Amid tight security, Casey Anthony, a Florida woman found not guilty of murdering her two-year-old daughter Caylee, walked out of a Florida jail early yesterday.
Witnesses saw Anthony, who had been acquitted on July 5 of culpability in Caylee’s death, exit escorted by guards wearing -bullet-proof vests and carrying rifles and step into a black SUV a few minutes after midnight. The Orange County Jail later confirmed her release.
A crowd of 300 had been waiting since mid-afternoon on Saturday for Anthony’s release and many rushed into the street to follow the vehicle as she was driven away, briefly blocking the eastbound lanes of a six-lane road before police cleared them away.
Many carried signs for and against Anthony and some chanted Caylee’s name.
A large police presence included the sheriff’s mobile command center, five horse-mounted officers and at least 20 uniformed officers on foot, many wearing bullet-proof vests. Three news helicopters hovered overhead.
Since her acquittal, Anthony’s future after three years in jail has been the subject of much speculation, but with no publicly known facts beyond her jail departure date.
Pool reporters inside the jail saw Anthony and her attorney Jose Baez whiz by them in the lobby and exit swiftly through the front door.
“She was just tunnel vision on that door,” said Tony Zumbado, an NBC News cameraman.
Anthony’s only words were “Thank you” to a jail sergeant, he said.
A second pool reporter, Matt Sedensky of the Associated Press, quoted jail officials as saying Anthony — wearing the tight hair bun seen during her trial, a bright pink shirt, jeans and bright blue sneakers — left with the US$537.68 remaining in her inmate account.
Lori Richards, 54, of Daytona Beach and three friends set up a tent at 3pm on Saturday outside the jail where they huddled through a brief lightning storm.
“We’re here to support Caylee and we want them [the public] to boycott anything Casey or any of the Anthonys do,” Richards said.
Anthony’s release had been planned with the same precision that marked her high-profile murder trial.
In recognition of the massive coverage expected of the release, media representatives and jail managers negotiated a plan which, much like modern war coverage, allowed embedded pool reporters and photographers to document her departure.
Anthony’s trial revealed gruesome details of Caylee’s death and the disposal of the toddler’s remains in trash bags in swampy woods. The trial brought out evidence of Anthony relishing her life, partying and shopping, after Caylee died.
Anthony’s parents and brother had testified at the widely telecast trial. Her lawyer Baez acknowledged her outward lack of emotion over the death was “bizarre.”
Her acquittal was met with shock and derision by much of the public, egged on by outraged television commentary.
Charles Greene, Anthony’s defense lawyer in a related civil defamation lawsuit, told a judge on Friday that he had received seven threats against her.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was