While public opinion is torn in the not-guilty verdict for Casey Anthony, her defense team is celebrating a victory.

Jacksonville criminal defense attorney Ann Finnell was on the defense team and would have handled the penalty phase of the trial had a guilty verdict been returned on first-degree murder.

Finnell is no stranger to death penalty cases. In fact, that's her specialty and has been for 30 years.

After being asked to serve on the defense team, Finnell helped pick the 12 jurors from Pinellas County who acquitted Anthony.

"I think it was the key to winning the case, really, was the jury selection," Finnell said.

With a hand in picking the seven women and five men who decided Anthony's fate, Finnell believes not guilty was the right choice.

Finnell said all of the character witnesses she spoke to didn't feel Anthony was capable of murdering her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee.

"For the most part, everyone said that any activities like this would've been totally out of character for the Casey that she knew," Finnell said. "I was trying to think of one that they spoke to that said to the contrary, and I can't think of one right now."

Finnell said that behind closed doors, Anthony maintained her innocence, saying she was a "normal" young adult.

"She's got the same wants, desires, concerns about life that every other young adult I've ever met has," Finnell said.

In her opinion, the hardest part in picking the jury came down to media exposure of the case, coupled with the length of time they would be required to serve.

"Those were the most challenging ones," Finnell said. "When you finally got past all of that and got into the issue of the death penalty, I don't think we excused more than a handful of persons because of their opinions on the death penalty."

With the opportunity to speak with jurors individually, Finnell feels each understood the severity of the case, followed the rules and acted fairly.

"I think we ended up getting some jurors on this jury who were capable of listening to the evidence, looking at it from a fresh perspective, really working at trying to understand the case," she said.

Despite the fact that public opinion has weighed heavily against Anthony's innocence, Finnell believes the evidence speaks for itself.

"I think if you really sit down and look at the facts of this case, it really only comes to one conclusion, and that's the one the jury reached," she said. "There was no doubt in my mind that Casey Anthony loved her child with all her heart."

Finnell feels that given Anthony's victory, she should be given an opportunity to live her life free of guilt.

"I think that this is going to be one of those cases a little bit like O.J. Simpson, where it's still being debated down the road," Finnell said. "It's unfortunate for Casey, and I hope Casey can overcome that because it would be a double tragedy to lose Caylee and Casey."