Casey Anthony, Mother of Missing Caylee, Back in Jail

Aug. 30, 2008 — -- Casey Anthony, mother of missing Florida toddler Caylee Anthony, is back in jail today on new charges including petty theft and use of a forged check. The $500,000 bail posted by a California bondsman that released Anthony from jail earlier this week was also rescinded today.

At a court hearing that reportedly lasted a little over a minute this afternoon, Judge Mike Miller set Anthony's bail at $3,000 for the new charges.

She is now being held on a total of six charges, including the original charges of child neglect and lying to investigators. Her total bail is $503,200, according to a report by The Orlando Sentinel.

Anthony was initially arrested on July 16, after reporting to police a day earlier that her 3-year-old daughter, Caylee, had disappeared in mid-June and allegedly lying to police subsequently.

The new charges are in relation to a July 8 incident in which Anthony allegedly stole more than $700 in checks from a friend.

The arrest came only two days after tests showed that preliminary air samples suggest that a decomposing body was in the trunk of Anthony's car. Last month, police reported they had found samples of hair of the same length and color as Caylee's in the trunk. DNA test results on the hair samples have not been released.

Leonard Padilla, the bounty hunter from California who posted the original $500,000 bond in hopes of convincing Anthony to help in the investigation, told The Associated Press yesterday that he believed Caylee Anthony is "absolutely not" alive.

Anthony's lawyer, Jose Baez, said in a press conference yesterday that the timing of the arrest based on "minor economic charges" was just showmanship by the police.

"[They] decided to make a spectacle of the event," he said. "They chose this moment to grandstand and to utilize their power to go ahead and make an arrest on something they knew two months ago."

According to Captain Angelo Nieves of the Orange County Sheriff's Department, the timing of the arrest was of no significance.

"She used checks that did not belong to her," Nieves told The Associated Press. "The allegations surfaced during the investigation, but we had to do our due diligence."

Regardless of Baez's accusations that the Sheriff's Department was grandstanding, there was reportedly quite an audience outside Anthony's home for the arrest last night.

The Orlando Sentinel reported a group of people who had gathered yelled at Anthony when police brought her out of the house, calling her "murderer" and "baby-killer." Some brought signs that read "Rot in Jail" and "Who is the bigger liar? Cindy Anthony or Killer Casey? May God have mercy on you."

Many clapped when Anthony was taken away.