Belvin Perry Jr. (born October 10, 1949, in Orlando, Florida) is a personal-injury attorney and former chief judge of Florida's Ninth Judicial Circuit. He was the presiding judge for the high-profile Casey Anthony murder trial.

Early life and career

Perry's father, the late Belvin Perry, Sr. (born October 8, 1920–died May 16, 1995) served as one of Orlando's first two African-American police officers. Perry earned his

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

degree in History in 1972 from

Tuskegee University Tuskegee University (Tuskegee or TU), formerly known as the Tuskegee Institute, is a private, historically black land-grant university in Tuskegee, Alabama. It was founded on Independence Day in 1881 by the state legislature. The campus was de ...

. In 1974 he earned his Masters of Education from the same university. In 1977, Perry received a Juris Doctor degree from

Texas Southern University Texas Southern University (Texas Southern or TSU) is a public historically black university in Houston, Texas. The university is one of the largest and most comprehensive historically black college or universities in the USA with nearly 10,00 ...

Thurgood Marshall School of Law The Thurgood Marshall School of Law (TMSL) is an ABA-accredited law school in Houston, Texas, that awards Juris Doctor and Master of Law degrees. It is part of Texas Southern University. Thurgood Marshall School of Law is a member-school of th ...

. Perry is a member of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. Judge Perry has been involved in two of Central Florida's most highly publicized trials. As a prosecutor, Perry was the lead attorney in the case of Florida v. Buenoaño, in which

Judy Buenoano Judias V. "Judy" Buenoano (born Judias Welty, also known as Judias Goodyear and Judias Morris; April 4, 1943 – March 30, 1998) was an American serial killer who was executed for the 1971 murder of her husband James Goodyear. She was also convic ...

was tried and convicted of killing her son Michael Goodyear and her husband at the time, James Goodyear. As a Circuit Court Judge, Perry presided over the case "State of Florida v. Casey Marie Anthony" (Case Number 2008 CF15606-0, in which

Casey Anthony Casey may refer to: Places Antarctica *Casey Station * Casey Range Australia * Casey, Australian Capital Territory * City of Casey, Melbourne * Division of Casey, electoral district for the House of Representatives Canada * Casey, Ontario * ...

was charged in the death of her daughter

Caylee Anthony Caylee Marie Anthony (August 9, 2005 – June-December 2008) was an American girl who lived in Orlando, Florida, with her mother, Casey Marie Anthony (born March 19, 1986), and her maternal grandparents, George and Cindy Anthony. On July 1 ...

. The jury found Anthony not guilty of First Degree Murder, Aggravated Child Abuse, and Aggravated Manslaughter of a child, but guilty of four misdemeanor counts of Providing False Information to a Law Enforcement Officer. In 2014, Perry retired from the bench and immediately joined the Orlando law firm of

Morgan & Morgan Morgan & Morgan is an American law firm. Founded in 1988 by John Morgan, it is headquartered in Orlando, Florida. While Morgan & Morgan was historically considered a firm focused on personal injury, medical malpractice and class action law ...

as a personal-injury attorney.Belvin Perry, Jr. Attorney's page at Morgan & Morgan
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perry, Belvin 1949 births African-American judges Florida state court judges Living people People from Orlando, Florida Jones High School (Orlando, Florida) alumni Thurgood Marshall School of Law alumni 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people

Early life and career

See also

References