Casey Anthony May Be Grilled by Lawyer for Real Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez
Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez's lawyer says "America wants justice" for Caylee.
July 14, 2011 — -- The lawyers for the real Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez are suing Casey Anthony for defamation, but they intend to grill the woman acquitted of killing her daughter during her civil deposition because "America wants justice."
Fernandez-Gonzalez's lawyers have asked the court to compel Anthony to sit for a deposition because they fear that once she leaves jail on Sunday that she will "leave the jurisdiction of this court, disguise herself, change her name, etc., making it impossible to ever depose her."
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.
John Morgan, the lawyer for Fernandez-Gonzalez, intends to demonstrate the hardship that Anthony allegedly caused his client, who is a 42-year-old mother of six. He also intends to interrogate Anthony about Caylee's death.
"The first question I'm going to ask her is, 'Tell us the last time you saw Caylee.' The second is, 'Tell us when you found out she was dead," Morgan told ABCNews.com.
The lawyer dismissed anticipated objections from Anthony's lawyers that these questions are not relevant to Fernandez-Gonzalez's legal claims.
The Real Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez Sues Casey Anthony
"Everything about the death of the child is not only relevant, it's very relevant. It's the essence of the case," Morgan said.
Morgan believes he is acting on behalf of those people in the country who are outraged by Anthony's not guilty verdict.
"America wants justice. They want to make [Casey Anthony] sit down and tell them what happened," Morgan said.
"When Zenaida first came to me, we never thought Casey would see the light of day again," Morgan said. "It was never about money in the beginning. Now, it's about accountability and responsibility."
Lawyers for the two sides are scheduled to meet Friday to work out details of the deposition, and Anthony is scheduled to be deposed next Tuesday. A trial is scheduled for next February.
Anthony's lawyers filed a brief today asking that both hearings be cancelled because Casey Anthony, 25, has suffered "trauma" from her six week murder trial.
They also said that having the dates and locations of her deposition made public put her "safety in jeopardy" because of the "numerous threats that have already been made against her."
If forced to be deposed, her lawyers added, she will plead the Fifth Amendment, refusing to answer on the grounds that she would incriminate herself.
In addition, Allison Edwards, an attorney at the law office representing Casey Anthony in this matter, told ABCNews.com, "We're expecting the deposition should be rescheduled" because Anthony's main lawyer Charles Greene is in another trial that day.
Besides the Fernandez-Gonzalez lawsuit, Anthony also faces a suit for $100,000 by EquuSearch, the volunteer search organization that hunted for Caylee after being assured by Anthony that her daughter was alive and pleading with them to help find Caylee.