Mommy's Little Girl (39 page)

He didn't answer two questions: whether he believed Casey had anything to do with Caylee's death, and who the father of Caylee was. After the interview, John Morgan asked that a judge force Lee to answer. Lee's attorney, Thomas Luka, responded to the judge that the purpose of those queries was simply to embarrass and annoy the Anthony family.

Morgan wanted Casey for a deposition, too. Because of her status in criminal court, her attorneys objected. As a compromise, he sent twenty-nine written questions. To all but one question, Casey had the same response:

Upon advice and counsel of my attorney, I am invoking my right to remain silent pursuant to the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution.

The last question was simple and straightforward:

Were you involved in the death of Caylee?

Casey replied:

The defendant would object to the question and would move to strike it. This question is being sought solely to embarrass, harass and brought in
an attempt to implicate the defendant in an ongoing criminal prosecution for first-degree murder. The question is without merit and totally improper.

Zenaida's legal team asked the judge to force Casey to answer the questions. Casey civil attorney Jonathan Kasen maintained that the deposition should be delayed until after the criminal trial, because every question was “inextricably intertwined” with her murder case.

 

The defense team of eight attorneys and a long list of experts did not come cheap, and the state wanted to know where Casey Anthony got the money—how she “went from pauper to princess.” The state asked the judge to force the defense to reveal details on the financial arrangements for all members of the defense team. They were concerned that if Casey were convicted, she could appeal on the grounds that her attorney had a conflict of interest that prevented him from working in her best interests.

The defense fired back that the state was using tabloid news rumors to embarrass and harass his client. Casey submitted a sworn affidavit avowing that her retainer agreement did not grant rights to her attorney to sell her story or the story of her daughter. She added a handwritten note:

I believe that Mr. Ashton
[assistant state attorney]
is angry because I have refused to take a plea agreement for a crime I did not commit.

With Casey's statement to the contrary and no proof to uphold the state's concerns, the judge ruled in favor of the defense. The public may never know how Casey managed to afford her pricey defense.

 

The plot of woods where Caylee's remains had been found went up for sale. The asking price was $89,000. Leonard Padilla made a $50,000 offer for the land. He wanted to
build a permanent memorial to Caylee to replace the hodgepodge of handmade signs, flowers, stuffed animals and other mementoes. The neighborhood association was not pleased with this idea, nor were the parents who traveled the road to take their children to Hidden Oaks Elementary every day. The owner quietly pulled the lot off the market.

 

Deputy Richard Cain's lack of action in August led to an Internal Affairs investigation. He lost his badge in December, but still had a job working in an administrative capacity. His position with the county became more precarious when he lied about his performance during questioning in January. By the end of March, he was unemployed.

On April 7, the state made a mistake. In a release of documents to the public, they accidentally included the audiotapes of interviews with the jailers who'd been with Casey when she learned about the discovery in the woods. The judge had not yet ruled on the release of that evidence, but once it was out, there was no taking it back.

Two days later, George Anthony sat down to provide his deposition in the defamation case against his daughter. He bristled early in the interview, accusing attorney Keith Mitnik of putting words in his mouth. Like his son, he said that he'd never heard the name Zenaida Gonzalez before July 8, but had heard the name Zanny for a year before that. He also believed today that there really was a woman named Zanny who'd baby-sat Caylee.

“Were there incidences in the year leading up to the disappearance where your daughter had taken money, to your knowledge, that didn't belong to her?” Mitnik asked.

“Not going to answer that,” George said.

Brad Conway added, “That's irrelevant. There are criminal charges pending against her. It's going to affect the ability of her to get a fair trial, so we're not going to answer that question in this forum.”

“Just so we're clear, so you can think of the wisdom of taking that position,” Mitnik said, “the relevance here is that if she's having to take money from others, then how in the world does she have money to pay for a baby-sitter once a week or every week? And it is highly relevant to
this case. So, I am going to ask one more time and see if you want to answer the question, so we don't have to come back on another day, because I know you'd probably rather not on a motion to compel.

“Was your daughter taking money that did not belong to her from others, to your knowledge, in the year leading up to this?”

“I'm not answering that,” George said.

“You refuse to answer it?”

“Take it any way you want to take it. Refuse it. I'm not answering it. It's no concern about this lady down here, sitting down here. It's no concern.”

Further along, George accused the attorney of flipping him the bird when the lawyer used his middle finger to push his glasses up on the bridge of his nose. Later, George blew up at him over semantics: “If you say ‘the remains' one more time, sir, I'm walking out of this room. How dare you say that about my granddaughter? How dare you? How dare you?”

For an hour the contentiousness continued, with George threatening to leave on four separate occasions. Finally it peaked. They took a break and Brad Conway spoke to his client alone. When they returned, George was more cooperative.

That afternoon, Cindy sat in the hot seat, and the level of hostility rose even higher. Pain and anger etched furrows in Cindy's face. Her eyes blazed, her mouth formed a tight horizontal slit. With the first question out of the chute, Cindy was combative: “Explain to me the relevance of the question.”

Attorney John Dill asked, “Is there any other person besides your daughter that has told you that they have met or seen Zanny?”

“No, but Caylee talked about Zanny's dog.”

“We'll get to that in a second.”

“She's another person,” she said with a sharp jut of her chin.

“I appreciate that,” Dill said. “I just want to be clear.”

“If there's a dog that belongs to Zanny, then there must be a Zanny.”

“Fair enough,” the attorney conceded. “Besides your daughter and Caylee saying that about the dog, okay, is there any other adult that has said to you, ‘I have met Zanny' or ‘I know who she is'?”

“Not that I'm aware of.”

After Dill and Conway had a battle of legal wills over which questions were acceptable, Cindy said, “Listen, bottom line is, I shouldn't be answering any questions that is not relevant to Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez that has a civil lawsuit against Casey Marie Anthony. And I am graciously answering these ridiculous questions, that have nothing to do with Mr. Morgan's client that is the Zenaida Gonzalez. Okay?” Cindy seemed to think there were no relevant questions.

“I understand what you want, if I may, Ms. Anthony? I appreciate it and I have a job to do here and I understand that you want to short-circuit the process.”

“I'm not trying to short-circuit anything, and I object to that characterization.”

Later on in the interview, Cindy complained about the body language of Attorney John Morgan. “He's shaking his head when I'm answering a question. That's exactly what the sheriff's department did to my daughter. They never let her speak. You guys are doing the same thing to me.”

When the attorney asked, “Is it fair to say your daughter's lied to you about many things?” Cindy snapped, “It's fair to say the sheriff's department lied to me about many things.” Cindy declared questions about her parents and those about Casey stealing from her parents irrelevant. When she was asked about her relationship with her daughter, she balked again.

“I understand you're tired, but let's go back to my question,” the attorney said.

“I'm not answering it.”

The attorney attempted to explain the law regarding her
obligation to answer any questions that weren't covered by privilege, but Cindy wasn't budging. They all took a break so that she could confer with her lawyer. Cindy was not any more cooperative when they recommenced.

She threatened to walk out or file harassment charges, and she insulted Zenaida, saying she didn't match the description given by Casey. “She doesn't have perfect teeth. She's not a ten. I'm sorry, ma'am, you're cute, but you're not a ten.”

Cindy testified that she believed someone else had dumped Caylee's body in the woods near their home after hearing the jail visitation tape where Casey said she thought her daughter was nearby.

Zenaida's attorneys filed a motion to compel, requesting the judge to order Cindy to answer the financial questions that she insisted were irrelevant.

When it was Dominic Casey's turn to be questioned by Zenaida's attorneys, he simply ignored the subpoena, an act that put his private investigator's license in jeopardy.

 

In April, The Florida Bar was investigating the behavior of José Baez once again. One complaint came from Judge Stan Strickland, the other from Dominic Casey. Both were about the same matter: Jose Baez was accused of telling Dominic not to call 9-1-1 if he found Caylee's remains in the woods. José called the allegations ridiculous.

 

The promotional announcements were on the air. Oprah would have the first interview with George and Cindy since the discovery of Caylee's body. The show billed it as an exclusive event to air in May. Supporters of the family felt this show was the perfect venue to soften their image. If Oprah loved them, the world would, too.

But then, George and Cindy accepted an invitation to appear on the CBS
Early Show
in April. Oprah responded, “Based on the Anthonys' decision to appear on other
programs, we have decided not to move forward with their interview on
The Oprah Winfrey Show
at this time.”

Cindy, however, had a different story. She wrote in an email to WKMG news: “I cancelled on Oprah because of integrity.” Her reason made no sense to anyone.

George, Cindy and lawyer Brad Conway joined Maggie Rodriquez on the
Early Show
set on April 22. Cindy said, “Sometimes it gets lost that we've lost someone very close to us and we have someone else who's hurting and we miss her dearly, too.”

When Maggie asked about the reinstatement of the death penalty earlier in the month, Cindy said that they could not think about that now. George added that he didn't believe there would be a plea deal and that neither of them wanted her to do that. “Casey's not going to admit to something she hasn't done.”

“How are you so sure?” Maggie asked. “How do you say with such conviction that she didn't do this?”

“We love our daughter,” Cindy said. “We stand behind her. We know what kind of mother she was.”

“Is it because you love your daughter that you need to believe this, or is it because you believe unflinchingly that it is not possible that she did this?”

“I don't believe it's possible for my daughter to hurt anyone,” George said. “And she definitely wouldn't hurt her own child. I mean, my gosh, I've seen the love she had every single day for her. She had been with us. She wouldn't hurt her.”

The interview continued the next day. Maggie asked about Casey: “What kind of young lady did she grow up to be, George?”

“Very sensitive. Very caring. The kind of daughter that any father is proud of, I mean, I'm proud of my daughter. Watching Caylee grow up, you know, it's . . . like watching my daughter grow up again.”

The couple talked about their granddaughter, the pain of their loss and the 911 calls in July. Maggie asked about Casey, “What questions would you have for her? What
questions has she not answered for you that you need to know?”

“I had time with Casey to ask questions,” George said.

“Are you satisfied with the answers she gave you?”

“You know, I'd love to know more.”

“Like what?” Maggie prodded.

“I want to know what happened.”

“She claimed that the babysitter snatched her?”

“Yes.”

“George, shouldn't she have reported her missing?”

“Again, I can't say what my daughter was thinking. We just don't know.”

“Do you fault her for anything?”

“How can we?” Cindy asked. We don't know what she's been through. I don't know what that girl has been through. I mean, George and I are living the same nightmare and I can't judge George for certain things that he's done. I understand certain things. I understand his suicide attempt. A lot of people don't know I was there, too. I wrote suicide notes back in the end of July and August.”

“You did?”

“Yes, I did. Because I couldn't bear not having Caylee around and not knowing. You know, you get to a point when you miss someone so much that you think life's not worth living.”

“And what kept you from going through [with] it?” Maggie asked.

“Casey came home—the first time, Casey came home—the very first night—being able to see her and hug her.”

When Maggie asked about jail visitation, Cindy complained about the sunshine laws and the awkwardness of the visits. “What do you say to people who say the evidence is hard to refute?” Maggie asked.