Casey Anthony's lawyers appeal convictions

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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., Jan. 8 (UPI) -- Casey Anthony's attorneys were in a Daytona Beach, Fla., court to persuade an appellate judge panel to throw out her misdemeanor convictions.

The convictions were four misdemeanor charges for lying to law enforcement officers looking for her daughter Caylee, then age 2, in 2008. Anthony had told detectives the girl had been kidnapped by a nanny, but in reality, detectives said, the girl was dead. Anthony was charged with killing her daughter but was acquitted of all major charges in July 2011, the Orlando (Fla.), Sentinel said Tuesday.

Oral arguments Tuesday before the three-judge panel of the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals centered on whether Anthony was under arrest, or even in custody, when she lied about Caylee's whereabouts.

Defense attorney Lisabeth Fryer argued that, since Anthony was briefly handcuffed and put in a police patrol car before being interviewed by police, she was arrested, and should have been read her rights.

"You can't be un-arrested," Fryer said in court, noting that, even after Anthony was freed from handcuffs and allowed to return to her home, the presence of law enforcement presented a "coercive environment."

The court did not offer an immediate ruling. Anthony did not attend the hearing, the newspaper said.