The judge in the Casey Anthony case ordered the names of the jurors to remain secret for their protection, tearing the media a new one in the process.
Judge Belvin Perry cited the “circus-like atmosphere” around the trial in the name of entertainment rather than justice for putting the jurors at risk.
Jury members’ identities will be sealed until at least October 25.
“The jurors in this case face the possibility of substantial injury if their names are made public,” Perry ruled, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
Casey Anthony Verdict Reading
Florida law requires that the names be released, but Perry will not “until sufficient time has passed to allow those enraged by the verdict and who might instinctively react with violence to compose and restrain themselves.”
He again cited the case’s “unique and alarming circumstances.”
Perry also took the opportunity to take the media to task.
Scathingly, he wrote: “Clearly, the broadcast of an official and serious court proceeding such as this trial where a young girl was dead and her mother faced the death penalty devolved into cheap, soap opera-like entertainment.”
The use of the state’s public records law to have the juror names released, the judge lamented, had “become simply a tool to sell a story.”
Casey Anthony, 25, was found not guilty on July 5 of murdering her 2-year-old daughter Caylee, sparking outcry and even death threats.
The media frenzy hasn’t slowed since that date. In fact, it may intensify as the first Casey Anthony interview is being shopped around.
