Casey Anthony Coverage
TAMPA. (CBSMiami/AP) — After being acquitted of killing her 2-year-old daughter Caylee in 2011, Casey Anthony is fighting legal issues again.
Anthony filed for bankruptcy in Florida on Friday, claiming about $800,000 in liabilities.
She sought Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection in federal court in Tampa, according to court records. This type of filing is used to get rid of most of the existing debt and obtain a fresh financial start.
Anthony’s listed debts include $500,000 for attorney fees and costs for her criminal defense lawyer during the trial, Jose Baez; $145,660 for the Orange County Sheriff’s office for a judgment covering investigative fees and costs related to the case; $68,540 for the Internal Revenue Service for taxes, interest and penalties; and $61,505 for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for court costs.
The filling also states that she is a defendant in several civil suits, including one brought by Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez for defamation in Orange County Circuit Court.
Fernandez-Gonzalez claims her reputation was damaged by Anthony who told detectives that a baby sitter by the same name kidnapped Caylee. The detectives were investigating the 2008 disappearance of the girl, who later was found dead.
In the documents, Anthony says she owes money to about 80 creditors, and she has no income.
Court papers listed Anthony as unemployed.
The claims largely cover fees for legal, medical, psychiatric and forensics consulting or services. But one claim covers a debt for scuba diving services.
A trustee may have the right to take possession of and sell Anthony’s non-exempt property to use the sale proceeds to pay creditors, but Anthony lists little in the way of assets. A debtor may still be held responsible for some obligations, such as taxes and student loans.
The filing was on the same day that a Florida appellate court set aside two of the four convictions she faced for lying to detectives during the investigation into her missing daughter.
Though Anthony was acquitted of killing Caylee, jurors convicted her of four counts of lying to detectives, and her attorneys appealed those convictions. Anthony was sentenced to time served for the misdemeanors.
She was sentenced to a year of probation after her release from jail for an unrelated case. For her protection, her whereabouts have been kept secret since she was released from state supervision last year.
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