Joe Gentz vindicated by Bashara plea, attorney says
By
Jameson Cook
[email protected]; @jamesoncook
Posted: 10/16/12 11:28 am
Updated: 10/16/12 07:09 pm
Joseph Gentz’s lawyer said Bob Bashara’s guilty plea last week vindicated her client, who expressed fear that Bashara may try to have him killed.
Attorney Susan Reed told reporters Tuesday following Gentz’s arraignment in Wayne County Circuit Court in Detroit that her client’s fears were proven to be legitimate last week when Bashara admitted to trying to pay someone to kill Gentz in jail.
“My client has said that he was afraid that Bashara was going to have him killed,” Reed said. “I sort of got the feeling that no one believed it, sort of just said, ‘Oh, he’s exaggerating.’ But obviously he was telling the truth. I think it shows my client has been telling the truth all along.”
Gentz, 48, formerly of Macomb County, on Tuesday morning pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder for the January slaying of Jane Bashara. Judge Vonda Evans set a Jan. 7 trial date. In custody, he appeared in jail clothes.
Reed said outside the courtroom that Gentz remains concerned about Bashara, although she noted that Wayne County Sheriff’s deputies are closely guarding and ensuring the safety of her client. He is being held in isolation at the William Dickerson Detention Facility.
“I think he has a right to be (nervous),” she said. “What if someone has tried to kill you and plead guilty to it? Would you be calm? I wouldn’t. I’d still be looking over my shoulder. So I think he has a right to be concerned and nervous about what is going on.”
Bashara, 54, pleaded guilty last Thursday to solicitation for murder. He is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 20 by Wayne Circuit Judge Bruce Morrow. Prosecutors say sentencing guidelines for Bashara range between seven and about 11 years, while Bashara’s defense attorney Mark Kriger contends the range is about four to seven years. The maximum penalty is up to life.
Reed said her client wants Bashara “to get as much time as possible.”
Reed said Bashara’s plea did not take her off-guard in light of the evidence against him.
“I’m not surprised by it based on what I know of the prosecutor’s case,” Reed said. “Going to trial would have probably ended up in a longer sentence. I think it was a good move on the part of his attorney. It leaves the sentencing up to the judge. He couldn’t get a deal with the prosecutor. He basically had no choice.”
Police and prosecutors say Bashara in June paid $2,000 to Steve Tibaudo, a Detroit furniture store owner, to have Gentz killed in jail because Bashara was concerned about Gentz’s potential testimony in Jane Bashara’s case. Gentz, who did handyman work for Bashara, told police he strangled Jane Bashara, 56, in her Grosse Pointe Park garage at the bequest of Bob Bashara. Her body was found Jan. 25 in her SUV parked in an east-side Detroit alley.
Bashara has been named as a person of interest in the case but has not been charged. The case remains under investigation.
Regarding her client’s case, Reed said she and prosecutors have not engaged in plea negotiations, but said a plea deal is possible.
“It’s (a plea deal) always a possibility,” she said. “But right now that‘s not what we’re focused on.”
She said she and her co-counsel are concentrating on the evidence in the case, including records of telephone calls and text messages. They are reviewing three 5-inch-thick binders of documents and expect more to come.
Judge Evans set Nov. 27 as the deadline for prosecuting and defense attorneys to file motions and Dec. 4 as a final conference.
Reed said she could not discuss potential legal motions due to a gag order on evidence discussion.
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Source: http://www.dailytribune.com/article...y-in-slaying-of-jane-bashara&pager=full_story
