Perry's father, Belvin Perry, Sr. (October 8, 1920 – May 16, 1995) served as one of Orlando's first two African-American police officers. Perry earned his
Bachelor of Science degree in history in 1972 from
Tuskegee University. In 1974 he earned his
Masters of Education from the same university. In 1977, Perry received a
Juris Doctor degree from
Texas Southern University's
Thurgood Marshall School of Law. 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 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 was charged in the death of her daughter
Caylee Anthony. 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 as a personal-injury attorney. ==See also==