Casey Anthony
is planning on pleading the fifth in the video deposition she is
scheduled to give Saturday morning from an undisclosed remote location
in Florida, according to her civil attorney Charles Greene.
The deposition is for the defamation case brought against her by Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez, the woman who shared a name with the fictional nanny Anthony claimed abducted her daughter, Caylee.
Greene also indicated that he plans to challenge Fernandez-Gonzalez's
claims that Anthony's use of her name damaged her life. She claims she
lost her home and job because people believed she may have been involved
in Caylee Anthony's disappearance. Fernandez-Gonzalez also alleges that
she and her children received threats.
"This is not a case about whether Casey had anything to do with the
death of Caylee or whether she's a good person or bad person," Greene
said. "It's about whether Zenaida is the one Casey was referring to.
Even if she is, was this woman who went on countless TV shows and
inserted herself in the public eye damaged?"
While Anthony is expected to stay mum by evoking her constitutional
right against self-incrimination, Greene said he understood the interest
in the proceeding.
"I know everybody is interested," Greene said. "Fifty million people at
least would like to be where I'm going to be, talking to Casey."
Fernandez-Gonzalez's attorney, John Morgan, is undeterred by the
knowledge that Anthony will likely plead the fifth in response to all
his questions.
"Our plan really hasn't changed at all," Morgan said. "We're still going
to ask her all the tough questions that America wants answered."
If Anthony refuses to answer the questions, there will be a hearing in
the coming weeks in which a judge will go through all the questions and
decide which are covered by the Fifth Amendment and which are not. Once
this has been determined, there will be another video deposition for
Fernandez-Gonzalez's attorneys to ask their allowed questions again and,
at that point, Anthony will have to answer.
"We're not going to be harassing her," Morgan said. "We're going to be
asking the questions we need answered."
Morgan pointed out that he and his client have spent three or four years
waiting for this day. They had to wait until Anthony's criminal trial
was over before they could proceed with this civil suit.
"Some say [Fernandez-Gonzalez's case] is frivolous, but what they don't
remember is what her and her family went through three or four years
ago."
Fernandez-Gonzalez is suing Anthony for using her name when she told
Orlando police that her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee, was stolen by a
babysitter and gave police her name. Anthony stuck to that lie for three
years before her lawyer told the court at the opening of her murder
trial that the babysitter never existed and that Caylee accidentally
drowned in the family pool.
Life for the real "Zanny" was disrupted after Anthony's allegations
became public. According to Morgan, Fernandez-Gonzalez received
terrifying phone calls in the middle of the night in which people had
threatened to kill her and her children.
Morgan is very aware of the public's emotional attachment to this case,
and is constantly inundated with Casey-related phone calls, especially
about the mystery that is her location.
"We get thousands of tips about her whereabouts,and a lot of it doesn't
hold its weight in water, but sometimes there's recurring things," said
Morgan.
Anthony's attorney is also an outlet for the public's frustration.
"I've gotten threats and many people calling me 'baby killer' and things
like that," Greene said. "Many people in the legal community tried to
dissuade me from taking this one, but I became a lawyer to to fight
against injustices and to take on battles that others won't."
Greene is confident about tomorrow's proceedings, and said that "the
good deposition" will be when he questions Fernandez-Gonzalez Nov. 3.
He said to "stay tuned" for forthcoming evidence, including a
contentious information card that came up during the trial.
Morgan said that Anthony came up with the name of Zenaida
Fernandez-Gonzalez for her fictitious nanny after both women visited the
same Florida apartment complex on the same day. After looking at an
apartment, Fernandez-Gonzalez filled out an information card, which
included the names of two of her daughters and the make and color of her
car.
The information on the card is the same as the information Anthony would later tell police.
Anthony was acquitted of murder in the death of her daughter, Caylee,
but was convicted on four counts of lying to law enforcement. She is
currently serving one year of probation in Florida for a check fraud conviction.
Anthony checks in with probation officers
monthly, most recently on Oct. 3. A report from the Florida Department
of Corrections stated that Anthony was "compliant" and said she is still
unemployed, has not attended vocational or educational classes and has
made no money in the past month.
The report also stated that Anthony had not used any illegal drugs or
controlled substances, and "she did drink alcohol, but says she did not
drink to excess." This is in compliance with the terms of her probation,
which say she may consume alcohol as long as it is not "to the extent
that your normal faculties are impaired."
Anthony will be doing the video deposition from a secret location after the court made a finding that Anthony would be in danger if she appeared in person, as made clear by public outrage to the verdict.
"America is starved for justice, I believe," Morgan said. "At the end of
the day, they don't believe she's been held accountable and they're
looking for justice in whatever way, shape or form they can get it."
Source: ABC News
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