Casey Anthony bankruptcy hearing today - OS

Casey Anthony bankruptcy hearing today
Kronk, Gonzalez lawsuits bring Casey Anthony attorneys back to court.

By Jeff Weiner, Orlando Sentinel
9:25 a.m. EDT, May 8, 2013

Are the defamation lawsuits against Casey Anthony legitimate claims or publicity stunts? That debate, and the continuing fight over whether the suits should survive her Chapter 7 bankruptcy, will return to court today in Tampa.

A hearing is set for 2 p.m. this afternoon at the Sam M. Gibbons U.S. Courthouse. Check back later today for updates.

The suits, brought by Zenaida Gonzalez and Roy Kronk, were put in jeopardy by Anthony's January bankruptcy filing, which seeks the discharge her debts and claims against her. A bankruptcy stay put both lawsuits on hold.

Gonzalez and Kronk plan to argue their suits should be exempt from discharge, or that Anthony's discharge should be denied altogether, and they want a bankruptcy judge lift the stay and allow the suits to proceed in state court.

At today's hearing in Tampa, their attorneys will ask U.S. Bankruptcy Judge K. Rodney May to extend the deadline for their legal challenges to the discharge of Anthony's debts until after the suits are settled in the state court.
Photos: Hot sports wives, girlfriends

In a pair of responses filed Tuesday, Anthony's attorneys argue the Kronk and Gonzalez suits are frivolous, and it would be "unfair and unjust to delay or deny her the 'fresh start' that she has legally sought" through bankruptcy.

The hearing comes a day after Anthony's bankruptcy trustee withdrew his plan to sell the rights to her life story as an asset, something her defense team opposed vigorously.

Anthony has been in hiding since her acquittal in the 2008 death of her daughter, Caylee. Anthony was charged with murder, but only convicted of four misdemeanors for lying to authorities at trial, two of which were reversed on appeal.

She last appeared in public for a creditor's meeting in March. Anthony is not required to attend the hearing today.

Gonzalez sued after Anthony falsely said a similarly named nanny had kidnapped Caylee. The nanny didn't exist, but Gonzalez was interviewed by detectives and linked to the case in the media — upending her life, she says.

Kronk, the meter-reader who found Caylee's body in woods near the Anthony home, says he was defamed by Anthony's lawyers. Kronk says the attorneys made false statements wrongly implicating him in the girl's death.

Anthony filed for bankruptcy protection in January, listing more than $790,000 in debt. Her largest creditor is her criminal attorney Jose Baez, whom she owes $500,000. She declared less than $1,100 in assets in her paperwork.

This is a developing story.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/caylee-anthony/os-casey-anthony-lawsuits-hearing-20130508,0,5623277.story