Casey Anthony faces uncertain future
Associated Press
ORLANDO, Fla.
Casey Anthony spent her last day in jail Saturday preparing for an uncertain future after nearly three years behind bars.
Orange County Jail officials planned to release Anthony sometime today under circumstances they refused to disclose.
Experts have said she likely was to be released in the dead of night, and her defense team was to try to keep her away from the glare of the media spotlight.
More than a dozen television trucks already were outside the jail by noon Saturday, though the facility was otherwise quiet.
Scores of reporters and cameramen were outside later on, and local television stations went live with coverage starting late Saturday night.
One of her attorneys, Cheney Mason, said Friday that Anthony is scared to leave jail, given numerous threats on her life and the scorn of a large segment of the public that believes she had something to do with the death of her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee.
Anthony was acquitted of first-degree murder in Caylee’s death earlier this month. She was found guilty of four counts of lying to police, but with time served and good behavior credits, she didn’t have to serve out her four-year sentence.
Another attorney, Charles Greene, said Friday that Anthony was “emotionally unstable” and needed “a little breathing room” after the draining two-month trial.
That could be difficult, given the vitriol directed at Anthony. After the verdict, anger spilled onto social networks such as Facebook and Twitter from people who had spent weeks watching the trial on local and cable television networks.
On Friday, Anthony’s legal team said it had received an emailed death threat with a manipulated photo showing the 25-year-old woman with a bullet hole in her forehead. It has been forwarded to authorities. Officials had said earlier this week that they had not received any credible threats, but they did not return a phone call about that email.
In Orlando and elsewhere, many remain convinced Anthony isn’t totally innocent. David Waechter recorded the trial and watched it at home with his wife every day after work. He said Anthony was guilty of “something, for sure.”