Casey Anthony, the Florida mom famously acquitted for daughter Caylee’s murder, could be sued for claims she reportedly made following the toddler’s death.
Roy Kronk was the man who found Caylee Anthony’s body a decade ago. He initially sued Casey for defamation five months after her acquittal. Kronk alleged that, during the trial, Casey’s attorneys falsely claimed he had killed Caylee and held onto her body for months before planting her remains, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
Kronk had asked the court to dismiss his lawsuit amid Casey’s 2013 bankruptcy trial. In that motion, WKMG reported that Casey claimed her attorney’s comments weren’t defamatory.
Kronk, once again, is angling for a civil lawsuit as proceedings for Casey’s bankruptcy trial are wrapping up. On Monday, his attorney reportedly asked the federal bankruptcy judge to withhold their judgment so an Orlando jury could hear the defamation case in a civil court—possibly the same courtroom where Casey was acquitted.
“There are disputed issues of fact that preclude summary judgment on the defamation issues, and because those issues cannot be tried by the Bankruptcy Court…[Kronk] should be allowed to return to the Orlando state court to obtain a single adjudication of all issues by jury trial, especially now that there are no remaining countervailing bankruptcy issues that would weigh against abstention,” attorney Howard Marks wrote in a statement to the news station.
The federal judge has yet to respond to Monday’s motion.
It’s worth noting that this could be the second payout for Kronk in connection with the high-profile case.
Earlier this year, Kronk won a $250,000 lawsuit against Leonard Padilla, a Calfornia-based bounty hunter who posted Casey’s bond in 2008. According to WKMG, Kronk accused Padilla of making defamatory comments about him and his wife during multiple television appearances.
Padilla failed to respond to a deposition for the civil case three years ago, which allowed the former meter reader to seek and obtain a default judgment.
[Feature Image: Casey Anthony/Police Handout]
