ORLANDO, Fla. — An Orlando judge has ordered Casey Anthony to answer questions from a volunteer search group which has sued her for allegedly providing false information as members helped look for her two-year old daughter in 2008.
The suit alleges that Anthony and her family implored Texas Equusearch to maintain their search in the summer and fall of 2008 despite their knowledge that Caylee had died.
In a case that grabbed worldwide attention, last July Anthony was found not guilty of killing Caylee in 2008 but was convicted of lying to authorities. She was sentenced to four years in prison, but with time already served in jail, was released days after her conviction.
Caylee disappeared in June 2008 and her body was found in woods six months later, with her mother’s legal team maintaining she drowned in a swimming pool then was buried by Anthony’s father George Anthony — a claim he denied.
Anthony is appealing her conviction for lying to authorities, but Orange Circuit Judge Lisa Munyon said she could answer two questions from Texas Equusearch’s lawyers that would not incriminate during any retrial, the Orlando Sentinel reported.
The order was put in place after a closed-door hearing Tuesday, but was only released publicly Wednesday.
The judge’s order requires Anthony, 25, to provide responses to the questions within 10 days.
“Because the answers to all but two of the requests could provide a link in the chain of evidence at any retrial of the conviction currently on appeal, the defendant has properly asserted her fifth amendment privilege to all but two,” Munyon ruled.
The first question that Anthony must answer is, “Admit that you did not observe or hear George Anthony call 911 at any time to report that he or you had discovered that Caylee Marie Anthony had drowned in the swimming pool at your parents’ house on or about June 16, 2008?”
The second question is, “Admit that you were aware in September 2008 and October 2008 that EquuSearch was conducting searches for your daughter?”