Did Prosecutors Bungle Case Of Missing Baby Gabriel? Attorney For Gabriel's Mother Argue Prosecutors Allowed Illegal Interview

Pat McReynolds
Reporter, KPHO.com

POSTED: 1:00 pm MST January 31, 2011
UPDATED: 9:12 pm MST January 31, 2011

PHOENIX -- Could a mistake by prosecutors set baby Gabriel's mother free? The 8-month-old boy has been missing for more than a year, and his mother, Elizabeth Johnson, sits in jail charged in his kidnapping. But her attorney is banking on botched prosecution to set Johnson loose.

In most trials, prosecutors and defense attorneys stay on one side of the stand. But Johnson's attorney, Dan Raynak, is wanting to question his competition, Maricopa County prosecutor Angela Andrews, on what part she may have played in what he calls an illegal interview last summer.

"If they failed to take adequate steps to prevent this from happening, then they can be sanctioned appropriately, including dismissal," Raynak argued in a Phoenix courtroom Monday.

At issue is a meeting between San Antonio detective John Salame and Johnson at the Estrella jail. Salame questioned Johnson for hours, and sources close to the investigation tell CBS 5 News that in it, she confessed to killing her boy. But Raynak maintains the whole sit-down was improper.

"Police officers don't normally cross the line, but over the years, my experience has been that there are some officers that cross the line and this was way over the line," said Raynak.

Raynak thinks this interview alone is enough to set Johnson free, but Salame refuses to be deposed. And Raynak argued the prosecution is also responsible.

"The prosecutor's office here was working with Detective Salame. He wasn't working on his own. They were meeting with him. They were working with him. They were conversing with him. They were doing things with him. So, they were part and parcel with this problem."

But Raynak has enough trouble controlling his own client, Johnson, who wrote a letter to the judge without her attorney's knowledge. The judge announced it in court Monday, and then allowed Raynak and the prosecution team time to read it.

At the same time, attorneys for Johnson's alleged accomplice, Tammi Smith, filed a motion to send her case back to the grand jury. Smith had no comment outside the courtroom, But Raynak maintains it is Smith who can lead investigators to the missing boy.

"I don't know if Tammi Smith is the only one who can tell the end of the story, but I think that she could be very helpful and I hope she comes forward and does the right thing," said Raynak.

The judge ultimately ruled that the defense must first question Salame before he even considers forcing the prosecution to submit to an interview. That will probably bring the focus of this trial back to San Antonio, where Gabriel was last seen.

http://www.kpho.com/valleynews/26679631/detail.html

Raynak thinks this interview alone is enough to set Johnson free, but Salame refuses to be deposed. And Raynak argued the prosecution is also responsible.

I disagree. The Prosecution did not conduct the interview. She has not been charged with murder so how does Raynak figure she should be released? Thanks for the updates in this case Wrap. I am just blown away that all the latest news hardly mentions baby Gabriel name. What about his rights?