Casey Anthony Appeal Denied, Will Serve Probation
A Florida appeals court ruled against Casey Anthony on Tuesday, saying that she still must serve 12 months of probation despite her attorney's arguments that she had served the sentence while being held on charges of murdering her two-year-old daughter, Caylee Anthony.
Anthony was acquitted of the murder charges last month, but is still faced with probation for earlier convictions of check-fraud. She will now have to report to the state's Department of Corrections, at an undisclosed location, by Friday at noon to begin her probationary period.
Her attorneys, J. Cheney Mason and Lisabeth Fryer, cited a clerical error as one of the main reasons for why she shouldn't have to serve probation.
In their petition to the court, Anthony's lawyers argued that Judge Stan Strickland originally sentenced her to both jail and probation time, but “when the courts reduced his sentence to writing, same reflected that probation would commence immediately.”
In a brief, two-page court order denying her lawyer's claims, the 5th District Court of Appeal in Daytona Beach said that “the oral pronouncement of the trial judge takes precedence over any written order that follows.”
They later added, “The petitioner may not, under these circumstances, take advantage of the administrative error of the Department of Corrections.”
The Orlando Sentinel reports that Anthony's defense team might seek further review with either federal courts or with the Florida Supreme Court, but her legal options are running out.
