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Thursday, July 1, 2010

Stacey Barker Murder Trial Now Set To Begin Late September

At the end of September in Lancaster, CA, the scorching temperatures and wicked winds of the high desert should be morphing into pleasantly warm and breezy days; however, things may be heating up in the Michael Antonovich Antelope Valley Courthouse.

In a hearing held at the Lancaster courthouse on June 28 Superior Court Judge Hayden Zackey has again changed the date for the murder trial of Stacey Barker to now start on Monday, September 20, 2010.
Stacey Barker mugshot

Emma on her  first and only birthday
Barker is a 25 year old Lancaster, California woman accused of smothering her 18 month old daughter, Emma Leigh Barker, before dumping her body in tall grass at the side of a freeway on March 18, 2008.

Our friends, Tori, ANurse and  Ange have again taken time out of their day to attend the hearing and share the details with us. ~ thanks again ladies ~  Tori said the hearing was late getting underway. For almost an hour it seemed as though Deputy District Attorney Kelly Cromer and Public Defender Roberto Dager were playing cat and mouse, every time DDA Cromer came in the courtroom, PD Dager had just left and so she would leave to do something and he would walk in. LOL! Of course they weren't playing games, there were 3 inmate buses at the courthouse today and they have to search each one every time all the inmates get off so this took a while.

 Judge Zackey didn't seem to feel well today, he may have allergies, he's blowing his nose, holding his head and seems in a bit of a mood.....hope he feels better soon, he's a good guy. The attorneys finally settled in and defendant Stacey Barker is brought in. Barker seems subdued again today (Tori used the term lackluster) yet she has her hair up in a braid , it looks like someone helped her with it, it's very neat.

As soon as court is under way, Cromer hands Dager a disc. She says there's a wire tap conversation on the disc ( it isn't clear whose line was tapped) there are also taped phone calls  the defendant made and (most interesting IMO) are letters she has exchanged with an inmate Sutton. Judge Zackey asks, "Is that the Erin Sutton who was in my courtroom?" Cromer, Dager and another attorney (unidentified) all respond, " Yes it is your honor." Judge Zackey looks puzzled and maybe a bit shocked when he finds out it was the same guy. (Evidently he didn't make the connection at the last hearing when this was mentioned.)

Our friends actually made the connection  at the last hearing, but I didn't include the following in that post because we didn't know his first name so we weren't positive it was the inmate Sutton who had been in Zackey's court before.  Judge Zackey wasn't the only one surprised to learn that the inmate Barker has been corresponding with was someone we have talked about before. He has no relationship to this case (before now) but was in court the same day as Stacey back in September 2009. Our friends TD and Anurse nicknamed him "Devil Dude" when they saw him back then, here is how they described him at that time:

Devil dude was a very creepy guy covered in tattoos ( I love tattoos) but they were all over his bald head, on his face all over his hands and arms, he had a very evil look to him, his eyes were seriously creepy...He was brought in to the courtroom and we were all asked to clear the room...He was all shackled up, he had the handcuffs, the chain around his waist, and the bracelets around his ankles...There were I think like 3 or 4 guards in the room....I don’t know what he did, but as we were allowed back in the courtroom, he looked at everyone in the eyes, like he was getting a image of us in his head...He was just creepy, we all had shivers when he looked at us...
Erin Sutton's MySpace profile picture

It turns out they weren't too far off with the nickname. On his MySpace page , he goes by the name "Vampire"
I want to go on record saying that you can't always judge a book by it's cover and we don't know exactly what this guy did; however, he makes mention on his MS that he was arrested and is facing life in prison because of something he "allegedly" did to a guy he took guitar lessons from, after he found out the guy was a convicted sex offender and this guy had been trying to get Vampire to allow him to give Vampire's 12 year old daughter "private lessons". He claims he is falsely accused.....but that's a story for another day. 
 Update: After further investigation we find that Sutton is in jail for felony robbery with a $2 million bail. Perhaps a third strike felony?The RSO "Vampire" mentions on his MySpace is still living in Lancaster and is listed on the Megan's law website as a child molester.

The bigger question is, how did Stacey Barker meet him and why did she choose this guy for a friend? Our guess is she met him on the bus ride to court, it's 90 miles each way. We know of at least twice that they were in court on the same day. Some think it's a protection thing. She may think other inmates won't mess with her if they are friends. I tend to think they are commiserating with each other because they are both "falsely accused and can relate", who knows??? It seems something from their communications will be used in the trial anyway. We'll see......

Ok, back to the hearing....Judge Zackey says he has spoken with both parties and everything is complete in the discovery process. He learned from Cormer and Dager that  both they and some of the witnesses and investigators have commitments near the proposed July 26 trial date, so that date will now be a pre-trial hearing.The trial will be the week of September 24. Monday the 20th will start the trial.(We're not sure if that is when jury selection starts, we'll know more after July 26.)

Zackey was very clear that there will be no more delays. Zackey addressed the lawyers," You both want it to stay in this court right? " They both said, "yes".  He said, "Alright then, there will be NO more delays unless I am in a trial, then you both agree to wait until I am finished to start the trial...the only delays will be from ME, agree?" They both said," Yes" and that was it the hearing was over. Sphere: Related Content

16 comments:

  1. Great Job on the story.

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  2. TY Tori.....you do the hard part. :)Thank you for that too!

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  3. Hey Kat Thanks this is great! He is creepy! I thought I had left a comment here yesterday, Brame Dramage. Can you explain the 40 out of 60 and 60 out of 60 (I think we hit that 60 out of 60 once?) and what resets the counter if that is what it is?

    Thanks so much and thanks for your hard work!
    :D Cath

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  4. Wow cath, that is a great question! Off the top of my head I can say that it has to do with the constitutional right to a speedy trial. There are rules set down regarding the time allowed between hearings (I'm not certain if the rules are statutory or constitutional)the time between being charged and going to trial. The accused may extend the time by motions, and there are other ways the time can be extended but I can't be more specific than that as to how the count starts and stops without further research.I will put that on my list of things to do, however if anyone else knows more specifically how this works in CA, please jump in. :)
    I have wondered about this too. Thanks for stopping by ~ katfish waving ~

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  5. Thanks Friend, that was what my first thought was on it, but I wasn't sure how the number was "reset" when we hit 40 out of 40, then suddenly we're in the 60's and again ran out, but started again.

    This was what the judge asked her about way back when and she gave him that smart lil "I'll be here" or something; Judge Z shut that down right quick!

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  6. Katfish, I'm amazed at the "friends" inmates make. This "Vampire" dude is one of the most frightening people I have ever seen.

    Thanks for the updates on the case. I look forward to hearing about the trial.

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  7. Tori and the girls are planning to attend the July 26 hearing, so that "should" be the next update.
    I wish "Vampire" didn't have on sun glasses in his profile pic....I guess his eyes really make a complete package.This pic is when he is a free man...can you imagine how he looks fully shackled....yikes! Of course that is obviously his intention.

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  8. Unbelievable, Kat! This guy is creepy to the max! Just looking at him causes me to shudder. What is that on his neck, snake skin tatoos? You wonder what happens in some people's lives that makes them the way that they are. I look at his face and the expression on it and see a whole lot of pain. Regardless, we all live and die in the choices we make. He's made his choices.

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  9. anon 7/22
    I'll have to ask Tori if that is snakeskin. She and the other friends attending the hearings have seen him up close a couple times. His earrings really creep me out....no way will that skin ever be right. I wonder if he is allowed to keep those earrings or plugs in while incarcerated....either way how easy to grab a hold of those.

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  10. The hearing scheduled for yesterday, 7/26 was delayed - The court is now in need of some information from DD - Mr Erin Sutton. Mr Sutton will be in Judge Zacky's court on Aug 11 to answer some questions....

    No telling what Mr Sutton has to share at this point but we should all know shortly.

    Little Emma's momster mouthed an "I love you to BB" - while being returned to the holding cell. Two 90 minute rides to the court and back to the jail - all for a two minute hearing...

    Thank goodness sb is jailed in America, where her rights are so much more important than her daughters' right to breathe.

    I have another picture of DD, without a shirt or sunglasses I'll send it to you. If you think he looked creepy with shades you're in for a real treat! Of course we know very little about the man other than he will be in CA lock up for a very long time... if it is all truly about what he posted publicly - if someone wanted access to my child and I found out they had been convicted of child molestation - I might be there too. Nah... I'd set them up. Let our legal system have at'um.

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  11. Thanks for the update! I would love to see that picture of DD. Everything I saw on his myspace wasn't close enough for detail and when I blew it up it was blurry. Very curious what is up with him. I will wait to write anything up. oh yea....I'll just refrain from saying what I think about SB's little message to BB....wait til he sees DD I would like to be in court that day. LOL
    I'm sooo glad you have a good internet connection now....missed ya {{{{HUGS}}}

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  12. I am so glad I can follow this tragic case on here...it doesn't seem like any one else reports about it and that is such a shame that Emma is so quickly forgotten. I do hope that Stacey gets her karma and that she lives everyday with the guilt of killing her beautiful, innocent angel!!!!

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  13. Gia, Welcome to Katfish...ponders!
    Emma will not be forgotten here thanks to my cyber friends who take the time to attend these hearings and give us the details. Trust me, they are no way going to forget Emma!
    The comment above by LCM on 7/27 at 11:08 am gives a summary of the hearing (all 2 minutes of it) on July 26. There will be another hearing on August 11 and it should be a VERY INTERESTING hearing....stay tuned!
    You know what they say....Karma is a b!tch!

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  14. Tori a said...

    Hi All,

    The Tattoo on his neck is VAMPIRE, you have to look good to see it but that is what it says.

    He also has his head (all of it) tatted with a mythical man or beast not sure because I am not into all that Vampire and Demon stuff, that is a different culture for me.

    In one of his MS pictures he is bald except for 2 patches of hair in the front of his head, they are shaped like Devil's horns, he is also "sleeved down" and I can't really tell what all the tats are.


    Kat,
    I saw the piece you did on CA and must say it was great, it was so good in fact that everyone had something to say about this case and not just a line or two...LOL it took me a long while to read everyone of them, and I did!
    See ya at NP...{{{HUGS}}}

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  15. Thanks for stopping by T and explaining those tattoos and the other details from the hearing. Looking forward to Aug 11 hearing...the cameras need to be there for that one!

    I'm not sure which CA piece you were talking about but that case brings strong emotions out on many people. The last three pieces I did on that case were supposed to be one article but I had too much to say so it ended up a "trilogy"

    part1:
    "The Land Of Casey Fables - Continuing...The Justice For Caylee Anthony" Saga -

    part2
    Jailhouse Connections And Investigations - Continuing.... The Justice For Caylee Anthony Saga

    part 3(I assume this is the one you read)
    Cookie and Muffin Plan A Road Trip- Continuing.....The Justice For Caylee Anthony Saga

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  16. Kat
    I see Auntie and Uncle commented on a few of the blogs over at NP, at first I did not see them as they were a reply under the bolg..
    I think the Auntie is the one that Kelly shook donut glaze on in court the day she dropped it and ate it (that still makes me laugh, she ate it)and Uncle might be Nick...They have read about DD wrong and commented that he got a 18 year sentence reduction for Informing on SB.
    That does not sound right to me, 18 years off a 26 year sentence for helping trap SB into saying something, I wonder if Dager is Blowing smoke to them because they think Cromer has NOTHING on SB....how is that at all possible?
    I know they want to believe that SB is Innocent but how is that, she confessed to the Det's...I will let you know what happens with DD....

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