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Judge Refuses To Dismiss Casey's Civil Case

A judge refused to throw out the defamation lawsuit against Casey Anthony, filed by Zenaida Gonzalez. Judge Rodriguez, Monday, (read order) denied her defense team’s motion to get Casey’s civil case dismissed.


READ: Judge’s Order Denying Motion
VIDEO REPORT: Judge Refuses To Dismiss Case

Gonzales shares the name as the mystery nanny that Casey says disappeared with her daughter Caylee. Casey's civil attorney had argued that it was not fair for Casey to have to defend herself in the civil case, before going to trial for murder.

But the judge disagreed, ruling that since Zenaida's lawyers backed off of demanding Casey answer very specific questions about the nanny, it would not hurt her defense in the murder trial.

The case against Casey will go back to court in December. A pre-trial hearing is scheduled in her check fraud case for December 18, with the trial set for January 25. Her defense team has asked that the trial be moved out of Orange County, but a judge has yet to rule on that.

In a hearing last week, (images) | (video) the defense won the right to have the photographs of Caylee's remains copied on CDs, which they will send to their experts.

Casey Anthony is in jail facing murder charges in the death of her daughter, Caylee Marie Anthony.


ANTHONYS' P.I. TRIES TO GET OUT OF DEPOSITION

The Anthony family's private investigator is trying to get out of his November 12 deposition under oath with prosecutors in Casey's murder trial.


READ: P.I's Motion To Strike, For Protective Order

Private eye Dominic Casey, who was at the scene where Caylee's remains were found, claims that since he worked for Casey’s defense team at one time, he can't be forced to answer questions.

Part of the private investigator's interview with law enforcement is still under seal, but part of it has been made public.


ANTHONYS TAKE CRUISE AFTER BIG PAYOUT FOR TV INTERVIEW

Minutes after a judge refused to throw out their daughter's murder case, the Anthonys set sail on a Caribbean cruise and Eyewitness News was there Monday morning when they stepped off the boat (watch video | see images).

While they were at sea, CBS aired a special edition of “48 Hours” on the mystery surrounding their granddaughter's death. Eyewitness News learned the Anthonys received $20,000 for an interview on that special.


CRUISE ARRIVAL: Watch Raw Video | See Images
VIDEO REPORT: Anthonys Return From Bahamas Cruise

In December, the Anthonys dined on crab puffs at the Ritz while investigators were in the rain and mud searching for Caylee's remains. Now, at the same time as their paid network appearance claiming their granddaughter's killer is still out there, the Anthonys were on a tropical island cruise.

“We had a nice vacation. Will you please leave us alone now?” Cindy Anthony asked the cameraperson after arriving back from their cruise Monday morning (watch video | see images).

ANTHONYS BACK HOME
Cruise Arrival | Images

Cindy and George Anthony apparently left their daughter's murder trial hearing last Friday and headed to Port Canaveral for a 4-day Bahamian cruise on the Monarch of the Seas. That comes after George told prosecutors under oath that no one will hire them and, just to make ends meet, they had to accept a few thousand dollars from the CBS network for an exclusive interview that aired Saturday night. Cindy told prosecutors it was more like $20,000.

“The vacation was from you guys,” Cindy told the cameraperson who caught her on video arriving home from the cruise. “Shut your camera off ... thanks for ruining our trip."

Legal analyst Doug Dorner says the timing of the cruise could have counteracted the credibility they might have gained through their network appearance and their credibility is important if they want to be their daughter's defenders.

“George and Cindy are the artists, if you will, in the tapestry that's going to be painted as to who Casey Anthony really is,” Dorner said. “The more their credibility is challenged, the less impact they're going to be able to have on a jury of Casey's peers.

Monday, the Anthony couple’s attorney, Brad Conway, told Eyewitness News that the Anthonys deserved the short break and that it's not newsworthy. Conway made $3,000 off the CBS network show.

Conway says the search is still on for the mysterious nanny named Zenaida Fernandez Gonzalez, who Casey claims to have disappeared with Caylee.

"Puerto Rico is, I would say, the focus for the Zenaida Gonzalez that Casey Anthony speaks of, and that's as far as I can go,” Conway previously said.

But Puerto Rico was not on the Anthonys' itinerary when they cruised with their friends. They only went as far as Nassau, 738 miles from Puerto Rico, just an hour and a half flight time.

“It raises the question, why are the parents not in Puerto Rico or spending that money on the investigation to help further the research into finding Zenaida Gonzalez, or the alleged Zenaida Gonzalez, in Puerto Rico?” Dorner questioned.

The case against Casey won't go back to court until December. A pre-trial hearing is scheduled in her check fraud case for December 18.

Casey is facing charges for stealing checks from her best friend. Her defense team has asked that the trial be moved out of Orange County, but a judge hasn't made a decision on that yet.


ANTHONYS APPEAR ON NATIONAL TV

Casey Anthony's defense team continues to push the notion that someone else killed Caylee Anthony. During a primetime interview over the weekend with CBS's 48 Hours Mystery, her family and her lawyers tried to make their case that Casey is innocent.


VIDEO REPORT: Defense Maintains Innocence On National TV

The defense tried to poke holes in the state's evidence and said prosecutors do not have a case.

"I think they botched this from the very beginning by arresting Casey Anthony without fully investigating the facts," attorney Jose Baez said.

Casey's attorneys said they will challenge the duct tape found on Caylee's remains, because the DNA of an unidentified person was also on it. They also believe that someone else, not Casey, did Google searches on neck-breaking and chloroform on a family computer.

Also, Casey's mother, Cindy Anthony, addressed her 911 call about the smell of a dead body in her daughter's car.

"I said whatever it would take to get the police there quicker," Cindy Anthony said in a television interview.

The Anthonys say they have private investigators still looking for the infamous 'Zanny the Nanny,' who Casey said took Caylee.

The case against Casey will go back to court in December when a pre-trial hearing is scheduled for December 18 in her check fraud case. Casey's defense team has asked that this trial be moved out of Orange County, but a judge has not made a decision on that yet.


JUDGE WON'T DISMISS CHARGES, FRAUD TRIAL DATE SET

Casey Anthony’s lawyers lost their biggest legal fight Friday to get her murder case thrown out and the judge set a trial date for Casey's other criminal case.

On January 25, Casey will have to fight charges that she stole her best friend's checks and emptied her bank account. The judge also gave Casey's defense team a new deadline Friday.


COURT HEARING: Casey, Court Images | Raw Video
BAEZ TALKS TO WFTV : Video | Images
CONWAY ON HEARING : Video | Images
READ: Judge's Order Not Dismissing Charges
VIDEO REPORT: Casey Appears At Court Hearing

What might have been grandstanding by the defense team turned out to be another mistake. Now, the defense has until February 1 to turn over the evidence they claim they have proving someone else put Caylee's body in the woods near the Anthonys' house.

“It’s a farce. It doesn’t even come close to the legal requirements necessary for the court to even entertain a motion to dismiss,” state prosecutor Linda Drane-Burdick argued Friday. “The entire motion, from top to bottom, it is replete with errors, it’s insufficient as a matter of law."

Circuit Judge Stan Strickland ruled (read order) that Casey Anthony had not sworn to the proper and legally required facts to even ask him to drop the murder and child abuse charges against her (read motion | state's response to strike). A weak argument from defense attorney Andrea Lyon didn't help.

“It cannot be the intent of the Florida legislature that a person swear to something that they do not have personal knowledge of,” Lyon argued.

“The content of the motion, as well as Ms. Anthony’s brief affirmations, are not enough to carry the day under Florida Rules of Pleading,” Judge Strickland wrote in his order (read it).

COURT HEARING
Casey Pics | Raw Video

There were more defense mistakes that prevented the team from dealing with two of its own issues Friday. The defense did not provide its witness list for its argument to drop Casey’s charges because defense experts were barred from the active crime scene in December (read motion) and it notified the wrong agency about the hearing to shield Casey from the jail security cameras (read motion). Instead of notifying Orange County government, which runs the jail, the defense notified the sheriff's office, which hasn't run the jail since 1987.

Casey looked her mother's way when Cindy stood up in court to see her daughter wearing a sea foam green, belted, puffy-sleeved blouse (see images).

Casey got a good laugh, with everyone else, when the judge joked about all the hand cream up at the bench of courtroom 10-A, which he borrowed from Judge Alicia Latimore, but defense attorney Jose Baez was not laughing when he was ordered to turn over evidence his team claims to have proving someone else dumped Caylee's body in the woods last year. The deadline is February 1.

“Is there gonna be a bombshell on February 1st,” WFTV reporter Kathi Belich asked Casey’s attorney, Jose Baez.

“There will be something. There definitely will be something,” Baez said.

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