Casey Will Walk Free
(CNN) -- Confident the state had presented everything it could to prove Casey Anthony killed her daughter, prosecutor Jeff Ashton on Wednesday recalled his shock when Florida jurors decided otherwise.
"When I heard the 'not guilty' on the child abuse, I knew that was it," said the assistant state prosecutor . "I remember mouthing 'wow' four or five times to myself."
Ashton, speaking with InSession's Beth Karas, said he is convinced there was no evidence that Caylee Anthony, 2, died accidentally in 2008.
After less than 11 hours of deliberation, a jury Tuesday found Casey Anthony not guilty of first-degree murder and the other most serious charges. But the jury convicted her on four misdemeanor counts of providing false information to law enforcement officers. She will be sentenced Thursday.
Juror Jennifer Ford told ABC News that she and the other jurors cried and were "sick to our stomachs" after voting to acquit Anthony.
Clark: Casey more shocking than O.J. Prosecution 'disappointed' by verdict
"I did not say she was innocent," said Ford, who had previously only been identified as juror number 3. "I just said there was not enough evidence. If you cannot prove what the crime was, you cannot determine what the punishment should be."
Prosecutors alleged Casey Anthony used chloroform to render her daughter unconscious and then duct-taped her mouth and nose to suffocate her. They said that she put the child's body in the trunk of her car for a few days before disposing of it. Caylee's skeletal remains were discovered December 11, 2008, by former Orange County meter reader Roy Kronk.
Defense attorneys maintained the child drowned in the Anthony's above-ground pool on July 16, and that Casey Anthony and her father, George Anthony, panicked upon finding her there and covered up the death. George Anthony denied that in his testimony.
Ashton told InSession that Casey Anthony showed premeditation by "her leaving with Caylee and her never being seen again."
The prosecutor acknowledged no expert determination of a cause of death was significant. Still, Ashton said, he would like to know how duct tape came to be found on Caylee's skull.
Ashton also spoke of confrontations at pre-trial hearings and during the trial with defense attorney Jose Baez.
"For Jose, everybody that was on the other side was the enemy and was lying and was this and that," Ashton said. "We went through a lot of accusations and there were times when I responded to them. We fought hard and I fight hard with most people I went to trial with."
There will be no legal restrictions on Casey Anthony profiting on the details of this case, cashing in on deals for movies, books or interviews, analysts say.
After 30 years, Ashton is retiring. He put that off to help handle the Anthony case.
"This case was the most fascinating, complex, the most challenging case that I could possibly hope for," he said. "Everything after this would just be boring."
http://www.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/07/06/...ial.attorneys/
I personally think she should rot in a cell. This is just an outrage.