Trial date set For Stacey Barker Murder Trial

Stacey Barker 2008

Finally, a July 26 trial date has been set for the Stacey Barker murder trial. 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.

Memorial  for Emma Barker in Sylmar, CA

There was a hearing yesterday, June 8, 2010 at the Michael Antonovich Antelope Valley Courthouse in Lancaster, CA. Before I get into the details of the hearing, I wanted to share a picture taken last week of the memorial that has been erected in Emma's honor at the spot her body was dumped in Sylmar. A friend (who goes by the hat name A7XMommy) had the opportunity to stop by the site. She was pleasantly surprised by this memorial because this area had always been tall grass and overgrown with weeds before and now someone has not only honored Emma, but the area around it is being kept mowed, even 2 years later. 7XMommy used her cellphone to get this picture and was disappointed by the quality but the message is clear....little Emma will not be forgotten. Thanks for sharing 7XM!

Now, on to the hearing. As noted in earlier posts about this case, friends of katfishponders (Tori, Ange and TD) are attending the hearings in this case. The information provided here is compiled from various posts and e-mail correspondence and phone calls about the hearing details, so this report is not verbatim and may not be reported in the exact order that it occurred in court.

 Superior Court Judge Hayden Zackey presided over this hearing. Deputy District Attorney (DDA)S. Kelly Cromer is representing the people and Stacey Barker is being represented by Public Defender (PD) Roberto F. Dager.
This hearing was held in a different courtroom because the air conditioning in Judge Zackey's courtroom wasn't working and as Tori put it, "It was 2 degrees hotter than hell today". She also noted that in this courtroom on the back of the table where the defendant sits was a sign that says, "Do not communicate with prisoners" and stated a PC code violation number.

The reason we mention this is because at the last hearing, when Barker entered the courtroom she said "hiii" to her boyfriend in a flirtatious manner, during the hearing she was bouncy and laughing with her attorney, and when she was led out of the courtroom by the bailiff  she turned in a "coy" way and said "BYE" to her family...kind of like she was somewhere other than a court of law.....bidding farewell to her fans. She was definitely in violation.

It should be noted today when the defendant entered the courtroom she was in compliance. The way the girls described her at this hearing was,"SB came out looking thin, sullen, worried and defeated.....looking at the floor the whole way to her seat next to her attorney, she didn't even try to make eye contact with her family or boyfriend."

The regular accredited press from the Antelope Valley News was in court today. Time Warner Cable was also there recording the proceedings. One of the camera guys put a microphone on the attorney's table, Public defender Roberto Dager removed it and handed it to a bailiff, Johnny, who gave it back to the camera man.....so he just set it behind the table and the hearing started.

Judge Zackey started the hearing by announcing the next court date will be June 28 to finish up all pre-trial discovery, motions and whatever else. Then he said we'll be back on July 26 for trial, this will be 40 of 60.
The attorneys for both sides were having a "debate" about some new discovery that the defense hasn't received yet. DDA Kelly Cormer has some CD's that consist of taped visits with civilians that went to see Barker in jail and some letters to and from another inmate at the jail.

Evidently Dager hasn't seen the letters yet because Judge Zackey told Cormer to give the defense a CD of the letters. DDA Cormer told the court she wants to have all of the discovery transcribed to include who Barker is talking to and who is saying what. Hmmm.....must be planning to use some of this in court if the state is going to the trouble of having transcriptions made. What part about "no rights to privacy" is it that people who are incarcerated don't get?

That was the end of the hearing and the bailiff, Johnny, pulled out Stacey Barker's chair and took her by the arm to go back into lockup before she could even say goodbye to PD Dager, she didn't even attempt to look at her family and boyfriend.

Hopefully, both parties will get all the loose ends tied up by the June 28th hearing so the July 26 trial date will stand! There will be justice for Emma soon. As I have said before, Truth = Justice. It is time for the truth to come out, whatever that may be. Sphere: Related Content