Casey Anthony New Trial? Lawsuit From Man Who Found Caylee May Move Forward

ORLANDO, FL — The Orange County meter reader who discovered the remains of two-year-old Caylee Anthony in 2008 has asked a judge to move his defamation lawsuit against the dead girl’s mother to move forward to a jury trial.

As a result, Casey Anthony may again be headed to court over Caylee’s death.

Ray Kronk, the worker who found Caylee’s body, initially sued Anthony for defamation in 2011, just five months after a jury found her not guilty of murdering Caylee.

According to the suit, Kronk said Anthony instructed her attorneys to make misleading statements against him and to imply that he was responsible for Caylee’s death.

After Anthony filed for bankruptcy in 2013, a judge put the suit on hold. Last week, however, Anthony filed a motion for a summary judgment against Bronk, contending that she did not defame him.

Howard Marks, Kronk’s lawyer, immediately fired back, arguing that the case should move ahead to a trial in civil court, preferably in the very same facility where Anthony previously stood trial. Marks stated:

“Kronk should be allowed to return to the Orlando state court to obtain a single adjudication of all issues by jury trial. There are no remaining bankruptcy issues.”

While Kronk’s lawsuit has been stalled for five years, it has never been dismissed. The judge presently handling the case has yet to make a public comment on what might happen next — including the prospect of Casey Anthony facing a new trial.

Kronk, who unwittingly happened upon Caylee’s skull in 2008 after he stopped to relieve himself in a wooded area, has filed other defamation lawsuits surrounding the toddler’s death, with varying results.

In 2015, a judge dismissed Kronk’s suit against the publisher of The National Enquirer over a tabloid article entitled "Meter Reader Killed Caylee."

Earlier this year, however, Kronk won a $250,000 judgment against Leonard Padilla, a California bounty hunter who made numerous TV talk show rounds after he posted Anthony’s initial bond. Kronk convinced a judge that Padilla had defamed him during those TV appearances.

Read more: People, Orlando Sentinel, WSVN, Click Orlando