Casey Anthony Lawyer Investigated By State Bar

Jose Baez, Casey Anthony's lawyer, is being investigated by the State Bar of Florida, for possible ethical violations -- specifically, hiding information from the court.

The probe was triggered over a dogfight involving Anthony's 2010 conviction for check fraud. She was placed on 1 year's probation, but the judge in the case made it clear on the bench -- the time Casey sat in jail awaiting her murder trial would not count toward the completion of probation.

Here's the problem ... the judge screwed up, and when he wrote the order placing Anthony on probation, it mistakenly read that the jail time would count toward completing probation.

Anthony's lawyers acted as if the written order was the final word, and as a result authorities -- who were in the dark -- determined Anthony had completed her probation.

The Chief Judge of the court lashed out at Baez, saying, "Our system of justice should never be in the position of rewarding someone who willfully hides the ball," adding, Baez may have violated "an attorney's duty of candor."

On Baez' part, he told the judge he did indeed know about the trial judge's error but felt he had no obligation to inform the court.