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State Will Not Seek Death Penalty In Casey Anthony Murder Case

Woman's 3-Year-Old Daughter Last Seen In June

POSTED: Friday, December 5, 2008
UPDATED: 7:49 pm EST December 5, 2008

The state attorney's office on Friday released a statement saying it will not seek the death penalty against Casey Anthony, who remains jailed on first-degree murder charges in the disappearance of her 3-year-old daughter, Caylee.


VIDEO: No Death Penalty
VIDEO: Psychologist's Reaction
VIDEO: Parents', Brother's Questions
RAW VIDEO: Anthony Jail Visits | Part II | Part III
(Warning: May Contain Coarse Language)
PHOTOS: New Caylee Pictures
PHOTOS: Casey Baby Photos

The Orange County State Attorney's Office statement said "it is not in the best interest of the people of the State of Florida" to pursue the death penalty for Anthony.

Anthony, 22, told authorities she had left her daughter with a baby sitter in mid-June and the two were gone when she returned from work. She said she spent the next month trying to find her daughter and didn't call authorities because she was scared. Investigators say they have poked several holes in her story.

Meanwhile, prosecutors have added several new names to its witness list, Local 6 News reported.

The new names include photographers who took pictures of Anthony partying days after Caylee vanished. Also, several members of the FBI lab and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory may be called upon to testify about evidence found in Anthony's car, which was found abandoned at an Orange County Amscot and reeked of death, according to detectives.

The mother and brother of Cindy Anthony, Casey Anthony's mother, were also added as potential witnesses. In e-mails to Cindy Anthony, those family members said they think Casey Anthony may have harmed Caylee, released documents show.

Psychologist Reviews Jail Visits

A psychologist who watched the video visitation between Casey Anthony and her parents said she was struck by the fact that Casey Anthony failed to mention Caylee when her father talked about the family makeup.

Dr. Amanda Janner, who examines relationships between parents and children for a living, has not examined or treated Casey Anthony but was asked to review the video and provide her expert opinion.

At one point during the July visit, when Casey Anthony, 22, was initially jailed on child-neglect charges in the disappearance of Caylee, Casey Anthony's father, George Anthony, talked to her about their family.

"You know I just had an analogy of our family. Think of me as the thumb. Think of dad. The next finger, the index finger, think of your mom. She likes to point, just like Caylee," George Anthony said.

"Yeah, but it's that middle finger," interrupted Casey Anthony while laughing.

"The middle finger, I guess is a problem," joked George Anthony. "I'm looking at size in the family. The next finger after that is going to be Lee, then you, and that little pinky is Caylee. So think of your hand like this is us. This is the family that loves each other, that cares and needs to be together, and we're missing two fingers."

"I'm still here," Casey Anthony said.

"I think it's interesting that she only mentions herself, that it's not about Caylee, it's about her. I'm still here. She doesn't even mention Caylee," Janner said.

"Are you protecting Caylee, are you protecting me, are you protecting who?" Cindy Anthony asked her daughter.

"I'm protecting our family, yes, (but) not from anything I've done," Casey Anthony said.

"Is someone threatening us? Is someone threatening us?" Cindy Anthony said.

"Mom, just leave it at that, please," Casey said. "For right now just leave it at that."

George Anthony, a former deputy in Ohio, asked his daughter why she is not cooperating with deputies.

"Have you ever thought about reaching out to the guys at the sheriff's office, just talking to them?" he said.

"The few times that I have, dad, you've seen what's blown up in my face. They've misconstrued things that I said to them, resources that I gave them they haven't used. So in all honesty, as much as I'd like to, at the moment, if I'm going to, it won't be an in-person conversation, it won't be an over-the-phone conversation, it will be in writing, so there's no way of twisting my words or saying I didn't give them information."

Jail Visit Videos Released

Authorities on Thursday released video of jail visitations that George, Cindy and Lee Anthony made to see Casey Anthony, who is charged with first-degree murder in the disappearance of Caylee.

Seven DVDs containing videos of the visits that the parents and brother of Casey Anthony made to her in the Orange County Jail were included in the release. The videos show visitations beginning in July, when Casey Anthony was initially arrested on child-neglect charges, and other subsequent visits.

The following are portions of the conversations Casey Anthony had with her parents during the visits.

"Hi," Casey Anthony said to her parents before laughing.

"I love you," Cindy Anthony said.

"I love you, too. Hi," Casey Anthony said.

"Casey, you don't realize that the whole United States is looking for our Caylee," Cindy Anthony said.

"I know that, mom," Casey Anthony said.

"Look straight up so I can look into your eyes. Thank you. You know I need to do that. It's OK to cry, Casey. It's alright, love. We've all been crying," said Cindy Anthony while her daughter was crying.

"Do you think (alleged baby sitter Zenaida Gonzalez) is acting by herself or does she have help?" Cindy Anthony asked.

"I don't know, mom. I haven't been able to talk to anybody. I don't know," Casey Anthony said. "I'm hoping that if there's people involved, there's as many people that are dumb enough to open their mouths and say something. I want someone outside of the sheriff's department looking into these things. I want Lee to look into stuff, I want you guys to look into stuff, I want Jose (Baez, Casey Anthony's attorney) to look into stuff."

"Does Charlotte (N.C.) sound like a potential place to look?" Cindy Anthony said.

"You can look in Charlotte. I know Zanny's home is in North Carolina," Casey Anthony said.

"And definitely Miami," Cindy Anthony said.

"Definitely Miami and New York," Casey Anthony said.

When George Anthony talks to his daughter, she starts crying.

"Hey gorgeous, how you doing?" George Anthony said.

"I look like hell," Casey Anthony said while laughing.

"Want to know something? You really need to keep your spirit high through all this," George Anthony said.

"I have. I haven't been crying while I've been in here," Casey Anthony said. "I've been trying to read books and do other things to keep my mind off of stuff."

"I'm in front of the (television) cameras all the time," Cindy Anthony said. "What message do you want me to give to Zanny and Caylee?"

"That she needs to return Caylee. I forgive her. My only concern is that Caylee comes back to us and she's smiling and she's happy and she is OK," Casey Anthony said.

"What do you want me to tell Caylee?" Cindy Anthony asked.

"That mommy loves her very much, and that she's the most important thing in this entire world to me and to be brave," said Casey Anthony while wiping tears away. "I truly, truly love that little girl and miss her so much. God, and I miss you guys."

"We miss you, too," Cindy Anthony said.

"I'm protecting our family, yes. Not from anything that I've done," Casey Anthony said.

"Is someone threatening us?" Cindy Anthony asked.

"Mom, just leave it at that, please," Casey Anthony replied. "Because this is recorded, and I don't know who's going to see things, and they're going to misconstrue whatever else, like I said, there's things that I directly need to say each of you."

"Has someone else been in our house?" Cindy Anthony said.

"I don't know, mom. Possibly," Casey Anthony said. "I told you a long time ago that she had a key."

"Everybody knows that you've done nothing to Caylee," Cindy Anthony said.

"Good. I'm just glad that everybody else knows that," Casey Anthony said.

"There's a lot of people out there, though, that don't believe that," Cindy Anthony said.

"Oh, I know that," Casey Anthony said. "I get that daily here."

In a July 25 jail visit with her brother, Lee, Casey Anthony said she did not trust law enforcement officials.

"Do you want to talk to law enforcement?" Lee Anthony said.

"Yes and no," Casey Anthony replied. "I know that I'm their 'person of interest,' so things that I've told them before, they looked at me like I'm feeding them a bunch of (expletive). In a lot of ways I'd rather things come from you guys, my primary family, or my almost (inaudible) primary because Jose has been my one out."

Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.

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