Casey Anthony: Judgment Day

SPEAKER_1 (0:04)

The State of Florida vs. Casey Marie Anthony. As to the charge of first-degree murder, we the jury find the defendant not guilty.

Louis Schlesinger (0:14)

This is like OU, and here again.

Frank George (0:16)

Absolutely shocked.

Cindy Anthony (0:18)

They totally got it wrong.

Frank George (0:19)

I cannot believe the verdict today.

Jose Baez (0:22)

You cannot convict someone until they've had their day in court.

SPEAKER_6 (0:28)

It began three years ago with a mystery.

Cindy Anthony (0:32)

My daughter has been missing for the last 31 days.

SPEAKER_7 (0:38)

This morning, a bag of bones was found, a skull detached. They believe it to be the body of Caylee Anthony.

SPEAKER_6 (0:47)

A community outrage. A family torn apart.

George Anthony (0:56)

What we've been through has been hell.

SPEAKER_6 (1:00)

And a nation focused on one woman.

Jeff Ashton (1:05)

People hate her.

Linda Drane Burdick (1:08)

She's been portrayed as an evil person.

SPEAKER_6 (1:10)

Tonight, on a special edition of 48 Hours, we will take you inside one of the most dramatic murder trials in recent memory.

SPEAKER_11 (1:21)

Is the defense ready?

Jeff Ashton (1:22)

Casey Anthony is guilty of murder in the first degree.

Jose Baez (1:26)

This is not a murder case. This is a sad, tragic accident.

Linda Kenney-Bodden (1:31)

It's better than any soap opera. The problem is, it's real.

SPEAKER_6 (1:35)

Ninety-one witnesses. Thirty days of testimony.

SPEAKER_14 (1:40)

You're looking at a human skull.

SPEAKER_15 (1:42)

It has a darkened band at the portion of the hair.

SPEAKER_14 (1:45)

The chloroform was shockingly high.

Richard Gabriel (1:48)

It's junk science and it's never been tested.

SPEAKER_6 (1:51)

Stunning revelations.

Jeff Ashton (1:53)

There was a dead body in the back of Casey Anthony's car.

Linda Drane Burdick (1:58)

It smelled like something had died in the car.

Jose Baez (2:00)

She threw the garbage in the trunk of her car. That's where the smell comes from.

SPEAKER_6 (2:04)

And a family accused.

Jose Baez (2:06)

Casey was eight years old and her father came into her room and began to touch her inappropriately.

Richard Gabriel (2:12)

This whole family has been on trial.

Jeff Ashton (2:17)

Have you ever sexually molested your daughter? No, sir.

SPEAKER_6 (2:23)

Disturbing evidence.

SPEAKER_9 (2:25)

The pelvis and the lower legs more than likely was dragged to this area.

Jose Baez (2:29)

It's a fantasy of forensics is what it is.

SPEAKER_6 (2:33)

And even more disturbing behavior.

Frank George (2:37)

Did the defendant participate in the hot body context?

Jose Baez (2:40)

Yes, sir.

Linda Kenney-Bodden (2:43)

I think the most difficult part of this case is obviously Casey Anthony's behavior.

Cheney Mason (2:48)

There is no evidence linking her to anything to do with the death of this child, period.

SPEAKER_6 (2:54)

Three years of questions.

Jose Baez (2:57)

Casey did not murder Caylee.

SPEAKER_6 (3:01)

Finally, a shocking verdict.

Jose Baez (3:03)

My daughter will ask me, what did you do today? And I can say I saved her life.

SPEAKER_11 (3:19)

Madam Clerk, you may publish the verdicts.

SPEAKER_1 (3:21)

State of Florida versus Casey Marie Anthony.

SPEAKER_6 (3:25)

Today's verdict was not what most of the impassioned observers outside the Orlando Courthouse were expecting.

SPEAKER_1 (3:32)

We, the jury, find the defendant not guilty.

SPEAKER_6 (3:36)

Casey Anthony was acquitted of murder.

SPEAKER_1 (3:42)

We, the jury, find the defendant not guilty.

SPEAKER_6 (3:44)

Acquitted of manslaughter. Acquitted of child abuse.

Matthew Bartlett (3:49)

This is crazy.

SPEAKER_6 (3:51)

She was convicted only of four misdemeanors, all of them about lying to investigators.

SPEAKER_15 (3:56)

I think she probably needs to hide because a lot of people are very angry.

SPEAKER_6 (4:01)

Minutes after Casey's fate was read aloud, the man in charge of her case, who sat beside her for the past six weeks, spoke out.

Jose Baez (4:09)

Casey did not murder Caylee. Our system of justice has not dishonored her memory by a conviction.

SPEAKER_6 (4:22)

It's been three long years since attorney Jose Baez began fighting an uphill battle to save his most notorious crime.

SPEAKER_20 (4:30)

Here comes Casey Anthony.

Jose Baez (4:35)

I admire her greatly. I think she has courage, strength, intelligence.

SPEAKER_6 (4:43)

The Orlando, Florida woman first became a national obsession in July 2008, when she claimed that her two-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Caylee, had been kidnapped a month earlier, but she didn't report it. While her daughter was supposedly missing, Casey partied and told her family and friends that Caylee was with a nanny. That October, Casey was charged with murder.

Two months later, Caylee's skeletal remains were found not far from the family home. After years of damaging pre-trial publicity, Baez was practically the only person left defending her.