Casey Anthony Forced to Testify About Caylee's Death
Casey Anthony will be forced to testify about her daughter's death at the upcoming deposition for a case concerning Zenaida Gonzalez. It will be the first time she will speak about the case and will not be allowed to plead the fifth.
"Casey Anthony will not be permitted to plead the fifth as her appeals have now been resolved," Zenaida's attorney, Matt Morgan, told the Orlando Sentinel. "We look forward to getting answers to the questions we have had for a very long time."
Gonzalez filed a defamation lawsuit after Anthony named Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez as the persons responsible for kidnapping her daughter, Caylee. She was found to have nothing to do with the case and immediately filed a defamation suit against Anthony in order to clear her name and seek retribution.
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Caylee disappeared in 2008 and was later found dead. Casey went on trial for her murder but was found not guilty and acquitted of all charges. Since the trial, she has remained in relative seclusion, given the popularity of the trial and the public outrage at the verdict. This will be the first time she will be forced to speak about the situation, and prosecutors are eager to hear what she will say.
Anthony's lawyer attempted to get her to plead the fifth under an arrangement, but it became impossible. She has had to deal with legal situations since the end of the trial, Gonzalez's suit being one among many. Anthony filed for bankruptcy, claiming more than $792,000 in debts, and then had to go to court to avoid selling the rights to her life story to pay her debts.
She agreed to pay $25,000 to settle that dispute; her lawyers stated that Anthony's story "exists solely within her mind" and the sale of it would be an "invasion" of "her private thoughts and First Amendment rights." Anthony has reportedly been unable to find work, given her notoriety, and has remained in hiding for her own protection.
