Did the So-Called Bondi Effect Help Get Casey Anthony Acquitted? Inside Pam Bondi's Connection

It's fair to say that, depending on who you ask, both Casey Anthony and Pam Bondi have elicited some pretty negative emotions. These Florida women are polarizing figures who have been on the receiving end of media attention for vastly different reasons. Believe it or not, their paths somewhat crossed in the months leading up to Anthony officially being charged with her daughter's murder in October 2008.

When Bondi was still a prosecutor in Florida, she spent a lot of time publicly commenting on the Anthony case. In July 2008, after Anthony was arrested for lying to police, Bondi went on Verdict With Dan Abrams, where she responded to the leaked jailhouse calls between Anthony and her mother. That was just the beginning. Some think Bondi's obsession with getting in front of the camera could have contributed to Anthony's acquittal. Here's what we know.

Anthony's trial began nearly three years after she was charged with first-degree murder. In November 2010, WESH reported that Judge Belvin Perry Jr. ruled that jurors in Anthony's upcoming trial would be brought in from outside of Tampa, Fla. At the time, Bondi was the newly elected Attorney General of Florida, but Anthony's lawyers argued her notoriety as a prosecutor could affect Tampa jurors, who might have caught Bondi's numerous television appearances analyzing Anthony's case.

The WESH reporters referred to this hiccup in the Anthony trial as The Bondi Effect. Defense attorney Richard Hornsby, who was not part of Anthony's legal team, told the outlet that if Bondi continued to offer legal analysis, it could undermine the venues and areas where Judge Perry could pick a jury. Carlos Muniz, a spokesperson for Bondi, said she was "still open to offering her views, but she would have to look at each case and see if it would be appropriate."

Obviously, this is conjecture, but we would be remiss if we didn't point out that a change of venue can drastically change the trajectory of a trial. It stands to reason that if the jury could have been chosen from Tampa, perhaps Anthony would not have been acquitted in July 2011, per ABC News.

Anthony spent three years in jail awaiting her trial. In January 2010, nearly two years into her jail time, Circuit Judge Stan Strickland sentenced Anthony to a year of probation after she pleaded guilty to stealing checks from a friend, reports The Ledger. At the time, Judge Strickland said Anthony could serve her probation after she was released, but this decree never made it into writing. Corrections officials decided she could serve the probation while in jail.

Bondi disagreed, and in August 2011, she wrote in a court filing, "Legally, it is clear that a defendant cannot serve probation while incarcerated." This was ultimately upheld, and in August 2012, Anthony completed her probation. Anthony's attorney, Charles Greene, told ABC News that her freedom still came with a price. "She will never be able to walk down the street with anonymity," said Greene.