Did Media Scrutiny Acquit Casey Anthony?

At approximately 2:15 p.m. EST on Tuesday, July 5, 2011, the fate of 25-year old Casey Marie Anthony was in the hands of twelve jurors in an Orlando, Florida courtroom. Casey Anthony stood trial for the murder of her two-year old daughter, Caylee Marie Anthony. Allegedly, Casey drugged Caylee with chloroform and suffocated her to death around mid-June 2008. In addition, Casey waited a month before reporting Caylee missing, during which time Caylee's body was stashed in Casey's car trunk (allegedly). Caylee's skeletal remains were later discovered in a wooded area in December 2008, and a subsequent autopsy ruled her death a homicide.

Initially, Casey Anthony was jailed for several misdemeanors, ranging from lying to police about her employment with Universal Studios, to obstruction of a criminal investigation, to forgery of checks and illicit use of a friend's credit card. That was in July and August 2008. But by mid-October of that year, she was formally indicted by a Florida grand jury of first degree murder, aggravated manslaughter, aggravated child abuse, and four counts of providing misleading information to police. She pleaded not guilty to all charges. If she was found guilty, especially on the first degree murder charge, Casey Anthony likely would've been sentenced to death.