Casey Anthony Alternate Juror Russ Huekler Comments: "Incompetent Evidence" or "Incompetent Jurors"

Casey Anthony Jurors Still Feeling Backlash From Verdict

After the not-guilty verdict on July 5, Russ Huekler, an alternate juror in the Casey Anthony murder trial, was hit with hundreds of insulting letters, e-mails, Facebook posts and phone calls from strangers calling him "ignorant" and "scum."

Then the death threat arrived.

Russell Huekler, Alternate Juror, Casey Anthony Trial

Even though Huekler did not actually participate in deliberations, he could not believe all the anger aimed at him in the letters.
However, Huekler did voice his support in TV interviews for the jurors who did participate in deliberations — many of whom are coping with experiences similar to Huekler's in the trial's aftermath.

One writer, aware that Huekler was a high school government teacher, said he could now teach his students how to go free after murdering someone. Another taunted that he could teach them how to lie to law enforcement. Many told him he shouldn't be allowed to teach.

Huekler, 51, also had to deal with his own mother and siblings complaining about the verdicts.

And, to add further insult, he and the jury foreman were forced to change dinner plans they'd made during the trial to meet at a restaurant they both liked, Skyline Chili in Clearwater, after the trial.

A sign at the restaurant said: "Pinellas County jurors NOT welcome!!!"

Skyline Chili, Clearwater, FL posts their feelings toward the verdict AND jurors.

Huekler tried to take it all in stride until the threatening letter arrived at his house several days after the verdict. "I know where you live," said the anonymous writer. "I hope you drown."


St. Petersburg police, upon learning that Huekler swims in his backyard pool every day, opened an investigation.

"After 43 days of doing their civic duty from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., it was shocking to learn that some of the jurors weren't safe," said Huekler's wife, Ellen, a middle school math teacher.

Ed. note:  Correction--42 days of doing their civic duty and less than 11 hours of deliberation to return a so-called "verdict".  Jurors spent more time during "special activities/outings" than was spent during deliberations.


Among the nasty letters was one from Pete Leary of Jamestown, R.I. He told Huekler that he and everyone else on the jury were "ignorant and self-serving idiots who let murderers walk among us."

Leary told the St. Petersburg Times he fired off the letter because he was furious that the jury didn't "connect the dots" as prosecutors advised.

"Why would those dumbbells get caught up in jury instructions about reasonable doubt when all it took was a little common sense to fill in the gaps and find her guilty?" he asked.

Because, Huekler said, jurors are not supposed to fill in the gaps.

Huekler isn't the only member of the jury still dealing with fallout from the trial.

Juror No. 12 retired from her job at Publix and moved to Tennessee after being threatened, Huekler and news reports said.

Juror Jennifer Ford reversed her decision to speak out after a few (6 or more -- including local and national) interviews, telling the Tampa Tribune: "If I knew what I know now, I probably wouldn't have been so honest."

A woman who said she was the mother of juror No. 7 but who did not give her name to a reporter who knocked on her door, complained about being harassed by people, especially the media. In the days after the trial she said they were all over the front yard and street.

"Thank goodness news people have a short attention span and Nancy Grace has moved on to the latest horrible murder," she said.   


Ed note:  Too bad your child, Juror 7, had a short attention span during the trial and evidence presentation of the horrific murder of a 2 year old child.

The jury that found Casey Anthony not guilty of murder, manslaughter or aggravated child abuse in the death of her toddler, Caylee Anthony, was made up of 12 jurors and five alternates from Pinellas County, shipped to Orlando for the six-week trial. All those who have so far spoken out agreed there was not enough evidence to convict.

Making up the jury, according to news coverage and descriptions from fellow jurors: Eight men and nine women. Christian, Jewish, atheist. Black, white. Ages 25 to 71. Gay and straight. Democrat, Republican and independent. All have at least graduated from high school, nine have university diplomas, five have master's degrees. "The jury was a true cross section of what makes up America," Huekler said.

So, why the disconnect with the American public over the verdicts?

Huekler offers two theories:

• The jury was not privy to inadmissible evidence that the public heard from courtroom sidebars and news.

• And, according to jury instructions, jurors couldn't find Casey guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of first-degree or second-degree murder or manslaughter or aggravated child abuse without knowing the time and cause of Caylee's death.

For first-degree murder, according to the instructions, jurors had to know that the time between premeditation and murder was "long enough to allow reflection."

"Since we didn't know when Caylee died or how, we couldn't know this.", Huekler said.

For the other charges, the instructions said repeatedly that they had to know beyond a reasonable doubt that Casey Anthony's acts caused the death. "Again," Huekler said, "without knowing the time and manner of death, they couldn't know this beyond a reasonable doubt."

The jury instructions said each juror had to have an "abiding conviction of guilt" that did not "waver and vacillate" and was solely based on the "evidence introduced in the trial."

"It wasn't that we believed Casey was innocent," he said. "But we knew it wasn't enough to think she was probably guilty based on her lies. To follow what the law required, we needed to be definite."


Yet, the Hueklers say,  life is finally starting to get back to normal. The insults have stopped. No more threats. Strangers seldom approach them when they go out to dinner.

Heukler  is starting to put together new lesson plans for his fall classes, based on what he says his court experience taught him.

"That our Constitution works."

Meg Laughlin
Times researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report
some content: SpoiledMom

Casey Anthony Jurors: Dinner And A Movie -- A Look Inside Jurors Lives During Casey Anthony Trial

Sequestered Jurors Were Wined and Dined and Courted By The Court

Seventeen men and women from Pinellas County were brought to Orange County for six weeks under strict sequestration to determine if Casey Anthony was guilty of killing her daughter, but what they did outside the courtroom has been a mystery -- until now.Court spokeswoman Karen Levey gave insight Friday into how the jurors spent their time, after Judge Belvin Perry dropped little hints during the trial, referencing food requests from the jurors and planned activities.

Court watchers first heard a glimpse of the activities of jurors within the first weeks of the trial.   A discussion of 'pretzels' was held in open court.  Just before court's recess that day, which came an hour and a half earlier than most days,  watchers learned the sequestered jurors would be enjoying the Tampa Bay Lightning's Stanley Cup playoff game.  This activity for the jurors was made possible by BrightHouse who coordinated and arranged the viewing, ensuring that no mention of  Casey Anthony would cross their ears or eyes during the game.   If you care, the Lightning lost that game.

Levey said all 17 jurors were booked into the Rosen Shingle Creek Resort under a fake group name - "The Rosen Transfer Students Conference."

The court paid $112 per room per night for the stay. The jurors were referred to as "Rosen Student No. 1," and so on.From the week before Memorial Day, until the day after Independence Day, jurors were never alone outside of time in their hotel rooms.

Rosen Shingle Creek Resort (poolside at night)

"There was never a time when a juror could travel without an Orange County Deputy with him or her."

At first, jurors were allowed to watch a few dozen TV stations, but that dwindled to two shopping networks, and eventually, 10 days before the verdict, they were not allowed to watch any TV at all.

"Somewhere along the line, stations started to cover the trial gavel-to-gavel. And Brighthouse Networks started cross-promoting," Levey said.

"It started happening on the SyFy Channel, Cartoon Network, stations you would never ever think would do a promo for the Casey Anthony trial."

The jurors racked up nearly $25,000 in food bills, mostly at the hotel, but they did have some nights out.

Those special meals included one at the private University Club and a lunch at the Citrus Club, both in downtown Orlando.

"The dinners were eaten at the hotels, or at some restaurants that had private dining facilities, like Olive Garden, Houlihans (oddly enough, once where Casey Anthony's BFF, Amy Huizenga, once worked), and Tony Romas, places that had rooms that could be secured and deputies could be there," Levey said.

Deputies went to the movies with the jurors as well. They saw "The Green Lantern," "The Hangover 2," and "Super 8."

The cost to house, feed and transport the jurors added up to more than $160,000.The original cost estimate was $360,000, but that included Orange County Sheriff's Office expenses, which have not yet been added.
Levey said when the jurors were split up for deliberations on July 4, they were all offered to watch the fireworks over Lake Eola from the courthouse, but only the five alternates accepted.

Just over ten hours of deliberations, the twelve  jurors returned their not guilty verdict the following afternoon.

Three years ago, women and mothers alike began to closely follow this case. Three years  before it was the 'social event' of the Summer.  Women and mothers were mesmerized by the huge dark brown eyes of a beautiful little girl and we became instantly engrossed in the disappearance of this little girl.  A little girl that could have very well been our own. Now, we same women and mothers sit, mesmerized, that a fellow 'mother' by definition only,  will soon walk free, with total disregard to her daughter.  The little girl with the huge brown eyes that could have very well been our own.

Casey Anthony is due to be released from the Orange County Jail on Sunday, July 17, 2011. This comes three years to the day she was first arrested and held on child neglect charges. Three years since her mother, Cindy Anthony contacted 911 to report her granddaughter Caylee Marie had been missing for thirty one days.  The same  911 call that spawned a massive search involving thousands of volunteers alongside a renowned missing persons search team, two subsequent arrests, a plea to check fraud and forgery resulting in a total of six felonies, almost 26,000 pages of evidence documents, a seven week trial, and finally, a not guilty verdict. 

Casey Anthony will be released on 'time served' for what we women and mothers, the true jury of her peers, based on evidence provided to us, have determined Casey Anthony to be guilty in the homicide of Caylee, disposal of Caylee's remains  and the cover up of said homicide of  her daughter, Caylee Marie.