Editor's note: For more on the jury's finding that Casey Anthony is not guilty in daughter Caylee's death read our full story here.
[Updated at 8:20 p.m.] From the moment word came that Casey Anthony was acquitted of murdering her 2-year-old daughter, online networking sites were flooded with a cascade of amateur commentary. A few big names, including Kim Kardashian, joined the fray. Most condemned the verdict - "no justice for Caylee" was a common comment - which comes after years of the case serving as fodder for cable news, tabloids and the like.
[Updated at 7:55 p.m.] Mourners of Caylee Anthony want you to turn your porch lights on tonight in honor of the slain 2-year-old.
The Facebook event, "Porch lights on for Caylee Marie Anthony," urges people "all over the world" to start participating at "9 pm in your own time zone."
Already, 546,610 have said they're attending, and some say their lights are already on.
[Updated at 7:20 p.m.] Alternate juror Russell Huekler said he agrees with the jury's verdict "wholeheartedly" and surmised that Caylee Anthony's death was a "horrific accident" gone awry.
"The prosecution did not prove their case," said Huekler, who sat through the entire case but did not get to deliberate the charges.
Prosecutors failed to answer the question of how Caylee died, he said.
From the testimony, Huekler said he drew the conclusion that "it was probably a horrific accident" that Anthony and her father, George Anthony, covered up.
"Unfortunately it did snowball and got away from them," Huekler said. "It was such a horrific accident that they didn't know how to deal with it. The family appeared to be very dysufintional and instead of admitting there was an accident, they chose to hide it, for whatever reason."
[Updated at 5:08 p.m.] Attorney Mark Lippman issued a statement on behalf of Lee, George and Cindy Anthony:
While the family may never know what has happened to Caylee Marie Anthony, they now have closure for this chapter of their life. They will now begin the long process of rebuilding their lives.
Despite the baseless defense chosen by Casey Anthony, the family believes that the Jury made a fair decision based on the evidence presented, the testimony presented, the scientific information presented and the rules that were given to them by the Honorable Judge Perry to guide them.
The family hopes that they will be given the time by the media to reflect on this verdict and decide the best way to move forward privately.
The family also wanted the public to know that if anyone wanted to honor Caylee by leaving stuffed animals or other toys at any area near their home, that they would prefer those items be donated in Caylee’ s name to families in need, religious centers, or any other entity where the toys would be appreciated.
ORANGE COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE
[Updated at 4:10 p.m.] Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings issues a plea for restraint after Casey Anthony is acquitted of murder.
"As the verdict has been rendered we ask our community to respect the decision the jury and court have made today. We ask for your continued peaceful acknowledgement of that verdict.
[Updated at 3:47 p.m.] The delay in recovering Caylee Anthony's remains worked to the "considerable disadvantage" to the prosecution's efforts to prove Casey Anthony's guilt, Ninth Judicial Circuit State Attorney Lawson Lamar said.
With no "smoking gun" and a victim who was "reduced by time and the elements to skeletal remains," made the case all the more the more difficult to prove, he said. Nonetheless, he said, police and prosecutors did their job - and so did the jury.
"I never, ever criticize a jury; theirs is a task of deciding what to believe," he said. "We're disappointed with the verdict today and surprised because we know the facts and we put in absolutely every single piece of evidence that existed."
He said his staff would return to the task of addressing the 101,00 cases that come to his office each year, including a handful of open child murder cases.
"Child murders, regrettably and terribly, are not rare in America today and those deaths are no less horrible," he said. "The only difference is the news has not highlighted their murders."
He also praised his staff for not talking about the case outside of the courtroom, saying the rush to convict Casey Anthony in the news "led to the great expense" of having to seek a jury "outside the media market."
"So much of the angst and taxpayer expense could've been avoided if others had not succumbed to the temptation provided by quick notoriety," Lawson said.
"For us the case has never been about the defendant in particular. It has always been about seeking justice for Caylee and speaking on her behalf."
THE JURY
[Updated at 3:14 p.m.] Members of the jury in the Casey Anthony case have said they are not interested in speaking with members about the case or the verdict, a court spokeswoman said.
[Updated at 3:10 p.m.] We are waiting on an expected news conference from the jurors in the Casey Anthony trial.
A room has been set up for them to address the media, but none are required to actually say anything if they do not want to.
[Updated at 2:50 p.m.] Defense Attorney Jose Baez said he had mixed emotions about the case and that he had to work hard against media bias that existed during the search for Caylee and the case against Casey Anthony.
"You cannot convict someone until they have their day in court," he said.
Baez said he was happy for Casey Anthony and the decision made by the jury. Now he hopes Casey Anthony can move on.
"I want her to grieve and to grow and somehow get her life back together," he said.
Baez said the case was a true example of a jury doing what they are supposed to - finding their verdict based on evidence and not emotion.
"We have the greatest constitution in the world and if the media and other members of the public don’t respect it, it will become meaningless," he said. "And today and yesterday on the Fourth of July, there was a breath of life."
Baez said he is thrilled that when he goes home today and his daughter asks what he did today he can say - "I saved a life."
"I think this case is a perfect example for why the death penalty does not work... " Baez added. "Murder is not right no matter who does it."
[Updated at 2:45 p.m.] Dorothy Clay Sims speaking first for the defense team addressed the media.
"I am thankful for today's verdict on behalf of Casey Anthony," she said.
Defense Attorney Cheney Mason also addressed the media, angrily scolding them for their coverage of the case.
"I hope that this is a lesson to those who have indulged in media assassination for three years," he said.
Defense Attorney Jose Baez added that "while we're happy for Casey there are no winners in this case."
"Caylee has passed on far, far too soon, and what my driving force has been for the past three years is to make sure there has been justice for Caylee and Casey," he said. "Casey did not murder Caylee, it's that simple. And today our system of justice has not dishonored her memory by a false conviction."
[Updated at 2:34 p.m.] A room is being prepared for the jury to take questions from the media about their verdict.
iReport: What's your reaction to the verdict
[Updated at 2:31 p.m.] For the first time a wide smile came across Casey Anthony's face. She began to smile and laugh as her team surrounded her and congratulated her on being found not guilty of murdering her daughter.
[Updated at 2:29 p.m.] Casey Anthony took tissues from a court bailiff and wiped her face at the back of the courtroom.
[Updated at 2:26 p.m.] Casey Anthony embraced her attorney Jose Baez and the rest of her legal team before sobbing.
Anthony wiped tears from her eyes as her team of lawyers hugged each other.
[Updated at 2:24 p.m.] Casey Anthony wiped tears from her eyes and clutched her attorneys' hands as the judge addressed the courtroom.
[Updated at 2:23 p.m.] Casey Anthony returned to the courtroom after briefly leaving with a slight smile on her face.
The judge set sentencing for Thursday at 9 a.m.
[Updated at 2:22 p.m.] Casey Anthony has left the courtroom. Her parents also quickly left the courtroom after the verdict was read.
[Updated at 2:22 p.m.] Judge Belvin Perry confirms the jury's verdict.
[Updated at 2:20 p.m.] Casey Anthony cried as she hugged her defense attorney Jose Baez before she approached a podium to be addressed by the judge.
[Updated at 2:20 p.m.] A poll of the jurors showed they all agreed on the verdict for every count.
[Updated at 2:20 p.m.] Casey Anthony has been found guilty of four counts of providing false information to law enforcement in the case of her 2-year-old daughter Caylee, who was slain in 2008.
[Updated at 2:19 p.m.] Casey Anthony is sobbing in court as the verdict is being read.
[Updated at 2:17 p.m.]Â Casey Anthony has been found not guilty of first-degree murder in the 2008 death of her 2-year-old daughter Caylee. She was also found not guilty of aggravated child abuse and aggravated manslaughter.
[Updated at 2:16 p.m.] Judge Belvin Perry is reading over the verdict form filled out by the jury.
[Updated at 2:15 p.m.] The jury has entered the courtroom.
[Updated at 2:15 p.m.] Members inside the courtroom have stood up as Judge Belvin Perry prepares to bring in the jury.
[Updated at 2:11 p.m.] George Anthony is sitting with his eyes closed and his hands clasped next to his wife Cindy inside the courtroom as they await to hear their daughter's fate.
[Updated at 2:04 p.m.] Casey Anthony, flanked by her lawyers, is sitting silently, biting her lip and taking deep breaths as she awaits the jury's verdict.
[Updated at 2:02 p.m.] Casey Anthony has just entered the courtroom and was met by two of her lawyers. She is wearing a pink ruffled shirt, her hair was pulled back in a ponytail and she was biting her nails.
[Updated at 1:57 p.m.] Jose Baez, one of Casey Anthony's lawyers, has just arrived at the courthouse in Orlando, Florida, In Session reports.
[Updated at 1:52 p.m.] The jury deliberated for 10 hours, 40 minutes and 33 seconds before reaching a verdict in the Casey Anthony trial, which included 33 days of testimony and two days of closing arguments, according to CNN sister network HLN.
[Updated at 1:45 p.m.] The jury has reached a verdict in the Casey Anthony capital murder trial, according to staff at the Orange County, Florida, courthouse.
The verdict, reached by the seven-woman, five-man jury, will cap a trial that stretched to more than six weeks and featured allegations of sexual abuse, questions regarding Casey Anthony's competence and various theories on what happened to 2-year-old Caylee.
The verdict is scheduled to be read at 2:15 p.m ET.
Casey Anthony, 25, was charged with seven counts - first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse, aggravated manslaughter of a child and four counts of providing false information to a law-enforcement officer in Caylee's 2008 disappearance and death.
Watch Nancy Grace Monday through Sunday starting at 8 p.m. ET on HLN. For the latest from Nancy Grace click here.
0 evidence = NOT GUILTY.
I am shocked, now she will fulfill the bellavida. Her family is destroyed and a innocent child dead. So sad even if she admits to murdering her daughter and mocks her kids memory she can't be charged. Double jeopardy. Her lies worked what a great example for mothers everywhere. She should tie her tubes and never be blessed with a child ever. I can't stop crying, how do they think caley died and got tossed like trash. Life catches up with everyone she has lost her family and most people think she is a killer so I can't imagine her quality of life .
ATTENTION EVERYONE. Please shut the heck up about the justice system being served. Stop equating the process with justice. It's like getting bad food at a restaurant. Sure you order, they cooked, and it was brought, but the goal was customer satisfaction, not the process. When you get bad food, you don't complain, right? I mean, the process was completed, so the results don't matter, right?
>
>> She is guilty... just like OJ Simpson. Her judgement day will come and then her eternal fate
>> will be made in the pits of hell.
>
Ya gotta love comments like this. So she's guilty. Maybe we shoulda just hanged her first off rather than get all these dang lawyers involved!! Well, we don't do it that way in this society; we rely on due process. The state presented its case and the defense presented its case to a jury of her peers. They were not convinced that she was guilty.
That's due process, hothead. You want lynch mobs you're in the wrong society!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rdmG0k8S8k
There is no doubt that this woman is a psychopath, however there s no hard evidence to prove she is guilty. "Tot Mom" liked to party every night. When she went to bars, she gave the child the drug to put her to sleep, The child who was two, rebelled and fussed and the tape was put over the face to shut her up while mom went into bars. One night the child rebelled against the drug because of the awful smell so mom put tape to over her mouth again to shut her up. She was left in that car for who knows how long, perhaps days! When she returned, the child was dead. Perhaps the smell in the car was related. A sociopath lies easily, cannot love and thinks she can do no wrong.
I agree. The crux of the failed court system issue is, she should have been convicted of a felony for witnessing a toddler's death, hiding the body, and not reporting the death. Period. In this instance, there was no consequence whatsoever for committing these terrible acts.
Can a charge of disposing of a body be brought now?
Defense Attorney Cheney Mason also addressed the media, angrily scolding them for their coverage of the case.
"I hope that this is a lesson to those who have indulged in media assassination for three years," he said.
Wow. That really takes some gall for the defense team to accuse the media of "[character] assassination" after having used that very thing as one of their primary defense strategies, making unfounded and unproven accusations of molestation against the father and brother.
You bring up a good point! I hope they get what they deserve too! I don't know how the whole defense team can sleep at night!!!!! Either they are stupid and believe Casey's lies or else they are just as evil as Casey is!!!!!
Going back to the trial and statements from both parties, it really looked like the Prosecutor had a good case. What made it difference is when you have 12 dumb @5$ jurors. Or you can just have one that could change the whole verdict.
I hope the prosecution goes after Cindy Anthony for perjury now because I am sure her lying on the stand helped her daughter get away with murder!!!!! I hope they can never sleep at night!!! So much for justice!!!!!
II believe that the jurors wanted to convict her but the prosecution could not make the case and the defense did a great job of raising a reasonable doubt. It beaks my heart to see that monster go free, but that is the system of government we live with and it is the best system in the world, despite its may flaws.
We need to reform or evolve our justice system. I believe this sorts of cases, mother killing her baby in a horrific manner, is beyond most people's imagination and beyond how our justice system was established. We need bring, drug-partying-induced, narcissistic, spoiled, arrogant, emotionally detached-indifferent-parental behaviors of modern age society into our legal system.
It's not the jury's fault... they are given specific instructions... was the prosecution able to prove 1st degree murder or "aggravated" manslaughter?...NO. Should the prosecution had gone after the lesser regular manslaughter charge? YES. How many of the the jury members are thinking she accidently killed her daughter... "they" sure as hell can't bring it up in court.
Florida has now set case precedent law for people who want to kill their kids: a) suffocate them; b) hide their remains and don't tell anyone they're missing until the body decays; c) claim they drowned; d) claim you panicked and didn't want child abuse charges. In return, you get a slap on your wrist. GOD HELP the unwanted children of Florida.
The crux of the failed court system issue is, she should have been convicted of a felony for witnessing a toddler's death, hiding the body, and not reporting the death. Period. In this instance, there was no consequence whatsoever for committing these terrible acts.
Get over it people. everyone needs to be upset with the STATE and the police. Terrible weak case.
Nonsense. The crux of the failed court system issue is, she should have been convicted of a felony for witnessing a toddler's death, hiding the body, and not reporting the death. Period. In this instance, there was no consequence whatsoever for committing these terrible acts.