Casey Anthony gets 2 of 4 convictions for lying dismissedLast Updated: Friday, January 25, 2013, 1:14 PM
ORLANDO -- An appellate court panel has thrown out two of Casey Anthony's four misdemeanor convictions of lying to law enforcement.
The Fifth District Court of Appeals filed the panel's opinion Friday morning, stating two of the convictions should be set aside, because she made them before she was read her Miranda rights, and the multiple convictions constituted double jeopardy.
The appeals court rejected the appeal on the other two convictions.
"Appellant [Casey Anthony] argues that these convictions should be reversed because: The trial court should have granted her motion to suppress statements made to law enforcement officers prior to Appellant having been apprised of her Miranda rights; her multiple convictions violated the prohibition against double jeopardy; and section 837.055 is unconstitutionally vague.
We reject Appellant's first and third arguments, but conclude that double jeopardy principles require that two of her four misdemeanor convictions be set aside."
n response to the ruling, Casey's attorney, Cheney Mason, said he was very happy with the victory, and he would review the opinion on Monday to determine whether they need to motion for a rehearing or seek clarification on the two remaining misdemeanor counts.
Casey Anthony's civil attorney, Charles Greene, says Casey Anthony is somewhat pleased with the appellate court's decision.
"Ms. Anthony is half-happy that the court threw out two charges, which are gone and have no chance of being revived as from what we can see," said Greene. "The other two, we still think it is scary that the police officers can question you for hours upon hours and make threats of the kind that they did in this case and that an appellate court finds that you do not have to be read your rights and you don't have to be in custody, it's, we are not willing to accept that as a final decision yet."
Despite being acquitted of murder in 2011, Casey was still found guilty on four counts of lying to law enforcement officers, one for each of the following false statements:
That she was employed at Universal Studios at the time,
That she left her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee, with a nanny named Zenaida Gonzalez,
That she told two alleged co-workers that Caylee was missing, and
That she had talked to Caylee on the phone the day before she was reported missing.
There was no doubt Casey lied, but her attorneys argued she should not have been charged with four counts.
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