(Image source: MSNBC)
 

BY MALLORY PERRYMAN

ANCHOR CHRISTINA HARTMAN

You're watching multisource U.S. news analysis from Newsy.

Casey Anthony did not murder her 2-year-old daughter -

That’s the verdict a jury handed down after deliberating for 11 hours- after hearing six weeks of testimony.

“She was found not guilty of first degree murder, not guilty of aggravated manslaughter, not guilty of aggravated child abuse. She is there hugging her attorneys. Her mother and father were in the courtroom. There was no reaction. They didn’t hug each other. They didn’t hold each other.” (CNN)

No reaction from Anthony’s parents- but plenty from analysts on the cable networks.

Geraldo Rivera (Fox News): “Oh my God. It is a stunning verdict. It shows how little legal pundits know.”

Jeffrey Toobin (CNN Senior Legal Analyst): “This is a historic rejection of the prosecution’s case and an enormous victory, for better or worse, for Casey Anthony.”

And now everyone is out to answer the question:

How did a jury not convict Anthony- when it seems like the rest of the world already had?

Was it the prosecutors who blew it?

“The jury was tired. I don’t think they were ever going to have a consensus that the state was able to prove its case of murder against Casey. And I think at some point in time the jury might have turned on Jeb Ash. He came across laughing and arrogant and I think that went against him.” (CNN)

Or does the credit go to Anthony’s media-maligned defense team?

Geraldo Rivera (Fox News): “Do I necessarily agree with this verdict? No I don’t. But I also believe that there was ample evidence presented by this defense- there was no DNA- there were no fingerprints. Three years of propaganda against this young woman and her defense counsel and guess what? Justice has come home to roost.”

Or maybe- the jury thought she was guilty- but didn’t think the state proved it.

Savannah Guthrie (MSNBC): “It may not be that the jurors liked Casey Anthony, in fact we may hear the they are deeply suspicious of Casey Anthony but they just couldn’t bring themselves to convict her of these murder charges beyond reasonable doubt. They dispensed with this rather quickly. I mean, they didn’t agonize over this. Feels like they walked back to the jury room, looked at each other and said ‘Do you think they’ve proven it? Me neither.’”

The media- and the rest of trial-watchers- may never know what went through the jurors’ minds. After the verdict, all 12 jurors declined interviews- and the judge- declined to release their names.

NBC’s Kerry Sanders points out-- the five men and seven women on the panel didn’t have a lot of information people had at home.

Kerry Sanders (NBC): “But if you remember, very often we reported that the jury was not in the room during portions of the discussions in the court room. Which means that folks heard a lot more than what the jurors heard.”

Anthony was convicted on several counts of lying to police. Most analysts agree- she will serve very little--if any-- jail time. Her sentencing hearing is set for later this week.

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