Casey Anthony Back in Florida Awaiting Probation Appeal
Sure to cause another bout of protest, the much-watched tot mom Casey Anthony is back in Florida to possibly serve probation for check fraud, which she pled guilty to previously in January 2010 before her murder case.
Anthony was asked to return to Orange County, Fla., this Friday by Judge Belvin Perry to begin serving probation for her previous crime, despite the potential danger she might face upon returning to the state.
Perry had taken over the case from Circuit Judge Stan Strickland who had stepped down for reasons unknown.
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Strickland had previously sentenced Anthony to 412 days in jail for stealing checks from her friend and also ordered her to serve a year of probation, according to ABC News.
The judge had intended for Anthony to start serving her probation upon her release from jail, but corrections officers thought that her probation could be served while in jail.
When the circuit judge clarified his sentencing, saying that Anthony must begin her probation after her release, Perry agreed and ordered Anthony back in Florida.
She would need to start reporting to a probation office starting this Friday.
But her attorneys, appealing the order, maintained that Anthony had already served her probation while in jail, and that if she were to serve the probation again it would be in violation of double jeopardy.
They also accused the previous Judge Strickland of bias towards their client, reported The Associated Press.
Awaiting the status of the appeal, lead attorney Jose Baez confirmed with Geraldo Rivera on Fox News that Anthony was in Florida.
If the appeal failed, Anthony would promptly begin reporting to a probation office in Orlando this week.
“We’re going to follow the law. Whatever the courts decide, we’re going to go along and follow the law, and I’m certain she will do what’s asked of her if necessary and hopefully it won’t come to that,” Baez told Rivera on “Geraldo at Large.”
Anthony’s whereabouts since she was acquitted in July of murdering her 2-year-old daughter had not been revealed due to safety reasons, though paparazzi have snapped photos of the 25-year-old in Ohio, which Baez admitted were legitimate.
He also shared that his client had been staying with close friends of theirs, “somewhat spiritual advisers,” who were helping her get back on track after the years of confinement in jail and backlash surrounding her high-profile murder case.
Anthony was acquitted of murder, manslaughter, and aggravated child abuse by a jury in July, with much of the public still in belief that she murdered her daughter, Caylee Anthony.
Many, including her grandparents, recently celebrated what would have been the girl’s sixth birthday in August.
