Casey Anthony, who earlier this week was found not guilty of killing her daughter, was sentenced on Thursday to four years in jail, not including the nearly three years she has served for lying to investigators, though the precise time she will spend in jail has not yet been determined.
Judge Belvin Perry said that he would have to meet with lawyers for at least an hour or so to decide how much time Ms. Anthony should be credited with serving. A decision is to be reached sometime Thursday. She was also fined $1,000 for each of the four counts of lying she has been convicted of.
Ms. Anthony, 25, showed no visible emotion as her sentence was being read. She has been in jail in Florida after being charged with killing Caylee Marie, her 2-year-old daughter.
As the sentencing hearing was taking place inside the Orange County Courthouse in Orlando, protesters outside rallied against Ms. Anthony’s acquittal on murder charges.
During the nearly six-week trial, prosecutors said Ms. Anthony had rendered the girl unconscious with chloroform before suffocating her by placing duct tape over her nose and mouth. Afterward, prosecutors said, she had dumped her daughter’s body in a wooded area, where it was found about six months later by the authorities.
The defense had argued that Caylee had drowned accidentally in the family swimming pool and that the death had been concealed by Caylee’s parents, Ms. Anthony and George Anthony, after they had panicked.
The jury, which had been sequestered for the trial, reached its decision to acquit Ms. Anthony on charges of murder and aggravated child abuse in less than 11 hours. If convicted of those crimes, Ms. Anthony would have faced a possible death sentence.
There was no direct evidence linking Ms. Anthony to the death of her child, and the prosecution’s case rested on circumstantial evidence. The child’s body, once found, was too badly decomposed for a cause of death to be determined.
At least one juror, Jennifer Ford, a 32-year-old nursing student, has said that while the panel was not convinced that Ms. Anthony was innocent, there simply was not enough evidence to convict her.
“I did not say she was innocent,” Ms. Ford told ABC News. “I just said there was not enough evidence. If you cannot prove what the crime was, you cannot determine what the punishment should be.”
The verdict incited outrage from people who had watched the televised trial and then used Twitter and set up Facebook pages to venomously denounce the verdict. Ms. Anthony, according to her lawyer, has received numerous death threats.
Caylee was last seen June 16, 2008. Her remains were found Dec. 11 in woods near the Anthony home. Ms. Anthony failed to report Caylee missing for 31 days. During her daughter’s disappearance, Ms. Anthony got a tattoo that said “bella vita” — beautiful life.
The defense acknowledged Ms. Anthony’s many deceptions, but said they happened because she had been sexually abused by her father and had been taught to lie her entire life. Mr. Anthony, who had testified tearfully during the trial, denied abusing his daughter and finding Caylee in the swimming pool.
nytimes.com
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