Monday, July 28, 2008

Justice Delayed is still justice

It’s time. Matt Baker must be held accountable. The civil trial is the first step. The criminal trial will follow.

Justice delayed is still justice.

You see, only when Matt Baker is held fully accountable by our legal system will two little girls be set free. Free to love their mommy. Free to love their grandparents. Free from manipulation. Free to get the help they need.

Justice delayed is still justice.

It’s time to show the people of McLennan County that when you murder someone you will not get away with it. We may think that something as tragic as this couldn’t happen to our families. I am sure the Dulins believed this. This is every citizen’s fight for justice. We fight for all because it is a fight for each of us.

Justice delayed is still justice.

Still there is always room for compassion….ESPECIALLY in the fight for justice. I feel a great deal of compassion for the Gray family as they mourn the loss of a child. They need this time to grieve. So, justice is delayed a little longer.

However,
Justice delayed is still justice.


Waco Tribune Herald - Former minister Baker's attorney seeks delay in start of civil suit trial

:::my comments in red:::

Saturday, July 26, 2008
By Tommy Witherspoon
Tribune-Herald staff writer


"An attorney for former Central Texas minister Matt Baker is seeking
postponement of the trial of a wrongful death lawsuit in which his wife’s
parents allege that Baker killed her and tried to make her death appear a
suicide.

While the criminal investigation into Kari Baker’s April 2006 death continues, Judge Ralph Strother of Waco’s 19th State District Court has set an Oct. 6 trial date for the civil lawsuit at the urging of attorneys for James and Linda Dulin, Kari Baker’s parents. ::::As you can see, there had been a date set. That will likely be delayed now...perhaps by as much as two months.::::

Baker, 36, who has denied killing his wife, has since moved to Kerrville and has been represented by Kerrville attorney Guy James Gray in the criminal case. Keith Williams, also of Kerrville, has been representing Baker in the civil case, but has said he has turned those duties over to Gray because Williams was elected judge of the 216th State District Court and will be unable to continue representing Baker.In a letter this week to Strother, Williams asks for a postponement of the trial and any
other matters involving the case for at least 30 to 45 days because Gray’s son
was killed in an auto accident in early July, the second of Gray’s sons to die
under tragic circumstances in recent years. ::::Gray was scheduled to take over Baker's defense in the civil case.::::

A spokeswoman in Gray’s office said he was out of the country Friday and unavailable for comment. Strother
hadn’t acted on the request Friday but has said he likely will grant it under
the circumstances.

“We are anxious to go to trial,” Linda Dulin said Friday. “Justice has been a long time coming. However, our hearts go out to the Gray family at this time.” ::::I echo your sentiments, Linda. Such a tragedy.::::

Waco attorney Bill Johnston, who represents the Dulins with his wife, attorney Susan Kelly Johnston, and attorney Darren Obenoskey, said he won’t oppose the motion for continuance. “We understood their position and will leave that to the discretion of the court,” Johnston said.

Baker, formerly of Hewitt, was arrested in September on murder charges in the death of his wife, an elementary school teacher and the mother of their two daughters. Her death initially was ruled suicide by sleeping pill overdose, but later was changed to undetermined cause after her body was exhumed and an autopsy performed.

McLennan County District Attorney John Segrest has said that the criminal case as presented initially to his office was “not suitable” to seek an indictment.

“There is a criminal investigation that has been ongoing since we received the case and it continues at this time,” prosecutor Crawford Long said Friday." ::::What is this? Yep, the DA is still investigating. Why? Because a crime was committed. Two little girls don’t have their mother. The Dulin’s don’t have their daughter. My son lost his teacher. Too many people lost a wonderful friend. Because you don’t get away with murder….not here, buddy.::::




Justice delayed is still justice.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you, Shannon. And I do believe we will see justice. God is teaching me patience :). The Grays have been in our thoughts and prayers as this time.
Linda

Anonymous said...

"Justice has been a long time coming," says Kari's mother, Linda Dulin.

Isn't that the truth.

How much longer will it be? Can you even imagine the day-to-day anguish of Kari's family?

Kari has been gone now for more than two years. Two years since her life was tragically ended one night, while her beautiful young daughters slept in their nearby bedrooms, unaware that they would awaken in the morning never to see their mother again.

Two years since Linda and Jim Dulin received that horrible and sudden middle-of-the-night phone call, a call that no parent should ever have to take. A call that began what has become a two-year nightmare.

Two years of a roller coaster ride that has taken its emotional toll:

Suicide? How could that be?
But wait, Matt's story doesn't wash...
Kari feared for her life!
What? He's been having an affair?
Oh dear, it appears he has a long secret history of lying and acting in a criminal manner;
Matt begins to badmouth Kari to anyone who will listen...
The family cries out for an investigation --
Expert proof confirms what is already suspected: that Kari's death cannot be ruled a suicide.
Computers mysteriously disappear..
Matt is finally arrested and it looks like justice will be allowed to prevail;
But then he is released without an indictment;
Interviews given by Matt show him to be a manipulative and arrogant liar as he talks and talks and further incriminates himself...

and then, and then ... the roller coaster just goes on and on. For more than two years now.

Two long years, during which time people all over the country have learned through newspapers, TV shows, internet news, online blogs, bumper stickers(!) and word of mouth about what happened in Hewitt that night and what has happened in Waco since then, and have jumped on the "Justice for Kari" bandwagon; people all over this land who share their concern and puzzlement as to why on earth her killer still walks free, and who wait patiently together for justice to have its say.

Two years have gone by, measured in long days and agonizing hours, as Kari's loved ones and friends try to go on with their lives knowing that Kari's killer walks free to do as he pleases, to breathe the free air, and to continue to speak whatever evil he chooses against Kari, (who is no longer here to defend herself) in a despicable and hopeless effort to fend off the justice that continues to barrel toward him, slowly, deliberately, closer every day.

Linda's statement to the newspaper is so touching: "Our hearts go out to the Gray family at this time." Yes, because Linda and Jim know the shock, the desolation,and the raw heartache of the sudden loss of a precious child. She can sympathize in true compassion in this respect with Mr. Gray and his family, even though he is her adversary. In my mind, her comment speaks volumes about the character of the Dulins.

Is the D.A.'s office waiting for something here? What, exactly? Is he waiting to see how the civil trial turns out before having the heart to take the proper action against Matt Baker?

Fine. Well then let him wait. It is coming. The trial will produce plenty of evidence for an indictment and murder conviction for Matt Baker, even if the Dulins and their own investigators have had to dig it up themselves, at great personal, emotional, and financial sacrifice to themselves.

God bless the dedicated team of attorneys and investigators that will do everything in their power to see that justice prevails. God bless the Dulins who have never given up and who will never give up until their cause is justified by the law. God bless and protect Kari's vulnerable, motherless daughters. God bless all of the family and friends and total strangers and supporters all over this land, who care about holding Kari's killer accountable. And God bless Kari; may justice be served so that her soul may rest in peace.

Justice is what needs to happen here, no matter how long it takes.

Because, as Shannon says,

"Justice delayed is still justice."

~sadie~
(whose opinions are just her opinions... of course)

Anonymous said...

Thank you, Sadie, for caring as you do. We have never wanted anything more or less than the truth to be revealed. It will be. It will be!
Linda