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.] 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.
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So who killed her?? Who put her in the garbage bags? And why didn't the sheriff at the press conference state they would continue to search for Caylee's killer if Casey was found innocent (which I don't believe she is)? This is just wrong.
It is the same serial killer that killed OJ's wife plain and simple...
I don't know if Casey Anthony committed murder of which she was accused. I haven't heard nearly enough evidence. One thing I do know is this, the justice system is not broken because the result is not what 'we' wanted or expected.
Our judicial system does work. It works a lot better than what Nancy Grace and my beloved CNN would have offered her.
SUE CNN
when does she get out? I am going to FLA and tea bag her!
The Florida Prosecutors Office has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on bringing this case to trial and this is the best that they can do? This is a WASTE of tax payers money!
Can someone explain to me if Caylee drowned "accidently", how did her body have traces of chloroform on it , and why did the retrieved search information on the computer, which was used by Casey Anthony as well as her parents, showed that a search for the word "chloroform" was made using Google. And if she drowned, why tape the body and dispose of it in the woods a few miles from your home??? AND HOW DO YOU NOT TELL ANYONE YOUR BABY IS MISSING FOR OVER A MONTH WHEN YOU KNOW SHE DROWNED!!!! I think the jurors watched too many episodes of CSI and Law and Order and believe that somehow "fantasy" defense story really can happen even when the evidence says otherwise.
I couldn't agree with you more! Mr. Science is also right on target! I wonder who must have paid the jury off? As I hate to think they could in any way, shape of form come to that verdict if they weren't....Either that, or they must have been bribed, drugged, and beaten. That is the only thing I can think of that would cause them to find her not guilty. It's the only thing that would make sense unless of course they are brain~dead. Well, okay, that or they obviously have have no brain at all! It really is outrageous!
So in American you can just get away with not calling police or rescue squad when a child dies and dump it's body in the woods??? Who should take the fall then her Dad??? Even though it was HER car that cadaver dogs hit on for decomp. And her who searched for how to make chloroform and surprise surprise choloroform was in HER car. And I still want an answer for the duct tape. Hmmmm 3 strips of duct tape (the same brand as at her home) just magically floated across Caylee's hair, mouth and nose (with a heart sticker) and stuck to the skull like glue??? If she drown why the duct tape??? Hmmm....motive she wanted to party, live with Tony (who didn't want kids) and be free. She didn't even work how could she support a child??? murder weapon DUCT TAPE across the skull's nose and mouth hence suffocation. No proof Casey did it huh? Where is the proof she drown??? Regardless she then as an adult was an acessory to her Dad dumping the body in the woods. She didn't do a thing about it. What about the jail call with her mom when her mom says the new story is she drown and Casey says "surprise surprise". I guess the jury wanted an actual video of her committing the murder or her to actually tell the truth for the ONLY time hin her life and say she did it. Wow. Well Baez searched and searched to get this jury. A jury that is obviously dumb as a box of rocks. There is an epidemic in this country of mothers killing their children and no one is doing a thing about it.
Defense lawyers should be given the "If we can believe her and her mother's lies, we can convince anyone to be them too." award.
Are you people serioyu... black vs white? If Casey Anthony needs a place to stay.. I have a room available for her... no rent until she finds a job... no limits
You obviously have no children!
If that evil B writes a book or makes a movie No One should buy or watch it! I wouldn't make her rich off her wicked ways. Not to mention it would definetly be fictional anyways!!
This is crap! I agree. Not Guilty does not mean she didn't do it. It just mean that the prosecution couldn't prove it without a reasonable doubt. Sad for Caylee. Our justice system has alot to be desired, that's for sure.
I hope this doesn't end like the OJ Simpson case – where he had to harm other people before he finally got put into jail for his violence. the jury in that case made the right decision, although I thought he was guilty for sure. His subsequent behavior proved what a thug he was. I trust the jury – and realize they didn't hear all the trash we heard on the "news" . I hope they have started a new trend in jurys and future ones will not talk either. The media should leave them alone for at least 6 months – and then can ask them to speak. Let them catch their breath and get back to their own lives first. They'll have perspective then
EPIC PROSECUTION FAIL. The prosecution was god awful, they let the worst defense story and the most blatant smear campaign in the history of a murder trial beat them. They should be suspended immediately.
oh for sure the beautiful life is coming now.........talk show host, playboy spread, books, movies, etc.,etc,.etc.....that tattoo said it all (in memory of Kayleee, of course......)
She created a story to cover the disappearance of her daughter. One would only do this if they were involved in the disappearance or had knowledge of it. If she only had knowledge of the death of her daughter, why would she cover it up? Obviously she has no issue trying to point the finger at a family member. Her behaviour after Caylee's disappearance shows to any reasonable person that she had no sense of grief or loss over her daughter's death. Given this, it is not unreasonable that one would believe Casey killed her daughter. Then you have the alleged odour of a decomposing body in her car. There was enough testimony on this evidence for a reasonable person to believe that there was in fact a dead body in the car at sometime. Since there was no suggestion by the defence that it could be a different body it would be reasonable for one to conclude that it was Caylee's body. There was also the way in which the body was disposed of. Given the behaviour of the grandparents and Casey towards the disappearance and death of Caylee and that neither side offered any suggestion that someone else disposed of the body, a reasonable person would believe that it would be Casey that would dispose of her child in such a manner.
I could go on but to suggest that there is no evidence or not enough that a person could conclude without reasonable doubt that Casey is at the very least guilty of a lesser charge of aggravated manslaughter is ridiculous.
Retarded redneck jury...pretty simple really.