Defamation lawsuit against Casey Anthony filed by meter reader tossed out
Gail Paschall-Brown
WESH 2'S GAIL PASCHALL-BROWN EXPLAINS. GAIL: IT WAS STORY THAT GAINED NATIONAL HEADLINES: CAYLEE MARIE ANTHONY WAS REPORTED MISSING IN JULY, 2008 A JURY ACQUITTED HER MOTHER, CASEY ANTHONY, OF THE CAPITAL MURDER CHARGES IN JULY 2011, BUT THE SAGA CONTINUED. A FEW MONTHS AFTER THE TRIAL, ROY KRONK SUED CASEY ANTHONY FOR DEFAMATION. KRONK WAS THE METER READER FOR ORANGE COUNTY WHO LED INVESTIGATORS TO CAYLEE MARIE'S BODY IN A WOODED AREA NOT FAR FROM ANTHONY'S HOME. HIS CIVIL COMPLAINT CLAIMED "CASEY ANTHONY EITHER ORDERED OR KNEW ABOUT THE MEDIA SMEAR CAMPAIGN ORCHESTRATED BY ANTHONY'S LEGAL TEAM ACCUSING HIM OF KIDNAPPING THE 4-YEAR-OLD GIRL." THE BANKRUPTCY COURT PROPERLY GRANTED SUMMARY JUDGMENT IN ANTHONY'S FAVOR, SAYING THERE WAS NOT ENOUGH EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT KRONK'S CLAIM. KRONK APPEALED, AND IN HIS AMENDED COMPLAINT, HE SAID CASEY ANTHONY, THROUGH HER ATTORNEYS WHO ACTED AS HER AGENTS, PUBLISHED FALSE AND DEFAMATORY STATEMENTS ABOUT HIM DURING THE INVESTIGATION INTO CAYLEE'S DISAPPEARANCE AND ANTHONY'S SUBSEQUENT CRIMINAL TRIAL. AN AFFIDAVIT BY DOMINIC CASEY, AN ATTORNEY HIRED TO WORK WITH THE DEFENSE TEAM ALSO SAID CASEY ANTHONY "AUTHORIZED AN PERMITTED HER ATTORNEYS, INCLUDING JOSE BAEZ, TO MAKE FALSE STATEMENTS ABOUT ROY KRONK TO PORTRAY HIM AS A MURDERER AND OR KIDNAPPER OF CAYLEE ANTHONY." ANTHONY TESTIFIED THAT SHE "NEVER KNEW, AT ANY TIME, THAT HER LAWYERS WERE ACCUSING KRONK OF THE MURDER." LAST WEEK, U.S. DISTRICT JUDGE VIRGINIA HERNANDEZ COVINGTON UPHELD THE LOWER COURT' DECISION AND SAID, "THERE IS NO EVIDENCE IN THE RECORD OF ANTHONY AFFIRMATIVELY DIRECTING HER ATTORNEYS TO MAKE STATEMENTS TO THE MEDIA IMPLICATING KRONK IN THE CRIME, NOR IS THERE EVEN ANY EVIDENCE THAT ANTHONY KNEW HER ATTORNEYS WERE DOING SO." I'M GAIL PASCH
Last year a judge tossed out a defamation lawsuit against Casey Anthony, filed by Roy Kronk, the meter reader who found her daughter's body.Kronk sued Anthony saying statements made by her defense team to the media accused him of murder.A jury acquitted her mother, Casey Anthony, of the capital murder charges in July 2011 for the 2008 death of her daughter, Caylee Marie Anthony.A few months after the trial, Kronk sued Casey Anthony for defamation.Kronk led investigators to Caylee Marie's body in a wooded area not far from Anthony's home. His civil complaint claimed Anthony either ordered or knew about the media smear campaign orchestrated by Anthony's legal team accusing him of kidnapping the 4-year-old girl. The Bankruptcy Court properly granted summary judgment in Anthony's favor saying there was not enough evidence to support Kronk's claim. Kronk appealed and in his amended complaint, he said Anthony, through her attorneys, who acted as her agents, published false and defamatory statements about him during the investigation into Caylee's disappearance and Anthony's subsequent criminal trial. An affidavit by Dominic Casey, an attorney hired to work with the defense team, also said Anthony authorized and permitted her attorneys, including Jose Baez, to make false statements about Kronk to portray him as a murderer and or kidnapper of Caylee.Anthony testified that she never knew, at any time, that her lawyers were accusing Kronk of the murder. Last week, U.S. District Judge Virginia Hernandez Covington upheld the lower court's decision.Hernandez Covington made the following statement: "In sum, there is no evidence in the record of Anthony affirmatively directing her attorneys to make statements to the media implicating Kronk in the crime, nor is there even any evidence that Anthony knew her attorneys were doing so."
Last year a judge tossed out a defamation lawsuit against Casey Anthony, filed by Roy Kronk, the meter reader who found her daughter's body.
Kronk sued Anthony saying statements made by her defense team to the media accused him of murder.
A jury acquitted her mother, Casey Anthony, of the capital murder charges in July 2011 for the 2008 death of her daughter, Caylee Marie Anthony.
A few months after the trial, Kronk sued Casey Anthony for defamation.
Kronk led investigators to Caylee Marie's body in a wooded area not far from Anthony's home. His civil complaint claimed Anthony either ordered or knew about the media smear campaign orchestrated by Anthony's legal team accusing him of kidnapping the 4-year-old girl.
The Bankruptcy Court properly granted summary judgment in Anthony's favor saying there was not enough evidence to support Kronk's claim. Kronk appealed and in his amended complaint, he said Anthony, through her attorneys, who acted as her agents, published false and defamatory statements about him during the investigation into Caylee's disappearance and Anthony's subsequent criminal trial.
An affidavit by Dominic Casey, an attorney hired to work with the defense team, also said Anthony authorized and permitted her attorneys, including Jose Baez, to make false statements about Kronk to portray him as a murderer and or kidnapper of Caylee.
Anthony testified that she never knew, at any time, that her lawyers were accusing Kronk of the murder. Last week, U.S. District Judge Virginia Hernandez Covington upheld the lower court's decision.
Hernandez Covington made the following statement: "In sum, there is no evidence in the record of Anthony affirmatively directing her attorneys to make statements to the media implicating Kronk in the crime, nor is there even any evidence that Anthony knew her attorneys were doing so."