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Author Topic: Gabriel Johnson #5 2/20/11 -  (Read 218516 times)
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Northern Rose
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« Reply #520 on: September 20, 2012, 08:57:11 PM »

Prosecutor: Missing baby's mom upset over break-up
Updated: Sep 20, 2012 6:11 PM MDT



PHOENIX -
Prosecutors say an Arizona woman charged with criminal wrongdoing in her child's disappearance more than two years ago ran off to another state with the child because the baby's father had broken up with her.
 
Prosecutor Elisa Ramunno told jurors at the opening of Elizabeth Johnson's trial on Thursday that the young mother had tried unsuccessfully to put her son up for adoption against his father's wishes.
 
Johnson wiped away tears when the prosecutor said the child, Gabriel Johnson, was a pawn in his mother's game of retaliation.

 ::snipping2::

http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/story/19593510/2012/09/20/trial-starts-for-mother-of-missing-baby-gabriel
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« Reply #521 on: September 20, 2012, 10:13:36 PM »

I hope two things...

*the jury is aware of what happened in Florida

*the prosecutor gives no mercy and EJ throws one of her temper tantrums in front of the jury
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« Reply #522 on: September 21, 2012, 09:02:36 PM »

Father of Missing Baby Gabriel To Testify Monday
 Sept 20 2012
Prosecution says Elizabeth Johnson used the baby as a pawn to get back at the father.

 ::snipping2::

http://politics.kfyi.com/cc-common/mainheadlines3.html?feed=118695&article=10437568
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« Reply #523 on: September 25, 2012, 09:53:11 AM »

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/2012/09/24/20120924baby-gabriel-father-testifies-johnson-case.html

Baby Gabriel's father testifies in Johnson case
by Michael Kiefer - Sept. 24, 2012 09:36 PM

I watched Logan being questioned by LE yesterday but missed the cross.  I really feel for him.  He had no support from LE in trying to find Elizabeth and Gabriel. 
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« Reply #524 on: September 25, 2012, 07:45:58 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::
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

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?

AYNE 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 #525 on: September 27, 2012, 02:44:23 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 #526 on: September 27, 2012, 05:53:27 PM »

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/2012/09/24/20120924baby-gabriel-father-testifies-johnson-case.html

Baby Gabriel's father testifies in Johnson case
by Michael Kiefer - Sept. 24, 2012 09:36 PM

I watched Logan being questioned by LE yesterday but missed the cross.  I really feel for him.  He had no support from LE in trying to find Elizabeth and Gabriel. 
You are absolutely right!
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« Reply #527 on: September 28, 2012, 02:38:19 PM »

I'm not hearing a lot about this case in the news.  Sad. 
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« Reply #528 on: September 28, 2012, 10:38:52 PM »

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/San-Antonio-park-searched-for-missing-Arizona-boy-3903766.php
San Antonio park searched for missing Arizona boy
September 28, 2012

PHOENIX -- Authorities have searched a Texas park for the body of an Arizona boy missing since December 2009.

The Arizona Republic  says San Antonio police officers and volunteers searched Friedrich Wilderness Park on Thursday morning.

A police spokeswoman told the newspaper that the park was "searched exhaustively" for several hours, but nothing was found.

The search was conducted after police say they received an unidentified tip.

The missing boy's 26-year-old mother, Elizabeth Johnson, currently is being tried in a Phoenix court on charges of kidnapping and conspiracy to commit custodial interference.
 ::snipping2::
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« Reply #529 on: September 28, 2012, 10:42:09 PM »

http://www.azfamily.com/news/local/Johnsons-emotional-outburst-stunned-courtroom-in-Baby-Gabriel-case-171319371.html
Johnson's emotional outburst stunned courtroom in Baby Gabriel case
September 26, 2012

PHOENIX -- Dabbing her tears, biting her lips and once sobbing loudly in court, the mother of missing baby Gabriel Johnson, Elizabeth Johnson, sat uncomfortably in a Maricopa County Superior Courtroom on Tuesday listening as prosecutors continued to lay out their case against her.
 ::snipping2::
Called to the witness stand in the morning was Gabriel's grandfather, Frank McQuery, who told jurors about the rocky relationship between his son Logan, Gabriel's father, and Johnson.

"They had good days and bad days," McQuery said.

McQuery also told the court that his son was a "happy" and "proud" father when Gabriel was born in May 2009, but that when his relationship with the child's mother began to fall apart, Logan sought custody of Gabriel.

"We went to court and filed paperwork," McQuery told jurors.

But according to prosecutors, Johnson had other ideas, fleeing to San Antonio, Texas with Gabriel in late December 2009. From there, she then phoned and texted Logan saying that she had suffocated their child and thrown his body in a dumpster.

The afternoon testimony brought the most dramatic moment of the day when a Valley woman named DeeAnn Ayala was called to the stand.

Ayala is a one-time friend of Tammi Smith, the North Scottsdale woman, who has already been convicted of conspiring with Elizabeth Johnson to adopt baby Gabriel without the consent of the child's father.

"Elizabeth and Tammi came up with a plan," Ayala said.

Tammi "was going to do anything she had to." Ayala also told jurors of a bizarre phone call she received from Smith during which she says Smith asked her if she and Johnson could list the name of Ayala's husband on court documents as a possible father of baby Gabriel.

Ayala said she told Smith "no" and contacted police when the story of Gabriel's disappearance broke a short time later.

It was during Ayala's testimony that Johnson erupted with her most emotional display thus far in the three-day old trial as she let out a loud sob late in the afternoon.
 ::snipping2::

Video at Link
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« Reply #530 on: September 28, 2012, 10:44:28 PM »

http://www.kens5.com/news/Baby-Gabriel-case-could-go-to-jury-sooner-than-expected-171526741.html
Baby Gabriel case could go to jury sooner than expected
September 27, 2012

PHOENIX -- The high-profile courtroom drama had been expected to run well into November, but prosecutors in Elizabeth Johnson's kidnapping and custodial interference trial are moving much faster than initial estimates, and the case could be in the hands of jurors as early as the middle of next week.
More...
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« Reply #531 on: September 28, 2012, 10:48:18 PM »

http://www.woai.com/news/local/story/Baby-Gabriel-search-continues-in-San-Antonio/tXErEjs2w0ieGsCiYWrMng.cspx
Baby Gabriel search continues in San Antonio -- three years later
September 27, 2012

SAN ANTONIO - It's been nearly three years since eight-month-old Baby Gabriel from Arizona was seen here in San Antonio. Thursday morning, at the height of his mother Elizabeth Johnson’s trial, police resumed their search for Baby Gabriel at a park on the North Side.

Sources tell News 4 WOAI the search Thursday morning at Friedrich Wilderness Park began after a tip came into police about the baby being buried there. Police called on Alamo Area Search and Rescue to assist.
 ::snipping2::

Nothing came up in the search at the park, but San Antonio police homicide investigators continue to search for clues in Baby Gabriel's disappearance.

Video at Link
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« Reply #532 on: September 29, 2012, 12:19:24 PM »

Thank you for all the updates Muffy.
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« Reply #533 on: September 29, 2012, 12:33:20 PM »

Thank you for all the updates Muffy.

You're welcome Sister.  I wish Elizabeth would just go ahead and say what she did and where Gabriel is.  I hope I'm wrong, but I fear Gabriel isn't of this world anymore. 
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« Reply #534 on: September 30, 2012, 10:15:45 AM »

Quote from: Sister link=topic=7156.msg15that40598#msg1540598 date=1348935564
Thank you for all the updates Muffy.

You're welcome Sister.  I wish Elizabeth would just go ahead and say what she did and where Gabriel is.  I hope I'm wrong, but I fear Gabriel isn't of this world anymore. 

   Yes, thank you, MB, for all the updates.  I, too, fear that precious Gabriel has passed to the arms of angels.  What a sad, tragic situation for those who loved him.   an angelic monkey
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« Reply #535 on: October 01, 2012, 09:46:59 AM »

Quote from: Sister link=topic=7156.msg15that40598#msg1540598 date=1348935564
Thank you for all the updates Muffy.

You're welcome Sister.  I wish Elizabeth would just go ahead and say what she did and where Gabriel is.  I hope I'm wrong, but I fear Gabriel isn't of this world anymore. 

   Yes, thank you, MB, for all the updates.  I, too, fear that precious Gabriel has passed to the arms of angels.  What a sad, tragic situation for those who loved him.   an angelic monkey
I agree.  I think Gabriel is now in a place where nothing can ever hurt him again.
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« Reply #536 on: October 01, 2012, 12:46:53 PM »

BUMPING!
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« Reply #537 on: October 01, 2012, 11:26:28 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 #538 on: October 03, 2012, 09:06:24 AM »

Link to Gabriel's Candles:

http://www.gratefulness.org/candles/candles.cfm?l=eng&gi=BGM

 an angelic monkey
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  " Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts."  - Daniel Moynihan
KittyMom
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Borgman


« Reply #539 on: October 03, 2012, 12:24:31 PM »

http://www.azfamily.com/video/?id=172405551&ref=rcvidmod&sec=507087

Elizabeth Johnson walks out of court during her own trial 
Posted on October 2, 2012 at 9:26 PM

The case is on hold for 2 weeks due to scheduling conflicts with the jury.  I've never seen this before.   
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These are my opinions and subject to change.
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