Read District Attorney's statement on guilty plea

District Attorney Jay Gaither spoke to the press immediately following Elisa Baker's guilty plea.

Baker, 43, was sentenced to 15 to 18 years in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree murder in the death of her stepdaughter Zahra Baker. Elisa Baker also pled guilty to obstruction of justice, bigamy, four counts of obtaining property through false pretenses, and two counts of identity fraud.

Talking to the media, Gaither recounted how his investigative team handled the case. He read a statement documenting some of his thought process and the work of his team starting from Oct. 9 when Zahra was reported missing up to the decision to enter into a plea agreement with defense attorneys.

Read the full statement here.

"On Sunday, October 24th I met with defense counsel to determine under what terms Elisa Baker was willing to give cooperation and to determine exactly what information she professed to have.   When I learned that Elisa Baker could give us the location of Zahra Baker’s remains and that she could give us details of how Zahra died, my heart sank.  Throughout the search I had been of the same opinion as Chief Adkins… that we were investigating a homicide.  But along with the community and law enforcement, I had continued to hold out hope that Zahra was still alive."

-- District Attorney Jay Gaither

Video: "Beyond Scared Straight" comes to Mecklenburg jail

Tonight, the Mecklenburg County Sheriff's juvenile crime intervention program will take the national spotlight with the season premiere of "Beyond Scared Straight" on A&E.

The TV series will highlight the county's Reality Program, which gives at-risk youth a glimpse of what it's like in Mecklenburg jail.

For a sneak peak, click here to watch a clip from the episode. The video shows the jail's Direct Action Response Team (DART), which is trained to remove unruly inmates from their cells.

To read more about the program and the show, click here.

The episode, which was filmed at Mecklenburg jail in June, airs at 10 p.m.

-Meghan Cooke

An inmate intimidates 15-year-old Jeiza during the Reality Program at the Mecklenburg jail. At right, in the red jail uniform, is Sabrina Ann Black, a 26-year-old awaiting trial on a murder charge. Photo courtesy of Arnold Shapiro Productions.

Man acquitted of murder says police, DA 'ruined' his life

Michael Mead, acquitted of murder in the death of his pregnant fiancee, released a statement last week thanking jurors and his attorneys. And he blamed the Gaston County Police and district attorney's office for ruining his life.

"In my opinion, they have purposely ignored facts, manipulated the media, and mishandled evidence that would have exonerated me from the beginning," he wrote. "They spent their resources trying to make a case against me rather than trying to solve the murder of Lucy and my unborn child.  This type of prosecutorial 'tunnel vision' is outrageous." 

Mead was accused of shooting Lucy Johnson in the back of the head and burning her Gaston County home on July 16, 2008. Mead could have faced the death penalty, but a Mecklenburg jury found him not guilty of murdering his pregnant fiancée.

In his statement, Mead states that he believes James Spelock is responsible for Johnson’s death. In open court, Mead’s attorney’s repeatedly said Spelock had the motive to kill Johnson and should have been on trial instead of Mead.

Johnson and Spelock were in the midst of a custody battle when Johnson was killed. Defense attorneys said Spelock abused Johnson in the past, and that Johnson had accused Spelock of cross-dressing. The Observer has tried to reach Spelock on several occasions and he has not returned calls.


Here is his full - unedited - statement:

 
I would like to personally thank the 15 jurors who rendered a just and fair verdict.  Thank you for the time, dedication and hard work they put in for the past 7 weeks.  The jury unanimously voted to acquit.  I have never waivered in my claim that I was innocent and I have feel vindicated by verdict.  The jury was comprised of a variety of people from the community.  Many jurors were college educated and some have gone on to earn Masters Degrees and higher.  Even the alternates would have voted not guilty and I think that speaks volumes.  After the verdict was read, I was able to thank the members of the jury and I did, personally.  Again I thank them all for giving an innocent man his life back.

I want to thank my lawyers Lisa Andrew Dubs and Jason White and my investigator, Captain Steve Ehlers, for believing in my case and me.  Ms. Dubs did not have to take this case.  I will never be able to thank them enough. There will never be enough adjectives to describe how I feel about them.  They have my gratitude for life, because they have saved my life.  I am truly speechless when I try and describe what they mean to me.  In my opinion one of Lisa’s peers should nominate her for 2011 Lawyer of The Year. She would certainly have my vote.  Without fearless attorneys the scales of justice would be on-sided.  They are all three lifelong friends now, and I owe them my life and future forever. My parents also wanted to thank them all for their hard work, time, dedication, and devotion to this case for 19 months.

Not a day passes that I don’t miss Lucy.  Lucy represented one of the happiest times in my life.  It was amazing to be with her.  She loved life.  She was a wonderful mother and I was always impressed with how she interacted with her children, Lauren and Caison.  Lucy was outspoken and she loved to laugh.  We both loved music and we rarely watched TV; however, we did enjoy reruns of “I Love Lucy”.   With all I have been through, I have never regretted the time I was lucky enough to share with Lucy.  She will always be in my heart, until the day I die.  I would endure all that I have been through again if I could hold her one last time. She was happy and content in our relationship.  She had finally found someone who was stable, reliable, and dependable.  She often compared me to her father in that way.  I loved playing with Caison and Lauren.  I think of them both often, and I miss them.  I know Lucy is watching over them.  She treated Christian, my son, as if he was her own, and he too loved her.  My immediate family accepted Lucy, Caison and Lauren into our family with open arms.  My family also mourns the loss of Lucy and the baby. 

Michelle Dye, Lucy’s biological mother, was not a part of Lucy’s life while we were together.  Lucy told me her mother hadn’t been in Lucy’s life since she was 15.  Often, Lucy refused to speak about her mother and their troubled relationship.  To this day I cannot understand why Michelle Dye has behaved in the way she has.  She has done everything in her power to seek the spotlight and spread misinformation about the facts of this case.  She has attacked me personally many times in the media and on the Internet.  Even given the way she has acted, and her strained relationship with Lucy, she is still a grieving mother who has lost a daughter.  I will pray that she is able to come to terms with her behavior and find some peace in her life.

The Gaston County Police Department and District Attorney’s Office have ruined my life.  They have done many things in this case that are unacceptable.  Not only were they negligent in how they have handled this investigation; but, in my opinion, they have purposely ignored facts, manipulated the media, and mishandled evidence that would have exonerated me from the beginning.  They spent their resources trying to make a case against me rather than trying to solve the murder of Lucy and my unborn child.  This type of prosecutorial “tunnel vision” is outrageous.  It is the third largest reason innocent people end up in prison according to the NC Innocence Project.  It is only through having endured what I have that I fully understand how horrifying that fact is.  You can’t imagine what it’s like to be crucified daily for someone else’s crimes, to face the possibility of being put to death.  The stress and pressure was monumentality hard on me, my son Christian and my immediate family.

At my bond hearing, Locke Bell made statements about facts and evidence I have never seen.  He indicated the State had evidence that was never produced.  I believe he misled the Court and Grand Jury.  William Stetzer told outright lies at my bond hearing in an attempt to keep me falsely incarcerated.  I am surprised Mr. Bell did not appear once at the trial.  After all of his statements about me, in Court and out, I find it odd he did not prosecute me.  I do not believe he felt strongly about my guilt, despite his public statements to the contrary.  I believe he knew they had arrested the wrong man and did not want to be associated with this trial.  Mr. Bell has legal, moral, and ethical obligations to seek out exculpatory information, that I believe he purposefully ignored.  

Detective Bloom and Eddie Meeks presented a convicted child rapist, Randy Waterson, as a witness against me.  I believe they did so knowing Mr. Waterson was lying and perjuring himself.  Randy Waterson was convicted of raping a 6-year-old girl eight times while holding her mother at gunpoint. While I was in jail and awaiting my bond hearing, Mr. Meeks would have you believe I confessed to Mr. Waterson.  After reading a newspaper article in prison two weeks after the trial had started, Mr. Waterson concocted a story with several inconsistencies yet was allowed to take the stand and testify against me.  I have always maintained my innocence, yet the State contends I would confess to a man sentenced to 146 years in prison for raping a child 8 times.  At the end of the day, Mr. Waterson got what he wanted; a transfer to a safer facility.  This was a desperate attempt to convict an innocent man, and quite frankly, unforgivable.

The District Attorney’s Office must provide any and all exculpatory evidence they obtain.  This is the type of evidence that would have reaffirmed my innocence.  Rather than provide much of this type of evidence to my attorney, they tried to hide it or destroy it.  They even admitted to losing important evidence; evidence that would have been in my favor.  Often investigators on this case would recreate their case notes, even after several years had passed. I believe there is evidence that will prove Captain Shaw, Sergeant Reynolds and Detective Bloom were out to get me.  I believe evidence was purposely ignored and even destroyed in this case.  I do not mean evidence favorable for the State but evidence that would have been in my favor.  In my opinion, the evidence presented by the Gaston County Police Department and District Attorney’s Office was not even enough to establish probable cause.  I simply do not understand why I was arrested.  Sergeant Reynolds told outright lies to the Grand Jury to get an indictment and circumvent my right to a probable cause hearing.   They have Sergeant Reynolds present to the Grand Jury, but not once did he show his face at my trial.  Even more absurd.
  
I have heard the Gaston County’s District Attorney’s Office quoted as saying this case is closed.  That is unacceptable.  Lucy and my child deserve justice.  This case should be turned over to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, since it’s an “interstate crime”; meaning two states.  The minute I was cleared by a jury of my peers, they have to reopen the case.  Detective Bloom admitted under oath that James Spelock Jr. was not ruled out as a suspect in this case.  How they could try me when they had not ruled out all other suspects is unfathomable to me.  Nonetheless, I believe there is ample evidence of Mr. Spelock’s guilt.  I know beyond all doubt that James Spelock Jr. is responsible for Lucy’s death and the death of my unborn child. 

Lucy and Mr. Spelock were engaged in a bitter custody dispute over Caison.  Lucy had told me, and others, Mr. Spelock had threatened her numerous times.  Lucy was going to expose Mr. Spelock’s alternative lifestyle in Court.  There was a ton of evidence found indicating James Spelock ordered transsexual outfits and visited transsexual websites. His personal Sony Vaio notebook showed transsexual history all the way back to the beginning of 2006, long before he met Lucy Johnson.  The evidence shows Mr. Spelock was unaccounted for at the time of the crime.  There is witness testimony of Mr. Spelock’s strange behavior that early morning.  James Spelock Jr. had the motive, intent, ability, and ill will necessary to commit these crimes.  There is more evidence available against James Spelock Jr. than there ever has been against me, there was never one piece of evidence against me.  There is enough evidence to get a Grand Jury indictment for First Degree Murder and Arson right now against James Spelock Jr.

I challenge Locke Bell to step up and do the right thing.  I do a lot of work in Gaston County.  Some of the finest people I’ve ever met work at the Freightliner Mount Holly Truck Plant and the Freightliner Gastonia Parts Plant.  The people of Gaston County are honest, hard working, good people.  Their tax dollars have been wasted.  They did not need to be.  I encourage Locke Bell to do the right thing.  We all want justice for Lucy and our child; nobody more so than me.  Until James Spelock Jr., is arrested, tried, convicted and put on Death Row in Raleigh justice in this case will never been done.  I pray daily for justice to prevail.  He has gotten away with murder for three years, just like he said he would.


-- Michael Mead

Police release video of unrest in uptown Charlotte

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police have released 8 minutes, 25 seconds of surveillance of the uptown unrest that happened after Speed Street on May 28:

City releases report on uptown unrest

On Wednesday, the city of Charlotte released its first detailed report about last weekend's unrest in uptown, showing the time line of events that began Saturday evening with disorderly crowds and led up to a fatal shooting early Sunday. The following is the city's report:

An operational plan for 2011 Speed Street was developed forecasting personnel and equipment needs based upon events that occurred during Speed Street 2010. On duty and off duty personnel were staffed in the Center City and additional officers assigned to the Civil Emergency Unit (CEU) were on standby in their assigned divisions. The CEU officers were equipped and ready to respond upon activation to provide support to the Central Division officers and the officers working the Speed Street event in a Secondary Employment capacity.

On May 28, 2011, beginning at 6 p.m., the intersection of E. Trade Street and S College Street experienced a surge of youth between the ages of ten and twenty five years of age. This crowd was not attending the Speed Street event. The pedestrian crowd cruised the Center City area outside of the speed street event.

At approximately 7:30 p.m., the crowd surged again and based on crowd growth and behavior, Command activated the additional Civil Emergency Unit from the divisions according to the Speed Street Operations Plan. The first CEU squad was in place within 20 minutes. CEU officers were in standard police uniform and at no time during the evening was there a need for them to transition to protective gear which includes helmets/ shields, etc.

Several times during the night, groups of individuals would chant, display hand signs and yell “gun” causing groups of people to run. Firecrackers were set off by individuals in the crowd. Several arrests were made for criminal offenses such as disorderly conduct and public affray based on a no tolerance policy for this type of behavior by individuals. Vehicular and pedestrian traffic was maintained throughout the evening.

At 11:30 p.m., pedestrian traffic increased in the Trade Street/College Street area due to the conclusion of the Speed Street event. Officers continued to maintain pedestrian and vehicle traffic in the affected area and dealt with several fights and altercations. One fight which occurred in front of the Ritz Carlton Hotel resulted in the response of a CEU squad and Central Division officers. One of those involved in the fight confronted officers and became combative and a TASER was deployed to affect the arrest of the suspect. During the arrest of this individual and others involved in the fight, the crowd on the sidewalk east of the incident began running toward the arrest scene as someone further down the street yelled “gun” causing the crowd to charge the officers. Officers formed a barrier to keep the crowd separated from the officers involved in the arrest.

At approximately 1:30 a.m. Sunday morning, an officer working a traffic control point at 3rd Street and College Street reported by radio multiple shots fired. Central Division bicycle officers and foot patrol officers were on the scene in less than one minute locating two gunshot victims. It is believed that there was a confrontation between two groups who knew each other which lead to the homicide.

During the night, officers made several arrests for a variety of charges which are listed below:

TOTAL ARRESTS: 76
MALE: 66
FEMALE: 10

CHARGE/TOTAL
2nd Degree Trespass: 3
Assault on a Female: 2
Assault on a Officer: 2
City/Town Violation: 1
Disorderly Conduct: 33
Failure to Disperse on Command: 1
Impeding Traffic: 3
Intoxicated & Disruptive: 9
Littering Under 15 lbs: 1
Obstructing Sidewalk: 6
Open Container: 1
Possession of Marijuana: 4
Public Affray: 14
Resist/Obstruct/Delay: 22
NOTE: Several suspects had multiple charges

Though the Center City area experienced large crowds and several fights, the fights were limited to small groups of individuals. Control of the Center City was maintained at all times.

The CMPD is still gathering details and reviewing video footage of the events that occurred and that information will be used in preparing for future events.

Elisa Baker indicted on drug trafficking charges

A federal grand jury indicted Zahra Baker’s stepmother on drug charges Wednesday.

Elisa Baker is charged with possessing and distributing prescription drugs and conspiracy to distribute those drugs. She is also charged with maintaining homes in Granite Falls, Hudson and Hickory from which to distribute drugs.

The indictment: http://media.charlotteobserver.com/static/images/misc/Indictment.pdf

-Cleve R. Wootson Jr.

Charges stack up against Zahra Baker’s stepmom

District Attorney Jay Gaither is racking up charges against Elisa Baker, who is accused of second-degree murder in the death of her 10-year-old stepdaughter Zahra Baker. Elisa Baker now faces at least 23 charges. All but two are unrelated to Zahra’s death. And most are for relatively minor offenses – worthless checks, unsafe tires, driving without a license – that few prosecutors spend much time on.

Gaither says his strategy is: The more charges against Baker, the more bargaining power he may gain as he pursues his real goal of convicting Baker in the killing. And the more convictions he can obtain in the smaller cases, the more prison time Baker would get if she’s convicted in the murder.

"The prosecution has a plan and we are proceeding on course," he says.

On Wednesday, Baker, 42, appeared at the Caldwell County Courthouse wearing a bulletproof vest and surrounded by armed guards. She pleaded not guilty to four counts of identity theft for allegedly using a relative’s personal information to get electricity turned on at a house where the family was living in March 2010.

Prosecutor Eric Bellas turned over 114 pages of evidence gathered on the identity theft charges to Baker’s attorney and pushed for a trial date to be set, according to media accounts.
Gaither has also pushed for a trial on Baker’s obstruction of justice charge.

Zahra Baker was reported missing on Oct. 9 and became the subject of a massive search that gained attention worldwide as people saw photos of the girl's smiling face and heard the story of her difficult life and shocking dismemberment. Zahra survived cancer, lost a leg, and lived with a hearing impairment.

Elisa Baker has been held in the Catawba County Jail since October, charged with obstruction for writing a phony ransom note to make it appear Zahra had been kidnapped.

Gaither charged Baker with second-degree murder in February, after reportedly entering an agreement with her not to seek first-degree murder charges in exchange for Baker’s assistance finding Zahra’s body. Baker led investigators across Caldwell County where the little girl's prosthetic leg and other body parts were recovered.

Elisa Baker told family the little girl died after an illness and that she and her husband, Adam, decided in a panic to get rid of the child's body. Relatives told the Observer the Bakers didn't take Zahra to a hospital and might have feared authorities because Zahra's father is in the country illegally, and because social workers had investigated complaints against Elisa Baker.

Second-degree murder is punishable by prison time ranging from about eight years to more than 30 years, depending on the killer's criminal record. Elisa Baker has a minor criminal record of long-ago convictions for assault and worthless checks.

Her attorney Scott Reilly has said repeatedly in court Baker is being singled out by prosecutors because of the high-profile nature of the Zahra Baker case.

He seems to be right that a lot of things are happening quite differently, but that's to be expected in many ways considering how extraordinary this case is.