(Sorry...I can't get my format to work the same way with all quoted material.)
Baker's Bond Reduced
By Tammy Prout
Local attorney Guy James
Gray’s first official duty in representing Matt Baker was to get his bond
reduced, so that he could return home and care for his children. Gray agreed to
represent Baker early last week and filed a writ of habeas corpus on Friday and
expected to appear before a judge later this week to discuss, among many things,
the reduction in bail, which had been set at $400,000. Baker is charged with the
April 2006 murder of his wife, Kari, in McLennan County. Kari was found
unconscious and pronounced dead in the couple’s home in Hewitt. Her death was
initially ruled a suicide and 16 months later a warrant was issued for Baker’s
arrest.
“I had requested that the district attorney do it (reduce bail)
on their own, but they said they were concerned Kari’s family would be upset,”
Gray said Sunday evening. “I really think they wanted to.” Then early Monday
morning, he was notified of the reduction in bail to $200,000. Baker’s parents,
Barbara and Oscar, have been caring for Baker’s 11 and 7-year-old daughters, as
well as trying to find a way to post bail so that Baker can return home and be
with his children. “They’ve already lost a sister and their mother,” Barbara
said. “They need their father.”
Barbara, who has maintained her son’s
innocence since his Aug. 21 arrest, says she finally feels some peace in knowing
that her son will be represented by someone who will face the battle
aggressively. “I’m ready for someone to take charge,” Barbara said. Gray is used
to doing just that. A former Jasper County prosecutor for 25 years, Gray knows
his way around a courtroom and most certainly a murder trial. Most compelling
about the change in representation is that Gray asked to meet with the Bakers.
After reading the arrest warrant affidavit, Gray said he felt Baker was being
railroaded and refused to take money for his services. He said he has requested
only reimbursement of his expenses incurred during the trial, which will include
expert witnesses. “The officer who signed the affidavit based his request on
prejudicial information and suppositions,” Gray said. “There was no evidence to
back up his statements.”
While he says he is only just beginning to make
his way through Baker’s file, Gray said he has yet to find evidence to suspect
Baker, much less convict him. An inquest was conducted on Kari’s body following
her death, Gray said, and the medical examiner’s ruling that the cause of her
death was “undetermined.” “There is no evidence from the scene to back up the
detective’s statements,” Gray said. “To my knowledge, no one conducted tests of
any kind on pill bottles or wine bottles.”
Moreover, Gray said, the
emotional pleas from Kari’s family have played out in the media, poisoning a
possible jury pool in the Waco area.
“They’ve lost their only daughter.
They were very close and spoke numerous times a day. All of a sudden she’s gone
and they want someone to blame.” Gray said. “But Matt Baker didn’t kill her.”
After meeting with Barbara and Oscar, Gray said he went to Waco to meet Matt and
make sure he had a good feeling about him. “I liked him. I believe him,” Gray
said. “He seems to be a very good guy.”
His sentiments are echoing
throughout Kerrville, as Baker’s friends and family are coming forward to help
Barbara and Oscar raise funds for his defense.
“I can tell you it’s been
very overwhelming,” Barbara said. “The cards, the e-mails and the hugs are
something we really need right now.” Another thing they will need, in addition
to the $200,000 to post their son’s bond, is at least $150,000 for trial
expenses. Barbara is an employee at Tivy High School and Oscar is retired. Since
Baker was arrested, she said they have been trying to keep up the expenses of
two households, as well as legal fees. When asked how Baker was holding up,
Barbara said he calls every night and his background as a minister and teacher
has been put to use. “He has been meeting with inmates and holding Bible study
and algebra classes,” Barbara said. “For those of us who know him, that’s not
surprising.”
12 comments:
Yes for those of us who know him that is absolutely not surprising that he still plays the card of the victim. There is nothing innocent and his is no lamb. A disgrace to teachers and preachers everywhere.
You know what? Linda and Jim Dulin are not "looking to place blame," as the big-deal lawyer so stated. He does not know them, or he could not have said that! They are not looking for vengeance, either. It is only TRUTH they seek, and JUSTICE for Kari.
If Jim and Linda were as loving and caring as they try to appear, then where is the love for the granddaughters? Is their goal to keep the girls from the one parent they still have? One wonders......
If he did kill his wife, don't you think the girls should be removed from his care? One wonders....
One wonders how you could expect them to live each day with the full belief that he killed their daughter and is now raising her children and think that's reasonable and just.
IF, just IF he did this, do you think it's in the best interest of the girls to not send him to jail for the crime and just be allowed to stay home with the girls and raise them because, well, they lost their mom...even a dad that killed their mom is better than no dad?
Oh tooooochay!!!!!
Looking from the outside, it appears that people are assuming that Matt is filling his girls heads with evil thoughts about their mom, grandparents, etc. How does an outsider know this? In the meantime the grandparents have been on tv showing their pictures, saying bad things about their dad, talking about him in newspapers, and they have to go to school and be aware that peers and parents know about this. Has this not been more damaging to them? And again, how can someone from the outside know what is really going on? Have you talked to their counselors, or teachers, or them? Why the evil judgement?
First of all, the Dulins have not bad mouthed Matt on television. Second of all, the Dulins haven't shown the girls faces on TV. Third of all, I personally would like to meet the people counseling Matt's little girls. One of them is so far "wharped" from all the things their father has told them about their mother, that it worries me! Those little girls loved and adored their mother and Kari felt the same way. She never EVER would have left her two little girls behind! EVER!!! I grew up with Kari and we were very close in raising our children together!
This is in God's hands, and I pray for all the families involved.
To close involved family;
1st; You obviously are not paying attention to the media then because in Kerrville and Waco papers has quotes from the Dublins and yes they did bad mouth him! Not only has she done that through the media she does it in hearing range of the girls.
2nd; obviously you are not paying attention to media because if you go online you can see where she is holding a picture of the oldest daughter up to the tv!
3rd; I think you have listened once again to what you are being told rather than FACTS! The girls are not wharped by anything!! They still love thier mother, that will never change! They also love their father and that will never change!
First, their name isn't "Dublin."
Second, how do you know the badmouthing is done in front of the girls? Were you told this by someone with an agenda?
Third, that person holding a picture isn't Linda Dulin.
Finally, I agree that the girls did love their mother very much. I also believe they love their father very much. They should be shielded from all of this.
Interesting that you think they should be shielded from this and then you blog on a site! Hmmm
How do you know that was LD holding the picture? Was it you or were you TOLD this by someone with an agenda? And lastly...Your quote that they did love their mother...did meaning past tense...no, I think they still do!
How do you know it was not her holding the picture?? Was it you or were you TOLD this by someone with an agenda?
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