By Barbara Liston
ORLANDO, Fla., Jan 25 (Reuters) - Casey Anthony, who was
famously acquitted of murdering her 2-year-old daughter Caylee
in 2011, saw a Florida appeals court overturn two of her four
convictions on Friday for lying to detectives investigating the
toddler's disappearance.
While Anthony was acquitted of murdering Caylee, whose body
was ultimately found in woods near their home, she was found
guilty of lying four times to detectives who responded to a 2008
call from Anthony's mother reporting the girl missing.
Anthony's lawyers appealed the convictions, saying her lies
should have been construed as a single violation because her
statements were made over the course of one extended interview
with detectives who responded to the missing person report.
The Fifth District Court of Appeal in Daytona Beach split
the difference on Friday, finding that Anthony gave two separate
interviews to detectives, thus letting two convictions stand but
throwing out the rest.
The court also found that Anthony was not in police custody
during her interviews and rejected a defense argument that all
convictions be thrown out because she was not read Miranda
rights that allow her to choose not to speak to police.
Anthony's lawyer, Cheney Mason said in a statement that he
was "very happy with this latest victory," adding no decision
had been taken on whether to pursue further appeals.
Jeff Ashton, one of Anthony's prosecutors who is now the
state attorney in Florida's Orange County, said he understood
and respected the appellate court's ruling. "Once the trial
court vacates the appropriate counts pursuant to the District
Court's opinion, we expected the case of the State of Florida
vs. Casey Marie Anthony will be closed," Ashton said in a
statement.
In July 2008, Anthony told detectives that Caylee was
kidnapped by a nanny, triggering a nationwide search for the
girl that was followed intensely by cable television news and
entertainment shows. At trial, her defense lawyers claimed
Caylee drowned in the family's backyard pool.
Prosecutors presented evidence that Caylee might have been
smothered by duct tape wrapped around her head before her body
was left in the woods.
Anthony was convicted of lying four times when she told lead
detective Yuri Melich that she left Caylee with a nanny named
Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez, that she was employed at Universal
Studios Orlando, that she told co-workers that Caylee was
missing, and that she later received a phone call from Caylee.
A Central Florida woman named Zenaida Gonzalez subsequently
sued Anthony for defamation. Her civil suit was delayed while
Anthony refused to testify during the course of her criminal
appeal.
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