Casey Anthony is back in the spotlight and is speaking out for the first time about her 2011 trial.

  • Casey Anthony speaks out about the death of her daughter, Caylee
  • Anthony: 'People found me guilty long before I had my day in court'
  • Judge in Anthony trial spoke to News 13 about the case

Anthony had a one-on-one interview with the Associated Press in her West Palm Beach home.

Anthony said she knows that much of the world thinks she killed her 2-year-old daughter Caylee, despite her acquittal. 

But almost nine years later, she insists she does not know how the last hours of Caylee's life played out. 

"Caylee would be 12 right now. And would be a total badass," she told The Associated Press in one of a series of exclusive interviews. "I'd like to think she'd be listening to classic rock, playing sports" and putting up with no nonsense."

But discussing Caylee's last moments, the 30-year-old Anthony spoke in halting, sober tones: "I'm still not even certain as I stand here today about what happened," she said.

Anthony was acquitted of first-degree murder charges in 2011. Despite not knowing how her child died, Anthony said she is OK herself and sleeps well at night.

It's been almost nine years since Caylee went missing, and six since the circus-like Orlando trial that ended in her mother's acquittal.

Anthony views herself as something of an Alice in Wonderland, with the public as the Red Queen.

"The queen is proclaiming: 'No, no, sentence first, verdict afterward,'" she says. "I sense and feel to this day that is a direct parallel to what I lived. My sentence was doled out long before there was a verdict. Sentence first, verdict afterward. People found me guilty long before I had my day in court."

The child was supposedly last seen on June 16, 2008; she was first reported missing, by Casey Anthony's mother, on July 15. A day later, Casey Anthony was arrested on charges of child neglect. She told police that Caylee had disappeared with a baby sitter.

A utility worker working in a wooded area near the Anthony home on Dec. 11 found skeletal remains that were later determined to be Caylee's. Experts would testify that air samples indicated that decaying human remains had been present in Casey Anthony's trunk.

In the end, prosecutors proved Casey Anthony was a liar, but convinced the jury of little else. The government failed to establish how Caylee died, and they couldn't find her mother's DNA on the duct tape they said was used to suffocate her. After a trial of a month and a half, the jury took less than 11 hours to find Anthony not guilty of first-degree murder, aggravated manslaughter and aggravated child abuse.

Still, the Florida Department of Children and Families concluded that Anthony was responsible for her daughter's death because her "actions or the lack of actions ... ultimately resulted or contributed in the death of the child." And just this month, former Circuit Judge Belvin Perry Jr., who presided at the trial, theorized that Anthony may have killed Caylee accidentally when she was using chloroform to calm her.

She was convicted of four counts of lying to police (though two counts were later dropped), and served about three years in prison while awaiting trial. A thousand people were there to see her released.

She admits that she lied to police: about being employed at Universal Studios; about leaving Caylee with a baby-sitter; about telling two people, both of them imaginary, that Caylee was missing; about receiving a phone call from Caylee the day before she was reported missing.

"Even if I would've told them everything that I told to the psychologist, I hate to say this but I firmly believe I would have been in the same place. Because cops believe other cops. Cops tend to victimize the victims. I understand now ... I see why I was treated the way I was even had I been completely truthful."

At the trial, lead defense attorney Jose Baez suggested that the little girl drowned and that Casey Anthony's father, George, helped cover that up — and sexually abused his daughter. Her father has vehemently denied the accusations.

Anthony doesn't talk about her parents much, other than to say she was disappointed when they took money from television's Dr. Phil and appeared on his show. The host donated $600,000 to Caylee's Fund, a nonprofit started by Anthony's parents. At the time, he said George and Cindy Anthony would derive no income from the money. The nonprofit was later dissolved.

Asked about the drowning defense, Casey Anthony hesitated: "Everyone has their theories, I don't know. As I stand here today I can't tell you one way or another. The last time I saw my daughter I believed she was alive and was going to be OK, and that's what was told to me. "

Anthony lives in the South Florida home of Patrick McKenna, a private detective who was the lead investigator on her defense team. She also works for him, doing online social media searches and other investigative work. McKenna was also the lead investigator for OJ Simpson, when he was accused of killing his wife and acquitted; Anthony said she's become fascinated with the case, and there are "a lot of parallels" to her own circumstances.

Just last week, former Chief Judge Belvin Perry, who presided over the trial, talked to News 13 saying Caylee's death was likely accidental. The former judge says there was evidence Anthony searched for chloroform on the Internet. He also says in the old days, chloroform was used instead of anesthesia to make someone unconscious.

"The theory is consistent with Caylee being rendered unconscious to keep her quiet and perhaps gave too much chloroform would have caused her to die," Perry explained his theory to News 13.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.