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Bounty Hunter Puts Price on Casey Anthony Claims Lead Attorney Baez Lied

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by copythat

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Casey Anthony's legal team may have helped her win an acquittal, freed over murder charges--but a California bounty hunter is putting a price on court words he claims indicate he was lied to by lead attorney Jose Baez and the accused murderer. Leonard Padilla better hope the accused murderer gets a book or media deal to garner some cash if he plans to see any money.
 
Leonard Padilla -- the man who dubs himself the 'World Famous Bounty Hunter & Godfather of Bail' -- is planning to sue and he's holding murder case defendant Casey Anthony and her lead defense attorney in the murder case, Jose Baez, responsible, in a claim where he says he was lied to. It's not a complete surprise: This bounty hunter's from California and he's obviously good at marketing in addition to those 'hunting' skills. Padilla's been in movies and on TV -- including a prominent role in "Bounty Hunters". Padilla's also not unfamiliar with the law: He holds a law degree (1980) from Lincoln Law School and the bounty hunter opened the 'Lorenzo Patino School of Law' in 1982, over 25 years ago, with Attorney Doug Nareau, Heman Smith, and Judge Lorenzo Patino -- to provide "an affordable legal education for those wishing to practice law."
 
The California-based bounty hunter who bills himself as the 'Godfather of Bail' says he's out a chunk of change over Anthony and is looking to garner nearly a quarter of a million dollars in a planned lawsuit. Padilla claims he was misled in helping search for two-year-old Caylee Anthony in 2008. Leonard Padilla is seeking damages: $200,000 in a lawsuit he plans to file shortly against the accused murderer and her legal rep.
 
Bounty man Padilla says Anthony's lawyer Jose Baez, who actually served as the lead on the murder case, allowed him to fly to Florida in 2008 (despite the fact it was his own decision to do so) -- to perform a search for Anthony's then-missing 2-year-old daughter. Padilla apparently feels lied to over the search ordeal. It seems Jose Baez's opening statement during the murder trial served as a jaw-dropper for the California bounty hunter who had flown to Florida for the hunt: "It turns out she [Casey Anthony] knew where the child [Caylee Anthony] was all along," Padilla says. "They [Casey Anthony and Jose Baez] misled me, and it is definitely fraud," claims the California man.
 
Leonard Padilla reportedly offered a $25,000 reward for Caylee Anthony's return in 2008 while searching for the two-year-old who was deemed 'missing'. The bounty hunter also says he's responsible for bailing Casey Anthony out of jail -- spending $50,000 to bond out the accused murderer when she was first thrown behind Florida bars. The fifty grand Padilla cites as a price is a bit confusing: Since Anthony later showed up for her court appearance, Padilla wouldn't have been out those funds. In fact, if he uses the same method as bail bondsmen typically do, the bounty hunter would've actually seen a profit on the posted bond. He should've gotten roughly 10-percent -- or a profit on the Anthony bond of about $5,000.
 
The bounty hunter's planned lawsuit against Anthony and Baez is apparently slated to include some other bills he plans to claim as damages -- for what Padilla says is funds he put out for people providing "security".
 
Leonard Padilla claims he talked to Casey Anthony on many occasions during the time her daughter was supposedly missing -- and that the later-accused murderer never said she knew where two-year-old Caylee was.
 
Allegedly, Padilla says Anthony told him Caylee was stolen by a babysitter. And he says he lost a lot of money over what are insinuated to have been lies. But, right now, it appears to be a 'he-said, she-said' scenario. Unless the bounty hunter is able to offer up some solid proof of what Casey Anthony may or may not have said, his case -- for damages against the Florida woman and her attorney -- may not make it far within the court system.
 
If the bounty hunter is ever to see a penny in a lawsuit against Casey Anthony -- after potentially winning a civil case against the prior defendant -- he would be very lucky indeed. It seems other people want money too. Unless the accused murderer garners herself a book or movie deal, or some exclusive contracts for tv interviews to rake in some cash, Padilla may go empty-handed. After all, you can't get blood out of a stone. Any funds Anthony does, or could, have in the bank are likely to be quickly depleted by everyone else looking to sue and win.
 
Any suit filed by the bounty hunter would make the fourth in a line-up of either current or soon-to-be-coming lawsuits filed against Casey Anthony.
 
Right now, the woman's got pretty much every type of entity looking to sue -- including a state, a company and an individual. The California bounty hunter would make the second individual in that line-up, but the fourth tier down. Florida officials are demanding Anthony repay the nation's state for the huge cost of investigation, and the state is first in line to get what it deems as its money. Florida has already filed a legal motion in July -- wanting to tally a total for the prior defendant to pay. The state's cites law that allows the legal fining of defendants in criminal cases, in order to recoup money.
 
Then there's the independent company that wants cash: Texas EquuSearch aided in the search for Anthony's daughter and, since it says Caylee Anthony was never missing, the company wants back funds used for 4,200 searchers. Texas EquuSearch says it spent over a hundred grand -- $112,000 -- searching for Caylee in Florida after the two-year-old was reported missing in July 2008.
 
The most unusual of the lawsuits includes a 'nanny'. Filing suit against Casey Anthony is Zenaida Gonzalez. Everyone heard about the infamous 'babysitter' Anthony had referenced when Caylee Anthony was supposedly missing. At the time of the search, Casey Anthony allegedly told family and cops that her little girl was with a babysitter or nanny named Zenaida Fernandez Gonzalez. Caylee wasn't with any nanny, and that false story got Casey Anthony some jail time -- though it was a small price. The murder case defendant was convicted of lying in the concocted Gonzalez story, in one of four lying convictions received.
 
Casey Anthony claimed Gonzalez had kidnapped her young child. The main issue: Cops never found a nanny by that name who had ever cared for Caylee. But law enforcement did find a woman named Zenaida Fernandez Gonzalez -- a woman who says she's never met Casey Anthony. Casey Anthony will be facing a defamation lawsuit.
 
As of July 19, Casey Anthony's suspected to be in California -- despite rumors that the Florida woman had flown to Arizona after boarding a plane in Orlando. Regardless of where in the world Casey Anthony may be now, her location won't be questioned on October 8: A judge's ordered an Anthony deposition slated for the date in October.

Location

Leonard Padilla - Bounty Hunter 'Godfather of Bail' (CA)
816 H Street, Suite 244
Sacramento, CA 95814
United States
Phone: (916) 558-6915
Fax: (916) 558-6920
38° 34' 57.9648" N, 121° 29' 40.3116" W
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