Angry Public Forces Casey Anthony Juror Into Hiding

Seven days after delivering a verdict that stunned the nation and set in motion the release of Casey Anthony, one of the jurors who acquitted her of killing her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee, remains in hiding.

Juror number 12, a married mother of two in her 60s who moved to Florida from Michigan, quit her job and went into hiding, according to MSNBC.

Her husband told the network he is not sure when his wife will return to their Florida home. He said she left the state because she fears a public backlash.

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Prior to the start of the trial, the juror worked at a Publix supermarket. During jury selection, she said she had very little knowledge of the case and was "not that into" newspapers or TV.

The juror was due to retire from her job in the fall, but her husband said she called her boss after she was released from sequestration and retired over the telephone. She told him she could not come to work because she did not feel safe, MSNBC reported.

Juror number 12 may be paranoid, but not without good reason. An angry public has lashed out at jurors online and in the media, and one restaurant owner in Clearwater posted a sign banning the 7 female and 5 male jurors from entering his establishment: "Pinellas County jurors NOT welcome!!!" The sign has since been taken down.

"All of my employees felt the same way. When we heard the verdict, we were shocked," John McClure, owner of Skyline Chili, told ABC's WEAR-TV last week.

The jurors' names are currently under seal in court files, but not for long. Usually, the judge can withhold the jurors' names for only about a week.

Since the verdict was announced two jurors have spoken publicly: Juror number 2, who spoke to The St. Petersburg Times last week under the promise of anonymity, and Juror number 3, Jennifer Ford, who spoke with ABC News that same day.

Juror number 12's husband told MSNBC that he has his bags packed and is ready to join his wife when her name is released. He also said his wife told him, "I'd rather go to jail than sit on a jury like this again."

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Casey Anthony Verdict

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Casey Anthony waits in the courtroom for the jury to return with the verdict in her murder trial at the Orange County Courthouse Orlando, Fla. on Tuesday, July 5, 2011.

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Casey Anthony waits in the courtroom for the jury to return with the verdict in her murder trial at the Orange County Courthouse Orlando, Fla. on Tuesday, July 5, 2011.

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Comments

[nuclearkid]

12:13 AM on 07/27/2011

all the baby killers, the ones that do it and the ones that let them get away with it have to stay side by side. so you fine casey you will also find Juror number 12

[on1wheel750]

08:18 AM on 07/26/2011

people need to grow up,,,,want to blame someone????? blame your justice system. in the past weve seen how many innocent people found guilty and committed . if someones truly guilty and gets set free theres only 1 thing at fault, and thats the prosecution. personally i think something wrong did happen, however after looking at all those pictures of caylee , she was a happy child always smiling and it looked like she loved her mom, if casey did in fact do harm to caylee then thats something she will have to live with for the rest of her life

[Mark Brislin]

12:51 PM on 07/19/2011

If Jennifer Ford and the other jurors spent as much time pondering the evidence as they are now crafting their excuses, I think there might have been a different outcome. And just because a juror says the prosecution didn't prove the case to them, does not mean there was not enough evidence to convict. What else did Ms. Ford and the others need? You have duct tape at the scene matched, yes "matched" to a very rare, made in Ohio duct tape at the Anthony house. You have the body wrapped in garbage bags and a laundry bag matched, yes "matched" to a specific type laundry basket combo at the Anthony home.Casye's dead child ends up dumped 15 houses away from the Anthony home. You have the mother who was last seen with Caylee failing to tell anyone, yes "anyone" about her missing daughter for 31 days until her mother threatened to call the authorities. You then had her continue to lie, yes "lie" to police and family about everything. Short of a videotape of Casey actually committing the crime, I don't know what else one would need to at least convict on the aggravated child abuse. Get real!!!

[snowfallsslow]

02:34 AM on 07/27/2011

Do not mistake this for attempting to defend a woman who I believe is guilty. The reality of your problems is not the jurors and their decision, it is the fashion in which our legal system works. While law enforcement and the prosecution had several major fumbles what happened was the defense was able to generate reasonable doubt. They did -not- need to prove that the events the prosecution put forward were incorrect in any manner. All they -had- to accomplish was proving that it could have happened in a variety of other manners. This was successfully performed by them in convincing twelve jurors that there was reasonable doubt to believe the events that the prosecution put forward.

You are frustrated, I understand. Many of us are. Do not place your blame, resentment, or anger on the jurors. Direct it towards the source of the fault. Sloppy police work led to a polarized prosecution which allowed the defense to create enough doubt that a conviction could not be realized. This is not the fault of the jury and encouraging focusing on them removes attention from the source.

[Mark Brislin]

12:36 PM on 07/19/2011

I feel badly for the jurors who are being harassed, I really do...But, there are times in our lives when we need to step up and show some courage. It might mean defending a co-worker who's being unfairly persecuted on the job at the risk of yourself getting in trouble. It could be the act of defending a neighbor who's being ridiculed by others at the risk of yourself being ostracized. It may simply mean not going along with the crowd. Doing the right thing is not always easy, and at times it can be quite painful. The jury foreman told Greta Van Sustern that "6" jurors initially voted to convict Casey Anthony on the charges of Aggravated Child Abuse, only to be somehow talked out of their votes a few hours later. Not one held out, not one had the courage of their own beliefs that this young woman was responsible for the death of her little girl. A conviction on this charge would not have meant the death penalty or life in prison, but would have put her away from society for maybe 10-12 years. Like I said, there are times when people need to step up. This trial was not one of them.

[TheMuckraker]

05:57 PM on 07/17/2011

I just listened to Jennifer Ford's interview on ABC.
I agree with everything she said. The knuckle draggers need to get their own house in order and leave the jurors alone. The prosecutors did NOT make their case against Casey Anthony.

[TheMuckraker]

04:42 PM on 07/22/2011

The prosecution leaked the false information, that there was 84 searches for Chloroform on the home computer..... there was actually only one search. It could have happened the way the grandma said.

[TheMuckraker]

05:08 PM on 07/22/2011

The drowning defense doesnt make sense, because of the duct tape. But did Casey ever say the baby drowned? Did the Defense atty say that was a possibility or that it happened? I didnt see the trial..... was it televised? Is that why so many people "KNOW" that Casey is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Watch Juror #3:
http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/07/13/gotta-watch-why-jurors-nixed-caylee-drowning-story/

[Arthur Lazebnik]

03:28 PM on 07/15/2011

btwoern --> smart dude.

[Justmetootles]

02:49 PM on 07/15/2011

Before these jurors voted to let her go they should have done a survey around the table, would you feel comfortable living next door to Ms. Anthony, would you let her babysit your children, and lastly who do you think killed Caylee if not her. Seems like that would bring up some reasonable doubts.

[roald]

03:40 PM on 07/15/2011

Do you have any idea of how the American justice system works? The prosecution failed to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt, the standard for criminal cases. That the media fed you different information or that you feel someone must be punished is meaningless.

I hope that you or someone you love are never falsely accused, but convicted because the jury was scared about public backlash.

[Cooltoad]

07:26 PM on 07/15/2011

Yeah, you're not the judge or the defense lawyer to worry about "what is ethical"... you're a jury, made of random people with little to no experience in legal matters. You're expected to make an informed decision, not the best legal decision that is so nice, it needs to go in law textbooks. People have been accused of less in TX and put to death without much noise. Love it how people suddenly defend the amazing justice system.

[romil]

09:24 AM on 07/26/2011

Seems that is exactly what they do in the communist, totalitarian and dictatorships. They convict because they have a "feeling" that the person is guilty so let's send them to the gallows. Do you even listen to yourself or do you even care that there is a Constitution?

[thudpucker]

01:12 PM on 07/15/2011

I find this headline irritating. How can this person be afraid and in hiding and yet flaps to the press at every opportunity. If hiding was truly needed then shut uo and hide!

[Cooltoad]

07:28 PM on 07/15/2011

I suspect some media attention milking is about to take place soon. Perhaps a book deal on the "ordeal that was the trial" a movie perhaps. Any publicity is good.

[schtarkiller]

07:18 AM on 07/15/2011

Great interview. Savannah is always on time, although I miss her on the "Daily Rundown." I wonder what Nancy Grace is thinking about this verdict of Casey Anthony. lol

[Tony581]

08:44 PM on 07/14/2011

I am amazed that the Publix is able to stay open without Juror number 12. How is that possible?

[dlpgirl911]

05:45 PM on 07/14/2011

I am not sure who responded to my post, but you better get your facts straight. There were charges of Agg Child Abuse offered as charges to the jury. Please think before you speak. That it what is wrong with this country.

[quadia]

05:28 PM on 07/14/2011

Today's news reported the tragic, accidential death of a 10-yr old. I report this here because THIS IS HOW A FAMILY REACTS WHEN A CHILD'S DEATH IS AN ACCIDENT. Please read, and compare this family to what Casey Anthony's lawyer stated happened with her daughter.

A 10-year-old girl in Phoenix, Ariz. died this week in a storage locker she was using as a hiding place while playing hide-and-seek, according to The Arizona Republic. The New York Daily News reports that family members performed CPR on the girl when they found her body on Tuesday morning. She was pronounced dead when paramedics arrived.

[roald]

03:41 PM on 07/15/2011

This is how one family reacted. We are all individuals and act/react differently.

[quadia]

04:57 PM on 07/15/2011

I would wager that 99.9% of families would attempt to save their child under these circumstances, or if a child were to drown, or any other accident. The response for most families would be to do whatever possible to save the child, including calling 911 and performing CPR, not dumping the child in a garbage bag and tossing him/her into a swamp and then pretending nothing is wrong. The only true treasure in life is our children.

[Cooltoad]

07:29 PM on 07/15/2011

most of us don't have some guilty conscience bothering us.

[rann948]

04:28 PM on 07/14/2011

Anthony's lawyer: I do believe her story. LOL Which story would that be?

[MamacitaOfLove]

03:18 PM on 07/14/2011

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/caylee-anthony/os-casey-anthony-social-media-strateg20110713,0,3999742.story

Social media influenced Baez's stratgegy?

[thudpucker]

05:02 PM on 07/14/2011

Very interesting. He certainly does enjoy the limelight.

[Cooltoad]

07:30 PM on 07/15/2011

He's got it made. He's the new Johnny Cochran.

[Common Sense 69]

02:21 PM on 07/14/2011

How does Baez look himself in the mirror or sleep at night??

[homeking40]

04:37 PM on 07/14/2011

My theory about Baez means it was HE that ordered her to sit stone-faced and not utter one word for 2 years, yet we are condemning her for her attitude, and for not testifying.
I think Baez talked George and Cindy into the joint defence story where George would sacrifice himself, all for the result. It's possible Casey did not want to go along with it, but all was justified when he got her off!
But at what cost ? The death of truth and integrity where people don't really want to lie thru their teeth.
THAT victory was what it was all about, Jose and co-s career as Star Law Firm.......
Truth? What's that ? Guidelines as to taking the Oath to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing BUT the truth-must be re-written.