The names of jurors who served on Casey Anthony’s first-degree murder trial will remain secret until October, according to a ruling Tuesday by Chief Judge Belvin Perry. Continue reading after the jump.
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Ordinarily, juror names become public in Florida once a verdict is rendered.
Perry’s 12-page ruling said the names of 14 of the 17 jurors will remain private until Oct. 25. Several jurors already stepped forward and spoke to the media, at least one under condition of anonymity.
In June, Perry entered an order barring the release of the jurors’ names “until further order of this court.”
On July 7 — just days after the jury found Anthony not guilty of murder and other felonies — Perry heard from media lawyers, including one representing the Orlando Sentinel, who argued the juror identities should be released. But Perry didn’t agree to immediately do so.
In his order Tuesday, Perry noted “the jurors themselves were essentially voiceless” regarding the release of their names.
“No one spoke for the jurors and no one provided evidence concerning the jurors’ safety or privacy concerns,” Perry wrote. “No one argued the public policy consequences of releasing juror information.”
Although he found no legal foundation to prevent the juror names from being released, Perry said the court has “the inherent authority, based upon the unique and alarming circumstances surrounding this case, to protect the safety and well-being of jurors by imposing a ‘cooling off’ period before the names are released.”
Perry also recalled how a large crowd gathered outside the Orange County Courthouse immediately after the verdict was read. “Many, if not all, were outraged and distressed by the verdict, and were not hesitant to show their contempt for the jurors,” Perry wrote.
He noted how one juror “had left the state and has remained out of state since the verdict was rendered.”
The same juror, he said, retired from her job early and left Florida “to avoid the animosity shown to her and the other jurors.”
David Bralow, assistant general counsel for Tribune Company, which owns the Sentinel, said that while he is gratified the court will release the jurors’ names, he is disappointed by the length of time the court imposed as a cooling off period.
“For the community to understand and accept this verdict, the entire process needs to be transparent and the court realizes that that includes the jurors’ names,” he said.
“There’s an old expression that’s apropos here. News delayed in news denied.”
Some jurors have spoken publicly in varying degrees since the verdict.
Reached by telephone Tuesday evening, alternate juror Dean Edward Eckstadt wouldn’t comment.
“I’d really rather not say anything on the phone,” he said. “There’s a lot of headaches when we all talk to you guys.”
Eckstadt said fellow jurors have said they don’t want each other talking to the media.
In his order, Perry said some jurors have reported threats to the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office and expressed to court staff “that they feel like prisoners in their own homes.”
Perry wrote that the Florida Supreme Court has recognized that certain information can be kept confidential for a period “to avoid substantial injury to innocent third parties.”
“Here,” Perry wrote, “it is clear, the jurors in this case face the possibility of substantial injury if their names are immediately made public.”
Based on the public outrage with the verdict, Perry said the names will not be released “until sufficient time has passed to allow those enraged by the verdict and who might instinctively react with violence to compose and restrain themselves.”
Perry also listed other considerations, including the potential chilling effect on people willing to serve as jurors and news coverage becoming a form of “entertainment.”
He suggested that Florida’s public record laws should be evaluated to see if “the release of certain information is causing more harm or whether the public’s and media’s right to know outweighs that harm.”
Perry also cited the constitutional right to privacy, saying the release of juror names “makes a mockery of the constitutional provision on the right to privacy and provides the provision with no weight or substance.”
He specifically called for the state Legislature to consider whether an exemption “barring release of jurors’ names, albeit limited to specific, rare cases, is needed in order to protect the safety and well-being of those citizens willing to serve.”
Court administration for the Ninth Circuit or the Pinellas County Clerk of Court may upon request release the names of the 14 seated jurors who have not already voluntarily released their names on or after Oct. 25, the order states. No other information about the jurors will be released, according to the order.
