Casey Anthony Bawls As Judge Reads Murder Charges
May 9 2011, Published 10:25 a.m. ET
RadarOnline.com Staff Reporter
Casey Anthony wept Monday as jury selection for her murder trial started in a Florida court.
Anthony, 25, constantly wiped her eyes with a tissue as Judge Belvin Perry explained to the jurors that Anthony is suspected of killing her daughter, Caylee Anthony, just short of her third birthday in 2008.
The judge said that the prosecution is seeking the death penalty against Anthony, 25. He warned potential jurors not to talk about the case to anyone, or use Facebook or Twitter to spread information about the trial.
“Please do not post anything on there,” Perry warned sternly.
Lawyers are sifting through a jury pool of more than 400 citizens gathered in a courthouse in the Gulf Coast city of Clearwater.
The 12 jurors and eight alternates selected will then be bused 100 miles away to Orlando and sequestered in a hotel for the six-to-eight weeks that the trial is supposed to last.
Authorities decided to find jurors outside Casey’s hometown of Orlando because the tremendous media interest in the case likely poisoned the local potential jurors.
“We are mindful of the enormous inconvenience we will be imposing,” Judge Perry apologetically told the Clearwater jurors.
Little Caylee was reported missing in July 2008, at least a month after she had disappeared. Caylee’s body eventually turned up near the home of Casey’s parents and Casey was indicted for first degree murder in Oct. 2008.
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