Newsgroups: alt.sex.stories.d From: nobody@nately.ucsd.edu (Anonymous) Subject: Baker Indicted; Will Plead Fri Comments: This message did not originate from the above address. It was automatically remailed by an anonymous mail service. Please report inappropriate use to X-Posting-Host: ucsd.edu Date: Thu, 16 Feb 1995 17:00:41 +0000 Message-ID: <9502161700.AA02719@nately.UCSD.EDU> Sender: usenet@demon.co.uk Lines: 65 GRAND JURY SENDS BAKER TO TRIAL STUDENT TO PLEAD NOT GUILTY AT TOMORROW'S ARRAIGNMENT By Josh White The Michigan DAILY 2/16/95 Wayne County grand jury members decided late Tuesday night that there was probably cause to try LSA sophomore Jake Baker in federal court. The indictment charges Baker with one federal count of interstate transmission of a threat to injure or kidnap another person. The grand jury's decision came five days after Baker's detention. He will face his arraignment and enter a plea at a 1 p.m. hearing tomorrow before Magistrate Judge Steve Pepe. "Mr. Baker is definitely going to plead not guilty in court on Friday," said Douglas Mullkoff, Baker's attorney. "He will be presented with the charge and will enter his plea. It should be a short hearing." Sandy Pallazalo, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's office in Detroit, said the grand jury indictment prevents the necessity of the previously scheduled probable cause hearing. "The grand jury returned a probable cause that Baker was involved in the crime and he is now, as a result, going to face a judge who has been selected for the trial," Pallazalo said. "After he is arraigned, the lawyers will have 20 days to file motions, but it is more likely that it will be a month or so before the trial." She said Federal Judge Avern Cohn will hear the trial at th U.S. District Court in Detroit. Because Magistrate Judge Thomas Carlson and Judge Bernard Friedman ordered Bake held without bond in Wayne County Jail, he will remain in custody unless an appeal is decided in his favor. Pallazalo said the judges' decisions to hold Bake in jail resulted from speculation that he was "dangerous to society." She added that it is not unusual for judges to detain people who may be a threat. Mullkoff said he has notified the 6th Circuit Court in Cincinnati via the Detroit branch that he plans to file briefs either today or tomorrow. "We are appealing the decision to hold Mr. Baker without bond," Mullkoff said. "We should hear within a week what the decision is from the appellate court. I think that he will be released at that time." Mullkoff said the grand jury indictment is a way for the prosecution to avoid presenting the case against Baker in a preliminary hearing. "The U.S. Attorney did this so that he would not have to deal with a judge in presenting probable cause," he said. "He was able to present the prosecution's case without a defense attorney, without a judge. He was basically lecturing to 16 to 22 jurors. "He rubber-stamped a foregone conclusion. If he had to present the facts to a judge, he might not have had a trial coming up." U.S. Attorney Ken Chadwell, who is handling the prosecution, could not be reached for comment.