[14] Relying largely on circumstantial evidence,[15] the prosecution alleged Casey wished to free herself from parental responsibilities and murdered her daughter by administering chloroform and applying duct tape to her nose and mouth.

[39] On August 11, 12 and 13, 2008, meter reader Roy Kronk called police about a suspicious object found in a forested area near the Anthony residence.

[46] Following her arrest at Universal Studios,[36] Casey was charged with giving false statements to law enforcement, child neglect and obstruction of a criminal investigation.

[63] Jury selection began on May 9, 2011, at the Pinellas County Criminal Justice Center in Clearwater, because the case had been so widely reported in the Orlando area.

[67] Prosecutors stated that Casey used chloroform to incapacitate Caylee before suffocating her with duct tape, leaving the body in the trunk of her car before disposing of it.

[67] The defense further said that Casey's seemingly unaffected behavior after Caylee's death was attributable to child abuse she had allegedly suffered[67] at the hands of her father and brother.

[71] Cindy testified that her comment to 9-1-1 that Casey's car smelled "like someone died" was just a figure of speech,[72] further noting that she had made "exaggerated" claims on the phone in an effort to get the police to respond quickly.

[74] After the trial, Bradley publicly reported that this number was an error attributable to a bug in his program, and that the computer, in fact, contained only one search for "chloroform".

[2] On cross-examination, Garavaglia admitted that toxicology tests on Caylee's bones came up negative for "volatile chemicals", but she maintained her opinion that the death was not an accident, given the lack of a report.

[78] Finally, over defense objections to scientific reliability, Arpad Vass of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory reported that air-sampling procedure performed in Casey's trunk indicated decomposition and chloroform.

"[9] Defense attorney Mason followed, emphasizing the burden of the proof and which side bore it: "Casey Anthony is not required to present evidence or prove anything," he said.

[97] She then ended her rebuttal by showing the jury a side-by-side picture of Casey partying and a tattoo she received the day before Caylee was reported missing.

One legal analyst stated that if the jury had found Casey guilty before receiving the exculpatory evidence, the prosecution's failure to fully disclose it could have been grounds for a mistrial.

The defense asked for the sentencing to be based on one count of lying on the grounds that the offenses occurred as part of a single interview with police dealing with the same matter, the disappearance of her daughter.

[104] The prosecution had requested $516,000 in reimbursement, but Perry only found Casey liable for expenses incurred during the period in which Caylee was reported missing to when the homicide probe opened.

[105] In earlier arguments, Mason had called the prosecutors' attempts to exact the larger sum "sour grapes" because the prosecution lost its case.

[21] The Anthony case was regularly the main topic of many television talk shows; including those hosted by Greta Van Susteren, Nancy Grace[112] and Geraldo Rivera.

"[119] Baez reacted to the verdict by saying, "While we're happy for Casey, there are no winners in this case," though he noted that "our system of justice has not dishonored [Anthony's] memory by a false conviction.

"[120] State's Attorney Lawson Lamar said that the prosecution's case was "very, very difficult to prove," adding, "The delay in recovering little Caylee's remains worked to our considerable disadvantage.

The foreman said that the state's failure to prove the cause of death and suspicion regarding the role Casey's father George had played had both factored into the jury's deliberations.

"[135] The foreman said that, in an initial poll, the jury had voted 10–2 in favor of the not guilty verdict, and, after more than ten hours of deliberation, they collectively decided the only charges proven were the four counts of lying to law enforcement.

"[136] Mark Lippman, the attorney for George and Cindy Anthony, told ABC News that the family received death threats after the not-guilty verdict was rendered.

[110][139][140] News anchor Julie Chen became visibly upset while reading the verdict on The Talk and had to be assisted by her fellow co-hosts, who also expressed their dismay.

Two men who drove overnight from West Virginia held signs that said, "We love and support you Casey Anthony," and "Nancy Grace, stop trying to ruin innocent lives.

[111] In a special piece for CNN, psychologist Frank Farley described the circumstantial evidence as "all over the map" and that combined with "the apparent lying, significant contradictions and flip-flops of testimony, and questionable or bizarre theories of human behavior, it is little wonder that this nation [was] glued to the tube".

[146] UCLA forensic psychiatrist Dr. Carole Lieberman, said, "The main reason that people are reacting so strongly is that the media convicted Casey before the jury decided on the verdict.

[148][149] The CSI effect was also extensively argued—that society now lives "in a 'CSI age' where everyone expects fingerprints and DNA, and we are sending a message that old-fashioned circumstantial evidence is not sufficient".

[153] According to Huffington Post, she was reportedly working with her probation officer to take online college classes in an unspecified field, while protected by her security, at an undisclosed educational institution.

"[155][156] In March 2017, Casey gave an interview with the Associated Press, saying she "underst[ood] the reasons people feel about me" and noting, as to the cause of her daughter's death, "As I stand here today, I can't tell you one way or another.

In an interview with USA Today, Dean said that Casey's pathological lying was a defense mechanism caused by her experience of alleged sexual abuse, and that police never looked at her father as a suspect in Caylee's disappearance.