Casey Anthony Trial Update: Casey Anthony in court for sentencing
(CBS/WKMG/AP) ORLANDO, Fla. - Casey Anthony appeared in an Orlando courthouse Thursday morning for sentencing on the four counts she was convicted of Tuesday - providing false information to a law enforcement officer.
Pictures: Casey and Caylee Anthony, Personal Photos
Anthony was found not guilty of first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse and aggravated manslaughter in the 2008 death of her 2-year-old daughter Caylee.
The defense requested that the four counts be merged into one count, as they all "arose from a single criminal episode." The defense argued that as the lies arose from one period of questioning, it would invoke double jeopardy to sentence Casey Anthony separately for each of them.
Judge Belvin rejected the defense's argument, calling them "four separate and distinct lies" that each caused law enforcement to expend resources in the search for Caylee.
Legal experts believe that Anthony will not face any additional jail time. She has been in the Orange County Jail since October 2008.
Anthony, 25, has been on trial since May 24 in a case that has been broadcast across the country, starting with Caylee's disappearance in 2008. Caylee's decomposed body was found in the woods near the Anthony's home and a medical examiner was never able to determine how she died.
Caylee was reported missing on July 15, 2008, after Casey Anthony told her parents she had not seen Caylee since she was kidnapped by a nanny on June 16, 2008.
Later at trial, the defense said she lied about the nanny, claiming that Caylee had actually died in the family swimming pool on June 16. They stated that her seemingly carefree attitude was in fact a way for her to hide the emotional distress caused by sexual abuse from her father.
The prosecution contended that Caylee was suffocated with duct tape by her mother, who loved to party, tattooed herself with the Italian words for "beautiful life" in the month her daughter was missing and crafted elaborate lies to mislead everyone from investigators to her own parents.