By Jeff Weiner, The Orlando Sentinel –
ORLANDO, Fla. — Attorneys for Casey Anthony this week filed court documents — including a statement by her mother, Cindy — seeking to have one of the lawsuits against her thrown out, records show.
The documents were filed in support of Anthony’s motion for summary judgment in the defamation case brought by Zenaida Gonzalez, who says Anthony’s lies damaged her reputation.
Gonzalez was interviewed by detectives after Anthony claimed a nanny with a similar name had kidnapped her daughter in 2008. Investigators later said the nanny didn’t exist.
Cindy Anthony’s statement says Gonzalez doesn’t resemble the nanny Casey described “in the slightest,” and disputes the notion she was acting as her daughter’s “agent” by speaking to the media.
“I was not an ‘agent’ for my daughter,” she said, referring to statements she made to members of the media about the nanny in 2008. “I was a worried mother and grandmother acting on my own.”
Also filed was a declaration from a defense private investigator, Jim Bender, who states that a search of records for people with names similar to Gonzalez in Central Florida returned 36 results.
Bender reported to the court that he searched records in Orange County and five surrounding counties for the names “Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez,” “Zenaida Fernandez” or “Zenaida Gonzalez.”
Meanwhile, Gonzalez’s attorneys also filed a motion seeking to govern what Anthony’s defense can argue if the civil case goes before a jury as expected.
Gonzalez’s attorneys argue that Anthony’s civil defense must mirror the defense from her murder trial, in which her lead criminal defense attorney, Jose Baez, admitted the nanny wasn’t real.
“Specifically, (Anthony) should be prohibited from presenting evidence or suggesting that there was a nanny named Zanny who took care of Caylee Anthony at any time,” the motion says.
The motion also seeks for the judge to bar testimony relating to Gonzalez’s past “bad conduct” not directly related to the case, as well as photographs taken from her MySpace page.
Anthony, 25, was charged with first-degree murder in the death of her daughter, but was acquitted on all major charges in July. She is currently on probation for check fraud convictions.
