Judge: Casey Anthony may have accidentally killed daughter

Thursday, March 2, 2017
Casey Anthony looks on after the rebuttal testimony is over, ending the presentation of evidence in her murder trial at the Orange County Courthouse in Orlando, Fla. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Casey Anthony reacts as the state presents its closing arguments in her murder trial in Orlando, Fla., Sunday, July 3, 2011. (AP)
Cindy Anthony, wearing bracelets in tribute to her granddaughter Caylee Anthony, listens during the final day of arguments in the trial of her daughter Casey Anthony. (AP)
A photo entered into evidence, Wednesday, May 25, 2011, at her murder trial in Orlando, Fla., shows Casey Anthony at a "hot body" contest at Fusion nightclub in Orlando. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
A photo showing Casey Anthony and her daughter Caylee Anthony that was entered into evidence. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
An image displayed on a courtroom monitor shows a photo entered into evidence in the Casey Anthony trial. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
A photograph of Caylee Anthony is displayed on a monitor after being entered into evidence during day 18 of the Casey Anthony murder trial. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
In this July 7, 2011 file photo, Casey Anthony smiles before the start of her sentencing hearing in Orlando, Fla. On Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2011. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Casey Anthony, right, talks with defense consultant Ann Finnell in the courtroom at the Pinellas County Criminal Justice Center, Wednesday morning, May 11, 2011. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Casey Anthony is comforted by her attorney Dorothy Clay Sims during Anthony's murder trial at the Orange County Courthouse, Friday, June 10, 2011 in Orlando, Fla. (AP)
Casey Anthony, foreground, is escorted out of the courtroom, as her parents Cindy and George Anthony, background center, watch her leave after a bond hearing. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Casey Anthony, 24, listens to testimony during the last day of hearings on a series of motions by the defense and the prosecution during her murder trial, March 3, 2011 (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
A photograph, of Casey Anthony, left, and her daughter Caylee is displayed on a monitor after being entered into evidence during day 18 of the Casey Anthony murder trial. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
A photograph of a tattoo that Casey Anthony received while her daughter Caylee was reported missing. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
A photograph of a heart shaped sticker and a piece of cardboard found at the crime scene near the remains of Caylee Anthony. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
An image projected on a courtroom monitor showing Cindy Anthony's hands, left, and her granddaughter Caylee at the family pool at their home. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
An image projected on a courtroom monitor showing Cindy Anthony, left, and her granddaughter Caylee at the family pool at their home. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
George Anthony testifies during the murder trial of his daughter, Casey, at the Orange County Courthouse in Orlando, Fla., Wednesday, June 29, 2011. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Casey Anthony, left, talks with her attorney Dorothy Clay Sims during Casey's murder trial at the Orange County Courthouse Thursday, June 30, 2011 in Orlando, Fla. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Casey Anthony reacts as the state presents its closing arguments in her murder trial in Orlando, Fla., Sunday, July 3, 2011. (AP)
Casey Anthony with her attorney Dorothy Clay Sims on the last day of arguments in Anthony's murder trial at the Orange County Courthouse in Orlando, Fla. on Monday, July 4, 2011. (AP)
Casey Anthony reacts while listening to the defense's closing arguments in her murder trial in Orlando, Fla., Sunday, July 3, 2011. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Jose Baez points and yells in the direction of the prosecution table during his closing arguments in the Casey Anthony murder trial in Orlando, Fla., Sunday, July 3, 2011. (AP)
A group of neighbors and visitors stand across the street from the George and Cindy Anthony residence as most express their disagreement with the Casey Anthony verdict. (AP)
Corey Stroud prays at a Caylee Anthony memorial in Orlando, Fla., Wednesday, July 6, 2011. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
A woman places flowers at an unofficial Caylee Anthony memorial in Orlando, Fla., Wednesday, July 6, 2011. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
George Anthony, left, and Cindy Anthony, parents of Casey Anthony, arrive at the Orange County Courthouse for Casey Anthony's sentencing in Orlando, Fla. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Lori Richards, right, of Daytona Beach, Fla., protests outside the Orange County Courthouse during the sentencing hearing for Casey Anthony in Orlando, Fla.. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Edward Mehnert, of Orlando, covers his mouth with duct tape as he protests during the Casey Anthony sentencing in outside the Orange County Courthouse in Orlando, Fla. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Cindy Anthony is comforted by George Anthony, right, during a memorial ceremony at the site where the body of their granddaughter Caylee Anthony was found. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
George Anthony testifies during the murder trial of his daughter Casey Anthony at the Orange County Courthouse Thursday, June 30, 2011 in Orlando, Fla. (AP)
Attorney Cheney Mason, left, lawyer for Casey Anthony, arrives at the Orange County Courthouse in Orlando, Fla., Thursday, July 7, 2011. (AP)
Peopleprotest the release of Casey Anthony outside the Booking and Release Center of the Orange County Jail in Orlando, Fla., Saturday, July 16, 2011. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
In this Sunday, July 17, 2011 file photo, Casey Anthony, front right, walks out of the Orange County Jail with her attorney Jose Baez. (AP)
A courtroom monitor shows Casey Anthony, right, talking with her father George Anthony while she was in jail in a video presented as evidence in the Casey Anthony trial. (AP)
Casey Anthony, center, sits at the defense table with her attorneys Cheney Mason, left, and Anne Finnell, right, before the start of her murder trial. (AP)
Casey Anthony, left, talks with her attorney, Dorothy Clay Sims, during a sentencing hearing in Orlando, Fla. on Thursday, July 7, 2011. (AP)
Casey Anthony, center, walks out of the Orange County Jail with her attorney Jose Baez, left, during her release in Orlando, Fla., early Sunday, July 17, 2011. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Casey Anthony appears in court at the Pinellas County Criminal Justice Center, Tuesday, May 10, 2011, on the second day of jury selection in her trial, in Clearwater, Fla. (AP)
Forensic expert Dr. Werner Spitz testifies in the trial of Casey Anthony, talking about autopsy results of the remains of Caylee Anthony. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Cindy Anthony testifies for the second day in a row for the defense in the murder trial of her daughter Casey Anthony. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
An image projected on a courtroom monitor showing Cindy Anthony, left, and her granddaughter Caylee at the family pool at their home. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
ORLANDO, Fla. -- The judge who presided over the acquittal of Casey Anthony in a murder trial televised live around the world said Thursday that an accidental killing is the most logical explanation for her 2-year-old daughter's death.

Former Judge Belvin Perry Jr. told The Associated Press that the theory that makes the most sense to him now, based on the evidence presented at trial in 2011, is that Anthony accidentally used too much chloroform while trying to quiet Caylee, and the infant died.
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"You have a child that can become cranky, that you want to go to sleep. That is a simple way to do it," said Perry, who is now in private practice. "What we tend to forget is, chloroform was used to render people unconscious long before we had anesthesia."

Asked to respond on Thursday, one of her attorneys, Cheney Mason, said: "I've got your response: She was acquitted."

Anthony, now 30, was acquitted of first-degree murder and convicted of misdemeanor counts of lying to law enforcement after defense attorney Jose Baez told jurors that the toddler accidentally drowned in the family pool.

Prosecutors said Anthony used chloroform and then suffocated the child by putting duct tape over her mouth. The toddler's remains were found five months after she disappeared, in a wooded area not far from where the Anthonys lived. Authorities were never able to establish the cause of death.



"I'm disturbed that Mr. Perry would once again go to the press with his thoughts about the case. There is no reason for him to do that," Mason said. "I don't know what motivated Mr. Perry to do this or why. All I can say is: Everybody is entitled to an opinion."

Florida's Code of Judicial Conduct prohibits judges from making public comments about any pending cases, but it says nothing about former judges talking about cases that are over.

Perry said the case came up this week only because he was asked about it by a reporter from a community newspaper who was interviewing him for an unrelated story. Other local media then made inquiries about his theory.
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Perry said the chloroform theory is one of several regarding Caylee's death he has been examining since he began reviewing trial transcripts at the time of last summer's fifth anniversary of the trial.

"You can't say what happened because you weren't there, but you can talk about the probabilities," Perry said. "Then you can assign whatever weight you want to a theory, and you ask yourself, 'What is more logical?'"

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