Casey Anthony's bankruptcy case to stay in Tampa - WFTV

Casey Anthony's bankruptcy case to stay in Tampa

Posted: 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013

TAMPA, Fla. — A motion by prosecutors to move Casey Anthony’s bankruptcy case from Tampa to Orlando was denied on Tuesday, WFTV found out.

Also, Anthony is being sued by Zenaida Gonzalez for saying a woman by the same name kidnapped her daughter, Caylee Anthony. Gonzalez wanted that case to move to Orlando as well, but a judge said no.

Anthony's attorneys said the move would have been too dangerous, citing a recent offer of $50,000 for her whereabouts.

The next hearing in the case will be on Monday.

http://www.wftv.com/news/news/local/casey-anthonys-bankruptcy-case-will-stay-tampa/nWZqk/

Casey Anthony bankruptcy case stays in Tampa despite objections to move
Casey Anthony isn't safe in Orlando, her attorney says.

February 26, 2013|By Jeff Weiner, Orlando Sentinel

TAMPA — In a federal courtroom on Tuesday, Casey Anthony's attorney argued strenuously: Orlando is not a safe place for the notorious former murder defendant, and it is not her home anymore.

"She has no interest in returning to Orlando," said her lawyer, David Schrader.

She won't have to, at least not for her bankruptcy proceedings: U.S. Bankruptcy Judge K. Rodney May ruled against a motion by Zenaida Gonzalez, who's suing Anthony for defamation, to relocate the case.

Anthony wasn't in court but is expected to attend a creditors' meeting Monday.

Gonzalez's attorney R. Scott Shuker argued Tuesday that Anthony filed for bankruptcy in Tampa merely to avoid media scrutiny. He noted Orlando reporters in the courtroom as evidence that effort failed.

Anthony has no ties to Tampa, he said, and her last permanent address is her parents', in Orange County.

"You don't get to pick and choose which rules you're going to follow," Shuker said, adding Anthony is "again playing the victim."

Schrader countered that Anthony lives in hiding, has no permanent address and still receives threats.

Schrader filed a 20-page response opposing relocation, supported by signed statements from Anthony's largest creditor, attorney Jose Baez, and her mother Cindy Anthony.

The filing also attacked the validity of Gonzalez's defamation claim, but the judge didn't allow any argument on that topic.

However, the judge was sympathetic to the safety argument. Remaining in Tampa rather than Orlando, May said, wasn't a major inconvenience to anyone. More than half of Anthony's creditors don't live in either place.

"I didn't ask to have this case, but it seems to me it's the responsible thing to do to keep the case, the forum, the ballpark, here," May ruled.

Gonzalez sued after Anthony falsely said a similarly named nanny had kidnapped her daughter in 2008. The girl was later found dead, and Anthony was acquitted of her slaying at trial.

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2013-02-26/news/os-casey-anthony-hearing-bankruptcy-20130226_1_zenaida-gonzalez-jose-baez-cindy-anthony