Casey Anthony freed from Florida jail early today

Associated Press

ORLANDO, Fla.

Casey Anthony was freed from a Florida jail early today, 12 days after she was acquitted of murder in the death of her 2-year-old daughter Caylee in a verdict that drew furious responses and even threats from people across the U.S. who had followed the case with rapt attention.

Anthony, wearing a pink T-shirt with blue jeans, left the jail at 12:14 a.m. with her attorney, Jose Baez. She was given $537.68 in cash from her jail account and escorted outside by two sheriff’s deputies armed with semi-automatic rifles. Neither Anthony nor Baez said anything to reporters and others gathered outside.

“This release had an unusual amount of security so, therefore, in that sense, it would not be a normal release,” said Orange County Jail spokesman Allen Moore. “We have made every effort to not provide any special treatment for her. She’s been treated like every other inmate.

Moore said there were no known threats received at the jail. Officials had a number of contingency plans in place, including plans in case shots were fired as she was released.

Anthony, 25, had been finishing her four-year sentence for telling investigators several lies, including that Caylee was kidnapped by a nonexistent nanny. With credit for the nearly three years she’s spent in jail since August 2008 and good behavior, she had only days remaining when she was sentenced July 7.

The case drew national attention ever since Caylee was reported missing. Cable network HLN aired the entire trial, with pundit Nancy Grace dissecting the case nightly. Vitriol poured into social networking sites when Casey Anthony was acquitted of murder, with observers posting angry messages on Twitter and Facebook’s “I Hate Casey Anthony” page.

Outraged lawmakers responded by proposing so-called Caylee’s laws that would allow authorities to prosecute parents who don’t quickly report missing children. And many still speculate about what really happened to Caylee: Was she suffocated with duct tape by her mother, as prosecutors argued? Or did she drown in an accident that snowballed out of control?

Casey Anthony was born in Warren in 1986 to George and Cindy Anthony, who lived in Howland before moving the family to Florida in 1989.