Innocent Until Proven Guilty -
First, it should be pointed out that if you did it, you're guilty, no matter what. So you're not innocent unless you're truly innocent. However, our system presumes innocence, which means that legally speaking, even the obviously guilty are treated as though they are innocent, until they are proven otherwise.
The murder case of Stacey Marie Barker,26, of Lancaster, CA was given to the jury today, Monday, May 23rd. Deputy District Attorney Kelly Cromer presented her first closing argument on Friday, May 20th. Today, Stacey Barker's Public Defender Roberto Dager presented his closing argument before Kelly Cromer wrapped up the trial with her second closing.
The jury only had the case for 2 hours today so there isn't a verdict yet...maybe tomorrow will be the day we learn the fate of Stacey Barker? Will she be spending the rest of her life as an inmate of CA Department of Corrections or will she get the minimum 25 years if she's convicted of the top charges? To keep it real, there is also the possibility she will be acquitted. Many think Stacey hurt her chances for that acquittal by taking the stand on her own behalf, against her lawyer's advice no less. Personally, I would be satisfied with either of the first 2 options, I think it would be Justice for Emma if Stacey Barker never has the chance to procreate again...she blew her chance to be a good parent for her beautiful little girl. I have felt for sometime that Stacey killed her daughter Emma and the things that have come out during this trial have only confirmed my opinion.
Wednesday will be exactly the 3rd week of this trial. I can say without any reservation if they want to cut the trial to 1 day short of 3 weeks that wouldn't bother me one bit. The jury will decide what is Justice for Emma Leigh Barker.
Hopefully, today, the jurors were able to select a jury foreman and review the instructions given to them by Judge Hayden Zackey so they can come in tomorrow and start reviewing the evidence. They must understand the elements of each charge before they can decide what has been proven beyond a reaonable doubt, if anything. Roberto Dager reminded the jury today that the law says, if they find there are 2 plausible theories, they must select the theory most favorable to the defendant. What he said is true but 2 things come to mind...to be plausible there must be no "reasonable" doubt and it is possible there could be no theories that benefit the defendant.
If you have been trying to follow the case here, you know that things didn't go as planned with our coverage. LeftCoastMom aka LCM had planned on going to Lancaster for at least a part of the trial and we were going to share our coverage. Unfortunately, things didn't work out for LCM going to CA.
There are some things in life more important than being a trial junkie............ (hehe, there...I said it....we are trial junkies and if you are reading this and following any other case(s) you are possibly a trial junkie too ٩(͡๏̮͡๏)۶ whoot! ).
I'm glad LCM made the decision to take care of her own needs first. LCM has been able to get out and about to some of the boards, such as Reality Chatter, with some of the details she gathered from Tori. That's great, and I'm sure very much appreciated!
Tori was giving me extensive notes through the 7th or 8th day of trial via a 3 hour phone conversation each night. After the I realized (finally accepted the fact) there was no way I could catch up with the Q&A, play by play coverage that Tori was providing, I quit taking extensive notes and we just chatted...but it was still a 2-3 hour conversation. I just love that girl, she has a sharp wit, a kind heart, and a near total recall memory .... a perfect combination.for blogging, but for one thing...she doesn't like to write. LOL! In Tori's own words, "Girl, I'm not a writer, I'm a storyteller!" I on the other hand love to do both, but time has been my enemy ๏̯͡๏.
The mainstream media has been pretty much non existent beyond the first month or so after Emma's death, that is except for Craig Currier of the Antelope Valley Press, he has attended most of the pretrial hearings over the last 2 years. Tori said the court allowed Craig to take still photos in the courtroom today and the media will be able to bring television cameras into the courtroom so that they can record when the verdict is read.
Thankfully, Tori has been kind enough to come in each day and leave a summary of the day in court in the comments section. I hope you have read her updates. Here are links to the posts she commented on.
Today was another pre trial hearing in the murder case of Stacey Barker, 26, at the Michael Antonovich Antelope Valley Courthouse in Lancaster, CA. Barker is accused of killing her 18 month old daughter, Emma Leigh Barker, on March 18, 2009. When I titled this story, "Stacey Barker Hails the Massiah!" I'm not referring to her praising the lord, Messiah, I have no idea what her religious tenets are. I'm referring to a motion her defense has filed that claims that the State of CA has violated her 6th amendment rights. I'll get into that soon, but first a little background to a case that seems to get stranger and stranger.
Barker originally reported to police that she was loading her daughter into the car after playtime at the Lancaster City Park, when she was attacked and rendered unconscious for several hours before she came to and realized her daughter was missing. After a trip to the hospital to treat her injuries, Stacey Barker was taken to the sheriff's department for questioning. Eleven hours after Emma was reported missing, Barker led law enforcement to her daughter's body that she had left in tall grass on the side of the freeway. Barker claimed her daughter's death was an accident, but because she was afraid of being blamed she disposed of her baby's body then inflicted injuries ( that were consistent with an attack )on herself, removed and hid parts of her clothing and reported the kidnapping claim. It should be noted that Barker didn't call 911, she called her brother who made the 911 call to law enforcement. When LE arrived at the scene her brother and boyfriend were already there.( Just one more thing in this case that makes you go hmmmm.)
It was nearly a month after Emma's death, before Barker was arrested on April 23, 2009. The charges filed against the Stacey Barker included one count of Second-degree murder, one count of Assault on a Child Causing Death and one count of Child Abuse. Barker has been held at the Century Regional Detention Facility on a one million dollar bond since her arrest. Stacey Barker pled not guilty to all counts at her formal Arraignment on August 12, 2009.
The proceedings today, January 24, 2011 lasted only about a half hour. Stacey Barker's case wasn't called until 11:30 a.m.. The court lists her hearing as starting at 8:30 so Tori and our other friends did have to wait a while. ( I know that sometimes it can be an interesting wait because the court hears other cases in the mean time, but just the same.....Thanks again guys for your time and sharing what you see and hear!)
Defendant Barker didn't look so good when she came in today. Her hair looked like she had been wearing braids that she just took out and hadn't brushed, no makeup today either. Barker's mood seemed to match her appearance, she didn't make eye contact with her family or boyfriend in the courtroom.
I almost feel like I'm putting the cart before the horse by talking about the hearing before explaining the Massiah motion the defense has filed. I'll do that and then go back to the hearing.There have been no issues raised ( that we are aware of ) regarding "Miranda" warnings in this case, but as I said above the defense has filed a "Massiah" motion to suppress any testimonial evidence gathered by Witness X and the content of the hearing was related to the motion. Let's go over both because the Massiah doctrine supplements Miranda, even though it is a separate and distinct rule.
Most US citizens know that law enforcement must give a Miranda warning before subjecting someone to any interrogation when being arrested ( taken into custody and are not free to leave, a situation the court ruled was inherently coercive ). The purpose of the warning is to ensure the accused is aware of, and reminded of, their rights under the U.S. Constitution. The person in custody must, prior to interrogation, be clearly informed that he or she has the right to remain silent, and that anything the person says will be used against that person in court; the person must be clearly informed that he or she has the right to consult with an attorney and to have that attorney present at anytime during questioning, and that, if he or she is indigent, an attorney will be provided at no cost to represent her or him. A person must clearly waive their fifth Amendment right against self incrimination and the right to an attorney before any evidence gathered in the interrogation will be considered admissible in court.
Just as Miranda gives us Fifth Amendment protection after an arrest, according to theMassiah Doctrine, after the initiation of adversary judicial proceedings (by indictment or by information, preliminary hearing or arraignment), the Sixth Amendment guarantees a defendant the right to rely on counsel as the “medium” between himself and the government. Thus, once adversary proceedings have begun, the government cannot bypass the defendant's lawyer and deliberately elicit statements from the defendant himself.. Massiah is based on the right to counsel. It's application turns not on the conditions surrounding police questioning, but on whether, at the time the government attempts to elicit incriminating statements from an individual, the criminal proceedings against that individual have reached the point at which the Sixth Amendment right to counsel attaches.
The difference between Massiah and Miranda is underscored by the “jail plant” situation, the case where a secret government agent is placed in the same cell with a person and instructed to induce him to implicate himself in the crime for which he has been incarcerated. Miranda does not apply, for the inherent coercion generated by custodial police interrogation is not present when a prisoner speaks freely to a person he believes to be a fellow inmate. Coercion is determined from the perspective of the suspect. Therefore, unless a person realizes he is dealing with a government agent, the government's efforts to elicit damaging admissions from him do not constitute “police interrogation” within the meaning of Miranda.
However, the Massiah doctrine would prohibit the government from using such tactics if adversary proceedings had already been initiated against the person. But the secret government agent was not completely passive in that case; he stimulated conversations about the crime charged. The Court, however, has permitted the government to place a completely “passive listener” in a person's cell and use the statements acquired by such an agent even though adversary proceedings have commenced against the person.
In order for a court to determine that a Massiah violation has occurred two conditions must exist:
1) There must have been an indictment, preliminary hearing or arraignment already held when the violation occurred..
2) The informant has to be acting as a government agent, he had to have acted under the direction of the government and there is a preexisting arrangement between the informant and the police.
The line between “active” and “passive” agents—between eliciting incriminating statements and merely listening—is an exceedingly difficult one to draw.
The Supreme Court held that when an inmate working for the government actively prompts an accused to make incriminating statements, this involves active interrogation and is a violation of the accused's Sixth Amendment right to counsel (United States v. Henry, 447 U.S. 264, 100 S. Ct. 2183, 65 L. Ed. 2d 115 [1980]). However, when a government agent passively listens to the accused's incriminating statements, there is no violation of the accused's Sixth Amendment right to counsel (Kuhlmann v. Wilson, 477 U.S. 436, 106 S. Ct. 2616, 91 L. Ed. 2d 364 [1986]). In Kuhlmann,the Court held that, to prove a violation of the Sixth Amendment, "the defendant must demonstrate that the police and their informant took some action, beyond merely listening, that was designed deliberately to elicit incriminating remarks."
Deputy District Attorney Kelly Cromer presented one witness today. Her name is Ellen Aragon. We learn she was the DA in the case which Witness X reportedlytestified for the state against, in his own words, " a local street gang that I was trying to get out from under...." Aragon said that Witness X was subpoenaed to testify in that case, it wasn't voluntary and his life and family had been threatened so he was placed in witness protection. I'll spare you a play by play of the questions Ms. Aragon was asked by DDA Cromer and Stacey Barker's Public Defender, Roberto F. Dager, because the questions were repetitive and in some cases vague, but the jest of it is....the state is trying to show that Witness X is/was NOT a government agent and the defense is trying to show that he IS/WAS.
The burden is the defendants to show that a Massiah violation has occurred and to be fair their efforts have been hampered somewhat by the fact that the case, X admits testifying in, is under seal. The state gave the defense transcripts concerning X's testimony in that case and recordings of Witness X interviews with the state about testifying. Judge Zackey made it very clear that no one except Dager and his investigator are allowed to see the information and neither are allowed to even talk about the contents with anyone else, including the defendant and her family.
Evidently the receipt of a benefit for testifying for the state implies an informant is an agent for the state ??? It's confusing because jailhouse snitches testify all the time for benefits, I guess the question is when was the agreement for benefits made.
Dager tried repeatedly to get Aragon to admit that X asked for benefitsin exchange for his testimony (and convince the court?) that when Witness X was put into the Witness Protection Program that was the same as receiving a benefit. Judge Zackey said that Dager's use of the term "benefits" was vague and he didn't agree that entering a witness protection program is a benefit. The next hearing is February 7, hopefully at that hearing we will learn how the judge rules on the defense Massiah motion, if Witness X will be allowed to testify and regardless of his decision a trial date will be set. Judge Zackey stated again he wanted no more delays unless for an important reason adding that this delay caused by the introduction of Witness X to this case is very important.
Superior Court Judge Hayden Zackey has his hands full with this decision. No one wants a do-over in the event of a conviction in this case. Constitutional violations are definitely a consideration of an appellate court.
On December 29, 2010 the Wisconsin Supreme Court of Appeal filed their decision in Mark Jensen's appeal of his 2008 conviction for the 1998 murder of his wife, Julie Jensen.
In it's decision the court stated, "Mark D. Jensen appeals from a judgment of conviction for the first-degree intentional homicide of his wife Julie Jensen contrary to Wis. Stat. Jensen presents many arguments on appeal, none of which persuade. We affirm."
I included a link to the court's decision above for those anxious to read the decision for themselves. I do intend to write more about the ruling, after pondering it a few more times. It is lengthy. I just wanted to let you know that Mark Jensen's conviction and life sentence stands!
This case's status is now listed as PR,Pending Remittitur, due by January 28,2011. (PR is case status indicating that a decision has been issued and the case is waiting for the case record, where one was filed, to be returned to the circuit court, or the file to be closed, if there is no case record.)
Given that the loss of Julie's life so outweighs any victory this ruling provides to Special Prosecutor Robert Jambois and his co-counsel Angelina Gabriele or Julie's loved ones, I don't know if congratulations are appropriate, but I hope that they all will have a long earned respite from the stress of this quest for justice that's been battled for over a decade. You have all done Julie's memory justice!
I will never forget the statement given by the prosecution after Jensen's conviction in 2008 and want to share it with you:
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The Associated Press reports that Mark Jensen's attorney, Christopher Rose, says he'll ask the state Supreme Court to take the case.....not a big surprise.
Sphere: Related Content
UPDATE 9/9- The preliminary hearing in this case has been continued until October 4, 2010 . Also, Kristi Preimesberger's attorney filed a motion for her to either be released on her own recognizance or to have her bail reduced, both were denied, so for now she remains in jail in Washoe County NV along with her brother Timothy Morgan.
*edited copy
Four months after Kay Wilson of New Mexico last spoke with her son Eric Preimesberger, 29, and his young children, she is finally getting answers to what really happened to her sonandwhy her daughter-in- law Kristi left the state with her and Eric's children, cutting off all contact with Kay.
The answers are certainly not the answers anyone wanted to hear, but there is no turning back time. Because the details of the story, for the most part, have come from those who have been charged with killing Eric and covering up his death, and the criminal investigation continues, this story may change over time as more evidence is revealed.
For now, this is what we know for sure, Tim Morgan, 25 is charged with a $1 million warrant for the murder of Eric Preimesberger, and his sister Kristi Preimesberger, 30 (Eric's wife of 7 years and mother of his 2 young children) is being held on a $100,000 cash bail on a material witness warrant.
During Kay's last conversation with Eric and his children on April 20, they were excited about a move to Eugene,Oregon at the end of the month. I should note that even though both Eric and Kristi's parents live in NM and Eric, Kristi and their kids had been living in Reno, NV they spoke regularly on the phone.
Eric and Kristi's brother,Tim Morgan, were planning to start a business building and selling Yurts up in Eugene. Work had been scarce in Reno for a while and that caused problems, although I 've heard their marriage has been stormy for some time. It seemed as though this move might be a fresh start for the family. Eric also told his mother that he was glad Tim was coming to Reno to help them move, especially because his (recently injured) ankle was still bothering him. Things definitely did not go as planned.................or did they?
What really happened at the couple’s Red Baron Boulevard home, in Reno, between April 20th and 24th, aside from the fact Eric was killed, is still in question because of the changing and suspicious stories that Kristi told.
For those not very familiar with this case, Kristi told Eric's family that she and Eric had argued because she was sick in bed and Eric felt "that" had ruined their anniversary on April 20.
Later it's learned that Kristi had went to get dinner for the family from Applebee's and had not come back until the wee hours of the morning......so yes they probably did argue, especially if she told her husband the same story she told her mother.
Kristi's mother, Karen, told Kay that Kristi had called her (in NM ) at 11:30 p.m. on 4/20 wanting her father's phone number. She said she needed to ask him about how to drive in a snowstorm. It's not clear if she made contact with her dad, but at 2:30 a.m. 4/21 Kristi called her mom's phone again but the call went unanswered because her mother was in bed. The next morning , Karen called the number back. A man answered, when she said she had a call from his number he asked ,"Do you have a daughter named Kristi?" After she said yes, he told Karen that Kristi had knocked on his door and wanted to use his phone. He mentioned she wasn't properly dressed for the weather, so he let her in to use the phone and she left. It's not clear if Kristi left a message when she called her mom at 2:30 or told her this the next day, but Kristi claimed she got lost in the snowstorm, ended up at an apartment complex and walked around until she found a light on and knocked on the door asking to use the phone...... Here is another bizarre aspect of this story.....the weather summary for 4/20 and 4/21 at wunderground.com was Reno only had .57" precipitation over those 2 days, hardly enough to run your wipers let alone get lost.
Kristi said that after a heated argument Eric threw his cellphone along with the keys to his scooter at her and stormed off on foot, with just a backpack, saying they would never see him again.
I bring the reason for the argument up between Eric and Kristi because I wonder if this argument had anything to do with Tim showing up in Reno so soon, given that they weren't going to move until the end of the month. Could this incident have something to do with the argument between Tim and Eric? These are questions that we really don't know the answers to yet.
Although after April 20th there was no contact between Eric and his family or friends and the 20th was also the last day Eric (his user name was RuckRider) posted a comment at an online forum that he frequented named totalruckus.com, there is some confusion over when Eric was last seen. Kristi said he was back and forth getting things from the house until the 24th.
Kay was suspicious hearing that Eric left without any means of transportation, especially his beloved Ruckus scooter, and more suspicious yet when he didn't make contact with any of his family or friends, but when Kristi didn't want to file a missing person's report and moved to Eugene just 8 days after she said Eric left, Kay knew something was wrong.
Kay filed a missing person's report with Reno PD on May 17. Within a month Eric's missing status was changed from missing adult to a suspicious endangered missing adult and the case was moved to the Robbery/Homicide division to allow more resources for what now was an interstate investigation.
By June 16, when the Oregon police tried to contact them, Kristi, the kids and her brother Tim were missing from Eugene as well. On July 2, Kristi and Tim contacted their mother in NM and said they were safe, but wouldn't disclose their location. Kristi also contacted the police in Reno sometime in July, but gave the same information she had given before she left Reno, she said she had moved to Oregon because Eric had walked out on her and the kids, but in an action that garnered more suspicion, she refused to disclose where they were living.
Valhall at "The Hinky Meter" has some very interesting information about Tim and Kristi's activities before they fled the Northwest for Minnesota, you can read what she has to say here.
I'll give you a hint of what to look for, in Oregon they used the aliases of Emmet and Mary. Like this story wasn't strange enough.~insert katfish rolling eyes~
On August 13 Kay and her family received word, from a Homicide Detective with the Reno, NV police, that Tim and Kristi were in police custody in Minnesota. She was also informed that Tim confessed to killing Eric. This news didn't come as a total surprise to Kay, as she had learned on July 29 from a news report in Eugene, OR. that after the storage pod that Kristi rented in Reno had been found at a storage facility in Eugene, cadaver dogs searched and "hit" on the pod and a search warrant was executed. Police said no actual evidence was found during the search of the pod, giving Eric's family "a little" hope that Eric might still be alive.
Reno PD also told Kay that Eric and Kristi's children,ages 6 and 22 months, were safe and in Child Protective Services in MN. She was informed her grandchildren would go to the custody of Kristi's mother, in New Mexico, per Kristi's wishes, as the only remaining parent of the children. While Kay would like to have the children herself, she was somewhat consoled that the kids are with someone they know and love. For some reason, at this point she hasn't been allowed to see her grandchildren.....that is just wrong in this writers opinion.....hopefully that will be rectified soon in the best interest of the kids....they have lost enough!
Timothy Morgan and Kristi Preimesberger Mugshots, photos courtesy of Ramsey County Jail
" Court records show that once Kristi Preimesberger was aware police in Oregon were helping investigate her husband’s disappearance, she fled to Minnesota with Morgan and her kids."
* I've been told there is reason to believe that Tim (not sure about Kristi) stayed in Oregon until the end of July.....katfishponders hasn't heard why they ended up in MN of all places,
but the fact remains....... you can run, but you can't hide.....when you're a dumb ass.
According to PiPress in the Twin Cities," Timothy Wayne Morgan, 25, was arrested Aug. 10 at the Residence Inn by Marriott on Centre Pointe Drive on suspicion of felony drug possession, according to Roseville, MN police. He was later charged in MN with suspicion of being a fugitive from justice. His sister, Kristi Michelle Preimesberger, 30, was arrested Aug. 12 on suspicion of being a fugitive from justice and child endangerment.
Reno police charged him with the murder of Eric Preimesberger and Kristi is considered a material witness to her husband's killing, investigators said.
The narcotics arrest turned out to be a lucky break for Reno investigators, who had been looking for the brother-sister duo for weeks, said Reno police Lt. Robert Nuttall. Roseville police were called to an area hotel Aug. 10 on a report of a suspicious item left behind in a room used by Morgan and his sister. The two, along with Morgan's girlfriend and Preimesberger's two children, had checked out, said Roseville police Lt. Lorne Rosand."We sat on the room until someone came back," he said. Morgan returned and was arrested. Officers recovered a large amount of narcotics and seized a sizable amount of cash, Rosand said.
Investigators questioned Preimesberger and released her for the night. Rosand said the department put her up in an area motel so she could be questioned the next day about the narcotics. Police were not aware of the missing-persons case until they received a call the next morning from Reno investigators.
Rosand said Reno police were tipped off by Kristi Preimesberger's mother, who received a call from her daughter after Roseville police dropped her off at the motel. Reno investigators flew to Minnesota on Aug. 11 and interviewed the siblings. Kristi Preimesberger was arrested, and her children were placed in protective custody, Rosand said. He didn't know how long they had been in the metro area, but their stay involved multiple motel rooms and multiple cars, he said."
Morgan and Preimesberger were extradited to Reno on Monday August 23 and are being held in the Washoe County Jail. During their first appearance in Reno Justice Court,Timothy Morgan and Kristi Preimesberger were given a Sept. 8 preliminary hearing date regarding the murder of Eric Preimesberger.
Kristi Michelle Preimesberger
The pictures at the left are of Kristi and Tim's mugshots in Nevada. Notice a little difference? In the Minnesota pictures they are both glassy eyed and most likely high.....the Nevada pictures have the appearance of addicts in withdrawal. Not a pretty sight! What is really ugly, is the thought about what Eric and Kristi's children have been exposed to the last four months.
Court records show that during an interview with police, Morgan said that after he struck Eric Preimesberger in the head twice with a bat, he and his sister moved his bleeding body into a laundry room. A few hours later, they realized he was dead. They then placed him in the back of a vehicle, where his rotting body was concealed for days while Morgan figured out what to do with him.
Timothy Wayne Morgan
The siblings never called police or summoned medical assistance.According to an arrest affidavit, Morgan rented a moving truck and a commercial freezer, which he used to transport Eric's body. He dumped his body near Frenchman’s Reservoir, in Plumas County, California (about 38 miles NW of Reno, and 8 miles from the nearest town ) before taking the freezer to another location and burning evidence related to the crime.
Detectives found the remains of Eric Preimesberger on Aug19. Police allege Morgan killed Eric on April 24 during an altercation. No doubt the coroner or medical examiner will attempt to determine if Morgan's story matches up to the forensics obtained from Eric's remains. The state of Nevada will be cremating Eric's remains and hopefully assist in returning him to his family in New Mexico.
Arrangements have not been made yet, although Eric's mother said they are in the process of planning a celebration of Eric's life for the near future.
Katfish.....ponders will continue following this case. When this goes to trial it seems like a good case for TruTV's InSession to cover. NV does allow cameras in the courtroom. Depending how the defendants plead in this case, it could be a few years before a trial happens. Any ideas how we can bring this to the attention of the producers at InSession? * This post has been edited, katfishponders was notified that even though the msm reported Kristi worked as a stripper, while that was true in the past, she didn't work "dancing" in Reno. It was also brought to my attention that Tim was definitely in Oregon at the end of July, a fact that can be established by an encounter with police.
Please feel free to notify me if you see something published here that you think might not be correct. I strive to provide accurate reporting here but sometimes I have to rely on what is reported in the news and they don't always "get it right"; therefore, I'm glad to correct or amend something posted on katfishponders that isn't accurate. You can reach me through the e-mail on my profile page.
The Illinois State Police (ISP) have returned to West Central Illinois for a third attempt at finding Stacey Peterson in as many months. Police investigators and dive teams spent five hours Monday, August 23, in Knox County lake, following up on a tip in the disappearance of Stacy Peterson. Earlier this month, investigators searched in rural Knox County and investigators also searched a rural area near Peoria in June in connection with the same tip Click here to read about the June search.
Investigators searched the waters of Lake Storey following up on a tip concerning the disappearance of Stacy Peterson, the fourth wife of former Chicago area policeman Drew Peterson. Several divers searched a stretch of shoreline in Lake Storey near Galesburg. The small lake is just off Route 150. Assisting the ISP were members of the Galesburg Police Department dive team and the Department of Natural Resources.
''This is part of the Stacy Peterson investigation'', confirmed Illinois State Police spokesman Tom Burek.'' We're looking for evidence to follow up on a lead'.''The investigation lasted from roughly 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., said Illinois State Police Master Sgt. Tom Burek. ''The specifics of the lead, I can't really discuss. It's the same lead we've been working on since late spring'', Burek said after a police briefing on the search Monday in Galesburg.
Burek told WQAD, News 8 that ''nothing of significance'' was found in or near the lake.''You don't always hit a homerun'', Burek said. ''We're going to stay moving forward with this.'' For now, ISP has no immediate plans to return to Knox County.
Drew and Stacey Peterson in happier times
Investigators have also followed several leads in the Chicago area, conducting searches in the waters near the couple’s home. Stacy Peterson was a 23 year old mother of two young children when she disappeared in October 2007.No one has been charged in her disappearance, although Drew Peterson,56, is the only suspect in the death.
Peterson is also facing murder charges in the death of his third wife, Kathleen Savio.Savio's death initially was ruled an accidental drowning, but her body was exhumed and re-examined in 2007 after the disappearance of Peterson's fourth wife, Stacy. The onetime Bolingbrook, Illinois, police sergeant denies any wrongdoing in either case.
Drew Peterson pleaded not guilty to the murder charges and remains held in the Will County Jail on $20 million bond. That trial was scheduled to begin in July, but has been postponed, possibly for months, while the Prosecution appeals a decision by the trial judge to the IL Supreme Court. Circuit Judge Stephen White issued a ruling that keeps some witness statements out of court as hearsay.
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
This post is in memory of eight people, ranging in age from two to ninety-three years old, who were killed two years ago this week. When these people died they were going about their everyday lives, they weren't committing crimes or engaging in risky behavior, they just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. This could have just as easily been you or me, or someone we love.
All eight were killed in an alleged week-long killing spree that spanned Illinois and Missouri. One person has been charged for all of their deaths, but this post is not about him. When these cases go to trial, as is often the case in our legal system, the eight people will be memorialized as victims. I want to share a little bit about who each of these people were when they were living, the way they should be remembered.
I found most of the information for this post at a website for The Major Case Squad of Greater St. Louis although this story was originally published in the St. Louis Post Dispatch (online edition), on July 04, 2008. I listed the people in the order (by day) that they are believed to have been killed, even though all but Mr. Reed were found on the same day.
Russell Reed
Found June 26, Sterling
Nearly every morning, 93-year-old Russell Reed drove his Buick 10 miles from his farm outside Sterling, Ill., to the town hangout, the Red Apple Restaurant. He always sat in the same booth, between the cash register and the pie safe. :)
Reed farmed and lived on the same land for 70 years, and he and his wife Evelyn reared two sons, Lyle and Donnie.
Reed liked the outdoors and gardening. He didn’t bother to use the few working locks on his century-old farmhouse. “It wasn’t important to him,” Donnie said. “At his age, with his mentality, why would you have to?”
Ronald Randall, 65, known as “Ronnie,” worked at the Maytag refrigerator plant for nearly 31 years before retiring in 2004, when the plant was closed. He has one daughter, Cari and three sisters.
He loved the Dallas Cowboys and enjoyed playing paintball.
Randall was known for decorating his yard with lighthouses. Shortly before his death, he told friend Connie Clague of bigger plans.“He found a carpenter who was going to build a 6-foot lighthouse for his front yard,” Clague told the Galesburg Register-Mail.
Brock Branson, 29, loved life on the road. He had been a trucker for five years, running routes between Illinois and California, said his mother, Connie Branson.
“He didn’t want to feel tied down to a job,” she said. “It was kind of a freedom thing.”
At a Utah truck stop, he met a cashier named Kilynna Blake. He moved to Utah to be with her and her toddler son, Dayan. In April, they moved to Rock Falls, Ill., to be closer to Branson’s family and
his daughter, 10.
They rented an apartment and talked about marriage. Branson took a job as a roofer to have more time with Kilynna and Dayan.
“He was really getting it together,” his mother said. “We were really proud of him.”
Kilynna Blake, 20 - Ki to her friends - was the life of the party, said her sister, Gleniecia Lewis.
Kilynna gave birth to her son Dayan, at age 18. She had to quickly adjust to being a single mom but managed it with grace, Lewis said: “We all knew she was going to be able to handle it herself.”
When she met Branson at a southern Utah truck stop, Lewis was skeptical of her sister’s new beau. But Branson won her over. “He was just a sweet guy. He was different than anyone else,” Lewis said. “I could tell they were going to be good for each other.”
Dayan Blake, son of Kilynna Blake, celebrated his second birthday in his new home in Rock Falls shortly before his death. He was growing closer to his mom’s boyfriend and had recently started calling Branson “Dad,” said Branson’s mother.
“He was a happy boy,” said his aunt, Gleniecia Lewis. “He was always running around, wanting to do this, this and this all at the same time.”
Daniel Jones, Dayan’s father, told The Salt Lake Tribune his son’s death, “has left me in a daze.”
Tom and Jill Estes, both 54, married 35 years ago in St. Louis. They have family in the St. Louis area, but built a happy life in Sherwood, Ark., a suburb of Little Rock.
He worked for the Union Pacific Railroad. She worked with special-needs pupils at an elementary school. Together, they groomed their immaculate front yard.
After retiring, they wanted to travel more in Tom’s red 2007 Corvette.
“They were a happy little couple who enjoyed each other’s company,” said Kristine Rodgers, a former co-worker of Jill Estes. They have a grown daughter and son in Arkansas, and a grandson.
“Tom was the Wizard of Oz, the man behind the curtain, who kept everything in working order,” the family said in an obituary.
Friends recall Jill Estes as compassionate to people, animals, even bugs — which she released outside. “If it breathes and moves, she was pretty much trying to take care of it,” Rodgers said.
********************************************************************* Please let me know if there are any corrections or additions that need to be made to this post. *********************************************************************
The investigation into the case of a missing 5 year old Satsuma, Florida girl, Haleigh Ann Marie Cummings, has taken some drastic turns in this past week. Haleigh was reported missing in the wee hours of the morning of February 10, 2009 by her father's 17 year old girlfriend, Misty Croslin, and her father, Ronald Cummings Sr. Here is a link to the 911 call made to the Putnum County Sheriff's Office (PCSO) to report Haleigh missing and the original police report.
This entry will be about the events of this past week, but I wanted to give some background for those who haven't closely followed this case. Click here to see previous entries on katfish...ponders related to this case.
I haven't written a lot about this case because other than the initial search for Haleigh, the search this week is only the second physical search for Haleigh in the last 14 months. Most media reports have revolved around misbehavior or strange behaviors of those involved in Haleigh's life, but not necessarily what happened to Haleigh.
Speaking of misbehavior, on January 21, 2010, Haleigh's father Ron, his girlfriend/wife/ex-wife/whatever Misty, Misty's brother Tommy and 2 others were arrested for trafficking prescription drugs. I chose not to address those reports other than commenting on other blogs and message boards because the PCSO said the arrests were not related to the Haleigh investigation.
~ Fly Home Little Haleigh Bug Fly Home ~
Haleigh Ann Marie Cummings
Haleigh's disappearance came on the heels of the Caylee Anthony case, as a matter of fact, the news broke as the nationally televised memorial for Caylee was starting in Orlando (70 miles away) . The similarities between the 2 girls brought instant media interest, and at first this case seemed that it may be an actual case of stranger child abduction.
The FL Department of Law Enforcement activated the Child Abduction Regional Team. Searching began by over 100 officers from county, state and federal law enforcement by helicopters, bloodhounds, ATV riders and ground searchers conducted grid searches of the wooded area and boats, divers searched the nearby St. Johns River. During the first week or so, LE also worked to rule out roughly 44 sex offenders who live within a 5-mile radius of the Cummings home.
Unlike the Anthony family, those close to the case Haleigh's mother Crystal Sheffield, her father Ronald and his girlfriend Misty made emotional public pleas and voluntarily took lie detector tests. Another thing different from the Anthony case was the police were quiet about releasing information, although everyone who took lie detector tests said they were told they had passed and no one was arrested.
The only other "clue" was that Misty said she might suspect her cousin Joe Overstreet from TN. Misty claimed that Joe molested her as a child and had left town the day Haleigh disappeared. There were also varying reports of a dispute between Ron and Joe over a gun Joe had stolen that was supposedly recovered before Haleigh went missing. Law Enforcement (LE) from FL went to TN and interviewed Joe but apparently didn't find evidence to arrest or focus on Joe as a person of interest.
As time went on LE said that the evidence wasn't matching up to Misty's statements and her statements were inconsistent. LE also said they didn't think this was a case of stranger abduction. Even though LE essentially cleared Haleigh's parents as suspects (they were on the bottom of the list) they both remained "favorite suspects' for many following the case . .
The fact LE has released very little information regarding this case has given a lot of room for speculation.
I know I have personally had at least a dozen theories over the last year. There are only 2 theories left standing in my mind that make sense to me, but I will leave them in my mind because I just don't know enough about the evidence gathered by LE in this case to "fairly" outright accuse anyone. One thing is certain, many people across the world took this child into their hearts and took sides, pretty much along family lines, as to who abducted Haleigh.
~Let's Make A Deal~
Hopefully soon, the PCSO will have enough evidence, physical and circumstantial, to arrest those involved and prove in the courtroom what happened to little Haleigh.
This past Tuesday morning (April 13),there was a dramatic increase in activity in the year old case of the disappearance of Haleigh Cummings. Dozens of officers from several law enforcement agencies converged on the Shell Harbour boat ramp in South Putnam County, FL. The intensity of the search was similar to how law enforcement initially responded to Haleigh's disappearance. Haleigh's family on both sides were brought to the PCSO so that LE could inform them of the search rather than them hear about it from the media. Ronald Cummings was brought over from the Putnum County jail to the sheriff's office when LE met with the family, many of whom were said to be crying when they left.
The search was triggered by a tip the Putnam County Sheriff's Office received on Monday, said Lt. Johnny Greenwood, a spokesman for the department. As expected, authorities have been tight-lipped about what the tip specified. In the press release Greenwood said," Due to the sensitivity of this investigation, the name of the person providing the tip and the physical evidence alleged to be in this area will not be released ".
Immediately rumors started to fly thatMisty(long named as the key to the investigation), her brother Tommy(who last fall, had placed himself at the trailer the night Haleigh went missing ) orRon ( who had shown a propensity for a quick temper )had started to talk in exchange for a plea deal in their drug cases. For most people, the fact that Ron was allowed to join his family at the sheriff's office seemed to lighten the suspicion on him somewhat although there are still those who suspect him.
OnWednesday, Misty was taken out to the search site on St. Johns riverby LEwhich fueled the fire of a plea deal and then word came out "unofficially" that Tommy had been to the search site on Monday.Were they confessing and showing where Haleigh had been placed in the river? There were also reports of letters that Misty had written to her parents and brother in Massachusetts said to blame Tommy and Joe for taking Haleigh.
Another rumor that spread was that a person(s) had been taken into custody in the Haleigh Cummings case. On Wednesday PCSO issued another press release:
Satsuma Area Search for Missing Haleigh Cummings Continue 2010-4-14 by: Lt. Johnny Greenwood
Still acting on a lead received in the case of missing Haleigh Cummings, investigators are continuing the meticulous search for physical evidence in the St. Johns River near Satsuma, Florida. At this point, this search has failed to yield any items of evidentiary value in the case.
The Putnam County Sheriff’s Office has received many media inquiries concerning a rumor that has uncontrollably spread throughout our community. The rumor that a subject is either currently being detained by law enforcement, or is in law enforcement custody related to the Haleigh Cummings case has been reported to the media. Sheriff Hardy wants the citizens of Putnam County and the media to know that this rumor is false. There is currently no one in law enforcement custody as the result of the investigation into Haleigh Cummings’ disappearance.
The Putnam County Sheriff’s Office will provide future releases when information in this case becomes available. Sheriff Hardy would like to again thank the citizens of Putnam County and the media for their support.
~ A Race For The Reward ?~
Well....the PCSO may not want to disclose who made the tip, but on Wednesday morning a Former FBI agent named Steve Brown said in an interview ( here's a link to the video) with News4Jax that he had solved the case on Monday and this was now a homicide investigation. Brown said that he was hired 10 months ago by Crystal Sheffield to investigate this case. Brown said the information he supplied PCSO led them to the St. John river to search for corroborating evidence to support eyewitness testimony..
On Thursday evening, Flora Hollars, Misty, Tommy's and Joe's grandmother appeared on "Issues" with Jane Velez Mitchell (JVM) and "Nancy Grace"(NG), both current event / news type shows on HLN. Flora Hollars' statements were a little inconsistent regarding who told her what and when between the 2 HLN appearances, but it was the "way" she made a statement on "Issues" that raised my hinky meter. Ms. Hollars told JVM, "I’m the reason they are searching down at that river. I’m the one that gave em the lead…I called the sheriff, I called crimestoppers, I called them all." It was like she was covering all her bases and the thought crossed my mind…is there still a $35,000 reward for leads to Haleigh? Hollars told several scenarios of what she has been told happened to Haleigh, but at the end she seemed to lay the blame on Joe. Her main mission in these appearances seemed to me, to make the point Tommy confessed to her and she led the police to the river.
Below, I embedded a video of a Presser given by Putnam County Sheriff Jeff Hardy on Thursday about the search. Sheriff Hardy announced the investigation is now a homicide investigation and confirmed there has been evidence collected at the scene that is being sent out to independent forensic labs for testing. He also confirmed that the search will wrap up at the St. Johns River location today, but the stressed they will continue following up on the leads that brought them to the river.
While Sheriff Hardy still didn't want to disclose what the tip was that led them to search of this part of St. Johns River, he would say....the tip that spurred the search did not come from Tennessee (where Flora Hollars lives).When asked if it came from the jail, Hardy wouldn't comment. (If Tommy truly did confess to his grandmother on the phone, the call would have been monitored by the jail and LE could well have been to Tommy's cell before Granny Hollars finished looking up the phone number for LE.) What are the odds that Steve Brown solved this case the same day Tommy fessed up to his granny? IDK? ~shrugging shoulders~
~It's Time for A Family Feud~
One thing that has become apparent over the last 14 months is that a sense of loyalty is not a strong value in the Croslin family. A few examples: Tommy told police he went to the mobile home the night Haleigh was taken and no one was home, in exchange for getting out of jail. Misty and Ron had a physical conflict with Tommy and Hank Sr. that ended in a restraining order against Tommy and an accusation of Misty and Ron placing a dead rat in the Croslin mailbox.Another example is when Misty was first arrested for trafficking drugs she told LE that she had seen items in her brother Tommy's home that were stolen property. Was she hoping for a get out of jail free card for that?
I have a feeling those examples are petty compared to where this family feud appears to be heading...... Misty is accusing her brother Tommy and cousin Joe of abducting and killing Haleigh. Tommy has accused Joe of killing Haleigh. Granny Hollar accuses all 3 of her grandchildren of various levels of involvement in Haleigh's death.. Overstreet's attorney says Joe was interviewed by detectives late Tuesday, and he denies any knowledge or involvement in the case.
Tommy's attorney, James Werter said Friday that Tommy Croslin Jr, "did not tell Flora Hollars anything about the investigation except to have his attorney contact and meet with him." The Putnam County Sheriff's Office confirmed that Croslin Jr. had called his grandmother on Sunday but couldn't address the contents of the conversation. It declined to release the tapes of the phone calls, saying the content was connected to the ongoing investigation.
Hollars also said she heard from Misty Croslin on Thursday, who gave more details about Haleigh being dropped into the river tied to a cinder block.However, her father, Hank Croslin Sr., said Misty Croslin "didn't tell Flo all that stuff."
Hank Croslin Sr. said, "Tommy said he only asked Hollars to get in touch with other family members to arrange visits. At the time Hollars was the only one in the family with money in a telephone account to pay for collect calls from jail. I'm not saying he doesn't know anything," Croslin Sr. said, adding that Hollars may been repeating the content of letters Misty Croslin sent to her father and another brother in Massachusetts. He also said the reward money in the case - $35,000 - might be an influence."The only person who knows the truth is the police and the lawyers and them," he said.
All I can say is good luck to the police and lawyers sifting out the truth from this group. Once again, hopefully there will be some corroborating evidence to support the testimony of any of this family the state needs to put on the stand to get justice for Haleigh!.
Thanks to our friends, Toria, the good twin, and anurse, who took time out to attend another pretrial hearing in the case of California vs. Stacey M. Barker and update us on what happened in court.
February 18, was a busy day at the Antelope Valley (AV) Municipal Courthouse in Lancaster, CA. Three busloads of prisoners were brought over from the Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood. (That’s a 90 mile drive.) The head count was short one prisoner, so nothing could begin until all of the prisoners were accounted for.
It was about an hour and a half before Stacey Barker was brought into the courtroom. Barker didn’t look very happy, her hair was down and disheveled and she had a mad face for everyone.
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.
The hearing only lasted 20 minutes. Evidently some of the motions that were filed at the hearing on January 14 were dealt with during the in camera hearing held on January 28. There was no mention of the Pitchess Motion so that information must have been turned over in camera.
The Motion for Change of Venue was denied. Judge Zackey said that he will keep the case in his court. Judge Zackey must have issued his order denying the motion earlier because PD Dager already seemed aware of the court’s ruling and added he expects the this case will go to trial soon. (no date set yet that we know of)
There was some discussion about discovery. At the January 14 hearing, the defense filed a motion for some discovery. The defense wanted a video made by the Field Investigation Service Unit (FISU) of the crime scene and also wanted raw notes or a written report from the FISU employees who made the video. It was determined during that hearing there are no raw notes or written report, but the state must have turned the video over.
We didn't hear what (if any) motions were filed by either party today, but wonder if the state filed a Discovery Motion for reports from expert witnesses. PD Dager told the court that Dr. Harry Bonnell, a Forensic Pathologist will testify there are tests that Dr. Ribe failed to perform on Emma that would change the cause and manner of death. DDA S. Kelly Cromer asked Dager what tests weren’t performed? Dager said. “I forget what tests he told me they were.” Cromer continued to press for details about Dr. Bonnell’s testimony until Dager told the Judge, I forget what he said, I didn’t keep notes or write it down. Dager continued, The people can call him just like I did and he will tell her like he told me. I don't want to be like some LE who get up there and lie or make things up ( I think it is safe to say there is NO love loss between the parties here or at the very least they are both passionate about their opposing roles. LOL)
PD Dager informed the court he still doesn’t have the “Ribe Box” that was requested in his Brady Motion filed on January 14. (I don’t have the state’s response to this statement things can move fast in court )PD Dager also told DDA Cromer he wants the raw notes from the coroner’s investigator. Cromer responded that any notes would be included on the Coroner’s report and the defense has that. Dager said no, he wants the raw notes. Cromer said she doesn’t know if there were any.
Mr. Dager asked Judge Zackey for permission to take his laptop into the jail. He said he has the Barker case on his laptop and he has evidence that he wants his client to see. The Judge said he didn’t mind if the defense took the laptop into the jail; however, it really isn’t up to the court ,it’s up to the jail administrator. ( The only new evidence that we know of is the observation report from the jail that Cromer said she would turn over to Dager. Phone calls/ video ???)
Hopefully all of these loose ends will be taken care of by the next scheduled hearing on March 8 so that a trial date can be set. Stay tuned.
March 19 will mark the one year anniversary that Stacey Barker led police to her baby's body, that she admits she dumped on the side of the freeway after Emma died the day before. The question of Emma's death being a murder (as the state contends) or accident (as Barker claims)is for the jury to decide. Barker remains held on a 1 million dollar bond. If convicted on the murder charge, Barker faces a maximum of 25 years to life in prison.
Sphere: Related Content
On January 14 there was another pretrial hearing in the case of California vs. Stacey M. Barker at the Antelope Valley (AV) Municipal Courthouse in Lancaster, CA.
Stacey Barker is a 25 year old woman from Lancaster, CA accused of suffocating her 18 month old daughter, Emma Leigh Barker, to death on March 18, 2009. On April 27 Barker was arrested and the charges filed against the young mother include murder, assault on a child causing death and child abuse. The complaint alleges that Barker willfully caused and permitted the child to be injured and harmed and that injury resulted in death. Booking details. Barker formally entered a not guilty plea to all counts on August 12, 2009.
As noted in earlier posts on katfishponders about this case, friends of katfishponders are attending the hearings in this case. The information provided here is compiled from various posts and e-mail correspondence about the hearing details so this report is not verbatim and may not be reported in the exact order that it was 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.
The defense filed several motions that were addressed in court today. (We are trying to get copies of the motions.) They were a Change of Venue motion, a Discovery motion, a Pitchess motion and a Brady motion.
The first motion addressed was a defense request for a Change of Venue. PD Dager told the court the case has received so much attention in the AV that it is tainting the jury pool (jerking his thumb back towards the camera and reporter from Time Warner, a local cable company, that are in court filming today‘s proceedings, as if to make his point). Mr. Dager said the local newspaper has ran 15-16 stories on the case and added there are internet blogs that are reporting on this case. He said,” These dumb, stupid, idiotic, moronic people blog on things they don’t know or things they think they know in an effort to turn people or potential jurors against my client.” ( Dager reportedly tipped his head in direction of “our friends” as he said this....whatever.)
Judge Zackey cited some case law that we were not able to get down (sorry) and said there are 5 points to consider before a Change of Venue could be granted or denied. Although the judge didn’t make a ruling he did address the 5 points in relation to this case: 1. Nature and Gravity of the Crime. A child being killed is not a cause for Change of Venue. This court has heard other cases of children being killed. 2. Nature and gravity of news coverage. The news media was at a peak for a while, acknowledging there was even national coverage for a time, such as CNN, Nancy Grace, and other major news outlets, that coverage was almost a year ago and has died down. 3. Size of the community. You ( defense) have only included Lancaster and Palmdale in your argument that the jury pool is only about a thousand people. The jury pool extends as far as Santa Clarita and outlying areas, there are many more potential jurors in our AV jury pool. (Antelope Valley is part of Los Angeles County) 4. Status of family in the community. The Barker family is not well known in the community aside from their own circle of friends and family. 5. Prominence and popularity of the victim in the community. The victim is a child of a very young age and jurors in any community will have sympathy for a small child that has been killed whether it be in LA, the AV, or any other community in the land. It should be noted that Dager interrupted and said, ”found dead”. The judge corrected himself and said, “found dead”.
Judge Zackey did say that if the motion for Change of Venue is denied, he would like to keep the case in his court. “Our friends” say that Dager did seem pleased that Judge Zackey would keep the case if his motion was denied, but told the court he would ask that all media and news reporters and people in the gallery that report on this case on blogs be kept out of the court if COV was denied! Judge Z said he would have to do some research on this, because of the "Freedom Of Information Act", the community has the right to know what is going on.
(Katfish here…. Public scrutiny of a criminal trial enhances the quality and safeguards the integrity of the fact finding process, with benefits to both the defendant and the society as a whole... .. permitting the public to participate in and serve as a check upon the judicial process is an essential component in our structure of self-government. The right of the public and the press to attend and observe judicial proceedings is constitutionally rooted in the First Amendment. I think Mr. Dager is well aware that the First Amendment prohibits the court from blocking the public and the media…intimidation tactics, IMO.)
The Discovery motion requests a video made by J. Collins and E. Edmonds of the Field Investigation Service Unit (FISU). PD Dager said they (the FISU) had done a measurement of the crime scene and in doing so had used Detective Nava as Stacey Barker. Dager contends that Nava and Barker are not of the same stature so if the video comes in as evidence he will need to get a professional that is the same stature as Barker to do the measurements again which could delay the proceedings at least 6 months, adding he did not want that delay. (???? It is not clear to katfishponders what crime scene the defense is referring to, the Lancaster City Park where Barker first claimed that Emma was abducted and she was attacked as she put Emma in the car or the location where Emma’s body was found.) Dager also said he wants the reports and raw notes from Collins and Edmonds. DDA S. Kelly Cromer told the court she has no written reports or raw notes from Collins and Edmonds because the notes and report weren’t necessary since Barker led them to the baby’s body. Judge Zackey told the defense if there are no written reports or raw notes he can't make the DA give you what they don't have, adding he won’t have them (Collins and Edmonds) write a report for the DA just to give it to you.
The next motion addressed is the Pitchess motion. In the Pitchess motion the defense is requesting the personnel files of Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Detective Sandra Nava and a Detective (?) McCarthy. The defense would like to know if they have ever been accused of ‘coercive tactics” in the past in order to elicit a confession. Detective Nava testified during the Preliminary Hearing that Barker made some very incriminating statements to police....I guess we can see where the defense is going regarding those statements.
(Pitchess is the partial name of a California court case that established a criminal defendant's right to information about a police officer's misconduct or dishonesty when the defendant alleges in a declaration that the officer used excessive force or lied about the events surrounding the defendant's arrest.)
There was a Attorney for the Sheriff's Department present (didn’t catch her last name, her first name is Trina), she was not called to speak but was told to be back on the 28th for a hearing that will be held in Judges chambers (in camera). When the Pitchess motion is granted, the court examines the records in camera with only the custodian of records present.
The last motion from the defense is a Brady motion. (A Brady motion is a defendant's request for evidence concerning a material witness which is favorable to the defense and to which the defense may be entitled. Favorable evidence includes not only evidence that tends to exculpate the accused, but also evidence that may impeach the credibility of a government witness.)
In this Brady motion the defense is requesting what is known as the Ribe box. The motion cites case law from “California v Salazar”.Judge Zackey asks the public defender if he had reviewed the Salazar case. When Dager answered no, the Judge told Dager he really should review the case. Salazar did involve Los Angeles County Deputy Coroner James K. Ribe who performed the autopsy on Emma Barker.
The relationship between the Pitchess and Brady motions are explained at this link. There is also information at the link about the Ribe box and the Salazar case. A state appellate court overturned the murder conviction of Salazar for killing an infant girl in 1996, ruling that the L.A. County District Attorney’s Office deliberately concealed from the defense the Ribe box (information about prior cases when forensic pathologist Dr. James Ribe had given inconsistent testimony and/or had changed opinions regarding time of death and/or cause of death.).
DDA Cormer tells the court that the state wants some discovery from the defense as well, a video and 2 photo albums. PD Dager says that he will have them for her on the next court date...Cormer spoke up and said "Judge if it were the PD asking for this you would have made me make it available to them in 3 days time". Evidently Judge Zackey agrees, he tells Dager it doesn’t take long to burn a DVD, and asks when could he have it to Cormer? Dagger said by the end of the day. Judge adds that it does take some time to copy 2 photo albums of color pictures... then Cormer tells the court if the defense gives her the photo albums she will copy them herself and give them back today. All 3 said OK to that.
DDA Cormer next tells the court that there are 2 witnesses on the defense list that the state feels the public defender has not diligently tried to find and she does not want them to show up on the eve of trial, adding she wants to know what they will be saying on the stand well before they are called on. Dagger said, “then have the DA'S office try to find them I have tried and cannot find them“. Judge Z said if they do appear on eve of trial we will deal with it at that time.
Although the 2 missing witnesses from the defense witness list are not named, Judge Zackey does ask about some of the other names on the list. Zackey asks Dager about Mindy Mechanic, Dager tells the court she is a Ph.D. and Zackey adds something about her testifying about PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). There is also a Dr. Leo that is a expert on "False confessions", and a Dr. Harry Bonnell, a Forensic Pathologist who will dispute Dr. Ribe's findings.
Cormer speaks up, "Judge, he told me the doctor is full of shit". Dager looked stunned and said " I did not say shit" (they were like little kids telling on each other, Uh huh, Naw ah, back and forth) until Judge Zackey finally said, "the word SHIT will not be used in my courtroom" that was so funny everyone laughed.
With that settled, Judge Zackey asks Stacey if she wants to attend the in camera meeting on January 28 in his chambers. She said, ”no”. The next pretrial hearing will be on February 8.
UPDATE: Here is a note I received from Tori about the February 8 hearing - We did go to the court but Judge Zackey was gone so another judge was hearing his cases, you know what that means....Dagger won't have it, they postponed it until Zackey can hear it! Kelly Cromer was in another courtroom doing something and Dagger kept complaining to the judge that they could not find her.....finally, he said his famous line..... lets trail it to another day. The new date is 2/18 and we will be there.Sphere: Related Content
I want to blog about current news stories and trials. If you don't agree with me, that's ok. I respect your right to your own opinions, please respect mine. That doesn't mean we can't talk, right?
For me trials are a study of human behavior. You get the best and the worst of people. Some people are truthful and some are liars. Everyone has an agenda, whether it is the pursuit of justice, trying to dodge a conviction for bad behavior, or ensuring the defendant receives a fair trial. How the arguments for these agendas are woven around the constitution in an effort to achieve their goals is most interesting to me.
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