Zahra Clare Baker #4 10/22/10 - 10/28/10

[no rose colored glasses]

Is this common to be driving around with your lawyer also?

Not sure, maybe in court appointed cases?

I just don't ever remember reading anything like this before, but maybe it is done in these type of situations.

[Monkey King]

Is this common to be driving around with your lawyer also?

Not sure, maybe in court appointed cases?

I just don't ever remember reading anything like this before, but maybe it is done in these type of situations.

Not to my knowledge either.  Has it been verified the attorney is actually present at the search sites?

They have to document visitors at the jail. 

[Monkey King]

These cops need to determine if this is a crime scene.  They can't have civilians trapsing around in it.  They need to process evidence.  I don't see it. 

[Gypsy DD]

Is this common to be driving around with your lawyer also?

Not sure, maybe in court appointed cases?

I just don't ever remember reading anything like this before, but maybe it is done in these type of situations.

Maybe Dubs came in hard and fast telling her girlfriend, you need to cop a plea or else you are going to be charged with the DP.  And maybe her client said I will tell them what I know but only if you are there the whole time.  LE  probably said fine..lead us to the body and or evidence.  If I was in that situation ..I would want my attorney along for the ride..the DP would make me want to hold someones hand..and that is what her attorney is doing.

Since this is an indigent case and she is appointed,  I think the judge realizes Dubs is between a rock and a hard space....maybe she can't afford to free up anyone else from paying cases in her office.

[darla]

Newton, south of Hickory in Lincoln county is under a tornado warning, several homes have collapsed due to winds. Storm is moving into Catawba Co.

[Monkey King]

Is this common to be driving around with your lawyer also?

Not sure, maybe in court appointed cases?

I just don't ever remember reading anything like this before, but maybe it is done in these type of situations.

Maybe Dubs came in hard and fast telling her girlfriend, you need to cop a plea or else you are going to be charged with the DP.  And maybe her client said I will tell them what I know but only if you are there the whole time.  LE  probably said fine..lead us to the body and or evidence.  If I was in that situation ..I would want my attorney along for the ride..the DP would make me want to hold someones hand..and that is what her attorney is doing.

Since this is an indigent case and she is appointed,  I think the judge realizes Dubs is between a rock and a hard space....maybe she can't afford to free up anyone else from paying cases in her office.

They are not going to allow AB, EB or her attorney walk through an unprocessed crime scene.  EB can tell them the general area, but they are not going to allow her in that secure area.  The only people who need to be in that area are the police to secure it, the ME, crime scene processors, possibly the DA and the people who are going to retrieve her body if located.  That's a lot of people.  the job of the lead officer ono that case is to preserve the integrity of the evidence.

Nope, I don't see any of those people in the secure area.

[Tolerance]

Newton, south of Hickory in Lincoln county is under a tornado warning, several homes have collapsed due to winds. Storm is moving into Catawba Co.

Oh, Lord.  Thank you, Darla.  Prayers!

[klaasend]

Newton, south of Hickory in Lincoln county is under a tornado warning, several homes have collapsed due to winds. Storm is moving into Catawba Co.

- hope you stay safe. 

[Monkey King]

Is this common to be driving around with your lawyer also?

Not sure, maybe in court appointed cases?

I just don't ever remember reading anything like this before, but maybe it is done in these type of situations.

Maybe Dubs came in hard and fast telling her girlfriend, you need to cop a plea or else you are going to be charged with the DP.  And maybe her client said I will tell them what I know but only if you are there the whole time.  LE  probably said fine..lead us to the body and or evidence.  If I was in that situation ..I would want my attorney along for the ride..the DP would make me want to hold someones hand..and that is what her attorney is doing.

Since this is an indigent case and she is appointed,  I think the judge realizes Dubs is between a rock and a hard space....maybe she can't afford to free up anyone else from paying cases in her office.

They are not going to allow AB, EB or her attorney walk through an unprocessed crime scene.  EB can tell them the general area, but they are not going to allow her in that secure area.  The only people who need to be in that area are the police to secure it, the ME, crime scene processors, possibly the DA and the people who are going to retrieve her body if located.  That's a lot of people.  the job of the lead officer ono that case is to preserve the integrity of the evidence.

Nope, I don't see any of those people in the secure area.

Dubs is also neglecting a Change of Venue hearing for a client named Mead, who is also facing a death penalty consequence.  He'll wind up looking for another atty stating he was denied effective assistance of counsel.

To succeed on a claim of ineffective assistance, a defendant must show not only that counsel's performance was deficient but also that the deficiency prejudiced him.

[Mon Quixote]

Newton, south of Hickory in Lincoln county is under a tornado warning, several homes have collapsed due to winds. Storm is moving into Catawba Co.

My co-worker's son is driving from Huntsville, AL through to Knoxville.  I pray you all stay safe...

[Monkey King]

Newton, south of Hickory in Lincoln county is under a tornado warning, several homes have collapsed due to winds. Storm is moving into Catawba Co.

Stay safe!! 

[darla]

Klaas I am about 75 to 100 miles south,of Hickory but the tornado watch has been extended to the county next to mine and sure my county will be included within an hour or so. But looks like the search area for Zahra is going to get slammed tonight. WSOC is having continous coverage of the storms and the map is showing just a train of storms heading for Hickory.

[Monkey King]

I'm in North Georgia.  We have tornado warnings also.  Listening to the scanner, they are all in N.C. 

Darla, use this to check your radar:

http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?CityName=Hickory&state=NC&site=GSP&textField1=35.7392&textField2=-81.3262

[darla]

Monkeyking, I am watching radar on Charlotte news station WSOC . They have continous coverage. Thanks anyway!

[Monkey King]

Monkeyking, I am watching radar on Charlotte news station WSOC . They have continous coverage. Thanks anyway!

No problem.  Be careful.

[Northern Rose]

The last thing the searchers or anyone in that area need are bad storms.  Please keep safe everyone and lets hope that maybe tomorrow Zahra is found.  We can only hope that the storms uncover something that helps the searches find Zahra in the morning.

[klaasend]

I'm glad they found that mattress before the bad storms.

[Northern Rose]

Search for Zahra Baker intensifies in Caldwell County (with video)

CALDWELL COUNTY, N.C.  – Hickory police confirmed that they have seized a mattress found at the Caldwell County landfill that fits the description of one they were looking for in connection with the Zahra Baker disappearance. Police say employees at the landfill discovered the mattress in the area that was searched by officials last week.

Police say they also found DNA evidence on the mattress and will be testing the DNA to see if the mattress is involved with the Zahra Baker investigation.

Meanwhile, over a dozen investigators aided by canine units combed a new search site near Christie Road and Pine Mountain Road.

Police focused on a wooded area that some neighbors say is used as an illegal trash dump.

“I went down there a couple of weeks ago and it smelled awfully bad,” said Mary Helton, who lives in the area.

Another woman who lives on Christie Road said she had followed the case closely but did not ever remember seeing Zahra, her father, Adam Baker, or the step-mother in the area.

“I’ve never seen any of them before,” said Melissa Mahlenbrock.

Evidence markers dotted the search site Tuesday evening. According to police, those markers don’t necessarily mean evidence has been found at the site, but instead they let investigators know which grids they have searched and which areas they still need to search.

Zahra, who lost her leg and her hearing to cancer, was reported missing by her father and stepmother, Adam and Elisa Baker, on Oct. 9.

Elisa Baker was arrested on charges unrelated to Zahra’s disappearance on Oct. 10.  She was later charged with obstruction of justice in connection with the case. Police say she wrote a fake ransom note and initially refused to cooperate with investigators.

Hickory police say Elisa Baker has been talking with investigators since Sunday and has provided some leads into the search.

Crews say they will wrap up the search at 5 p.m. due to concerns about wind and rain. Officials say they will secure the scene and return on Wednesday if they don’t find anything by the end of the day Tuesday.

http://www.wcnc.com/news/Search-for-Zahra-Baker-intensifies-in-Caldwell-County-105806948.html

[Northern Rose]

Mattress found in Zahra case contains DNA for testing, police say (with video)

HICKORY, NC (WBTV) - Authorities released two key pieces of information in the Zahra Baker case late Tuesday afternoon: confirmation that the missing girl's stepmother started cooperating with police on Sunday and the fact that crews Tuesday accidentally found a mattress similar to Zahra's in the landfill they spent four days in last week.

Sources also say that the jailed stepmother of a missing 10-year-old Hickory girl  -- cooperating with authorities since Sunday -- was taken from her cell early Monday and driven to at least two areas that were later searched by officials for clues about the missing girl.

Meanwhile on Tuesday afternoon, a mattress fitting the description of Zahra Baker's was found at the Caldwell County landfill that was searched for 4 days last week. DNA was on the mattress, police said.

Police said Tuesday that 42-year-old Elisa Baker was talking with investigators and had been taken this week to a home where she once lived. Hickory Deputy Police Chief Maj. Clyde Deal wouldn't elaborate, but says Baker's lawyer approached police to offer her help.

The mattress discovery was made late Tuesday afternoon by employees as they were regrading the landfill in the area that had been searched last week, Hickory police said.

"This mattress possessed DNA evidence that will be tested in the future to confirm if it is involved with this investigation," Hickory police said in a statement.

On the same day that Zahra Baker's father, Adam Baker, was charged, Hickory Police took stepmother Elisa Baker to various areas in Caldwell County where they later searched for the girl -- or clues for the girl who has been missing since Oct. 9

Adam Baker, the father of Zahra Baker, was hit with unrelated charges early Monday morning, unlike Zahra's stepmother, Elisa Baker, who is being held on an obstruction of justice charge related to the search for the girl.

On Tuesday, searchers went to a new location of Caldwell County on Christie Road near Hudson, which is reportedly near a former Baker residence. It's also a place where trash is known to be dumped.

Tuesday's search area is different from Monday's at Dudley Shoals Road and Burns Road which is in Caldwell County, about four miles northeast of Granite Falls. That location is reportedly near where Elisa Baker lived in 2006-2007 before she married Adam Baker and before his daughter, Zahra moved to the United States.

On Tuesday, sources told WBTV that Elisa Baker was removed from her jail cell early Monday and was taken to various search areas with police. Officials say that Baker never got out of an SUV that she was riding in for the tour of future search areas.

MORE....

http://www.wbtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=13297637

[Northern Rose]

Zahra Case Indirectly Delays Gaston Co. Murder Trial (with video)

GASTON COUNTY, N.C. -- A man charged with murder and hoping for a change of venue was in place Tuesday, as was the prosecutor. But for the second day in a row, the hearing was postponed because the defense attorney couldn’t make it.

Michael Mead is charged in the July 2008 killing of Lucy Johnson, a 31-year-old single mother of two who was found in her burning house in a subdivision off Lowell-Bethesda Road. An autopsy indicated Johnson, a nurse at Kings Mountain Hospital, was fatally shot in the head before the fire.

Mead and his lawyer, Lisa Dubs, were initially scheduled to appear in court Monday for a change of venue hearing, but Dubs could not make it because of another client: Elisa Baker, the stepmother of missing 10-year-old Zahra Baker. Elisa Baker is in jail, charged with obstruction of justice.

Dubs also missed Tuesday’s session. Before a judge on Tuesday, attorney Jason White explained that Dubs couldn’t make the hearing.

“Ms. Dubs’ client was actually taken from the jail to various sites and again, that's the plan for today,” White said.

Tuesday’s postponement marked the third delay in the change of venue hearing.

“We are ready to try the case and we are anxious to try the case,” Gaston County District Attorney Locke Bell said.

Bell said a delay won't hurt the evidence, but that he thought prosecutors would be showing it in a trial by now.

Lucy Johnson's family and friends said they want Zahra Baker found, but that they worry at this rate, no progress is being made toward resolving either case.

The hearing has been rescheduled for Wednesday morning.

http://www.wsoctv.com/news/25521642/detail.html