Casey Anthony Acquited on Murder Charges
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Just yesterday, she was facing the death penalty. Now, Casey Anthony could go free as early as tomorrow. I'm Christine Romans. After her stunning acquittal on murder charges, could Casey Anthony be sentenced to time already served for lying to police?</s>KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Kiran Chetry. New evidence that al Qaeda is back in Afghanistan, the Afghan army is short-staffed, still learning to shoot as the U.S. tries to leave -- what a CNN crew found out on patrol in the mountains.</s>ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Ali Velshi. NASA about to retire its shuttle program after Friday's final launch. The space agency is now looking into its past to help make a transition into its future -- on this AMERICAN MORNING.</s>ROMANS: And good morning, everybody. It's Wednesday, July 6th. I'm Christine Romans. Welcome to</s>AMERICAN MORNING. CHETRY: Glad you're with us today. We're still talking about the Casey Anthony trial. What happens now? She could be a free woman tomorrow at her hearing on sentencing, but she was acquitted on murder charges and the death of her 2-year-old daughter Caylee. After six weeks of testimony, nearly 11 hours of jury deliberations, it was not the courtroom climax that many seem to be expecting.</s>KAREN DELPILAR, COURT CLERK: As to the charge of first-degree murder, verdict as to count one, we, the jury, find the defendant not guilty. As to the charge of aggravated child abuse, verdict as to count one, we, the jury, find the defendant not guilty. As to the charge of aggravated manslaughter of a child, verdict as to count three, we, the jury, find the defendant not guilty.</s>ROMANS: Wow. The look on her face -- I mean, just the look on her face as those counts are read.</s>VELSHI: Yes. The jurors, by the way, weren't talking after the case about how they reached their verdict. But one of the five alternates who sat through the entire trial and heard all of the testimony but did not take part in the deliberations say his fellow jurors got it right. Now, while the case raised many questions about the Anthony family, this alternate juror says in the end it was the prosecution's case that was weak.</s>RUSSELL HUEKLER, ALTERNATE JUROR: This was a very dysfunctional family, and they did not handle things well at all. Yes, we all believe and I'm pretty sure I can say this for all 17 of us, there was some type of horrific accident, but they didn't handle it. Overall, I think the family knows a lot more than what they're -- what came out at the trial. But they didn't prove that there was a murder.</s>ROMANS: For at least one of Casey Anthony's defense lawyers, their dramatic victory was a chance to lash at those, who he says, has tried and convicted Casey in the media.</s>CHENEY MASON, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I hope that this is a lesson to those of you who have been indulged in media assassination for three years, biased and prejudiced, and incompetent talking heads saying what would be and how to be. I'm disgusted by some of the lawyers that have done this. And I can tell you that my colleagues from coast to coast and border to border, have condemned this whole process of lawyers getting on television and talking about cases that they don't know a damn thing about and don't have the experience to back up their words or the law to do it. Now, you've learned a lesson.</s>VELSHI: Wow!</s>CHETRY: Interesting first comments -- now about the child. Not about this 2-year-old that is dead or now about how Casey is going to rebuild her life but attack on TV lawyers. It may have been a questionable taste, but Casey Anthony's defense team wasted no time celebrating her acquittal. Just minutes after the stunning verdict, they were spotted partying at a bar of a restaurant across the street from the courthouse. There you see one of them jumping up and down showing pictures. It is the same restaurant where the defense team has eaten lunch nearly every day of the six-week long trial.</s>VELSHI: Casey Anthony's mother and father, Cindy and George Anthony, left the courtroom quietly after the verdict. They showed no emotion at the time. They issued a statement through their attorney that said this, in part, "While the family may never know what happened to Caylee Marie Anthony, they now have closure for this chapter of their life. They will now begin the long process of rebuilding. Despite the baseless defense chosen by Casey Anthony, the family believes that the jury made a fair decision based on the evidence presented." That's a loaded --</s>ROMANS: There are a lot of qualifiers.</s>VELSHI: A lot of qualifiers.</s>ROMANS: I was parsing to the statement for the qualifiers what they had to say.</s>CHETRY: They say that Casey chose. That was also interesting. Casey --</s>ROMANS: Casey chose. Let's dig deeper into the verdict and what comes next for Casey Anthony. Joining us right now, once again, is Sunny Hostin, former federal prosecutor and legal contributor to "In Session" on truTV. I want to start with something that you've been remarking about, that alternate juror, what he was saying what was going through his mind about his case. And you say he was saying exactly what the defense had presented.</s>SUNNY HOSTIN, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: He quoted the defense's opening statement and closing argument. And so, it just goes to show you which arguments swayed the jury in. I think it's really, really telling, because so many people said this defense was a terrible defense. This was an incompetent defense team, an incompetent Jose Baez. And when you hear a juror saying that --</s>ROMANS: Jury signs are so funny, though. I mean, you'll know that it was going to resonate with the jury. That's what makes it so fascinating.</s>CHETRY: But he also said we determined this was a result of some horrific accident. That was never --</s>HOSTIN: It snowballed out of control -- which is exactly the words of the mistress, River Cruz, who they obviously found credible.</s>CHETRY: Bu nobody explained what was the horrific accident then? They just didn't need to explain that.</s>HOSTIN: Well, you know, I think that is the thing about reasonable doubt. I have always said a prosecutor needs all 12 jurors to believe your theory. A defense attorney just needs one for a hung jury. And in this case, 12 jurors believed at least the substance of the opening statement, even though we now know some of that did not come into evidence, a large portion of it actually.</s>VELSHI: There's a lot of stuff out there that's unclear. Then it starts to hinge on other things. And one of the things you pointed out is this guy, Jose Baez, who many Americans had no idea who this guy was -- in fact, many people in Florida had no idea who he was. He had sort of an intimate relationship with the jury. He was a likeable guy.</s>HOSTIN: He did. And it's sort of lawyering 101. I used to tell people -- you know, prosecuted cases in D.C. There's a little bit of a southern draw there. I'm a New Yorker, born and bred here. Opening statement, I would always say I'm going to talk a little differently like everybody else talks because I've got that New York accent.</s>VELSHI: Right. Right.</s>HOSTIN: But that's OK, right? And so, I would try to do that with my jury. And I saw that with Jose Baez. Every morning, he would say, "Good morning, ladies and gentlemen" of the jury. By the end of that case, they were saying "good morning' in unison. That means that they really connected with him. And they say that is extremely crucial for a jury. They got to believe you.</s>CHETRY: The judge decided not to release the names of these jurors. Yet, none of them, they have all chosen not to speak publicly at this point. But it was interesting when you were reading through some of the paper work about the descriptions of them. In one, I believe -- was it an African-American woman who said because of her religion, she didn't feel comfortable judging people? Isn't that the one prosecutors tried to do a preemptive (ph) strike and just get her out?</s>HOSTIN: They tried to bounce her.</s>CHETRY: How worried do you think this prosecution was about summoning the jury who they felt -- there was another juror who said, I can never be comfortable with the death penalty.</s>HOSTIN: Yes. But then that juror sort of backtracked and said, but I would follow the law. Look, you know, there are two camps and I happen to be in the former. I think you get to 12 people. If you got a good case, you can convince that jury. I was never really that concerned about my juries. In fact, one case that I tried, it was a drug case. Before I knew it, there was a guy with a marijuana conviction on it. And when I back to the U.S. attorney's office, everybody was calling him blunt (ph) boy, they were making fun of me, they had all sorts of pools. I got a conviction.</s>VELSHI: Right.</s>HOSTIN: He told me -- told one of the investigators afterwards since he knew drugs, he knew the guy was guilty. So, I think that it doesn't matter so much about the jury. It really matters about the process and the case. And, again, I'll say it for the umpteen time. This was a transparent process, transparent -- cameras in the courtroom. Good prosecutor. Good defense team. You know, good judge. And you can't be upset with the verdict really because justice prevails when the system works.</s>ROMANS: You have seen a lot of destroyed families in prosecuting cases.</s>HOSTIN: Yes.</s>ROMANS: Is there any chance -- can this family ever be put back together? And maybe this isn't a legal question. As a lawyer --</s>HOSTIN: A mom.</s>ROMANS: A mom, a human.</s>VELSHI: Some of the things they all said about each other.</s>ROMANS: Can they ever -- I mean, geez!</s>HOSTIN: I think it's going to be really, really difficult. I think there is nothing like a mother's love and you saw that with Cindy Anthony. I mean, after she testified, she said, "I love you." So, certainly --</s>HOSTIN: I think they're going to try to build this, but I think it's going to be really, really difficult.</s>CHETRY: And where does Casey go if she gets out tomorrow, 9:00 in the morning?</s>HOSTIN: That's the question. Cheney Mason said she's not going back to the Anthony home. Some people are speculating that she will. But we know, you know, where does she work? Perhaps a book deal, perhaps a reality television show? She's got to live her life. I mean, we're all going to be watching.</s>ROMANS: She's the most famous 25-year-old in America.</s>VELSHI: Yes.</s>HOSTIN: Exactly.</s>VELSHI: All right. Sunny, thanks so much -- Sunny Hostin.</s>CHETRY: What do you think? Was Casey Anthony's acquittal, a result of a good defense or a poor prosecution? It's our question of the day. Email us and give us a tweet, send us, on Facebook as well, and we'll read some of your comments later in the show.</s>VELSHI: All right. Still ahead this morning, the latest round of debt talks are grinding to a halt. This is the hard. Both sides are digging in. Is there any way that Republicans and Democrats are going to agree and get something done within the next 27 days? What has to happen to seal a debt deal?</s>ROMANS: Also, the space shuttle's final mission may be in jeopardy -- thanks to the weather. Oh, no, that story. Plus, NASA's great next leap -- Mars, the moon, maybe asteroid? A live report from Kennedy Space Center. It's nine minutes after the hour.</s>CHETRY: We also have some crazy video, by the way, just into us. A squirrel trying to cross a road as a rabid Lamborghini going a hundred miles an hour approaches. We'll tell who won out.