Anthony civil suit hearing set for Friday

The deposition in Zenaida Gonzalez's civil lawsuit against Casey Anthony will not come until the beginning of October.

Judge Lisa Munyon denied a motion to compel Casey to take the deposition prior to her Sunday jail release and also set the date for October 8, 2011.

“Hallelujah, do you know how long we have been trying to take this girl’s deposition,” Keith Mitnik said. “We filed this lawsuit in 2008.”

Mitnik, who is representing Gonzalez, says he will be asking what exactly happened to her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee. He fears she won’t show up for the deposition.

“You can’t just say Fifth Amendment, you have to have a legitimate threat of prosecution,” Mitnik said. “She has been acquitted of the serious charges, she got double jeopardy.”

The lawyers for Casey wants the judge to set parameters on what can, cannot be asked.  That will probably happen before the deposition.

The hearing was initially delayed Friday morning after the judge presiding over the case removed himself without explanation.

After attorneys spoke privately, Judge Jose Rodriguez said another judge would handle the case.

 Anthony was not present at the hearing. 

 Gonzalez sued Anthony for defamation, claiming her reputation was maligned when Anthony claimed a babysitter named Zenaida Gonzalez kidnapped her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee in the summer of 2008. The claim later was shown to be a lie. 

 Gonzalez's attorneys argue that they may not get a chance to depose Anthony once she is released. 

WDBO's legal analyst Sherri DeWitt said eventually Casey Anthony will have to answer some tough questions.

“Whether or not Zenaida really took the child, how she came up with the story about Zenaida, how she came up with the address of the Sawgrass Apartments, all that kind of stuff,” DeWitt said.

But DeWitt says Casey’s lawyers will likely object to the one question everyone wants to know.

“The claim is a defamation claim. What really happened to Caylee isn’t directly related,” DeWitt said.

Dewitt said what questions can and cannot be asked will likely have to be determined by the judge.