In one of the year’s most widely-publicized trials, Florida mother Casey Anthony was found not guilty of first-degree murder in the death of her two-year-old daughter, Caylee Marie, the Orlando Sentinel reports. The jury also found Anthony not guilty of aggravated child abuse and aggravated manslaughter of a child. “Well, I hope this is a lesson to those of you who have indulged in media assassination for three years,” defense attorney Cheney Mason said.
The verdict means 25-year-old Anthony was found not guilty of all charges except for four counts of providing false information to law enforcement officer. She will be spared a death sentence, but could still potentially face several years in prison. Jurors deliberated for fewer than 11 hours over two days, pondering the witness testimony and hundreds of pieces evidence they were presented with over the several-week trial.