Casey Anthony Trial Now Dealing With Lawsuit From 'Zanny the Nanny'
The attorneys for Casey Anthony deposed Zenaida Gonzalez, or "Zanny the Nanny," for about 12 hours Tuesday in the defamation suit against Anthony.
Gonzalez and attorneys for both parties arrived at 9:00 a.m. for the deposition and left around 9:00 p.m. EST. According to CFNews 13, Gonzalez's legal team unsuccessfully tried to delay the hearing until Anthony's case is resolved. Anthony invoked her Fifth Amendment rights during her video deposition.
Gonzalez's lawyers have filed a motion to force Anthony to respond to their questions – however there has been no ruling from a judge as yet. A hearing is scheduled for Dec. 8 to determine whether Anthony needs to provide answers WFTV-Channel 9’s Nancy Alvarez said.
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Casey Anthony’s video deposition took place in October. The 25-year-old wore a Philadelphia Phillies baseball cap and large sunglasses, during the video conference from an undisclosed location in Florida.
Gonzalez is suing Anthony for allegedly ruining her reputation when she told police, investigating the disappearance of her 2-year-old daughter, that a nanny named Zenaida kidnapped Caylee in 2008.
Casey Anthony clung to the lie for three years, before her lawyer told the court at her murder trial that the nanny never existed.
John Morgan, attorney for Gonzalez, told the Orlando Sentinel that Anthony answered a limited number of questions and repeatedly invoked the Fifth against self-incrimination.
"She did not want to be there," said Morgan when questioned about her demeanor, but added Anthony was "composed" and "courteous."
However, her nostrils kept flaring and she breathed deeply, Morgan stated about her behavior.
"We didn't want to turn this into a 2-hour circus," Morgan told the Sentinel. "We asked enough questions and got her to invoke the Fifth enough times that we feel we got enough to take a motion to the judge to compel her to answer these questions.”
The deposition lasted about 45 minutes, according to Morgan.
Zenaida Fernandez Gonzalez is suing Casey Anthony for the "scar on her life and her soul" left by Anthony's accusations.
She alleged that she lost her job and home, as a result of people believing that she was involved in Caylee's disappearance, ABC wrote. Gonzalez also claimed that she and her children received threats.
Gonzalez brought the defamation case against Anthony after she was sought out during the investigation of Caylee's disappearance.
Anthony’s attorney, Charles Greene, has defended his decision to represent the woman deemed “America’s most hated person.”
"Many people in the legal community tried to dissuade me from taking this one, but I became a lawyer to fight against injustices and to take on battles that others won't,” Greene said, according to ABC News.
Casey Anthony's lawyers argued that Anthony never identified the nanny was the "Zenaida Gonzalez" in question.
Anthony’s attorneys have requested that Gonzalez provide her medical records, including any treatment by a psychologist or psychiatrist, from January 2007 to present, CNN wrote. She has also been asked to provide a more precise figure she is seeking for the damages suffered.
The defamation case is scheduled to go to trial next April, CFNews 13 wrote.
Casey Anthony is currently serving probation for a check fraud charges in an unrelated case at an undisclosed location in Florida. In September, Orange County Judge Belvin Perry, who presided over Anthony’s murder trial, ruled that she had to repay $217,000 in costs related to the investigation and disappearance of Caylee.
