Costs of Casey Anthony case not just measured in dollars

It cost more than $30,000 just to feed the Pinellas County jury for six weeks.

The tab was more than $112,000 to put the jurors up at a nice hotel.

For George and Cindy Anthony, however, the cost can't be counted in dollars and cents: They lost a granddaughter. They lost their reputations. And they may have lost a daughter as well.

When Inmate No. 08049710 – also known as Casey Marie Anthony -- walked out of the Orange County Jail early Sunday after spending the last 1,007 days there, very few people know where she is headed. Or what the future holds for her.

The only known is this: She won't be headed home to 4937 Hopespring Drive, the home where she grew up with her brother, Lee, under the watchful eye of her parents. It's the same home where she lived when Caylee Marie Anthony – her 2-year-old daughter – disappeared.

"She has not talked to my clients," attorney Mark Lippman, who represents George and Cindy Anthony, said of Casey Anthony. "My clients have no idea what her plans are.

"I can tell you what her attorneys are saying, that she is leaving Orlando and perhaps the state," Lippman said. "Her wish through her attorneys is that she is not coming home. We'd like to make sure she is safe, wherever she is going."

Two of her defense attorneys, Jose Baez and Cheney Mason, did not return telephone calls seeking comment on Anthony's release from jail.

There are many people across Orlando, across Florida – even across the nation and world – who believe the 25-year-old woman got away with murder.

A jury imported from Pinellas County found her innocent earlier this month of first-degree murder, aggravated manslaughter and aggravated child abuse. The panel, which deliberated for 11 hours over two days, found her guilty only of four misdemeanor counts of providing false information to law enforcement; Anthony is appealing those guilty verdicts.

That jury, which cost more than $40,000 to seat during the two weeks it took in Pinellas County, has been the subject of much scorn. Names of the jurors remain sealed – they usually are public record after a trial concludes -- while Judge Belvin Perry Jr. mulls releasing them after a cooling-off period.

The judge sentenced Anthony to the maximum time for each of those four counts – a year in the county jail. But with time served and time off for good behavior, that meant her days behind bars were numbered.

As of today, she won't have to worry about spending the bulk of her time in an isolation cell for her own protection that measures 12 feet by 7 feet. Nor will her shower time or recreation time be restricted.

The Orange County Sheriff's Office has not released details about how and when Anthony will be released.

"I'm assuming that law enforcement will be taking her somewhere, for her safety," Lippman said.

"All along, my clients said they never wanted the death penalty for their daughter," the attorney added. "The idea that there are death threats out there, they don't want to see that happen."

The Anthony family, however, remains ripped apart by many of the allegations tossed out during the circus-like trial.

George Anthony was accused of sexually abusing Casey. So was Lee Anthony. Cindy Anthony was portrayed as being at fault in Caylee's supposed drowning in the family pool.

"That stuff was just sensational," Lippman said. "I understand where Mr. Baez was coming from; he was doing everything he could do to defend his client.

"Apparently the end justified the means for them."

George and Cindy Anthony hope to get back in some type of public service. After all, he worked in law enforcement; she was a nurse. The two may get involved in some kind of foundation, representing Caylee's memory.

But unlike Casey, they plan to carry on their lives from Hopespring Drive.

"That's their house," Lippman said. "They are not planning on going anywhere."

Wherever Anthony does end up, life likely will not be easy for her.

"It's so much more complicated in this case," said Kathleen Heide, professor of criminology at the University of South Florida. "The problem with Casey is she is so notorious. She just can't come out and fade into the woodwork."

Her best bet might be going to a big city – such as New York or Los Angeles – where she would be less recognizable.

"She might be able in a large city to kind of blend in," Heide said. "But she has several strikes against her."

Despite her acquittal on the most serious charges, there are plenty of questions related to her character, the professor said.

"Employers will be somewhat leery," she said. "Right now the light she has been portrayed in is a party girl with a history of lying. That is not a favorable way to be seen."

She can be denied a job or housing just because her name is Casey Anthony, said Jim Warmington, who is employed with Workforce Transitions, a group that helps former offenders get back on their feet in Miami-Dade County.

"With the age of the Internet, that is going to follow her worldwide," Warmington said. "Imagine if you would that no matter what you do in the future, somebody will bring up an event in your past."

The jury found her innocent, but the court of public opinion continues to proclaim her guilt.

Even if she changes her name, even if she changes her appearance, it won't be easy.

"I can't imagine how difficult it is going to be for her," Warmington said. "She's going to have a rough time."