Judge orders Casey Anthony to report for probation

ORLANDO, Fla. – Casey Anthony, whose whereabouts have been a secret since her dramatic murder acquittal last month, may have to report to a probation officer in central Florida this week under a judge's order Monday in another case against her.

The Orlando judge who sentenced Anthony last year for fraudulent check writing signed a "corrected" version of Anthony's probation order that made clear she was supposed to start the one-year term after her release from jail, not while she was detained waiting for her murder trial.

Her attorneys are likely to challenge the revised order. One of them, Cheney Mason, didn't immediately return a phone call for comment, and another attorney, Jose Baez, didn't immediately respond to an email.

Circuit Judge Stan Strickland inserted the words "the defendant is to report to Probation upon release" for each of the seven counts of check-writing fraud that Anthony pleaded guilty to in January 2010. The judge also added the words, "nunc pro tunc," a legal term that means something is granted retroactively.

Strickland sentenced Anthony in January 2010 to probation for using checks that Anthony had stolen from a friend. The state Department of Corrections had interpreted Strickland's sentence to mean that Anthony could serve the probation while she was in jail for her murder trial, but the judge said last week that he intended the probation to be served after her release.

Anthony left prison last month after a jury acquitted her of murdering her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee. She was convicted of lying to detectives but released from jail because of time served. She has since disappeared from public view.

The court order said Anthony must report to a probation officer in three days in Orange County, where Orlando is located, unless otherwise instructed by her probation officer.

A spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Corrections said the arrangements for Anthony's first meeting with a probation officer were being worked out with her attorneys and she didn't know if it would occur in the Orlando area.

No probation officer has been assigned to her yet, said spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger. "We're working now on that first reporting visit now," she said.

The probation order requires that Anthony avoid any contact with her friend, Amy Huizenga, and prohibits her from switching addresses or jobs without permission from her probation officer. Under the terms of the order, she can't own a firearm without her probation officer's consent, is prohibited from getting drunk or going to places where illegal drugs are being used and has to find a job. Anthony also would have to take regular drug tests and is prohibited from associating with criminals under the order's terms.