Quote Roundup: Reactions to Casey Anthony Acquittal

After listening to testimony for 33 days, the jury deliberated for nearly 11 hours before delivering a verdict in the Casey Anthony trial. Jurors found the 25-year-old Florida mother not guilty of the first-degree murder, aggravated manslaughter and aggravated child abuse of her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee. However, Casey was found guilty of four misdemeanor charges of misleading law enforcement. The sentencing for those crimes will take place Thursday morning.

"The best feeling that I have today is that I know I can go home and my daughter will ask me, 'What did you do today?' and I can say, 'I saved a life.' "
- Anthony's lead defense counsel Jose Baez's post-acquittal statement

Critics are questioning whether Baez won this case because of his skills or simply because the prosecution failed to convince jurors of Anthony's guilt.

"I can tell you that my colleagues from coast to coast and border to border have condemned this whole process of lawyers getting on television and talking about cases that they don't know a thing about, and don't have the experience to back up their words or the law to do it."
- Anthony's defense attorney Cheney Mason, reports the Associated Press, in a post-acquittal statement

Mason criticized pundits for the "media assassination" of his client.

"The Delay in recovering little Caylee's remains worked to our considerable disadvantage. Our mountain of evidence did not eliminate, in the jury's view, every reasonable doubt."
- Florida State Attorney Lawson Lamar, post-acquittal statement on HLN

Lamar said there was little forensic evidence to present. He put the case in perspective, adding that his office will go back to work on its current caseload, including 11 remaining child murders.

"While the family may never know what has happened to Caylee Marie Anthony, they now have closure for this chapter of their life. They will now begin the long process of rebuilding their lives."
- attorney Mark Lippman's statement on behalf of George, Cindy and Lee Anthony

During the trial, the defense blamed the family for various mistakes and crimes, including molesting Casey.

"That jury better get into hiding."
- TV host Carson Daly via Twitter

The jury refused to speak with the media and Judge Belvin Perry is keeping their names private. Many people, including Nancy Grace, are publicly criticizing the jurors.

"I'm not going to let some kooky jury stop justice. This was a bad verdict and this is the way our justice system works. We have to believe in it whether we agree with the verdict or not."
- legal commentator Nancy Grace on "Good Morning America"

Coining the moniker "Tot Mom," Grace followed this story since its early stages as a missing persons case. She continues to follow the case and appeared on "Good Morning America" this morning expressing her outrage.

"WHAT!!!!???!!!! CASEY ANTHONY FOUND NOT GUILTY!!!! I am speechless!!!"
- Kim Kardashian via Twitter

The reality TV star also questioned how the jury found Anthony not guilty, but that tweet later disappeared. Kardashian is the daughter of the now-deceased attorney Robert Kardashian, who was part of O.J. Simpson's defense team during his criminal trial for the 1994 murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald L. Goldman. Being privy to certain details, he later expressed doubts about Simpson's innocence, according to the New York Times.

"I don't think justice was served, but I took a oath of office 36 years ago to uphold the system. The jury has spoken."
- Former Orange County Sheriff Kevin Beary, HLN interview with Nancy Grace

Beary was working on the missing persons case when officials discovered Caylee's skeletal remains.

Sources:
David Lohr, "Casey Anthony Trial Verdict," Huffington Post
Anthony Colarossi, "Verdict Boosts Standing of Casey Anthony Lawyer Jose Baez," The Palm Beach Post
The Associated Press, "Anthony Lawyers Blast Cable News After Acquittal," NPR
"Orlando Attorney Mark Lippman Issues Media Statement Regarding Verdict," ABC News
"Prosecution 'Disappointed' by Verdict," YouTube
Carson Daly, Twitter
"Good Morning America," ABC, July 6, 2011
Kim Kardashian, Twitter
"Robert Kardashian, A Lawyer For O. J. Simpson, Dies at 59," The New York Times
"Casey Anthony Not Guilty," CNN