Local

Missing woman's ex-fiance to be deposed in wrongful death suit, judge says

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Michelle Parker was reported missing in 2011 after dropping off her three children with her ex-fiance, Dale Smith, who investigators say is the only suspect in her disappearance.

Smith was fighting to keep from testifying in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Parker’s mother, but a judge ruled Monday that he will be deposed in the case.

Smith’s attorney, Stephen Calavacca, said his client will invoke the Fifth Amendment if he is deposed.

Parker’s mother, Yvonne Steward, said her daughter’s disappearance has taken a serious toll on her family.

“It’s agony,” she said. “It’s total torture every day.”

The answer to the mystery of what happened to Parker could lie in Smith’s testimony, she said.

“I think Dale needs to answer questions, and do you think if he didn’t have anything to hide he wouldn’t plead the Fifth?” she asked.

Calavacca argued that it is his client’s right to invoke the Fifth Amendment, and he plans to ask the judge to seal Smith’s testimony.

“The public takes the Fifth Amendment as synonymous with guilt,” he said. “That is not the case law, that is not the Constitution. That sort of reaction is prejudicial to my client.”

If Smith is ever charged in connection with Parker’s disappearance, his deposition could be used against him, Calavacca said.

“He has a Fifth Amendment (right),” Calavacca said. “That’s the whole purpose.

"This is America.”