Casey Anthony sentence hits national nerve

July 07, 2011|By Kristin Bien (kbien@wsbt.com)

If people were angry about the verdict in the Casey Anthony trial, they are even more upset after hearing her sentence.

"My initial reaction was she got off of a murder that she committed," says John Seng of South Bend.

The jury found Casey Anthony not guilty of murdering her little girl. But the verdict is just not sitting right with people around the country who followed the case -- and even those who didn't.

"I'm a little disgusted. But I don't think the prosecution had enough evidence to convict her," says Doug Schlagel of Culver.

"I personally don't think it is fair but in the eyes of the jurors if they (the prosecutors) couldn't prove it, then technically, legally, she didn't do it," says Bethany Pilarski of Culver.

Anthony was found guilty of four counts of lying to police. The nation watched Thursday as the judge handed down that sentence.

"I will sentence you to one year in the orange county jail on each count all four counts to run consecutive to each other," said Judge Belvin Perry.

Anthony will be out of jail on Wednesday -- that's adding more fuel to the fire for people who wanted justice.

"I think that is really shocking that she can do what she did and just because of time served she is getting out in a week," says Pilarski.

Facebook pages have popped up demanding justice and proclaiming Anthony's guilt. And many feel, ultimately, Anthony may get out of jail but she might never be free of the public's eye.

"Hopefully justice will be served some day but she deserves to be in jail," says Schlagel.

According to television and pop culture expert, Ted Mendall from Notre Dame, what people see on facebook and on television is not the whole story. He says, even people who sat and watched the entire trial on television and in the courtroom still got more information than what the jury was legally allowed to have.

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