After Jail, Will Casey Anthony Cash In on Her Case?

  • Share
  • Read Later
Joe Burbank / Getty Images

Casey Anthony, left, speaks to her attorney Dorothy Clay Sims before her sentencing on charges of lying to police at the Orange County Courthouse in Orlando on July 7, 2011

When Casey Anthony is released from jail, the 25-year-old may well find herself weighing as many offers as that of an A-list celebrity, which, in many ways, she now is.

Anthony could quite feasibly cash in on book or movie deals, which might repel her further in the eyes of the many people who believe that justice wasn’t handed out to her dead daughter, 2-year-old Caylee (a Florida jury found Anthony not guilty of first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse and aggravated manslaughter in the 2008 death).

When she walks out as a free woman, there will be no legal restrictions to prevent Anthony from profiting on the details of the infamous case, be it movie-, book- or interview-related. The so-called Son of Sam laws (in place to keep criminals from earning money off their crimes) do not apply in this instance, according to analysts. Anthony was sentenced on Thursday by Judge Belvin Perry Jr. to one year for each of the four counts of lying to the police that she was convicted of. The sentence is to be served consecutively, so Anthony will remain in prison for now. But based on Perry’s ruling — and the time Anthony has already served — it’s expected that she will be free on July 17, Florida’s Orange County Corrections said in a statement late Thursday (not July 13 as originally planned).

(MORE: Casey Anthony Sentencing: One Year for Each Count, Credit for Time Served)

“Why can’t she make money off her story?” asked Drew Findling, a defense lawyer, on CNN. “You’ve seen so many cases where witnesses for the prosecution have profited from the case. Look at the O.J. Simpson case and how the prosecutor, who lost the case, wrote books and made money afterward. So why can’t Casey do it?”

Why not indeed. HLN’s Nancy Grace has gone even further, estimating the amount Anthony is set to make in strong language, seemingly uninterested in the jury’s verdict. “She’s set up to make very likely over a million dollars off the murder of [Caylee],” Grace said.

Speaking of interviews, Anthony’s attorney Jose Baez spoke to ABC News about his concerns for his client’s safety once she is freed, taking into consideration the high emotions surrounding the case. “I am afraid for her,” he told Barbara Walters.

(MORE: Casey Anthony Verdict: The Jury Did the Right Thing)

But this raises another question: Will Walters and others get into a bidding war to secure a possible first Anthony interview? Or will a high-profile anchor or host come out and say they want nothing to do with the young woman, leaving it to others to fight out?

And what about a movie? It may seem distasteful, but the Hollywood Reporter‘s Marisa Guthrie has already suggested that actress Kristen Stewart could be the perfect fit for the part of Anthony. “She’s got the dark hair, sort of the vacant, deer-in-the-headlights look,” Guthrie told The Insider. Nobody, famously, knows anything when it comes to Hollywood, so you shouldn’t be shocked, not even if any eventual film ends up gaining Oscar buzz.

What seems undeniable is that it isn’t so much a case of if Anthony announces the details of a sit-down interview or book deal but rather when. But her potential first-choice title surely isn’t available due to the excitement surrounding the long-awaited book by Jonathan Franzen: Freedom.

PHOTOS: Scenes from the Casey Anthony Saga

Glen Levy is an executive producer at TIME.com. Find him on Twitter at @glenjl. You can also continue the discussion on TIME’s Facebook page and on Twitter at @TIME.

In Crimes of the Century, a new e-book, TIME puts infamous cases like the Casey Anthony trial under a magnifying glass. Download the e-book now.