Casey Anthony prosecutor to end 30-year career

ORLANDO, Fla. - A spokeswoman for the Florida state attorney's office says one of the prosecutors in the murder trial of Casey Anthony plans to announce his retirement at the end of the week.

Fifty-three-year-old Jeff Ashton has spent more than 30 years as a prosecutor and was one of the first in the country to use DNA evidence in a court case. Spokeswoman Danielle Tavernier says he has already notified state attorney Lawson Lamar of his decision.

Tavernier says that Ashton and Lamar have previously discussed his retirement. Neither he nor any of the other members of the prosecution spoke to the media following Anthony's acquittal on charges she murdered her 2-year-old daughter in 2008.

Casey Anthony was found not guilty Tuesday of killing her 2-year-old daughter in a case that captivated the nation as it played out on national television from the moment the toddler was reported missing three years ago.

Photos: Casey and Caylee Anthony Personal Photos
Complete Coverage of Casey Anthony on Crimesider

Anthony, 25, wept after the clerk read the verdict, which jurors reached after less than 11 hours of deliberation over two days. She was charged with first-degree murder, which could have brought the death penalty if she had been convicted.

She was on four misdemeanor counts of lying to law enforcement and will be sentenced Thursday.

The outcome was widely viewed as a surprise. An unnamed former member of the defense team told CBS News correspondent Troy Roberts that she never believed Anthony was innocent of the crime, but that her lawyers were trying to ensure that she avoided the death penalty.

After the verdict was read, Casey Anthony hugged her attorney Jose Baez and later mouthed the words "thank you" to him.

Ashton, meanwhile, shook his head in disbelief.