2:41 p.m. - Central Time

The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office put a lot of effort into investigating Anderson’s death, says Sheriff David Gee.

The verdict, he says, “is a disappointment, but I was not in the jury room.”

“It was a lot of strain,” says Gee. “We had five people working full time. We had to start from scratch and we had some of our more experienced people on this.”

Gee says his office “did not spare any resources or expense. We did the best job we could.”

The sheriff had nothing but praise for the prosecution, which had “a very difficult case.”

“From the inside, I could see this was difficult,” says Gee. “No one thought it would be easy. It never is when you are dealing with medical evidence.”

The oft-played video was just one piece of the puzzle, says Gee.

“The video does not always tell the whole story,” he says. “When you get into a courtroom, there is the other part of it and that’s what we had here. Obviously, they were able to mount a successful defense.”

Gee, who says he did not pay close attention to the trial, says he was confident going in.

“Based on what I knew early on, I am surprised by the verdict,” he says.

“I was very confident about Dr Adams’ conclusion in the case,” says Gee. “he has proven to be a very outstanding medical examiner here for us.”
In the end, it was up to the jury, says Gee.

“You never know what is going to happen,” he says. “It’s about perceptions. You never know how someone else perceive will the evidence.”

As for the Anderson family, Gee says he has the same message he did when he first took on the case.

“They have our sympathies,” says Gee, “and I think the people on this end did the very best they could for them.”