Casey Anthony's attorneys to appeal probation order
(CBS/WFOR) MIAMI - Attorneys for Casey Anthony plan to appeal a judge's order that she return to Florida to serve one year of supervised probation on a check-fraud conviction, according to CNN.
Pictures: Casey and Caylee Anthony, Personal Photos
Orange County Chief Judge Belvin Perry Jr. ruled Friday that Anthony has to report to a state Department of Corrections facility in Orlando no later than noon on August 26.
Judge Stan Strickland sentenced Anthony in January 2010 to one year of probation after she pleaded guilty to stealing checks from a friend. He said Anthony should serve the probation upon her release but those instructions never made it to a written order. Corrections officials interpreted the sentence to mean Anthony could serve the probation while she was in jail awaiting her murder trial.
According to CBS station WFOR, Strickland clarified in an order that Anthony needs to start serving probation now that she is out of jail. Strickland later recused himself and turned the case over to Judge Belvin Perry, who presided over the murder trial that ended last month with Anthony's acquittal in her daughter's death.
Perry put the probation order on hold temporarily and heard arguments from Anthony's attorneys. They told the judge that she had served her probation while in jail awaiting her murder trial and requiring her to do so again would be double jeopardy. They also argued that she would be in danger if her location was public knowledge due to the fact that she has received numerous death threats.
Perry said he would authorize the Department of Corrections to make an exception and keep Anthony's address private during her probation. The judge also discounted the double jeopardy argument, saying Anthony was unable to meet the goals of a probationary sentence since she was in jail.
"It is clear the court stated the defendant's probation was to start once she was released from jail," Perry said in his order.
Allowing Anthony to serve probation while in jail "would take a lawfully imposed sentence and make it a mockery of justice," Perry added. "This would allow a defendant to take advantage of a clerical error and be rewarded. This is not the message the courts want to send to the public or defendants."
Anthony has been out of the public eye since she was acquitted in the death of her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee. The jury's decision angered many people online and elsewhere, and threats were made against Anthony's life.
Under the terms of the probation order, Anthony will have to report to a probation officer every month and can't change her residency without permission from the probation officer. She is prohibited from getting drunk or using drugs. She is also required to find a job and can't associate with known criminals. She must submit to reasonable searches in her home and at her job by her probation officer.