions ghost]

82. Yep

let judges decide on the lesser matters (juries only on criminal cases). It's not hard to tell if a judge is making good decisions or not. If not, get rid.

It's antiquated and to have 12 people's time tied up on run of the mill and bogus cases. Much less expensive and fairer because lawyers select juries that are not qualified (you know they select for ignorance, even if it's just ignorance in certain areas). I'd rather have a smart Judge Judy decide my case ANY day.

[theHandpuppet]

41. "There was a lot of evidence supporting that she was a good mother."

Why sure... any good mother wouldn't report their little child missing for 31 days while she partied her ass off. Mother of the year!

[Boudica the Lyoness]

44. As a mother this offends me;

"In this case, there wasn't even evidence of abuse. There was a lot of evidence supporting that she was a good mother".

This statement is totally fucked up. A good mother doesn't ignore the fact her child has been missing for over a month! It doesn't matter what she did in that month the child was missing. I didn't really follow the trial, but wasn't it Casey's mother who reported the child missing while Casey didn't give a shit? And YOU think she's a good mother?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

[LisaL]

46. Yes, it was Casey's mother who reported the child missing.

[wordpix]

55. exactly---for 31 days she lied about where her daughter was---WHY?

Because she's guilty as hell, that's why

[glowing]

63. And it shows that you didn't follow any of the case.. just rushed to the media's assumptions

and over the top reporting... As the case goes, she died on June 16th. The child was never missing. And no one really knows how she died.. she was either killed or met a fatal accident. But all of her behavior prior to June 16th was that she was a good mother. I was surprised that they had so little evidence and yet they charged her with Murder 1.

[LisaL]

66. What exactly in her behavior indicated she was a good mother?

Even assuming the story the defense came up with is the correct one, the child drowned, but 911 was not called, and instead the child's body was dumped into a swamp. And Casey went on partying, as if nothing happened. That's a good mother to you?

[marions ghost]

23. You and I would probably disagree

about the functionality of the jury system, or at least the way it's conducted these days.

Look at the corruption in the system everywhere and you will not be "reaffirmed."

[trud]

29. our system

The jury did a sensible job. The prosecution didn't prove it's case, so the jury didn't give in to mob hysteria and said not guilty. Now they're paying for it by getting death threats, which is a failure of our system.

[lbrtbell]

38. That's why Bush and Cheney are free, too

Obama, et. al. did a sensible job. They didn't give in to the "mob hysteria" of people who wanted to see those bastards tried at The Hague.

You seem to be confused about what the real failure of our system is....

[mvd]

50. I agree

No one on the jury said it means "innocent." To me, it was the right decision under the reasonable doubt standard. With the Bush comparison, there's no doubt he lied us into war. So we're just ignoring Bush when we shouldn't.

[wordpix]

54. there was enough evidence for me that I would have found tot mom guilty

but then again, I can analyze bits and pieces of information and follow the dots. Some can't.

[blueclown]

59. "Tot Mom"

I guess you would find her guilty if you only watched Nancy Grace every day. Who wouldn't?

[WatsonT]

84. I call it a travesty of justice

when the lawyers don't do their job that's a problem.

Every other aspect of the system worked well, but the prosecution dropped the ball.

Ideally everyone would do their job and justice would be served.

[Glimmer of Hope]

24. Meanwhile... Millions of people across the Horn of Africa are facing

starvation without a peep from the MSM.

[Amaya]

31. it doesn't matter they aren't cute white chicks

come on.... we have our priorities in this country!

[Endangered Specie]

48. Seriously, didn't everyone get the memo?

:sarcasm:

[closeupready]

51. Exactly. And the fact that people waste energy on someone like that is sad.

And depressing.

[wordpix]

56. that is true; however, the case does expose the injustice in our justice system

[closeupready]

65. I agree that the verdict was disappointing, but not that 12 people reached unanimity unfairly.

If that's what you mean.

[WatsonT]

85. People tend to care about things that happen in their neck of the woods more

than they do things that happen halfway around the world to people who are very different from them in culture and yes ethnicity.

That's just the way we work. We weren't really designed to be able to understand the concept of billions of unique people. We're really geared to understand several hundred.

[wizstars]

33. So now she'll join O.J. in searching for the real killer......

uh-huh, yeah, fersure, yep, mm-hmmmmm................





IGNORE THIS PERSON

[Fuddnik]

35. Did she get a tweet from Anthony Weiner yet?

If not, I'll have to tweet her my weiner!

[IcyPeas]

42. regarding her being a "good mother"...

I suspect cindy looked after Caylee often while Casey went out partying and to her fake job at Universal. She seemed like a part time mother when it was convenient for her. So a good part-time mother perhaps until she snapped and killed her kid.

[glowing]

64. So you are saying all the mothers out there that have to use daycare and

friends/ family to have their children watched are bad mothers. That's just not logical. Grandparents are normally the first people to step into the role of babysitter. Its tough out here for all mothers. Its not like most of us have the option of being at home mothers. The bootstrap method and judging others lives without walking in their shoes is disgusting to me.

[LisaL]

72. Well Casey had an imaginary nanny for Caylee.

But I don't think that qualifies as daycare.

[socialshockwave]

43. Disgusting

Biggest miscarriage of justice ever.

Now she's free to party and lead her "new life"(like the tattoo she got while Caylee was missing)....

[alcibiades_mystery]

47. It was "beautiful life"

or "bella vita"

Get it straight. :rofl:

[rayofreason]

45. Too much attention to a scummy person. n/t

[tabasco]

49. Sick witch.

God'll get her.

[wordpix]

57. karma is definitely going to catch up with her

[krabigirl]

75. or maybe not. Has it caught up to dubya yet? didn't think so.

[krabigirl]

76. who cares?