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MuffyBee
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« on: September 20, 2012, 09:45:57 AM »

Please post transcripts pertaining to Gabriel Johnson's case in this thread.
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MuffyBee
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« Reply #1 on: September 20, 2012, 09:49:33 AM »

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1209/19/ijvm.01.html
JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL

Missing Baby Gabriel`s Mom on Trial; Lohan Arrested

Aired September 19, 2012 - 19:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL starts right now.

JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HOST: Tonight, is Baby Gabriel still alive? A young mother claimed she murdered her baby boy but then she changed her story. Tonight, as her trial starts, we are learning that police have a stunning theory about the adorable child who would be 3 years old now. Will this trial finally reveal what happened to Baby Gabriel?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VELEZ-MITCHELL (voice-over): Tonight, judgment day for the mother of missing Baby Gabriel. The adorable boy was just 7 months old when he vanished. Now his mom, Elizabeth Johnson, is standing trial.

Cops say she told the little boy`s father she suffocated their baby and threw him in the Dumpster. But then she told cops she gave her son away to a mystery couple. So what really happened to beautiful Baby Gabriel? Is he still alive? We`re investigating his baffling disappearance and bringing you the very latest from court.
 ::snipping2::

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where is Baby Gabriel?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The 8-month-old was last seen at a Texas motel back in 2009.

ELIZABETH JOHNSON, GABRIEL`S MOTHER: I don`t exist anymore. I`m a ghost.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The boy`s mother, 23-year-old Elizabeth Johnson, picks up everything and takes her baby on a two-day journey, traveling from Arizona to San Antonio, Texas.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) when you push them enough.

LOGAN MCQUEARY, GABRIEL`S FATHER: She told me on the phone, "You`re never going to see Gabriel again."

Where are you? Where`s Gabriel?

JOHNSON: I killed him this morning. Gabriel is in the Dumpster. You want to talk to girls, that`s the price you pay.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight, a beautiful missing baby boy and a twisted web of secrets at the center of an explosive new trial.

Good evening. Jane Velez-Mitchell coming to you live.

Twenty-six-year-old Elizabeth Johnson goes on trial in Arizona in the disappearance of her infant son Gabriel, known as Baby Gabe. He was just 8 months old when he vanished almost three years ago. Tonight, the missing child`s mom is put on trial. And there`s word tonight that police believe the child may still be alive. That`s right. Baby Gabe might still be alive.

Now, Baby Gabriel`s dad, Logan McQueary, was in the middle of a nasty custody battle with the boy`s mom when he got a horrifying text from his ex.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MCQUEARY: I was at my grandma`s house or her retirement home. And I was actually just leaving when I got text message from Elizabeth. And the only text message she sent me was "I killed him" with a bunch of exclamation points.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: That dad frantically tried to contact his ex, Elizabeth, not knowing she`d already taken off and was halfway across the country with their baby boy. When he finally got her on the phone, Elizabeth made a chilling statement. Listen to her in her own words.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNSON: I suffocated him and he turned blue, and I put him in his diaper bag, and I put him in the trash can.

MCQUEARY: You did not hurt Gabriel.

JOHNSON: Yes, I did. I suffocated him.

You knew I would do it, and you pushed me anyway.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: How horrifying and unthinkable. But Elizabeth later took it all back and changed her story. Then she told police, oh, she gave Baby Gabriel up for adoption to a mystery couple in San Antonio.

And then, in a very bizarre twist, Elizabeth`s former friend, Tammy Smith -- you see her there -- has already been convicted in this case, said to be desperate to adopt the boy. She was found guilty of forging adoption papers and conspiring with Elizabeth to keep Baby Gabriel from his dad.

But now, will the ex-lover and this former friend be the prosecution`s two star witnesses against Elizabeth? And will this trial finally reveal what really happened to Baby Gabe?

What do you think? If he`s still alive. Call me: 1-877-JVM-SAYS, 1- 877-586-7297.

Straight out to KRLD investigative reporter Joe Gomez.

Joe, what`s at stake in this trial now getting underway?

JOE GOMEZ, KRLD INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: Well, Jane, this certainly is a bizarre case and one that pulls at your heart strings. This 8-month-old baby caught in this ugly battle over custody.

The boy`s mother has said to have taken him on a multi-state trip from Arizona out to Texas, where he was last seen at a San Antonio motel room. Around that time is when she had sent the text to the boy`s father that she had killed him.

In a very disturbing message she even suggested she had suffocated Baby Gabriel, that she would tell him where to find Baby Gabriel`s dead little blue body if the garbage didn`t come first.

It was only later, Jane, that she recanted these statements, suggesting that a mystery couple in San Antonio had actually taken the boy instead.

So which is it, Jane? Is Baby Gabriel still alive somewhere out there? Or is it as his mother suggested, and did she toss him away like so much trash?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, we have some breaking news. Michael Board, WOAI News Radio, you are there in San Antonio, Texas, where this supposed mystery exchange occurred when she changed her story and said, "No, I didn`t kill this precious child. I gave the child to a mystery couple."

What are police telling you about a possibility that this angel is still alive?

MICHAEL BOARD, WOAI NEWS RADIO (via phone): Well, Jane, I want to bring you the latest on this case. What is happening right now is San Antonio police are still investigating this case. No, not as a murder but as a missing persons case. I was told by investigators that there were no signs of any harm done to this child.

Now, we know where this child was staying when it was in San Antonio with her mother. If there were any signs of any harm done to this child in any of these motel rooms, you know police would be charging murder on this. But they`re not. They`re saying this is a missing persons case. They still believe that they will find this missing child.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. And she is charged -- she is on trial right now for kidnapping and custodial interference.

Now, here`s what gets me, just wanted to pull my hair out in tufts. It gets me furious. Why was this troubled young woman anywhere near this boy? OK.

She and her ex, Logan, the dad, who seems like a straight arrow, were in the middle of a nasty custody battle. But this woman has a history of extremely violent behavior, if you listen to Logan. When you hear Baby Gabe`s dad talk about Elizabeth, we`re talking about erratic, violent behavior. Why was this young woman ever awarded joint custody? Listen to Logan, the dad.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MCQUEARY: She just kept getting mad and mad. And then eventually, it escalated to where she slapped me in the face. And she grabbed me by the throat.

(via phone) She destroyed my apartment. She caused $4,000 in damages to my apartment. Busted out my windows. Cut up my clothes with scissors. And broke everything. Took a knife to the couch. And she cut up some of the baby`s stuff with a knife. Thank God he was at day care.

(on camera) We were sitting around the fire, and I was just standing there, you know, warming my hands in the fire. And she came up right behind me and shoved me right in the fire.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Those are horrifying allegations.

So Robi Ludwig, psychotherapist, this woman should have never been anywhere near this child, not capable of taking the child and running away, because she seems to be violent. There she is.

ROBI LUDWIG, PSYCHOTHERAPIST: Well, at the very least this woman should have had supervised visits so she wasn`t a danger to the child or wouldn`t put the child in jeopardy.

Still there -- there is this idea that children should be with their parents if possible. And maybe it wasn`t so clear that this woman had a violent history with her child. Maybe that couldn`t be proven. It`s not really clear.

But -- but we are hearing that this woman is a very unstable woman and is clearly out of control. And just by the way the story has turned out, we know that there`s something seriously wrong with her.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, Vinnie Politan, host "In Session" on TruTV, thank you so much for joining us. You did an extraordinary interview with Baby Gabriel`s dad. And I`ve heard this woman described as bipolar. That`s a phrase that`s tossed around. But to me, the outrage that she ever had the chance to take her child and run.

VINNIE POLITAN, HOST, TRUTV`S "IN SESSION": This was such a complicated relationship, Jane, that Logan had with Elizabeth Johnson. Because they were on again/off again. He -- she would get violent, but he would take her back. He wanted to be with his son.

You know, Jane, I had an opportunity to go into that hotel room where those photos were taken, which were the last photos of Baby Gabriel. And I was in that hotel room with Logan. And it was the first time he had ever been in there.

And I asked him the question, "Do you believe that Elizabeth Johnson murdered your son in this room?"

He started to cry, but he didn`t know. He doesn`t know the answer to that question. And he`s holding onto hope, Jane. And that`s why I think, you know, if you`re a father you hold onto hope. If you`re an investigator and you don`t have enough evidence to charge her with murder, you`ve got to hold onto hope that this baby`s alive.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Logan McQueary, the dad, has already testified about Elizabeth`s wild and violent behavior. He acknowledged he was afraid of her and her temper. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It sounds like maybe you w percent were a little afraid of her.

MCQUEARY: A little bit. I just didn`t want to piss her off.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m sorry?

MCQUEARY: I just didn`t want to piss her off.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Didn`t want to piss her off? And why is that?

MCQUEARY: Cause she`s not really like -- how can I explain it? A normal person gets mad, they get a little pissed off. When she gets mad, it`s beyond mad.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Was she bipolar?

MCQUEARY: I don`t know if they would -- they`d classify it as bipolar. I don`t know exactly what she is.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Was she taking medication?

MCQUEARY: No.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did she need to take medication?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Elizabeth was ruled twice incompetent to stand trial. So what happened to make her mentally fit for this trial? On the other side.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNSON (via phone): Gabriel is dead.

MCQUEARY (via phone): What?

JOHNSON: I killed him this morning.

MCQUEARY: No, you didn`t.

JOHNSON: Yes, I did.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Oh, that`s tapes being played in court of the baby`s mother and father arguing over what really happened.

I`ve got to go to Stacey Honowitz, Florida prosecutor.

She`s charged with kidnapping and custodial interference, get her nine months to 20 years. They can`t charge her with murder because there`s no body. And now police are saying they think that the child is alive. Can`t they use this case as leverage to pressure -- pressure her into telling the truth?

STACEY HONOWITZ, FLORIDA PROSECUTOR: Well, listen, she`s a defendant in the case, and she never has to say anything. We all know that.

The fact of the matter is, you know we were talking before the break about her competency. That was an issue. Now she`s back, and she`s competent. She can understand the charges against her. They can try to leverage, and they can try to get her to talk, but she never has to talk.

And the fact of the matter is, Jane, in family court when you`re fighting for custody, most family court judges, unless one spouse comes in there armed and prepared to say that the other spouse is a baby murderer killer, they want both parents to have custody. They don`t look at supervised visits as something that`s being very important until something like this happens. And that`s what we have right here now.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I wonder if the courts might have been influenced in some way by the fact that this is a very beautiful young woman. And sometimes people go gaga, and they can`t think straight. Or they can`t comprehend the idea that a really beautiful, model-beautiful, movie-star- beautiful young woman is capable of committing violence.

I want to go out to the phone lines. Norma, Texas, your question or thought. Norma, Texas.

CALLER: Well, Jane, I just want to say thank you for all you do. My husband and I watch you from Texas all the time.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Oh, wonderful.

CALLER: And we love your -- we love your show.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Thank you.

CALLER: We went to the city of San Antonio this weekend, and we passed right by that hotel. It`s not a hotel; it`s more of a motel kind of. And we went to put gasoline in our tractor. So there was a gas station directly next to it.

So it gave me the opportunity to kind of watch people get off the bus station that is directly next to that motel. It`s a motel or hotel/motel studio suite that has a lot of buses from Mexico. And people just getting off the bus and people getting on the bus. And my theory -- and I`ll tell you because I had the opportunity to watch these folks get off the bus is that they were getting off the bus and they looked so scared and they were hurried -- they seemed hurried and started walking along the side of the service road to wherever they were going, I think she`s not talking because she doesn`t know who she gave the baby to. I think she gave it to somebody on that bus. The baby`s in Mexico.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, ma`am, that is a very interesting possibility. And Michael Board, WOAI, you`re right there in San Antonio. That presents a problem for police because how on earth do you forensically follow thousands of people who could be going a across the border?

I mean, obviously, if they`re holding a child who fits that description, that`s a start. But could they -- I remember one case where a whole family disappeared. They went back to the day that the family disappeared and they actually got a shot of what they thought was the family crossing the border at the border cross point. Have they checked those surveillance cameras to see if there was this child crossing the border with somebody?

BOARD: Yes, they have. They did not find any evidence of that.

Another theory that`s been floated in this investigation is that somehow Elizabeth Johnson was hooked up with some sort of an underground adoption ring, families who don`t want to go through all the process. You know, these are possibilities out there that there`s a family out there who has him that thinks that maybe they were doing the right thing by adopting this child, that maybe they were getting him out of a bad relationship, when in reality they`re taking this child away from a father that loves them and wants to be with him.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. And you got to wonder how could a mother hurt a child? But Vinnie Politan, my understanding is that she was consumed not only in this custody battle but with jealousy over what she thought was Logan`s cheating or playing around.

POLITAN: Absolutely. It`s such -- it`s such a complicated relationship that gets to the heart of what happened to this child. Because they broke up, they got back together.

And Elizabeth Johnson accusing Logan McQueary, oh, you`re with this girl, that girl. Well, guess what, you know, the only thing that she had that she could use against Logan McQueary was the child that he loved so much. And that`s why some people think the worst here, that not only did she not let Logan McQueary be with his son but she actually killed him in a fit of rage and bragged to him or told him on the phone and in that text message afterwards.

And it`s very possible that it could have happened that way. You know, we don`t have enough evidence one way or the other. But because of the rage, the immaturity and whatever`s going on between her ears, it`s very possible that she could have done this out of a fit of jealousy.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Then again if you`re that immature, maybe you just take your baby and hand your baby to somebody who says what a beautiful baby. The child`s beautiful. More on the other side.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MCQUEARY: What?

JOHNSON: I said, you would be surprised what a person will do when you push them enough.

MCQUEARY: I`m not pushing you. I gave you your space.

JOHNSON: No, you did push me. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) you hurt me. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and have sex with all these people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Where is Baby Gabriel? The trial for his mother is starting. She`s not charged with murder. She`s charged with kidnapping and custodial interference. And police say -- we just heard police tonight that they think this child may be alive.

She says -- at one point she said she killed him and then she said, "Oh, I gave him away to a mystery couple."

Let`s go to the phone lines. Paul, New Jersey, your question or thought?

CALLER: Yes, how are you doing, Jane? First, I`d like to say me and my sister always watch your show and we think you`re great.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Thank you.

CALLER: I was really wondering, would it be possible for the court to maybe administer her a lie detector test? Or has it been done yet? And if so, wouldn`t that be able to lead the detectives or anyone else in their investigation?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Stacey Honowitz, excellent question.

HONOWITZ: That`s an excellent question. Most people want the defendant to be able to talk or say something. They can`t force them to do anything. Lie detectors are not admissible in court because they`re not deemed to be reliable. They are used as an investigative tool, previous to filing charges, or maybe you`re looking into charges later on. But they can never force a defendant to do anything, especially to take a lie detector test.

This is a mystery for everybody. We`re going to have to wait and see what pans out in court.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Did Elizabeth even want Gabriel in the first place? The baby`s dad says she made it clear she never wanted children. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MCQUEARY: If any kid made like a snide, like, look at her or something like that, she`d do the same back. You know, like stick out her tongue at them or something like that. And I just kind of laughed it off as kind of nothing. But I knew she didn`t want to have kids. She always said that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And this is Vinnie Politan`s extraordinary interview. Vinnie, it must have been heart-wrenching for this father to know that he was so close and then this child slipped out of his hands.

POLITAN: Yes. And he -- you know, he tried to do the right thing by using our family court system, right? He goes in with Elizabeth Johnson. They get joint custody. They come up with an arrangement, what days he can have the baby and what day she can have the baby, because he`s got to work.

Then when it`s the first time for her to give the baby back to him, she doesn`t show up. He goes back to court. That`s when he gets custody, and she flees for San Antonio.

But for Logan McQueary, this is something that has never ended. It continues day in and day out for him. And it`s because he doesn`t know the answer to the ultimate question.

Think about it, Jane. The best-case scenario for Logan McQueary is that his beautiful baby boy is being raised by somebody else. Because the worst-case scenario is -- he can`t even think about it.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. Of course death. Because she maybe doesn`t want to tell because if she tells, then they will find him, and then they will return him to Logan who is, I guess, her arch enemy. So sad.

Trial`s just starting. We`re all over it.
 ::snipping2::
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« Reply #2 on: September 25, 2012, 07:41:27 PM »

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1209/24/ijvm.01.html
JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL

Toxic Secrets Inside Jodi Arias Murder Case; Baby Gabriel`s Dad Speaks; Green Day Singer Loses It on Stage

Aired September 24, 2012 - 19:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

 ::snipping2::
VELEZ-MITCHELL (voice-over): Tonight, missing Baby Gabriel`s father takes the stand to testify against the boy`s mother. He claims his ex, Elizabeth Johnson, told him she suffocated their baby, then threw him in the trash. But then she said she gave her son away to a stranger. Prosecutors claim Elizabeth used this adorable baby boy as a pawn for revenge after she was dumped. Was she a woman scorned? We`ll take you inside this mysterious disappearance.
 ::snipping2::
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where is Baby Gabriel?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The 8-month-old was last seen at a Texas motel back in 2009.

LOGAN MCQUEARY, BABY GABRIEL`S FATHER: Where are you?

ELIZABETH JOHNSON, BABY GABRIEL`S MOTHER: I don`t exist anymore. I`m a ghost.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The boy`s mother, 23-year-old Elizabeth Johnson, picks up everything and takes her baby on a two-day journey, traveling from Arizona to San Antonio, Texas.

JOHNSON: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) when you push them enough.

MCQUEARY: She told me on the phone, "You`re never going to see Gabriel again."

Where are you and where is Gabriel?

JOHNSON: I killed him this morning. Gabriel is in the Dumpster. You want to talk to girls, that`s the price you pay.

END VIDEOTAPE)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight, toxic secrets exposed as the father of this precious missing baby, Baby Gabriel, drops bombshells in an Arizona court against the child`s mother, who`s on trial.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MCQUEARY: That`s when I got the first text message from Elizabeth, and the only thing she texted me was, "I killed him." She told me that she killed Gabriel. And I said, no, she didn`t -- or, "No, you didn`t."

And she said, "Yes, you made me -- you made me kill my baby boy."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Baby Gabe last seen almost three years ago when he was only 8 months old. An adorable child. His father, Logan McQueary, emotionally told the jury about the very last time he saw his sweet baby boy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Logan, when was the last time you ever saw Gabriel Johnson?

MCQUEARY: December 8 of 2009, when I returned him with a police officer to the house and put him in his crib. That`s the last time I ever saw Gabriel.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: That`s the defendant there with the earrings and the purple outfit. She looks like she`s dressed to go out to a nightclub. Her child`s missing. She`s told various stories about where he is. One is that she killed him.

The infant`s mother, 26-year-old Elizabeth Johnson -- right there -- standing trial for kidnapping. Yes, she confessed to strangling the baby, putting him in a diaper bag and throwing his little body in a dumpster like trash.

Listen to this chilling recording.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELIZABETH JOHNSON, ON TRIAL FOR GABRIEL`S DISAPPEARANCE: I suffocated him and he turned blue. And I put him in the diaper bag and put him in the trash can.

MCQUEARY: You did not hurt Gabriel.

JOHNSON: Yes, I did. I suffocated him.

You knew I would do it and you pushed me anyway.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Cops arrested Elizabeth over 2,000 miles away in Miami. By that time she had changed her story. She told cops that she gave Baby Gabriel to a strange couple in San Antonio. So is this child dead? Or is this mystery couple somewhere raising it?

What do you think? Call me, 1-877-JVM-SAYS.

Straight out to Lina Jacobson with "In Session", you were inside the courtroom today, listening to the father`s testimony. But I understand that his hands were tied; that he couldn`t really tell the whole story. What do you know, Lina?

LINA JACOBSON, "IN SESSION": Well, you know, this morning, Jane, we had a hearing where the judge ruled Logan McQueary, Gabriel`s father, could not say anything that might indicate Elizabeth was a bad mom -- if you can believe that. He couldn`t tell the story about him getting an order of protection for himself and his son for instance after she had threatened to do harm to the child previously.

There was another time they had a fight. Logan was on his way out the door and Elizabeth said to him "Take that thing with you." That thing, of course, was Gabriel. Those are stories the jury never heard today, Jane.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And I find that absolutely outrageous.

Marcia Clark, former prosecutor, famous prosecutor of the O.J. Simpson case, author of "Guilt by Degrees". How come the jury can`t hear the whole story? If she referred to her precious baby boy as "that thing", why can`t the jury hear that?

MARCIA CLARK, AUTHOR, "GUILT BY DEGREES": Well, Jane, you know, of course as a prosecutor, I would want to get that in to show the kind of attitude the mother has toward the baby. They should show the predisposition of the month to treat the baby like a thing, to throw it away that way.

And the judge though has to make a call. He has to make a decision as to whether or not a statement is more prejudicial than probative. And that means it`s more harmful than it really is necessary to prove anything.

The only person that we know of who tells of the story is the father. The father may have an axe to grind. There may be no other evidence to corroborate that she ever said something like this. And if it`s said in a fit of anger, it might also be something that is unfairly undermining of the defense. I`m trying to give -- I`m trying to play devil`s advocate here Jane because I`m not in favor of the ruling. I`m going to say that --

(CROSSTALK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And you`re a prosecutor so you did -- you did a good job there trying to pretend to be a defense attorney. But I`ve got to tell you, yes, the corroborating evidence is that this child is missing and the child disappeared on her watch.

Now cops are not charging Elizabeth with murder, even though she admits on tape to killing Gabriel. In fact they believe -- police believe this child might still be alive. I hope so. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL BOARD, WOAI NEWS RADIO: We know where this child was staying when it was in San Antonio with her mother. If there were any signs of any harm done to this child in any of these motel rooms, you know police would be charging murder on this. But they`re not. They`re say thing this is a missing person`s case. They still believe that they will find this missing child.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And Jayne Weintraub, criminal defense attorney, I think that is the best thing I have heard all week.

Here`s why I think it might be true. Usually when somebody kills somebody, they lie and they say I had nothing to do with it. They don`t call somebody up and say "Yes, I killed the child. The child turned blue, and I threw the child in the dumper the." It`s contrarian to human nature.

Is it possible that she said that to hurt her ex and the baby could still be alive?

JAYNE WEINTRAUB, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Absolutely. I mean it`s clearly something that she`s just lashing out and just saying in a fit of craziness, I mean. And let`s not forget she was found incompetent two times previously by a court of law.

Also, let`s remember that there was somebody else that was convicted in this case, and that somebody that had and seen this baby within ten days after that first phone call. So we know that the baby was alive for the first ten days, because the defendant, Smith, testified that she, in fact, helped take care of the child along with the defendant.

So we know that the baby wasn`t killed right away and that woman was only sentenced to 30 days in jail. So clearly they thought the baby was still alive then.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, it`s a very bizarre case, because there`s this other woman, Tammy Smith, involved. Elizabeth Johnson met Tammy Smith at an airport and Tammy saw the baby and thought I could take that baby and do a better job than Elizabeth. And then the relationship went sour.

Now before Tammy`s own trial -- she got tried for forgery and conspiracy and convicted -- she actually visited Elizabeth in jail and they began arguing about this so-called mystery couple that may or may not have gotten baby Gabriel.

You have to listen to this exchange. It`s fascinating.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TAMMY SMITH: So when you called these people, you said on the third day you gave them the baby, so when you called them what did you say? Did you call them and say --

JOHNSON: I never called them. You called them. It was all set up through you. I did everything you told me to do.

SMITH: You are a liar. A liar.

JOHNSON: No, you are.

SMITH: Either that or you are psychotic.

(CROSSTALK)

JOHNSON: -- everything you`ve been saying and doing and throwing people under the bus. You`ve thrown me under the bus.

SMITH: Elizabeth, you belong under the bus. You gave your baby away and you`re telling --

JOHNSON: To you, to you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes, unbelievable. We have a constant theme here when we cover these cases -- liar. People who lie cannot be trusted. And people who lie, you can never tell when they`re telling the truth because you think they`re still lying. So they ruin their credibility. And that`s the case here. And it`s a cautionary tale.

More on the other side -- unbelievable developments.

Stay right there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

 ::snipping2::

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNSON: Gabriel is dead. I killed him this morning.

MCQUEARY: What?

JOHNSON: I killed him this morning.

MCQUEARY: No, you didn`t.

JOHNSON: Yes, I did.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Unbelievable case where this woman, this beautiful woman, who is a mother of this gorgeous child, over and over again says that essentially she suffocated her child. She sent her ex chilling text messages saying you`ll never see Gabriel again, I made sure of that.

But here`s the interesting part, Jon Leiberman, investigative reporter. When she says, "You could spend the rest of your pathetic life wondering about him." And that dovetails with her telling cops a different story that she gave the child to a mystery couple.

JON LEIBERMAN, HLN CONTRIBUTOR: It does. But there are so many lies to go around here, Jane. And the sad part here among other things is that this baby was, as prosecutors say, just a pawn in this nasty relationship between these two. This woman now is looking at anywhere from nine months in jail to 20 years in jail.

There was landfill searches for this baby, there have been private investigations. When the reality is, that this mother knows more than she has been saying about where this precious baby is, and he needs to be found.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Linda, Ontario, your question or thought, Linda?

LINDA, ONTARIO (via telephone): Hi there. Well, my thought is that I`m not going to call her a mother, because I don`t think she deserves the title. I can only describe her as evil because if she killed the baby, well, that speaks for itself. But if she gave the baby away and is just tormenting the father, and the extended family, which surely this baby has, then that too is one of the most evil things that I can think of to do.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. And Linda, I agree with you. And Wendy Walsh, psychologist, sometimes I don`t think we use the word "evil" enough. We use, you know, troubled or mentally ill. Evil exists.

WENDY WALSH, PSYCHOLOGIST: Well, there are people who have absolute lack of remorse, lack of compassion, lack of empathy and are stuck in their own world.

My question here though is, you know, when she says to him earlier -- we now know that the baby was not dead at the time that she said I killed the baby. She said, "You knew I could do it. And you still pushed me to do it anyway." This shows somebody who externalizes her behavior. She blames the outside world for her actions. She doesn`t take responsibility for actions.

Now, she also, in her text and her phone calls saying she killed the baby could have been rehearsing the idea in her mind. Remember, the baby was seen ten days after she said that and then not seen again. So we don`t know whether this baby is dead or alive.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: This is a woman who has it within herself to put on earrings and a sort of sexy purple top and blue eye shadow, when we`re talking about the possible death, the likely death perhaps of her precious baby, perhaps at her own hands. That says a lot right there.

I mean, the narcissism, I think the malignant narcissism of people who put themselves ahead of everyone else and then they pretend to be the victims and they tell themselves they are the victim, that the world is out to get them. It`s called the pity party. That`s what we call it when we talk about addiction issues.

And as a recovering alcoholic, I`ve learned that phrase. You know, the people who do the worst things often perceive of themselves as the victims.
 ::snipping2::
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« Reply #3 on: September 27, 2012, 02:40:31 PM »

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1209/26/ijvm.01.html
JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL

Faux Tears for Baby Gabriel?

Aired September 26, 2012 - 19:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


UNIDENTIFIED MALE: JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL starts right now.

JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HOST: Tonight, tears and drama in the Baby Gabriel courtroom. The 8-month-old infant`s mother stands trial for his kidnapping. The child went missing while she was on the run with him. And the child could be dead or alive, we don`t know. Were her tears and her sobs in court real or just another way to manipulate and lie? We`ll analyze next.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VELEZ-MITCHELL (voice-over): Tonight, emotional outbursts from inside court as missing Baby Gabriel`s mom breaks down sobbing as a witness testifies for the prosecution. Is the mother of the missing 8-month-old boy actually upset? Or is this all part of this defendant`s act?

Will her trial uncover the secret of what she really did with Baby Gabriel? Did she suffocate the precious baby, as she told her ex? Or is the little boy alive and living with a mystery couple, as she told cops?

We`ll go inside the courtroom. And we`re taking your calls.
 ::snipping2::
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Johnson`s alleged conspiracy to give away her infant son Gabriel.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where is Baby Gabriel?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The 8-month-old was last seen at a Texas motel back in 2009.

ELIZABETH JOHNSON, GABRIEL`S MOTHER (via phone): I don`t exist anymore.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The boy`s mother, 23-year-old Elizabeth Johnson, picks up everything and takes her baby on a two-day journey, traveling from Arizona to San Antonio, Texas.

JOHNSON: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) capable of when you push them enough.

LOGAN MCQUEARY, GABRIEL`S FATHER: She told me on the phone, "You`re never going to see Gabriel again."

(via phone) Where are you? Where is Gabriel?

JOHNSON: I killed him. I killed him this morning. Gabriel is in the Dumpster. You want to talk to girls, that`s the price you pay.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: She confessed to strangling the baby, putting him in a diaper bag and throwing his little body in a Dumpster like trash.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight, emotional outbursts as Baby Gabriel`s mom sobs loudly during her high-stakes kidnapping trial. What caused the infant`s mom to break down at the defense table?

Good evening. I`m Jane Velez-Mitchell coming to you live.

Eight-month-old Baby Gabriel has not been seen in over three years, and his mother, 26-year-old Elizabeth Johnson, is standing trial for his kidnapping, because he vanished after she took him on the run.

Now, she melted into tears and sobbed loudly as a prosecution witness accused her of manipulative scheming ways. Her outburst is fast. So we`re going to play it for you twice. Listen carefully.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNSON: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: The witness told the jury that mom, Elizabeth, and her friend, Tammi Smith, conspired to have Tammi adopt Baby Gabriel without the boy`s dad saying OK or even knowing about it. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Elizabeth and Tammi came up with a plan in order to get the baby away from Logan. She was going to do whatever she had to do to make sure that he was going to sign those adoption papers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Originally, Elizabeth told Gabriel`s father that she murdered the baby, suffocating him until he turned blue, and then tossing him in the Dumpster like trash. Listen to this chilling confession.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNSON (via phone): I suffocated him and he turned blue, and I put him in a bag and I put him in the trash can.

MCQUEARY (via phone): You did not hurt Gabriel.

JOHNSON: Yes, I did. I suffocated him. You knew I would do it and you pushed me anyway.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Elizabeth later took back that confession and told cops she gave little Gabriel to a mystery couple in a San Antonio, Texas, park. Which is it? And are those real tears in court or the work of a calculated manipulator and liar? Tonight we will expose her secrets.

Call me: 1-877-JVM-SAYS; 1-877-586-7297.

Straight out to Joe Gomez, investigative reporter for KRLD. Set the stage for us. How was this child, according to prosecutors, used as a pawn in the war that Elizabeth, the mother, declared on the baby`s father?

JOE GOMEZ, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER, KRLD: That`s exactly right as you say, Jane. Baby Gabriel was a pawn, according to prosecutors. Elizabeth was shunned by Baby Gabriel`s biological father, and she used Baby Gabriel as some sort of a -- some sort of a mechanism to get even with his father, because he allegedly didn`t want her any more. So she was a woman scorned, according to prosecutors, using this innocent beautiful little boy as some sort of tool in this bizarre game.

Of course, she is now claiming that she gave Baby Gabriel up to some strange couple in San Antonio, but we don`t know for sure if that`s the fact or if she killed Baby Gabriel, as she said, choked him until he was blue in the face and then threw him in some garbage bin. It`s a very bizarre story, Jane.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. And how do you finds this mystery couple, who may not even exist?

Elizabeth`s courtroom antics have been theater worthy. Let`s listen to that sob again.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(UNINTELLIGIBLE)

JOHNSON: (END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I want to go to Lena (ph) Jacobson (ph). You are a field producer for TruTV. You`ve been in court. Was this a theatrical performance? Set the stage. Tell us about this sob session.

LENA (PH) JACOBSON, FIELD PRODUCER, TRUTV (via phone): Well, you know, the timing of this outburst, Jane, was a little bit of a mystery to me. The witness on the stand, Deanna Alla (ph), is a friend of Tammi Smith. She had nothing directly to do with Johnson.

We`ve seen other emotional testimony. We`ve seen pictures of the little boy, that sort of thing. And I`ve seen Johnson shed tears before, but she chose Deanna Alla`s (ph) testimony to start sobbing loudly, as your viewers just heard. I think it just all added up. I think it was genuine emotion, that she was overcome after all this time sitting there listening to it.

What she`s upset about you can speculate if that`s getting caught or the loss of her son. But I think it was genuine emotion. And the judge seemed to agree, because he didn`t actually reprimand her. He said it seemed like a spontaneous outburst.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I heard that she left the courtroom for a second. What happened there?

JACOBSON: Yes. You know, after direct concluded of this witness, her attorney said, "Let`s take a break. Let`s let her compose herself." And when court started again she was OK. She`s been emotional throughout you can see. But she did much better. And I think she`s tried to keep herself in check.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, Lena (ph), I`m looking at her outfit. And I`m going to take this to Holly Hughes, criminal defense attorney. She`s wearing earrings worthy of going out partying. She`s wearing a low-cut purple top. On other days she`s also worn makeup, as you see here, and a low-cut top. What does that tell you about this defendant?

HOLLY HUGHES, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: It tells me she`s a young immature lady. That`s what it tells me. And, based on the allegations the prosecution is putting forward, she`s playing right into their hands.

If I was representing this young lady, Jane, I wouldn`t want her dressed like that in court. I would want her to be a little more buttoned up. And like you said, a little less party-like. You don`t want chandelier earrings when you`re sitting there accused of engaging in this behavior, which is by all accounts, if you listen to the prosecutor, very immature. She`s a woman scorned. So to get even with the father of her child, she, No. 1, lies, if you believe that her initial confession is a lie, and says, "Well, I killed your baby. I suffocated him. I put him in a Dumpster." Or she gives the baby away just to keep him from the father.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes.

HUGHES: I wouldn`t want her dressed like that, quite frankly. I`d want a little more conservative ensemble.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Either way it`s horrifying.

HUGHES: Yes.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: But we`re trying to figure out what`s the truth. What did she really do?

Now, Baby Gabriel`s father told the jury about some horrific messages Elizabeth sent him, saying the infant was dead. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MCQUEARY: That`s when I got the first text message from Elizabeth. And the only thing she texted me was, "I killed him." She told me that she killed Gabriel, and I said no, she didn`t -- or, "No, you didn`t."

And she said, "Yes, you made me. You made me kill my baby boy."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Mike Brooks, HLN law-enforcement analyst, here`s what I`m wondering. Usually when somebody does kill, they lie and say they didn`t. They don`t call somebody up and say, "Hey, I just killed someone." So that`s possibly why authorities are saying that they believe there is a possibility that this little boy, we hope, is alive.

MIKE BROOKS, HLN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: And where were the tears there when they were talking -- you know, the father was talking about the baby boy. There was no tears there. But there was tears when they were talking about relationship between Elizabeth Johnson and Tammi Smith and these forged court documents.

But you know, Jane, this baby has been gone since December 2009. You always hold out hope. But we`ve seen the searches in San Antonio by the San Antonio police at a landfill. We`ve seen searches all over the country between Arizona, San Antonio, Miami. We still have not found this baby boy. But there`s always hope, especially when you`ve got characters in this case, Jane, like Tammi Smith, like Elizabeth Johnson. You never know.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: You absolutely don`t.

And on the other side of the break, we`re going to bring in a psychotherapist to analyze the fine line between love and hate. And what happened that made this woman declare war? Is she mentally ill? Is she vindictive? Is she just a woman scorned? Or is she truly evil? We`re going to analyze on the other side. And take your calls.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When you call these people you said on the third day you gave them the baby. So when you called them what did you say? Did you call them and say, "Hey..."

JOHNSON: I never called them. You called them. I left it up to you. I did everything you told me to do.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You are a liar. A liar.

JOHNSON: You are. Everything you`ve been saying and doing, throwing people under the bus, you`re throwing me under the bus.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Elizabeth, you belong under the bus. You gave your baby away. And you`re not telling anyone...

JOHNSON: To you. To you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: OK. This young woman, Elizabeth Johnson, the mother of this precious child who has now been missing three years, she sucked other people into her drama. That woman you saw listening to this conversation, Tammi Smith, met this woman in an airport. And suddenly, she`s trying to adopt the child. She and her husband desperately wanted a child.

And then you hear them fighting over the phone over what actually happened. Was there a mystery couple? Wasn`t there?

Robi Ludwig, psychotherapist, do you know who this reminds me of? Casey Anthony. Where the line between fiction and reality is blurred and people are talking to her because they think they`re dealing with reality. And she had a fantasy world going on in her head. It sounds very similar.

ROBI LUDWIG, PSYCHOTHERAPIST: It does. It does. And clearly, anyone who lies is in a self-serving place, right? Emotionally. So she lies, she tells people what they want to hear, or she tells somebody something based on her own agenda. But this is a very, very sick woman who basically is very vindictive when she doesn`t get what she wants.

Now, the hope is she didn`t actually kill this child, because we haven`t found the child. So the possibility is still out there that maybe she, in fact, did give the child to some, I don`t know, some ring where they can have him adopted.

The question I have is, why wouldn`t she save herself at this point? Right now her life is on the line.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, that`s an excellent question. I want to throw that to Holly Hughes. I mean, why not? If she did give the child away, say, "You know what? The child`s alive. I can give you some hints as to where this child is."

Even if she gave the child to a couple of strangers who were going to get on a bus in San Antonio and take off, she could describe who these mystery people are.

HUGHES: Right. But what she`s facing is kidnapping on custodial interference charges, which she`s still going to be on the hook for even if the baby is alive, Jane. So at this point, it will be very interesting to watch this trial progress and see if she takes the stand and tries to defend herself.

But the bottom line is she already admitted on those tapes that are being played by the prosecution, "I took the child. I gave him to this person. Oh, no, I killed him."

So she`s already basically admitted that she interfered with Logan, the daddy -- you know, the daddy of the baby, with his custodial rights and taking him away from Logan. That`s guilty right there of what she`s charged with, the charges that she`s actually facing.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: There is a fine line between love and hate. And it strikes me incomprehensible, but it`s possible, I suppose, that she`s doing all this still to get back at this rather handsome father of this child, who may have dumped her after she showed that she was a little looney tunes and was screaming where he worked, et cetera, allegedly.

And I find that there`s a possibility, because one of the texts says when she`s texting him, "You will never see Gabriel again. I made sure of that. And you can spend the rest of your pathetic life wondering about him." Mike Brooks, she wants him to wonder. She doesn`t want this question to be answered. She wants him to be left tortured his whole life.

BROOKS: You know, and I think Holly is right on target with this, Jane. About, hey, why give it up now? Keep with your story. You`ve got the story going. But what is the real story?

I think -- I think she really does want to get back at Logan McQueary, because she knew how much Logan really loved Baby Gabriel and really cared for Baby Gabriel and didn`t want to give that baby up.

And I think Holly`s absolutely right. Why give it up now? Because you`ve got kidnapping, child abuse and custodial interference. You`re found guilty on that, OK, somebody could still have that baby. And maybe she knows somewhere that baby`s alive. But, you know, it doesn`t seem like that`s the case, Jane. But you always, always, always hold out hope.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: We hope. Quick question, Kenny, Indiana. Your question or thought, Kenny.

CALLER: Hi, Jane. I just was wondering if she ever took a lie detector test.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Excellent question. Lena Jacobson (ph), you`ve been covering this from the beginning. Did she ever take a lie detector?

JACOBSON: You know, we haven`t heard anything about that. Of course that would not be admissible in court, and no one has breathed a word to me about whether she did. So that`s a mystery.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now, I wish they would change the rules to allow that to be used at least -- I don`t know that it should be introduced as evidence, but at least something that can be used more reliably as an investigative tool.

Some people say, well, they`re wrong. People can fool them. But still, wow. I would love to know if she took one and what the results were.

More on the other side.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNSON (via phone): Gabriel is dead. I killed him this morning.

MCQUEARY (via phone): What?

JOHNSON (via phone): I killed him this morning.

MCQUEARY (via phone): No, you didn`t.

JOHNSON: Yes, I did.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: That is the father of Baby Gabriel just ripped apart. This family, the whole family, his dad destroyed by his grandson`s disappearance. Listen to the grandfather testify in court. And it`s heartbreaking. Check this out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Was this his first Christmas?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you and Logan take him to see Santa Claus?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We didn`t get the chance to.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. They didn`t get a chance to take this little boy to his first Santa because he was missing and quite possibly dead by that time. Let`s go out to the phone lines.

Let`s go out to the phone lines. John, Virginia, your question or thought, John.

CALLER: How are you doing tonight, Jane?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I`m doing good.

CALLER: Good. Jane, my name is John. I`m calling from Chesapeake, Virginia, with my wife here, Dixie Lee. And the thing is, I watch you guys every night right after my dinner. Me and Dixie enjoy you. And the thing is, I want to know why that girl that I see right there in the purple with these dangling little earrings, why is she getting away with scot-free murder? Me and my wife don`t think that is fair.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. Well, I think you make a very good point.

Lena (ph), Lena Jacobson (ph), you`ve been covering this case. She looks -- she presents as super normal. You could run into her at a nightclub or at a diner. But has she had mental issues that have kept her from being ruled competent to stand trial in the past?

JACOBSON: Yes, she has. She was ruled incompetent to stand trial initially, then ruled competent later. She`s had ongoing issues -- I think it`s pretty clear that she has some. And she`s been very emotional. And she told the judge last week that she expected to have outbursts in court. She didn`t think she`d be able to keep from that. That`s definitely a part of her personality, Jane.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Robi Ludwig, how does somebody -- how does a jury, how does a judge, how do the courts distinguish between an actress? Especially when you`re dealing with an attractive young woman and that sways people subconsciously -- and somebody who is seriously off?

LUDWIG: You know, truth of the matter is you can`t always tell when someone is lying or being overly dramatic. Sometimes we like to think that we know when someone is being dishonest or disingenuous, but we can`t always tell. Sometimes these personalities are very convincing.

Or it`s her own feelings of wanting to believe that a woman truly is sad over the loss of her child that might get us or a jury member inclined to want to believe a woman like this.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: To be so cold. Joe Gomez, Child Protective Services visited this home, talked to Elizabeth before the child vanished. I think they dropped the ball.

GOMEZ: Well, certainly, I mean, they could have picked up on a few signals, that`s for sure. I mean, if you look at the past and what she`s done, you know, texting her -- texting her ex about killing the boy, texting, you know, saying that she wasn`t going to tell him anything until she was in a safe spot.

And you listen to this grandfather`s testimony. That`s what really shakes me, Jane. Is that he paints this picture that Baby Gabriel`s father was this doting loving father who was changing diapers. His boy was his whole world. And prosecutors say that Baby Gabriel`s mother, Elizabeth, was -- she was so bitter, so angry at him that she would do anything to get even with him, even if that meant putting this little boy at risk.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Maybe.

GOMEZ: There`s something definitely wrong there.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Maybe. She was jealous of the child getting all the attention from the man she was obsessed with.

Robi, ten seconds.

LUDWIG: OK. She might have also been envious of her baby and the love that Logan was giving to this baby and realizing, "Hey, why can`t I get the love that he`s giving to my child? If I eliminate the child, that will really punish him for loving the wrong person."
 ::snipping2::
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« Reply #4 on: October 01, 2012, 11:22:39 PM »

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1209/28/ijvm.01.html
JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL

Actor Dead in Hollywood Murder Mystery

Aired September 28, 2012 - 19:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


 ::snipping2::

And breaking news: San Antonio cops investigate a stunning new tip. Is Baby Gabriel`s body buried in a park? Plus, secrets from inside his mother`s kidnapping trial. Does it seem like mom, Elizabeth, is dressed for a party instead of her day in court? Hear what her lawyer has to say to me tonight.

 ::snipping2::

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Johnson`s alleged conspiracy to give away her infant son, Gabriel.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where is Baby Gabriel?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The 8-month-old was last seen at a Texas motel back in 2009.

ELIZABETH JOHNSON, ON TRIAL FOR SON`S DISAPPEARANCE: I don`t exist anymore. I`m a ghost.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The boy`s mother, 23-year-old Elizabeth Johnson, picks up everything and takes her baby on a two-day journey traveling from Arizona to San Antonio, Texas.

LOGAN MCQUEARY, MISSING CHILD`S FATHER: She told me on the phone, "You`re never going to see Gabriel again."

Where are you and where is Gabriel?

JOHNSON: I killed him this morning. Gabriel`s in the dumpster. You want to talk to girls, that`s the price you pay.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: She confessed to strangling the baby, putting him in a diaper bag and throwing his little body in a Dumpster like trash.

Tonight, secrets exposed. A brand-new tip leads cops to a San Antonio park in the search for Baby Gabriel. Look at this precious toddler. Could he still be alive?

A search party swarmed Frederick Wilderness Park on the outskirts of San Antonio, Texas, after a tipster said the 8-month-old could be buried there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were pushing through underbrush, climbing up a rock, sliding down into drainages.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Investigators search for hours even using cadaver dogs. But they came up empty handed. Does that mean little Gabriel who would be more than 3 years old now, could still be alive?

His mother, 26-year-old Elizabeth Johnson, is on trial as we speak for his kidnapping. Even though she originally told the baby`s dad that she suffocated her son and then dumped him into a diaper bag and then heaved him into a dumpster.

Listen to her horrific confession.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELIZABETH JOHNSON, MOTHER OF BABY GABRIEL: I suffocated him and he turned blue and I put him in the diaper bag and put him in the trash can.

LOGAN MCQUEARY, FATHER OF BABY GABRIEL: You did not hurt Gabriel.

JOHNSON: Yes, I did. I suffocated him.

You knew I would do it and you pushed me anyway.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: She later switched her story, however. And told cops, "Oh, no, I didn`t kill my child. I gave my baby, Baby Gabriel, to a mysterious couple in San Antonio."

Elizabeth`s lawyer, Marc Victor, has been using some bizarre strategies to defend Gabriel`s mother including not cross examining many of the prosecution`s key witnesses.

Joining me now by phone is Marc Victor, attorney for Baby Gabriel`s mother, Elizabeth Johnson. Mark thank you so much for joining us. A lot of people have been kind of scratching their heads wondering, whoa, why aren`t you cross examining some of the key witnesses for the prosecution like Logan, Elizabeth`s ex and the father of Baby Gabriel?

MARC VICTOR, ATTORNEY FOR ELIZABETH JOHNSON (via telephone): Well, Jane, it shouldn`t be a surprise to people that there`s very little to no cross-examination of many of the state`s witnesses because that`s exactly what I said to the jury in opening statements. It`s the state`s burden to prove the case. And frankly I`m only going to cross examine when issues come up that I either want to highlight to the jury or there`s a fact that is presented that we dispute.

And as I`ve said in opening statement, we really don`t dispute much of the facts as the state has presented them. That`s why there hasn`t been much cross-examination.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Do you think she killed her baby?

VICTOR: Well, I don`t get into those kinds of questions because it`s no part of my case. And I really don`t even have an opinion about that. And if I did, I certainly wouldn`t make it public. There really isn`t any evidence --

(CROSSTALK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, what`s your defense?

VICTOR: Well, there really isn`t any evidence that she killed her baby. There`s her statement. And then later as you pointed out already there`s a different statement that she gave the baby up for adoption, which was indeed the plan between Tammi Smith, at least generated from the beginning; so that shouldn`t be a surprise to anybody.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. And Tammi Smith is her friend. You`re seeing her now -- her former friend who was desperate to adopt the child.

Now, Marc, you`re not just Elizabeth`s attorney, you`re also running for the U.S. Senate. Here is a clip from one of your campaign speeches. We`ll listen to it and then talk to you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VICTOR: I`ve been a freedom activist most of my life. As proof of that, if you looked at my high school yearbook and you look where it said "What`s your life`s ambition", mine says to be a United States senator.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Marc, a lot of people are wondering, could this be a conflict of interest? She`s a very unpopular defendant. There`s nobody who is more castigated than somebody who potentially allegedly does harm to their own child. Could you be sort of throwing the game because if you were to successfully defend her, it could negatively impact your campaign?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, Jane, if I had known you were going to play a sampling of one of my speeches, I certainly would have picked something out a little bit more riveting than that. But, no; I mean, I`ve been an attorney almost 19 years. And I think I have a pretty good reputation for seeking out clients who are unpopular. I have a very principled position in terms of giving every single accused a strong defense.

And so it`s the kind of thing I`m proud of. It`s not something I would shy away from at all. And, you know, I hear that she`s unpopular, but frankly I get e-mails and lots of communications on a daily basis from people who support Elizabeth Johnson.

So at the end of the day it`s not anything that I`m thinking about or concerned about. My role as a defense attorney is to do my absolute best to defend her. And that`s exactly what I`m doing.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Ok. Well, we`ll have to see how it works out given your strategy. And I`m looking forward to hear your closing argument. I`ll put it that way.

Thank you so much, Marc Victor, the attorney for the mother of missing Baby Gabriel.

Wendy Murphy, former prosecutor, you`ve heard he`s running for the U.S. Senate. He hasn`t done a lot of cross-examination of prosecution witnesses. If she is convicted, could this be the basis for an appeal?

WENDY MURPHY, FORMER PROSECUTOR: Well, no. I mean he`s entitled to do the strategy that he thinks is most likely to succeed and be zealous about it. I mean it`s hard to conceive of the concept of being a zealous attorney with silence. But it`s absolutely a fair strategy to say the government hasn`t proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt. That is a defense strategy that often works.

Let me say, I don`t know the guy, but I love when good defense attorneys are proud of their profession. I think he deserves to be elected in terms of this question even if he represents hideous monstrous murderers so long as he plays fair and by the rules and a lot of lawyers don`t.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Well, we`re going to have to see. I think it`s all very, very interesting that he`s running for the U.S. Senate.

Mike Brooks, thank you so much for joining us, HLN law enforcement analyst. You saw the breaking news today that there is a search going on in a park in San Antonio. Do you feel like the trial has sparked interest or maybe jarred somebody`s conscience to, oh, now I have to come forward?

MIKE BROOKS, HLN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: You know, it could, Jane. But I tell you, those people in San Antonio, especially San Antonio police and the police in Arizona, they`ve worked so hard on this. There`s nobody that wants to find this little boy, little Baby Gabriel, more than Chief Bill McManus of the San Antonio police -- he`s a personal friend of mine, he`s been on the show before -- and his investigators. They want to bring this to a close one way or the other.

But you know what; one thing with the aspiring senator, Jane, he says there`s been letters of people supporting Elizabeth Johnson. I`d like to see those because everyone I speak to they say, "Are you kidding me?" Either she killed her little boy or she gave him up for adoption to keep him away from a loving father. So there`s not a lot of people that I know that support Elizabeth Johnson, Jane.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. Me neither. I think that when somebody loses their child, when the child disappears on their watch and then they give two horrifying explanations -- one, that the child was killed at their hands and the other they gave the children -- the child away to a stranger -- they`re not going to win any popularity contest.

More on the other side.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

 ::snipping2::

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Elizabeth Johnson, the defendant and the mother of this missing child, sobbing audibly in court. She is charged with kidnapping, her child disappeared three years ago and she told the dad that she killed the child. She told the police she gave the child away to strangers.

Now, let`s take a look at what she is wearing in court. Because we just talked to her defense attorney who also hasn`t cross examined a lot of witnesses. He says everything`s going fine, thank you.

But look, Jon Leiberman, she`s dressed like she`s going to a nightclub. She`s wearing these earrings, the low cut -- I mean, shouldn`t her attorney say dress in a more appropriate manner?

JON LEIBERMAN, HLN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, look, we know that her attorney, Marc, is pretty hands off in this case. Not even cross examining witnesses. He may have advised her to dress a little better but who`s to say she`s going to listen. She clearly is a free spirit. And the one positive with Marc not cross examining is this thing`s going to go to the jury probably by midweek next week. So we could have a verdict very shortly. But he even said they`re not really challenging the facts as put on by the prosecution.

(CROSSTALK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: But that doesn`t really make sense, Wendy Murphy. It doesn`t make sense they`re not challenging the facts because there are no facts. She`s told two wildly different stories: one that she killed the child -- that`s caught on tape. She told that to her ex-lover, the child`s father. And the other to cops that she gave the child away.

So when they`re saying they`re not disputing the facts, well, which facts are they not disputing?

MURPHY: Yes, good question. I mean, one of the things he`ll argue I`m sure is this case is such a mess with stuff all over the place, none of it glues together to prove any particular crime beyond a reasonable doubt and you know, that may prevail. Without a body, you know, it`s not an unprovable case, but it`s hard.

And look, here`s the thing I disagree with marc victor about. If I`m her lawyer, the one thing I`m going to do no matter what even though I`m afraid if I cross examine facts might come out that add weight to the prosecution`s case -- you have to be careful about that -- I still would have gone after the father a little bit.

I don`t know enough about why the father might not be such a great dad, but if there`s evidence and good faith to do this, I would have said to the guy, you know, she lied to you when she said she killed this baby. You know why? Because she was afraid of the child being with you -- you`re a terrible father and she saved the child`s life by giving him away. But she lied to you.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Exactly.

MURPHY: She lied to you about killing him.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: That`s a defense.

I would have at least asked and said, you know, you two have had arguments. Well, it takes two to argue. Did you ever argument with her? Might she have been afraid of you? I mean any number of things but just not to ask any questions.

Now, I think they do have an opportunity here, the prosecution has tried to show Elizabeth and this ex-friend of hers, Tammi Smith, who desperately wanted to adopt would have done anything to get this little Gabriel adopted.

Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEEANN AYALA, WITNESS: Elizabeth and Tammi came up with a plan in order to get the baby away from Logan. She was going to do whatever she had to do to make sure that he was going to sign those adoption papers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Mike Brooks, could it just get too confusing with this other person who wanted to adopt the baby who has already been convicted of forging papers? Maybe the jurors are going to throw up their hands and say who knows what happened?

BROOKS: That could be very well. Because, you know, Tammi Smith, she was convicted of forgery in dealing with those papers that DeeAnn Ayala was talking about. But Tammi Smith was so desperate to have a child herself, you know, during her trial I said she wanted a baby at all costs. And it seems that Elizabeth Johnson wanted to get rid of little Baby Gabriel at all costs no matter what.

And they`re trying to say, well, this couple that they met in a park in San Antonio, they were friends of Tammi`s and Jack Smith. No, I think it would kind of confuse the jury a little bit. But I still don`t understand why her attorney -- and I agree -- didn`t go after, you know, Logan McQueary saying you`re a bad father, that`s why she didn`t want you to have the baby.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Exactly.

BROOKS: But was she a good mother? No.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: No. We can all agree that she was not a fit mother.

Thank you, panel.
 ::snipping2::
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« Reply #5 on: October 03, 2012, 03:13:59 PM »

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1210/02/ijvm.01.html
JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL

College Student Murdered by Boyfriend

Aired October 2, 2012 - 19:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


UNIDENTIFIED MALE: JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL starts right now.

 ::snipping2::

Then stunning phone calls revealed. Jurors hear Elizabeth Johnson talk to her ex, missing Baby Gabriel`s father, as he desperately tries to figure out if Elizabeth is capable of finding their child, who disappeared on her watch.

And why was this mom sobbing in court today? Has the pressure finally gotten to her? Is she still holding onto the secret of what really happened to this precious toddler? We`ll have the very latest from inside court.

 ::snipping2::

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Johnson`s alleged conspiracy to give away her infant son Gabriel.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where is Baby Gabriel?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The eight-month-old was last seen at a Texas motel back in 2009.

ELIZABETH JOHNSON, MOTHER OF BABY GABRIEL: I don`t exist anymore. I`m a ghost.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The boy`s mother, 23-year-old Elizabeth Johnson, picks up everything and takes her baby on a two-day journey traveling from Arizona to San Antonio, Texas.

JOHNSON: You`d be surprised what a person is capable of when you push them enough.

LOGAN MCQUEARY, FATHER OF BABY GABRIEL: She told me on the phone you`re never going to see Gabriel again.

Where are you? Where is Gabriel?

JOHNSON: I killed him this morning. Gabriel is in the dumpster. You want to talk to girls -- that`s the price you pay.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: She confessed to strangling the baby, putting him in a diaper bag and throwing him in a dumpster like trash.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight the prosecution has rested in the Baby Gabriel kidnapping trial. The courtroom drama hit a fever pitch as Baby Gabriel`s mom has a total emotional breakdown sobbing during her trial for her toddler son`s disappearance -- a disappearance which occurred on her watch -- as cops read the private and personal MySpace exchanges between 26-year-old Elizabeth Johnson and Baby Gabriel`s father, Logan, Elizabeth breaks down into sobs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SGT. BRIAN THOMPSON, TAMPA POLICE DEPT: I have done the best for Gabriel. I always have and always will even if that means giving him up. I forgive you. I just want -- I just want this over with and go on with my life. And I don`t wish you anything bad. I hope you get your life together as well and do good. I`m sorry.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Baby Gabriel was last seen three long years ago when he was only eight months old. Elizabeth and her ex-lover, Logan, were locked in a bitter custody battle. And when the judge ruled that they had to share custody, Elizabeth took off with Baby Gabriel and headed to San Antonio.

From Texas Elizabeth called and told her ex, Logan, that she had suffocated the infant and tossed him away in a dumpster. Listen to Elizabeth`s chilling confession.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNSON: I suffocated him and he turned blue and I put him in a diaper bag and put him in the trash can.

MCQUEARY: You did not hurt Gabriel.

JOHNSON: Yes, I did. I suffocated him. You knew I would do it and you pushed me anyway.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Then Elizabeth changed her tune when cops arrested her in Miami. She told police, well, "I gave the baby away to a mystery couple in a park in San Antonio, Texas." She`s charged with kidnapping because nobody`s ever found this little baby of hers.

Do these tears that she`s now shedding in court mean Elizabeth is finally ready to reveal the secret about what really happened on her watch to her son?

What do you think? Call me, 1-877-JVM-SAYS, 1-877-586-7297.

Straight out to Lina Jacobson from "In Session", you`ve been in court the whole time. You were in court. Tell us about Elizabeth`s tears and why did Elizabeth ask to leave the courtroom, Lina?

LINA JACOBSON, CORRESPONDENT, "IN SESSION" (via telephone): Well, you know, she knew these phone calls were going to be played this afternoon, Jane, of course, that very emotional phone call Logan played to her after she sent the text message to him saying she`d killed their little son. So she knew what to expect.

There was also a call between her and Tammi Smith that was set up by police where the two argue about who instigated what in this whole mess. And she knew she was going to get emotional. She said very honestly to the judge, "Look, I`m not going to be able to sit here through this. I don`t want to be here for the afternoon." He cautioned her. He said, you know, "I`m hesitant to let you do this," but he let her sit out the afternoon, Jane.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I thought as I watched her cry that we`re seeing finally a change. This is Tammi Smith, her friend who was obsessed with adopting a child and has already done some time for forging adoption papers. We`ll get to that in a second.

But Elizabeth`s wardrobe -- let`s get back to her wardrobe choices in court because it sparked a lot of controversy. Ok. Now, look at this on the left. She looks like she`s going out to a nightclub, she`s wearing earrings, low cut tops. That was for most of the trial thus far.

But take a look at her now. Hair pulled back. She`s wearing a very conservative shirt with a collar. And no earrings and now she`s finally starting to sob and cry.

My question to Jeff Gardere, clinical forensic psychologist, do you think the enormity and severity of what happened is finally dawning on her that this game she was playing because there`s a fine line between love and hate and she went from loving this guy she had this child with to hating him that the game has finally given way. And there`s the guy. And he`s a good looking guy. So you know how she might have been in love with him.

JEFF GARDERE, CLINICAL FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGIST: Yes. Sure.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And then decided I`m going to punish him by using the baby as a pawn. Do you think the severity and the enormity of what has happened here has finally dawned on her?

GARDERE: Yes, absolutely. Look, in therapy what we do is we have someone lay on that couch and go through their lives. Go through it step by step. She`s being forced to do the same thing in this trial. She has to sit there and look at her whole life from A to Z; everything she ever said, how she said she killed the baby, all of those texts or messages that she sent. So now she has to re-experience all of that and do it in a way where she cannot escape. She can`t run away. She can`t use a defense mechanism. So she`s almost being tortured to have to face her life.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. And look at this beautiful girl too and this handsome father. The question that we`re all trying to get the answer to including cops and prosecutors, is this precious baby dead or alive?

Elizabeth told her ex-lover, Logan, Gabriel`s dad, over and over that she killed her baby, their baby. Listen to that confession carefully. And then we`ll analyze.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNSON: I suffocated him and he turned blue. And I put him in his diaper bag and put him in the trash can.

MCQUEARY: You did not hurt Gabriel.

JOHNSON: Yes, I did. I suffocated him. You knew I would do it and you pushed me anyway.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Don`t forget about the chilling texts, quote, "U will never see Gabriel again. I made sure of that." And "You can spend the rest of your pathetic life wondering about him."

So T.J. Ward, former police officer, private investigator, listen, I wonder, did she really kill him? Look at this baby. How could you do that? But it is done. So there is a possibility. But there`s also the possibility she gave the child to this mystery couple.

Here`s one thing I noted, she said to Logan, "I suffocated the child until he turned blue." Now, is that -- does that have any basis in fact? Or could that lead you to believe that she`s concocting a story to get at him?

T.J. WARD, FORMER POLICE OFFICER, PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR: I think she`s probably changing her story so much because she hasn`t said the truth yet what she`s done with the baby. She`s changed her story so many times. And now that the reality`s coming to her in court, I don`t think she knows what to do.

But I think she does know where the child is and who has the child if that`s a possibility. I don`t think at this point that she`s killed the child. I think there`s somebody else that`s playing a part in this picture.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I hope you`re right. Because generally if a child disappears -- and this lady, she is sort of a person who insinuated herself into the situation. She says she`s a good-hearted person. She was desperate to have a kid -- a lot of people are.

She`s done a little bit of time. She was convicted for forging adoption papers, but no indication that she was involved in anything more extensive than that.

But I have to say that I really hope that you`re right. I hope this precious child`s alive.

The question is, and I got to go back to Lina on this. She said that she only got the first names of the couple she gave the child to. This is the other story she told cops. Have we ever heard those first names? Because even though they`re first names, they could provide a real good clue. There`s only --- if it`s a married couple with let`s say John and Mary, there`s only so many John and Marys married together who are in the San Antonio at that time.

JACOBSON: She said the woman`s first name only so far that I`ve heard.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Who?

JACOBSON: And I simply can`t remember what it was because it was something very common like Sheryl, something along those lines. I don`t think that would really provide a clue. That`s all she said she could remember. And the funny thing is even Tammi Smith, the woman who tried to adopt little Gabriel, challenged her on this and said you knew mine and Jack`s names. How could you give him to this couple and not even know their names? So that`s all we know.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Terry, Michigan, your question or thought, Terry, Michigan.

TERRY, MICHIGAN (via telephone): I don`t really have any questions. I just wanted to say that I can`t even believe this type of thing goes on. And it absolutely sickens me to think that a woman can do this in this day and age.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, it sickens me too, Mark Eiglarsh. By the way, you can speak to Mark at speaktomark.com. But Mark, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned -- Shakespeare. It`s a stereotype, as a woman I find it offensive, but sometimes, maybe in this case it`s true.

MARK EIGLARSH, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: No. I believe that.

You know what name she probably gave law enforcement? Zanny. I mean I don`t buy any of what this woman`s telling law enforcement. I think that she probably carried it out. She knows about the blue face because that`s what she witnessed. And who would give a baby away to a couple with no last name? I give clothing away to people. I know their last name.

I`m not buying this, Jane. I would like this baby to be alive, but I don`t know. I don`t feel good about this one.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Well, we`re going to take more calls on the other side and continue to analyze. So much happened in court.

Stay right there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And here`s your "Viral Video of the Day". Take a look at this. A woman born without arms took to YouTube to show potential employers she can do anything anybody else can. And she turned into an inspiration for others.

This gives me such joy. I have a new hero. Way to go, girl.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THOMPSON: Please don`t fight me on this. I can take care of Gabriel. I can try and give him a good life. And you even said you can`t take care of him right now. I want to see him so bad. Don`t do this because you`re mad at me. I can take care of him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: That was one of the messages that this beautiful baby`s dad wrote. He wanted to take care of his child, but she didn`t want him to have any part of the child. What about her attitude? One of the last people to see Baby Gabriel alive testified. And it`s the babysitter Elizabeth hired after Elizabeth fled Phoenix and arrived in San Antonio. She hired a babysitter.

Listen to what this babysitter said about Elizabeth`s attitude. Check it out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She basically said that she needed a babysitter for the following day so she can look for work because she had just moved here. Not here, just moved to San Antonio.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What happened when you met Elizabeth?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was kind of mad.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And when you say she was mad at you because you were late, how did you know she was mad?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s obvious by someone`s facial expression and tone of voice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. So, I don`t understand this. T.J. Ward, private investigator, she flees with her child to San Antonio because she doesn`t want the father to have any part in it. And then she hires a babysitter to go out and claim she`s looking for work? What do you make of that?

WARD: Well, that`s why I`m saying I think the baby may still be alive. She`s not going to tell anybody who she gave the baby to. She`s making up names. She`s making up she strangled the baby to cause harm and get arousement from the father of the child to let him know that she`s in control.

I think there`s another person that`s involved in this that we don`t know about yet. And before she gets sentenced or after she gets sentenced, she may come out and find the reality and maybe tell the truth.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Quickly, Jeff Gardere, if you`re going to kill a child, God forbid why do you hire a babysitter first?

GARDERE: Yes. I mean to me this just does not make any sense at all. What it can speak to is that she was very, very confused as to what she wanted to do with this baby; what she was going to do with her life. We know this was a borderline personality this young woman who was very confused, love/hate relationships, everything black and white -- very, very, very disturbed. So this is part of her confusion.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: But, Mark Eiglarsh, she`s angry. And that`s what scares me. She hires a babysitter. She`s confused but she`s also very angry.

EIGLARSH: That`s the best thing the defense has working for them. They can say that those are the things said out of anger. They don`t truly reflect how she feels. But I have to go back to that one other issue. In other words, there`s someone else involved caring for this child whose face is all over the media and that person is not concerned that they might get caught? I don`t buy it. That`s why I think unfortunately this child may not be around.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: We`re going to stay on top of this case. Come here to our show for the latest. Prosecution has rested, and then big question, is she going to take the stand in her own defense?

 ::snipping2::


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« Reply #6 on: October 17, 2012, 01:49:33 PM »

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1210/16/ijvm.01.html
JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL

Jodi Arias Appears in Court

Aired October 16, 2012 - 19:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HOST: Tonight, breaking news as the jury in the baby Gabriel case could start deliberating any minute now. Will the baby`s mom be sentenced to decades in prison? And most important, could this darling child still be alive?
 ::snipping2::
Then the jury gets ready to decide the fate of missing baby Gabriel`s mom nearly three years after the 8-month-old vanished without a trace when prosecutors say Elizabeth Johnson went on the run with her child. Did she lie when she said she gave him to strangers or when she allegedly said she killed him? Will we finally learn what happened to this precious boy? We`re investigating.
 ::snipping2::
On the other side, baby Gabriel mom`s going to the jury right now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where is baby Gabriel?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The 8-month-old was last seen at a Texas motel back in 2009.

LOGAN MCQUEARY, GABRIEL`S FATHER (via phone): Where are you?

ELIZABETH JOHNSON, ON TRIAL IN SON`S DISAPPEARANCE: I don`t exist anymore. I`m a ghost.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The boy`s mother, 23-year-old Elizabeth Johnson, picks up everything and takes her baby on a two-day journey, traveling from Arizona to San Antonio, Texas.

JOHNSON: You be surprised what people will do if you push them enough.

MCQUEARY: She told me on the phone, "You`re never going to see Gabriel again. Where are you? Where`s Gabriel?

JOHNSON: I killed him this morning. Gabriel is in the Dumpster. You want to talk to girls, that`s the price you pay.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight, dramatic and tearing (ph) closing arguments going on right now as we speak. I believe we just got word from my producer that the prosecution`s rebuttal case just wrapped. So that means they`re going to pick an alternate jury instructions. They`re going to start deliberating in minutes. We`re talking about the baby Gabriel kidnapping trial.

There`s mom, baby Gabriel`s mother, 26-year-old Elizabeth Johnson the defendant charged with kidnapping.

Just moments ago her lawyer in a shocking closing argument told jurors that he knew this case would be an uphill battle. Why? Because he says Elizabeth is basically unlikable. He even compared her to JFK`s shooter. What? Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARC VICTOR, ELIZABETH JOHNSON`S DEFENSE ATTORNEY: If she had been charged with the John F. Kennedy`s assassination, you`d convict her. There`s nothing I can get you to do to focus on the facts. Just because you don`t like her and you will be ruled by your passions. You will be ruled, guided by, driven by your anger.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: We just heard jurors are getting the last part of their instructions right now. So they are moments away from deliberating that woman`s fate.

Baby Gabriel last seen three years ago, he was only 8 months old. What a beautiful baby. Elizabeth, the mom, and Baby Gabriel`s dad were locked in a bitter, bitter custody battle.

When the judge ruled that they had to share Gabriel, Elizabeth took off with the baby from Arizona to San Antonio. And then from Texas Elizabeth called and told her ex, Logan, that she had suffocated the infant and tossed him in a dumpster. She was ultimately arrested in Miami. Listen to this chilling confession.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELIZABETH JOHNSON, MOTHER OF BABY GABRIEL: I suffocated him and he turned blue and I put him in his diaper bag and I put him in the trash can.

LOGAN MCQUEARY, FATHER OF BABY GABRIEL: You did not kill Gabriel.

JOHNSON: Yes, I did. I suffocated him. You knew I would do it and you pushed me anyway.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Elizabeth later told cops a totally different story, that she handed little Gabriel over to complete strangers in a San Antonio park. So which is it? Is this precious baby dead, or is he living somewhere with a mystery couple?

What do you think? Your theories, your questions, call me, 1-877-JVM- SAYS.

Ok. Mark Eiglarsh, former prosecutor, criminal defense attorney, the jury just about to get the case right this moment. I`m hearing this closing argument by the defense and I`m thinking "what"? I`ve never heard something so bizarre. Oh, yes, if I told you that she shot JFK, you`d convict her of that. There`s nothing I can do. How about call witnesses. This guy called zero witnesses for the defense.

MARK EIGLARSH, FORMER PROSECUTOR, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Jane, I disagree with you. I`m going to defend him. I`m not going to defend his choice to wear an olive shirt in front of the jury. I don`t get that; that to me is bizarre. But to take on the elephant in the room that everybody cannot stand her actions, that what she did was reprehensible, he used the example of, you know, you got to not hate her. You have to focus on the facts. I get that. I`ve had clients that people just don`t like.

However, his argument is, you know, maybe that baby is still around. Maybe she really did give the child over to a San Antonio couple --

(CROSSTALK)

JON LEIBERMAN, HLN CONTRIBUTOR: I got to ask Mark. Hey, Mark.

EIGLARSH: Yes.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Go ahead.

LEIBERMAN: Mark is a fine attorney. This is why I want to ask him this.

EIGLARSH: God bless you.

LEIBERMAN: Mark, have you ever though tried a case, defended a client and not called any witnesses? Not even a character witness? Not even somebody to come forward and say she was a good high school student?

EIGLARSH: Yes. No. I`m glad you brought that up. That was the other point that I disagree with now you and Jane on. I have won too many cases in the past as a prosecutor when the defense takes on the burden of proof when they don`t have to. It is more effective if the prosecution does not have the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt as the defense is hoping --

(CROSSTALK)

LEIBERMAN: They had a confession, Mark.

EIGLARSH: We don`t have to prove anything.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Let me say this. Not only is he saying basically, oh, you`d convict her of anything even shooting John F. Kennedy, but he`s admitting. She`s charged with kidnapping, custodial interference and attempted custodial interference. This attorney of hers is admitting -- he`s spending a lot of time admitting her guilt. And I believe we have a sound bite. He`s admitting her guilt on the custodial interference charge.

Let`s listen to that right now. Then we`re going to get Mike Brooks in on this debate. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VICTOR: She`s authorized me as her lawyer to stand here and tell you she was wrong. She committed a crime. I`m her lawyer. I`m standing here in closing argument with her permission telling you she committed a crime. She made some mistakes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Mike brooks, yes, he wants the jury to convict her of the lesser charge of -- or the lower penalty charge of custodial interference and let her off the hook on kidnapping.

MIKE BROOKS, HLN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Right. Yes. She and Tammi Smith, her friend who wanted a baby at all costs who was convicted. You know, is she going to get that? Yes, absolutely but have they proven beyond a reasonable doubt that she did kidnap the baby? Well, you know, I think everyone thinks she did. I think she did. And even as she got found kidnapping a baby, she`s not on trial here for murdering the baby.

Did she want to keep that baby away from Logan McQueary, the biological father? Absolutely. In fact, she basically told McQueary twice that he would never see little Baby Gabriel again. Look, Jane, I hold out hope that this precious little boy is alive somewhere. But I tell you, at this point I really don`t know.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, here`s the thing. There`s Tammi Smith, by the way. She`s the friend who met her at some airport and is desperate for a child and said, oh, you don`t seem very happy. Give the child to me and then was convicted of forging papers, et cetera. It sounds like the defense is also sort of trying to throw her under the bus.

And you know, before Gabriel vanished, Elizabeth and Tammi Smith conspired to adopt the baby with or without the dad`s permission. And Tammi has already been convicted of forging adoption papers. The defense didn`t hold any punches essentially trying to paint that friend, Tammi, as the bad guy. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VICTOR: -- manipulated by Tammi Smith. Who comes up to a single mom with an infant in an airport and strikes up a conversation about taking the baby? Does that seem a little strange to you? Seems a little strange to me. That`s the kind of person we`re dealing here with, Tammi Smith. If there`s one thing you know about Tammi Smith, she wanted that baby. And she was willing to do virtually anything to get that baby.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. On the other side we`re going to analyze that and tell you why that might work. Who knows?

 ::snipping2::

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNSON: I suffocated him and he turned blue. And I put him in his diaper bag and I put him in the trash can.

MCQUEARY: You did not hurt Gabriel.

JOHNSON: Yes, I did. I suffocated him. You knew I would do it, you pushed me anyway.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: This precious child`s mother, Elizabeth Johnson, on trial; just this second the jury has gotten the case. She`s charged with kidnapping. Remember, a body was never found. She told several stories, one "I gave the child away to a mystery couple." The other, "I killed the child." You just heard that. So she wasn`t charged with murder. She was charged with kidnapping. Now, first of all, Jon Leiberman, you think it`s going to be a fast deliberation?

LEIBERMAN: I do. I think it`s going to be fast. I think the jury`s going to come back in the next day or two. You know what; I just wish -- I just wish she would tell the truth.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Of course.

LEIBERMAN: What happened to this little baby? I mean, like Mike said, we all hold out hope that the baby`s alive. But as the days slip away, it`s now been three years, hope starts to go away. If she would just tell the truth -- I mean it`s just -- it`s infuriating.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Mark Eiglarsh, given what she`s facing, you`d think this would be the time or the time had already passed that the pressure would be so intense that she would spill the beans about what really happened to the point where authorities could go and -- go to that location and see if there`s any evidence.
EIGLARSH: I wish, Jane. But that`s not how it works. There`s no statute of limitations on murder, so the minute that she tells them where the baby is, clearly it comes back to her. Now she`s facing a mandatory life sentence, potentially death. I don`t expect her to open up any time soon.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Mike Brooks, HLN law enforcement analyst, the situation here is that she told her ex, oh, "I suffocated the child, the child turned blue, I threw him in the trash. And you`re going to spend the rest of your pathetic life wondering what happened to your child." Given that they responded pretty quickly, why didn`t they find this child in some landfill?

BROOKS: Well, I know the San Antonio Police, Chief Bill McMannis, who is a personal friend of mind. I used to work with him in D.C., he and his department went out to the landfill where they thought the baby may have been from that particular dumpster. But they found absolutely nothing.

And I can tell you they as a department, they would like no more than find out -- you know, they want to find out exactly what happened to this little baby.

But I tell you, I`m with Mark, you know. She -- there`s no statute of limitations on murder. She`s not going to say anything.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, the jury deliberating this woman`s fate as we speak. We`re on top of this story. And we will bring you the results tomorrow if in fact there is a verdict.
 ::snipping2::





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  " Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts."  - Daniel Moynihan
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