Casey Anthony Judge Seals Jurors' Names to Protect Them
July 7, 2011 -- The judge in the Casey Anthony case refused today to release the names of the jurors who acquitted the Florida mom of killing her daughter for fear that people upset with the controversial verdict might harm them.
During the trial, Judge Belvin Perry sealed the juror's names from public view and today he kept them sealed despite requests from four Florida media organizations and the Associated Press to make them public.
"I feel for individuals who simply wanted to do their civic duty," the judge said. "Our landscape in this country has changed. People have no reservation…about walking up to an individual, pulling a gun or knife….and because they disagree with them, hurt them or kill them."
Protesters outside the courthouse today carried signs expressing their dismay that the jury acquitted Anthony, 25, of killing her 2-year-old daughter Caylee. As an example of public fury over the verdict, the Skyline Chili in Clearwater put up a sign that read, "Pinellas County jurors NOT Welcome!!!"
The Casey Anthony jury was selected from nearby Pinellas County because the court feared that it was impossible to get an unbiased jury in Orlando where the death occurred.
Anthony was found not guilty of murder, but she was found guilty of lying to police four times. She is scheduled to be released from jail next Wednesday.
Two jurors have come forward today to describe their anguish over their inability to find Anthony guilty of murder.
Jennifer Ford, who spoke exclusively to ABC News, believes that prosecutors could have won a guilty verdict if they had brought a lesser charge than first degree murder, which carried the possibility of the death penalty, for the death of 2-year-old Caylee Anthony.
"If they charged her with other things, we probably could have gotten a guilty verdict, absolutely," Ford said today on "Good Morning America." "But not for death, not for first-degree murder. That's a very substantial charge."
Ford said the prosecution's case left too many holes for her and the other 11 members of the jury to know for certain that Anthony killed her daughter.
"I can't find her guilty of a crime if I'm not sure a crime was committed," said Ford, who was known only as juror #3 during the trial. "I'm not convinced that she didn't do it, but I also couldn't exclude the possibility that it was an accident."
Earlier she said that the jurors were crying and "sick to their stomachs" over the verdict.
The second juror to speak publicly was the juror No. 2 who spoke anonymously to the St. Petersburg Times. He is a 46-year-old married father of two and one of two African-American jurors on the panel.
He told them that if they had reached a verdict based on emotion, Anthony would have been guilty, but that there was not enough evidence to convict her of murder.
"I just swear to God...I wish we had more evidence to put her away, I truly do," he told the paper emotionally. "But it wasn't there."
He said that the first vote was 10-2 against first-degree murder, with the two that were for this eventually changing their minds and joining the majority.
The second vote for manslaughter was an even 6-6. He told the paper that tensions arose during this debate and slowly the not guilty side built more votes. Juror No. 2 was the last to change his mind from guilty to not guilty.
