OH OH - Erica Baker, 9, Kettering, 7 Feb 1999

Joe Abney of Riverside — second-degree black belt in martial arts, a Big Brother and father of two young sons — never expected the roller-coaster ride of raw emotions that charged through him as a juror in the trial of Christian John Gabriel in the disappearance of 9-year-old Erica Baker.

"I'm pretty level-headed," Abney said Saturday. "I had no idea the impact this would have on me ... From a personal standpoint, this has affected me tremendously."

Abney was one of five men on the 12-member jury that deliberated almost three hours Friday afternoon, then convicted Gabriel of tampering with evidence and gross abuse of a corpse.

Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge Michael T. Hall immediately imposed the maximum combined sentence of six years on Gabriel, who cursed the judge and was hauled from the courtroom.
http://www.daytondailynews.com/photo/content/localnews/daily/1009juror.html
 
Where were the roommates...the Butts...during the trial? Shouldn't they have testified? If they were in the back seat of the van then they would know what happened. I didn't see their names anywhere in the newspaper storys.
Only when this guy mentioned who all was in the van.

What about that attorney? Why won't she talk? That just doesn't make any sense to me. If her client told her that she was in the van when they hit Erica why won't that attorney just say so. If she was threatened like she says she was....the only people who could have threatened her and her children would be this person on trial or the Mr/Mrs. Butts who it is said were in the back seat of the van. This was a hit and run....not a murder. Why won't the attorney tell whateve Jan told her. Doesn't make any sense.

I think that a judge should tell that attorney....you start talking or kiss your bar license goodby for a certain lengh of time.


This bothers me:


The detective said in the first interview, Gabriel denied that he was driving the van that struck Baker. He then said that when Gabriel was interviewed a second time, he went along with police and said he was driving the van.


"he went along with police and said he was driving the van ." This guy can now turn around on appeal and say he was pushed into saying he was the driver. It will really be a mess if the attorney has to talk and she says Jan told her about the accident and that she was driving!
 
I have checked up on this case off an on for quite a while- I am glad they found this scum bag guilty.:behindbar

Does anyone know if they ever went to the park with a cadaver dog? It seems like they would have tried that to locate her body.
 
They have had a lot of searches at various sites. At one point when Gabriel allegedly confessed, he gave a couple of places that he supposedly buried the body. They have searched there also. One of the places is Ceaser's Creek Lake. That is a huge park, and would be difficult to search all of it, some of it is pretty rough terrain. I heard recently that they are still trying to get the atty to give up the info that her client told her, and she is still refusing.

A local attorney continues to fight to remain silent about what she may know about the disappearance of Erica Baker. For years, prosecutors have tried to get Beth Lewis to testify.
http://www.whiotv.com/news/5225413/detail.html?rss=day&psp=news

http://www.onnnews.com/Global/story.asp?S=4062653
 
What is up with that female attorney??? Her client is dead....her client's boyfriend is in prison and I guess the Butt couple weren't important enough to put on the stand during the trial...although I can't imagine why not if they were in the van when it struck the little girl. Besides, they would have known who was driving unless they were passed out. It sounds like all 4 of the people in the van took the little girl to bury her.

That attorney should be told...by a judge who has some gutts...to tell what her client told her...period. Why a judge is letting an attorney call all of the shots is beyond me. If her client was alive it would make a difference but she is dead.

Did this take place in a little town with a rinky dink LE? So many things don't make sense to me from the Butts who should have been witnesses to the female attorney who is running her own show.
 
A former public defender has agreed to testify about what a former client may have told her about the 1999 disappearance of 9-year-old Erica Baker.

In announcing what ends a 3 1/2-year legal dispute, Montgomery County Prosecutor Mathias H. Heck Jr. said Beth Lewis' lawyers contacted him before noon Tuesday and said she was prepared to testify before a grand jury.

"She will appear before the grand jury on a date we will select" within 30 days, Heck said. He said he will not announce the date. Grand jury proceedings are not public.
http://www.middletownjournal.com/money/content/news/stories/2006/01/10/0110ericaweb.html
 
A former public defender has agreed to testify about what a former client may have told her about the 1999 disappearance of 9-year-old Erica Baker.

In announcing what ends a 3 1/2-year legal dispute, Montgomery County Prosecutor Mathias H. Heck Jr. said Beth Lewis' lawyers contacted him before noon Tuesday and said she was prepared to testify before a grand jury.

"She will appear before the grand jury on a date we will select" within 30 days, Heck said. He said he will not announce the date. Grand jury proceedings are not public.
http://www.middletownjournal.com/money/content/news/stories/2006/01/10/0110ericaweb.html
 
After a three-year legal battle, a former federal public defender agreed Tuesday to testify about what a former client, now dead, may have told her about the 1999 disappearance of a 9-year-old girl.

Beth Lewis relented and decided to testify in the Erica Baker case after losing an appeal before a federal appeals court earlier in the day.

Lewis had argued that her conversations with her client, Jan Franks, were protected by attorney-client confidentiality, even though Franks has been dead for more than four years. But the courts repeatedly rejected that argument.

"I now find that I must fulfill my duty as an attorney to the courts," Lewis said.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MISSING_GIRL?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=US
 
I'm really confused now. Why is this attorney going to testify before a Grand Jury now? The case is over. She's willing to testify after the trial is over? I would still like to know what happened to the Butts couple. Did they testify at the trial?
 
I am not sure what all she will be testifying to, but hopefully she will give some info as to where Erica's remains can be found.
 
If she has known all along where that little girl is buried then she should be ashamed of herself for making Erica's parents wait all of this time to find their baby. She has kids herself....why didn't she put herself in the shoes of Erica's parents. That is horrible if that is what she has been keeping to herself.

On the other hand, maybe it was her client that was driving. I wonder if we will ever know what she has to say as she will be saying it to a Grand Jury.
 
Past rumors have had it that the attorney's life and her children's lives were threatened. Don't think that ever came out in the media though.
 
Attorney Beth Lewis has finally broken her silence in the Erica Baker case.

On Tuesday, Lewis appeared before a Montgomery County grand jury to tell what she may or may not know about the disappearance and the death of the Kettering girl.

After nearly two hours, Lewis left the room and remained quiet.

Everyone wants to know what Lewis may know, but those interested will have to wait. Officials said by law, grand jury testimony is secret.
http://www.whiotv.com/news/6407087/detail.html

http://www.daytondailynews.com/localnews/content/localnews/daily/0124ericaweb.html

A former federal public defender who prosecutors have wanted to question about the 1999 disappearance of a 9-year-old girl appeared before a grand jury on Tuesday.
It was not known whether attorney Beth Lewis testified about the disappearance of Erica Baker or whether Lewis would return.
Lewis has fought prosecutors who have wanted to question her about what a now-dead client may have told her about the girl. She claimed the conversations with her client were confidential, even though the client's husband waived that privilege and courts have ruled against her.
Lewis was behind closed doors at the grand jury offices for about 90 minutes. She declined to comment as she left.
http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/13701543.htm
 
former federal public defender who prosecutors have wanted to question about the 1999 disappearance of a 9-year-old girl appeared before a grand jury on Tuesday.
It was not known whether attorney Beth Lewis testified about the disappearance of Erica Baker or whether Lewis would return.
Lewis has fought prosecutors who have wanted to question her about what a now-dead client may have told her about the girl. She claimed the conversations with her client were confidential, even though the client's husband waived that privilege and courts have ruled against her.
Lewis was behind closed doors at the grand jury offices for about 90 minutes. She declined to comment as she left.
http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/13701543.htm

http://www.whiotv.com/news/6407087/detail.html

http://www.daytondailynews.com/localnews/content/localnews/daily/0124ericaweb.html
 
It took three years and decisions from a dozen judges to make it happen. On Tuesday, Beth Lewis appeared before a Grand Jury to answer questions about the disappearance of Erica Baker.

Now prosecutors may finally know what Lewis knows about the Baker case, but that information, if any, is still a secret.

"We cannot comment on the usefulness, or lack of usefulness, or substance, or lack of substance of any witnesses testimony," explained Assistant Prosecutor Leon Daidone.
http://www.wdtn.com/dsp_story.cfm?storyid=22442
 
It took three years and decisions from a dozen judges to make it happen. On Tuesday, Beth Lewis appeared before a Grand Jury to answer questions about the disappearance of Erica Baker.

Now prosecutors may finally know what Lewis knows about the Baker case, but that information, if any, is still a secret.
http://www.wdtn.com/dsp_story.cfm?storyid=22442
 
Attorney Beth Lewis has finally broken her silence in the Erica Baker case.

On Tuesday, Lewis appeared before a Montgomery County grand jury to tell what she may or may not know about the disappearance and the death of the Kettering girl.

After years of failed court fights to keep herself out of the Montgomery County grand jury room, Lewis finally testified. Information believed to have been told to her in confidence by deceased client Jan Franks.

After nearly two hours, Lewis left the room and remained quiet.
http://www.onnnews.com/Global/story.asp?S=4405823
 
The attorney for a man convicted of charges in the 1999 disappearance of a 9-year-old girl told an appeals court that his client was denied a fair trial because the only evidence against him is his own statements.

Attorney Mark Fisher told the 2nd Ohio District Court of Appeals on Tuesday that there is no physical evidence that ties Christian Gabriel, 35, of Springfield, to the disappearance of Erica Baker.

Fisher also said the prosecution can't prove that the crimes of which Gabriel was convicted actually occurred because the girl's body has never been found.

In October 2005, Gabriel was sentenced to six years in prison after a jury found him guilty of abuse of a corpse and evidence tampering in the girl's disappearance.

http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/news/state/16427328.htm
 

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