George Anthony: State Deposition, August 5th 2009

436 Pages·2010·3.37 MB·English

Original document: http://www.wftv.com/pdf/21310228/detail.html

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE
NINTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT, IN
AND FOR ORANGE COUNTY, FLORIDA
CASE NUMBER: 48-2008-CP-015606-0
DIVISION 16
STATE OF FLORIDA,
Plaintiff,
vs.
CASEY MARIE ANTHONY,
Defendant.
Orlando, Florida
August 5, 2009
10:08 a.m.

DEPOSITION OF:
GEORGE A. ANTHONY
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Marge Raeder Court Reporter, Inc.
999 Douglas Avenue/Suite 3307
Altamonte Springs, FL 32714
407/774-6611 • Fax [phone]
A P P E A R A N C E . S :
LINDA DRANE BURDICK, ATTORNEY AT LAW
FRANK GEORGE, ESQUIRE
JEFFREY ASHTON, ESQUIRE
Assistant State Attorneys
415 North Orange Avenue
Orlando, Florida 32801
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Appearing on behalf of the Plaintiff.
JOSE BAEZ, ESQUIRE
522 Simpson Road
Kissimmee, Florida 34744
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and
ANDREA LYON, ATTORNEY AT LAW [Via Skype]
15 East Jackson Boulevard
Chicago, Illinois 60604
Appearing on behalf of the Defendant.
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BRADLEY A. CONWAY, ESQUIRE
189 South Orange Avenue
Suite 1850
Orlando, Florida 32801
Appearing on'behalf of the Deponent.
I N D E X
TESTIMONY OF GEORGE A. ANTHONY:
Direct Examination by Mr. Ashton 5
Direct Examination by Ms. Drane Burdick 275
Further Direct Examination by Mr. Ashton 318
Further Direct Examination by Ms. Drane Burdick 324
Further Direct Examination by Mr. Ashton 330
Cross Examination by Mr. Baez 332
CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER 335
SUBSCRIPTION OF DEPONENT 336
1 EXHIBITS
Marked By Reference
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3 Exhibit Number 1 3 162
Exhibit Number 2 3
Exhibit Number 3 3 159
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Exhibit Number 4 3
5 Exhibit Number 5 3
Exhibit Number 6 3
6 Exhibit Number 7 3 151
Exhibit Number 8 3 155
7 Exhibit Number 9 182 182
Exhibit Number 10 334 334
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The deposition of GEORGE A.
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ANTHONY was taken on behalf of the
Plaintiff on Wednesday, August 5,
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2009, beginning at 10:08 a.m., at
5 the Office of the State Attorney,
6 415 North Orange Avenue, Room 379,
7 Orlando, Florida, before Dawn R.
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Matter, Electronic Reporter and Notary
9 Public, State of Florida at Large.
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[Whereupon, Exhibit Numbers 1
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through 8 were marked for identification.]
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Whereupon,
13 GEORGE A. ANTHONY,
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having been first duly sworn by the reporter, testified
as follows:
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16 MR. ASHTON: Good morning.
THE WITNESS: Good morning.
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18 MR. ASHTON: Let's begin first by introducing
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everyone. I'm Jeff Ashton on behalf of the State
20 of Florida.
21 MS. DRANE BURDICK: Linda Burdick.
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MR. GEORGE: Frank George on behalf of the
23 State.
24 MR. CONWAY: Brad Conway for George Anthony.
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MR. BAEZ: Jose Baez and Andrea Lyon on
behalf of Casey Anthony.
MR. ASHTON: And for the record, Ms. Lyon is
appearing by computer from her office in Chicago?
MR. BAEZ: Chicago.
MR. ASHTON: All right. And we've already
verified that she can hear us and will participate
when she needs to.
DIRECT EXAMINATION
BY MR. ASHTON:
Q Mr. Anthony, before we begin, I want to go
through some preliminary matters about your appearance
here. You are here pursuant to a subpoena that was
actually issued for your appearance last week, I
believe on Wednesday of last week was when it was set.
By agreement with Mr. Conway, who was present with your
wife, it was agreed that your subpoena would be held
over until this week for both your convenience and ours

in trying to get this deposition done.
I say that to point out that you are still
under subpoena here today, under a State Attorney
subpoena. That subpoena has certain obligations or
protections I want to go over with you. I'm sure Mr.
Conway has already explained them to you, but I want to
make sure they're on the record.
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1 Since you are a subpoenaed witness in this
2 case, you are obligated to provide any information that
you know and answer any questions you are asked. The
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only time you can refuse to answer a question is based
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upon a claim of privilege, which Mr. Conway would advise
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you about and explain to you. That is your obligation
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under subpoena.
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8 The protection you are given by law under
subpoena -- and, again, this is based upon Florida
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statute, and it is granted to every witness who is
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subpoenaed by the State -- it's something called use
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and derivative-use immunity. That means that you may
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feel free to discuss openly anything, any facts you
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know in this case, even if those facts would tend to
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incriminate you.
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Again, I explain this, not because we think
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that you have done anything wrong. It's just a standard
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protection that all witnesses receive. Not only can
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nothing that you tell us be used against you, but nothing
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that we derive from what you tell us can be used against
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you.
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As an example, if you were to tell us where a
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piece of evidence could be found that would incriminate
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you, we went and found that piece of evidence, we could
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use neither your admission or the piece of evidence
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1 against you. The only exception to that is for
2 prosecution for perjury committed today or at any time
3 hereafter. Under those circumstances, the evidence
4 could be used.
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Aside from that -- therefore, based on that,
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you may not claim a privilege of self-incrimination
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during this deposition. Any other privileges that you
feel apply that you would like to claim, you may, on
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consultation with your counsel, but not the privilege
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against self-incrimination.
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What I've just explained to you, is that
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pretty much what you already knew?
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A I understand. Yes.
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15 Q Okay. Any questions about any of that?
16 A No.
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Q All right. Let's just start off, please tell
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us your name.
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A George A. Anthony.
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Q And what is your date of birth?
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A September 5th, 1951.
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Q Let me just start out with some personal
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history of yours. Just kind of take me through where
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you were born, where you were raised, those kinds of
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things.
A I was born in Warren, Ohio. I was raised in
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a small town called Niles, Ohio, which is adjacent to
Warren, Ohio. Up until the year 1989, I lived in Ohio,
and I moved down here in September of 1989 --
Q A n d - -
A -- and resided here since.
Q -- do you -- were both your parents -- I
believe both -- are both your parents still alive?
A Yes. Both of my parents are still alive.
Q Okay.
A They live in Fort Myers, Florida.
MR. BAEZ: Excuse me, Jeff.
MR. ASHTON: Sure.
MR. BAEZ: I don't mean to interrupt, but I
think the camera is facing the wall.
MR. ASHTON: Yeah. It does seem to be
getting a lot of the post.
MR. BAEZ: Yeah. If you could turn it.
MR. ASHTON: Let's see. Is that better?
MR. BAEZ: Is that better, Andrea?
MS. LYON: It's much better. And Jeff, as
long as we're talking, if you can keep your voice
up just a little bit. I'm having a little trouble
hearing you, which I know you can't believe.
MR. ASHTON: Yeah. I have never heard --
I've never had that -- I've never heard that
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before.
MS. LYON: Thank you.
MR. ASHTON: Usually it's the other way
around.
BY MR. ASHTON:
Q And your -- those are your biological
parents, no stepparents or anything like that?
A They're my biological parents. Yes.
Q Did you have any siblings?
A Yes. I have three sisters.
Q Three sisters. And where -- what are their
ages in comparison to yours?
A I have a sister who's seven years older than
I am. She'll be GO -- wow.
Q You don't have to do the math. It's okay. A
Okay.
Q That's why I said --
A Yes. She's --
Q -- in comparison to yours.
A Yes. She's older. And I have two younger
sisters.
Q And how many years younger are they?
A One is ten years younger and the other one is
seven years younger.
Q So a spread of 24 years between the youngest