Dippolito asks for bond

Judge delays ruling in murder for hire case

Dalia Dippolito, twice found guilty of trying to hire a hit man to kill her husband in 2009, asked a Palm Beach judge Thursday to grant her bond so she can live on house arrest and for her son while her conviction.

But Palm Beach Circuit Judge Glenn Kelley held off on deciding whether to grant her request, promising that he would consider the arguments of both sides and issue a written ruling “in a timely manner.”

Dippolito’s lawyers, Brian Claypool and Andrew Greenlee, told Kelley that Dippolito has faithfully attended every hearing she was required to be at, and argued that their appealing grounds for appeal meet the minimum legal standard for granting a convicted felon a bond during their appeal.

Claypool said he believes the court made a mistake during the trial by allowing the jury to hear evidence that Dippolito tried to poison her then-husband, Michael Dippolito, with antifreeze before opting to contract with a killer who turned out to be an undercover police officer. Her 2011 conviction was overturned by an apcare peals court in part because the jury heard the same allegation. The testimony was allowed during the retrial under different circumstances that prosecutors argue will withstand an appeal.

Dippolito was convicted again in June and sentenced to 16 years in prison.

While it’s not common, judges do have the option of allowing a convicted felon to