Casey Anthony may have been acquitted of murder in July , but that doesn’t mean that she won’t have to pay for lying about the whereabouts of her two-year-old daughter. A Florida court has ordered Anthony to pay more than $97,000 to cover the investigation into her daughter’s disappearance.
Judge Belvin Perry issued the ruling today, saying that the the amount owed was a result of the “defendant providing false information as to the location of her daughter, Caylee Anthony, and making other misrepresentations to law enforcement.”
The costs were incurred between July 15 and Sept 29, 2008, while local law enforcement agencies searched for the missing girl based on misinformation from Casey Anthony.
The Orlando Sentinel reports that Anothony owes:
- The Florida Department of Law Enforcement – $61,505.12
- The Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation – $10,283.90
- The Orange County Sheriff’s Office – $25,837.96
Prosecutors sought more than five times the amount ordered by the judge, which totaled out to $97,676.98.
Anthony was acquitted of murdering her two-year-old daughter Caylee, but she was found guilty of four counts of lying to law enforcement. Judge Perry said that the ruling only reflects the costs incurred in relation to those four counts.
The Orlando Sentinel notes that Casey Anthony was ruled indigent in 2010 and that taxpayers would cover the expense of her defense. It isn’t clear how Anthony will pay back the money. Casey Anthony was offered $1.5 million for an interview after her trial, so she does have some promising revenue streams.
Do you think the judges ruling was fair? Should Casey Anthony be responsible for the investigation into her daughter’s disappearance?
