Lawyer: Casey Anthony's brother won't talk if media show up at deposition

Sarah Lundy Sentinel Staff Writer
February 27, 2009

Lee Anthony isn't going to answer questions under oath if the media show up for his deposition this morning, his attorney Thomas Luka said.

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The pair will leave if Keith Mitnik with the Morgan & Morgan law firm lets reporters attend the questioning, he said. Luka said he would file a motion asking a judge to keep his client from answering questions in front of media and would challenge Mitnik to explain to the court why he allowed the media to be there.

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This is part of an ongoing defamation case involving Zenaida Gonzalez, a 38-year-old Kissimmee mother, and Lee Anthony's sister, Casey Anthony.

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In July, Anthony told investigators that she left 2-year-old Caylee with a nanny named Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez at Sawgrass Apartments and the two later vanished. Zenaida Gonzalez, the one suing Casey Anthony, once visited Sawgrass but did not know Anthony and Caylee. In her lawsuit, Gonzalez says she has lost her job and suffered humiliation and public embarrassment since Casey Anthony said a woman with her name was Caylee's baby sitter. She is seeking more than $15,000 in punitive damages.

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Mitnik said he's tired of people avoiding scheduled depositions.

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Anthony's parents, George and Cindy Anthony, were supposed to be questioned Thursday, but the depositions were postponed after an emergency hearing Wednesday. Orange Circuit Court Judge Jose R. Rodriguez will rule under what conditions the couple will be interviewed.

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"It's getting out of hand," Mitnik said of Lee Anthony's plans. "We have a lawsuit ... Everyone doesn't get to keep putting things off. Enough is enough."Some media attorneys say reporters don't have much say about whether they can be present or not.

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Attorney Alison Steele, who has represented a number of outlets, including the St. Petersburg Times, and is not involved in this case, said both sides have to agree for reporters to sit in on depositions."In general in Florida, there is no First Amendment right for members of the news media to attend if one or more parties don't want them there," she said.

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But a judge could rule in the media's favor and allow their entry, she added.

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What is it with these people? Do they think because Casey murdered her child and her parents flew the country to appear on every news program possible, that they are above the law now? Judge Rodriguez should slap a contempt of court charge on all their asses. See how they like sitting the the jail themselves. I'll bet they would testify soon enough. It just gets worse the farther it goes. If you go by the interviews the Casey fan club gave shortly after Caylee's "disappearance", they have all the answers right there.