Not guilty! ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. -- Casey Anthony has been found not guilty of first-degree murder in the death of her daughter, Caylee Marie Anthony, on Tuesday.
Sentencing for the charges of lying to authorities will be on Thursday.
Judge Belvin Perry read the verdict at 2:15 p.m. EDT Tuesday.The Florida jury of 12 deliberated for more than 10 hours. The jury of seven women and five men had worked through much of the long weekend, hearing closing arguments Sunday and Monday morning and deliberating for six hours that afternoon. Jurors were chosen from the Tampa Bay area because of pretrial media coverage, and have been sequestered in an Orlando hotel.The jury in the Casey Anthony case has reached a verdict -- a decision that will be made public at 2:15 p.m.
Word of a verdict comes shortly after Court administration spokeswoman Karen Levey today gave reporters covering the Casey Anthony case a rundown of what will likely happen once a verdict is reached in the murder trial.
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Casey Anthony goes through a range of expressions during a short conversation with her attorney Dorothy Clay Sims in court on Tuesday. (Joe Burbank, Orlando Sentinel) Photo: Casey Anthony goes through a range of expressions during a short conversation with her attorney Dorothy Clay Sims in court on Tuesday. (Joe Burbank, Orlando Sentinel)
Casey Anthony, left, with her attorneys Jose Baez, standing, and Dorothy Clay Sims, waits for the jury to come back for final instructions earlier Monday. (Joe Burbank, Orlando Sentinel) Photo: Casey Anthony, left, with her attorneys Jose Baez, standing, and Dorothy Clay Sims, waits for the jury to come back for final instructions earlier Monday. (Joe Burbank, Orlando Sentinel)
Casey Anthony trial Photo: Casey Anthony trial
No verdict, but locals are starting to react Story: Mourners, others travel to Casey Anthony's neighborhood while awaiting verdict.
The attorney for the defense and state, as well as the media, will have 30-minute advance notice that a verdict is reached.
Chief Judge Belvin Perry will warn those in the courtroom not to express approval or disapproval with the verdict.
Then jurors will return to the courtroom and the foreperson will hand verdict forms to a court deputy. The judge will review the forms and then hand them to a court clerk, Karen Delpilar, to read aloud.
Perry will then have jury members polled individually to confirm that their verdict is true and correct.
If Casey Anthony is convicted of first-degree murder as charged, there will be a 48-hour break before the penalty phase of the trial begins.
During that phase, jurors would hear more evidence and testimony before recommending a life or death sentence.
The alternate jurors will rejoin the regular jurors, if this is the outcome of the verdict.
If she is acquitted of all charges, the proceedings will end.
However, if she is found guilty of any lesser charges, Perry will set a sentencing date within a few days of the verdict. It's not clear whether victim-impact statements or a statement from Casey Anthony herself would be made before sentencing.
Perry ended deliberations at 6 p.m. Monday due to the holiday, but he has not decided yet how late he will let the jurors deliberate today.
Jurors who need smoke breaks have been led outside the building for those breaks, under careful security.
Levey also said it is not clear how many jurors will participate in the post-verdict news conference. But chairs with the jurors' numbers have been set in the media room on the 23rd floor of the courthouse.
That's the same floor as the courtroom where the trial has been held and the same floor where jurors are deliberating.
Their room is set up like a conference room with a long table, kitchen, bathroom facilities and a dry eraser board.
In a separate note, Levey said no more media credentials are being issued as the world awaits a verdict.
The 12 jurors who will determine Casey Anthony's fate returned briefly to the Orange County Courthouse this morning before resuming their deliberations in the murder trial.
Casey Anthony was in court this morning and seemed unusually chatty and animated as she spoke with one of her defense attorneys and waited for the jurors to return.
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