Casey Anthony Update: Judge OK's Extra Expenses for Defense

NEW YORK (CBS) At a late afternoon hearing Tuesday, the judge in the trial of Casey Anthony, charged with murdering her 2-year-old daughter Caylee, granted a request from the defense for money to pay for 110 additional hours for a private investigator.

PICTURES: Casey and Caylee Anthony, Personal Photos

But the judge warned that he would be watching the accounting closely after noticing a few irregularities in previous billings.

Orange County Circuit Judge Belvin Perry said that he had reviewed some of the previous bills that the defense team had submitted and noticed a few items that he didn't think qualified as reimbursable by the state under the strict guidelines laid out in early November, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

Perry said that a few of the items, such as collection of public records, attendance at defense team meetings and requests for public records, could easily "be done by a secretary or paralegal" and therefore might not be covered by the Judicial Administrative Commission, the paper reported.

Jose Baez, the lead defense attorney for Anthony, had originally asked for many more additional hours because he said the prosecution continues to send discovery information and documents and it falls to the private investigator to review the documents and interview witnesses, according to the Sentinel.

"We have to do our due diligence," Baez said. "The state has listed every one as a Category A witness."

A representative for the JAC, the commission who approves billing by public defenders, stated that Baez had already billed for about 120 more hours than had previously been approved, not counting the additional 110 that the judge granted Tuesday.

Anthony was declared indigent after paying out over $200,000 dollars for her initial defense, since then the state has footed the bill. Tuesday's warning from the judge echoed the warning he gave in November when he laid down the guidelines about paying for travel expenses for out-of-state attorneys and for what he called "drilling for oil when there's no sign of oil anywhere."

At the time, the judge said the taxpayers would not "write an open check," according to the Sentinel.

The judge declined to rule on another motion by the defense asking that the judge order the approval of prior travel expenses for out-of-state expert witnesses, including Dr. Henry Lee and Dutch-based forensic experts Drs. Richard and Selma Eikelenboom, who came to Orlando to examine evidence in July, the Sentinel reported.

"You can get an order when I see the details," Perry told Baez during the hearing.

"No one is staying at the Ritz or booking first class," Baez responded.

"I will pay for them, but I've got to know what I'm paying for," Perry told him, according to the Sentinel.

Complete Coverage of the Casey Anthony Murder Case on Crimesider.