Casey Anthony Latest News: Pleads the Fifth in 'Zanny the Nanny' Defamation Case
Casey Anthony has invoked her Fifth Amendment rights during a video deposition, regarding the “Zanny the Nanny” defamation case, over the weekend.
Anthony wore a disguise, as attorneys for Zenaida Fernandez Gonzalez attempted to question her. 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.
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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.
Greene will have the opportunity to question Gonzalez Nov. 3.
According to Morgan, Anthony came up with the name for her fictitious nanny after both women visited the same apartment complex one day. Gonzalez had filled out an information card after looking at the apartment and that information is what Anthony later told police.
Casey Anthony was acquitted of murdering Caylee in July 2011. She is currently serving probation for 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.
