The names of the twelve jurors who found Casey Anthony not guilty of her daughter’s murder in July were released Tuesday morning by the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida. The five alternate jurors’ names were also released.
Although Florida’s broad public records laws would normally have made their identities public immediately after the trial ended, Judge Belvin Perry ordered a “cooling-off period” of nearly four months to allow public anger over the verdict to subside.
Perry said in a July ruling that the delay was intended to balance the public’s right to information with the jurors’ privacy. He also expressed concern for their safety and said some had reported receiving threats.
The jury acquitted Anthony of murder, manslaughter and aggravated child abuse for her daughter Caylee’s 2008 death. They found her guilty on four counts of lying to law enforcement officers.
Because of media coverage surrounding the case, jurors were selected from Pinellas County in May and brought to Orange County, where they were sequestered throughout the six-week trial. Since the verdict was announced, one juror and two alternates have identified themselves in media interviews. A few others have spoken anonymously.
The jury foreman declined to be interviewed at this time when contacted by a Nancy Grace producer on Tuesday, but he said the jury did what they could based on the evidence presented and he was surprised by the backlash against the verdict.
None of the other jurors had returned phone calls from producers late Tuesday morning. According to the Associated Press, most of jurors had their blinds or drapes closed and did not answer when reporters knocked on their doors.
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