Newsgroups: alt.sex.stories
From: nobody@nately.ucsd.edu (Anonymous)
Subject: Bake release bail
Date: Mon, 13 Mar 1995 17:00:30 +0000
Message-ID: <9503131700.AA12025@nately.UCSD.EDU>
Lines: 103

JAKE BAKER RELEASED ON $10K BOND

By Josh White
The Michigan DAILY
3/13/95

After more than a month behind bars, LSA sophomore Jake Baker was
released on a $10,000 personal recognizance bond Friday afternoon.

Federal Judge Avern Cohn decided to release Baker under a set of
conditions after receiving a psychological evaluation from Dr. Harold
Sommerschield.  Cohn, at the 2 p.m. hearing in U.S. District Court, said
Sommerschield recommended Baker's release.

"He did not perceive (Baker) as having any mental illness and did not
think he would act out any of his fantasies," Cohn said.  "He did not
see Baker as a man who would act out the sexual violence he wrote
about."

Inside the Federal Building's lobby, Baker said he had few plans for the
next couple of weeks.

"First, I am going to sleep for about 24 hours," Baker said.  "Then I
want to catch up on the month that I have missed.

Baker received widespread attention after the University suspended him
in January, when the administration was notified of several sexually
explicit stories he posted on the Internet, one of which included the
name of a University student.

Baker said the did not want to comment on the specifics of his case
because he did notknow enough about the situation.

"I haven't seen any of the newspapers for the last month," Baker said.
"I have no idea what is going on in the outside world.  Maybe I will be
ready to comment after I have found out more information.  Without
knowing what is going on, I wouldn't have the proper perspective to make
any comments."

As Baker walked out of the Federal Building with his mother and his
attorney, Douglas Mullkoff, he spoke to the public for the first time
since his Feb. 9 arrest.

"I an sorry to have ever used a real person's name in any of the
stories," Baker said.  "It was a stupid thing to do, and I have paid for
it over the last few weeks."

Baker's suspension from the University is still pending , but the
conditions of his release do not allow him to attend class.

Cohn ordered Baker's mother, Vilma, to take third-party custody of her
son, and told Baker to report to Pretrial Services once or twice each
week.  Cohn also forbade Baker from entering Ann Arbor.

"Mr. Baker should avoid Ann Arbor except to meet with his lawyer," Cohn
said.  "And he is not allowed to meet with any other student of the
University of Michigan or anyone else while in Ann Arbor."

"He is also not allowed to upload any information to the Internet, but
may (download) information as he wishes."

U.S. Attorney Ken Chadwell said that the government agreed to the terms
of Baker's release.

"The government had said that it would be bound to whatever the
psychological report said," Chadwell said.  "We will not object to the
court's findings."

Cohn also asked Vilma Baker to report "any unusual activities" and that
Baker "keep regular hours at night in his home in Boardman, Ohio."

The FBI arrested Baker at his former attorney's office in Ann Arbor Feb.
9.  He was indicted by a Wayne County grand jury early the next week on
one federal charge of transmitting a threat to injure or kidnap a person
in interstate or foreign commerce.  The charge stemmed from Baker's
postings to a newsgroup, alt.sex.stories, and from e-mail correspondence
Baker had with an Ontario man identified as Arthur Gonda.

Two federal judges denied Baker bail Feb. 10, finding him too dangerous
for society and a threat to the female student named in one of the
Internet stories.

Mullkoff, who limited Baker's responses only to the topic of his time in
jail, said he is working toward dismissing the case before it comes to
trial April 3.

"I don't think this case will go to trial,"  Mullkoff said.  "I will
file a motion to dismiss the case within the next few weeks. The urgency
and pressure to get a motion in is gone because Jake is now out of
jail."

The psychological evaluation Sommerschield presented to the court was
not available to the public, but Mullkoff said it came to conclusions
similar to those of two other unofficial evaluations last month.

"Jake breezed through his latest psychological exam, Mullkoff said.  "It
was consistent with all of the other evaluations Jake has had."

Baker's mother was jubilant after the decision, hugging her son and
clinging to him.