GUILTY MI - Jane Bashara, 56, dies in contract killing, Grosse Pointe Park, 25 Jan 2012 #5

[BetteDavisEyes]

:tyou: for the play-by-play today. I'm "up north" (Mackinac Island) and unable to watch local news or live stream. I read WDIV and Detroit News updates but learn much more reading colorful commentary here

 

[CarolinaMoon]

Good link for today:

http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/wayne/2015/09/16/bashara-hearing-day2/32490101/

 

[BUF]

Loved how the Judge helped Diallo along!

Wildabouttrial live stream also started working with sound. Couldn't use the other one on my iPad.

 

[jacct]

Bob's appellate attorney said he would prefer for Bashara to testify at the upcoming hearing in October.
Gina Damron

Lillian Diallo, one of Bashara's former trial attorneys, is back on the stand. She started testifying yesterday.
Gina Damron

She's being questioned by Bashara's appellate attorney, Ronald Ambrose.
Gina Damron

Asked about whether there was discussion about filing for a change of venue, Diallo said Bashara was of the opinion that he was getting a "fair shake" in Wayne County.
Gina Damron

Ambrose asked Diallo if there was national coverage leading up to the trial. She said she was preparing for the case and not a "TV junkie" at the time.
Gina Damron

Diallo said Bashara thinks he is the "smartest man in the room."
Gina Damron

"I will not and I have not been pushed around by a man," Diallo said, saying she was not going to start with Robert Bashara.
Gina Damron

Diallo said Bashara "talks a lot and he writes a lot."
Gina Damron

Ambrose said an aspect of the case involved BDSM. He asked Diallo if they sought out a consultant in that area. "Absolutely not," Diallo said.
Gina Damron

Diallo said that was not the cause of death. She said Jane Bashara was "choked, strangled, brutally murdered."
Gina Damron

No further questions for Diallo. Assistant prosecutor said he had no questions for her.
Gina Damron

The next witness up will be Joseph Bruce, who was an investigator for the trial defense team. He started testifying yesterday.
Gina Damron

Court is in recess until 11:30 a.m.
Gina Damron

 

[jacct]

My colleague, Elisha Anderson, is working on updating our web story. Here are some quotes she pulled out from Diallo's testimony:

"Mr. Bashara, who, no offense, thinks he's the smartest man in the room," Diallo said, adding that Bashara "thought he was going to tell me how to do something."

She said she explained that "I'm a lawyer, I didn't get this standing on a street corner. I got this by going to school, so with all respect to Mr. Bashara, he cannot tell me or dictate to me, which way he thinks something legally should go."

Diallo said she explained to Bashara "something I do not believe in is slavery. I wasn't a fan of it when it was in effect, I was not going to be made a slave to Robert Bashara. I was going to defend Robert Bashara to the best of my ability."
Gina Damron

 

[jacct]

Court is in session. Another case is before Judge Evans at the moment.
Gina Damron

 

[jacct]

Judge is ready but Bob is not in the court yet. On the livestream Judge is saying "Come on, come on."

Judge moved on and is taking a guilty plea deal until Bob arrives. She accepted and sentenced him right away.

Bob's finally here with the big sunglasses on, ready to start.

Joseph Bruce called to the stand.
Gina Damron

Bruce was appointed as an investigator for the defense.
Gina Damron

Bruce said he was assigned to the case in January 2014 and didn't submit vouchers until September 2014.
Gina Damron

Hank Galaspie was another investigator working on the case. He has never received any payments. They both submitted vouchers to Judge Kenny for payment. Judge Kenny questioned the vouchers and what the investigators were doing for the case. The investigators reviewed the witness lists for prosecution and defense and were to contact them and obtain statements. Investigators had to try to track them down on their own. Judge did not think the court should have to pay for the skip tracing as they should have received the contact info from the prosecution.

Bruce testified that he had a list of about 300 witnesses and asked Diallo to get contact information for witnesses from prosecutors. He said Diallo told him that Assistant Prosecutor Lisa Lindsey told her that all of the witnesses were in fear.
Gina Damron

The investigators used attorney McCarthy's office for the interviews of the final 85 that were scheduled to testify. Bruce did 3 interviews. Bruce did not look for any other witnesses because he thought he wouldn't be paid for tracking them down.

Bruce testified that he looked into Joseph Gentz's past. "Trying to find if there were any witnesses that were able to shine a light on what type of person Mr. Gentz was," Bruce said.
Gina Damron

Bruce said there were three neighbors of Gentz who had information of interest.
Gina Damron

Bruce said one man went into his garage and found Gentz in there choking the man's son because he rode on his grass.
Gina Damron

Bruce said that person was subpoenaed for the trial.
Gina Damron

He said there was a delay from the original subpoena date, which had changed. When they did get the final date he attempted to contact the man, who called him back and was out of town on business and was not returning until after the trial.
Gina Damron

Bruce said he has been a private investigator since 1992 and formed Detroit Police homicide officer.
Gina Damron

Bruce said one major flaw he found in the investigation was that "everything was focused on Mr. Bashara." He said he didn't find anything to indicate police made an effort to look into any other suspects.
Gina Damron

 

[jacct]

Bruce mentions that something Gentz said didn't match the evidence. Gentz said that he heard the clip being inserted in the gun but the gun was a revolver with no clip. This was not mentioned during the trial.

Ambrose asked Bruce what happens normally with the clothing of a deceased person. He said it is placed on evidence.
Gina Damron

Bruce said he that, to date, he has not been paid in full for his services.
Gina Damron

"In this case from the beginning, everything ... was geared at Mr. Bashara," Bruce said.
Gina Damron

Bruce decided on his own to look into other people associated with Gentz. He says he asked Diallo and she told him to go for it. Judge Kenny didn't want to pay for that, Bruce says he begged but was turned down. So he stopped and only did what he was specifically directed to do by McCarthy and Diallo so he would get paid.

Bruce testified that he had conversations and meetings with Bashara.
Gina Damron

Bruce is upset that he wasn't able to go out on his own and do what he wanted. He wanted to investigate things that Bashara asked him to look into but Bruce couldn't do it because he didn't think he would be paid.

Ambrose asked Bruce if he was ever informed with corrections department inmates who had information about Gentz. Bruce said yes and said he would have liked to have had interviews with those people.
Gina Damron

 

[jacct]

Bruce being cross examined by Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor Jon Wojtala.
Gina Damron

Bruce never talked to Judge Kenny so he really didn't know what the judge was questioning on his vouchers. Bruce still wanted to look at "other aspects" of the case but didn't because he didn't think he would be paid for that.

Wojtala asked Bruce what other suspects he was investigating other than Gentz and Bashara. Bruce said "J.J. McCarthy." Bruce meant J.J. McKee.
Gina Damron

Ronald Ambrose speaks to his client #BobBashara Wed. #court @freep

Wojtala asked Bruce if what he feels he should have been allowed to investigate was the possibility that someone assisted Gentz.

"Yes, and that Joseph Gentz was a liar," Bruce said
Gina Damron

Bruce reviewed the witness lists which included a summary of what they would testify to. He then looked them up and interviewed them. Bruce submitted vouchers that detailed what he had done and who he interviewed. Bruce was paid in February $15,000 by Wayne County, he had submitted vouchers for $20,000. But he doesn't know why they turned down the $5,000.

Bruce said the court has refused to give him any information on the invoices he submitted.
Gina Damron

Bruce said he does an expert job on is cases.
Gina Damron

Bruce said he is not going to work for free. During the trial, he said, the prosecutor's office had "endless supplies of whatever they needed."
Gina Damron

"This is my work, this is how I pay my bills," he said.
Gina Damron

Bruce said he doesn't know if he's going to get paid for being here today.
Gina Damron

Bruce got angry and said he wouldn't come to court again if he knew he wasnt getting paid. He feels that Wayne County should have given him free rein to investigate whatever he wanted because he is an expert and they should have paid him. After he got shorted the $5,000 he didn't go out of his way anymore but felt that Bashara could have gotten more witnesses if Bruce was allowed to look for them and get paid for looking for them.

No further questions from Wojtala.
Gina Damron

Ambrose questioning Bruce on redirect.
Gina Damron

Ambrose asked Bruce what he thought of Bashara being named a person of interest in the case shortly after Jane Bashara was killed. Bruce said that, in retrospect, he thought it was "jumping the gun."
Gina Damron

No further questions for Bruce.
Gina Damron

No more witnesses for the day.
Gina Damron

Next hearing is Oct. 14.
Gina Damron

Bashara said he would prefer to stay in the jail, rather than going back to the correctional facility, because it would give him an opportunity to meet with Ambrose and investigators.
Gina Damron

Now Ambrose wants Bob to view the video of Gentz's interview with the police. Judge Evans wants to know why since he asserted his 5th amendment rights and is not going to ever testify. Ambrose wants to expand the record from the trial with info from the video and Judge Evans is not going to allow that. She tells Ambrose no and take Bashara back out of the court.

The hearing has ended. Next hearing is Oct. 14.
Gina Damron

 

[seattlechiquita]

Sh11111111111t! I had no idea this was happening. People like BBash really pizz me off. Him and DrewPete. They can both....

 

[CarolinaMoon]

Again, jacct, thank you so much for posting the updates. I missed most since I had to take DH to the emergency room... thank goodness nothing too serious and will pass with a little time... LOL!I

I'm looking forward to the 14th of October.

 

[Bravo]

Thanks for all the updates folks. Too many to thank as i caught up. Interesting to hear from Bob's Defense. I attended this Trial twice and I did like Lillian D. We sat in the second row behind all the reporters. She would come in to Court and look at the Gallery and greet everyone with a warm good morning. She was always so pleasant to the reporters and asked how they were feeling as a couple had colds. They even exchanged candy's LOL. Then Court would begin and she was in Lawyer mode. She really was fun to watch. Despite being a Defense Lawyer LOL

 

[Bravo]

To be fair i should comment on L. Lyndsey (sp?) she was always sharp and on point. Would come into Court in her smart suits and take mincing steps in her really high heels. Great at getting her point across in a concise manner. IMO. I believe from following this case Bob got a fair trial and needs to lay it down and go back to prison.When i saw him in Court he looked like he77. These recent pics he looks better I must say.

 

[Bravo]

Reminder that tomorrow is a hearing. I'll try to find time in the a.m. to post a link.

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/wayne-county/2015/09/16/bashara-court/32491059/

 

[Darkman00]

Bob Bashara could testify today as he seeks new trial

By Elisha Anderson, Detroit Free Press 12:08 a.m. EDT October 14, 2015

Bob Bashara seeks a a new trial in the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice courtroom of Vonda Evans on Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2015.
(Photo: Mandi Wright, Detroit Free Press)

Former Grosse Pointe Park businessman turned Michigan Department of Corrections Inmate #856261 Bob Bashara is scheduled to return to a Detroit courtroom todayand could testify for the first time in his case.

Bashara, who is serving life in prison for his wife’s 2012 murder, is seeking a new trial, claiming he was denied a fair trial "in a number of respects."

Today will be the third day of testimony in the evidentiary hearing held in the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice.

Ronald Ambrose, Bashara's appellate attorney, said last month his client is “looking forward to testifying,” but it's unclear if that will happen today.

More: http://www.freep.com/story/news/loc...sse-pointe-businessman-murder-trial/73880686/

 

[Darkman00]

Hearing resumes Wednesday in Bob Bashara's bid for new trial

Author: Local 4 - ClickOnDetroit news staff, [email protected]

Published On: Oct 13 2015 02:43:55 PM EDT Updated 41 m

--Attorney Ronald Ambrose

More: http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/...ay-in-bob-basharas-bid-for-new-trial/35818608

 

[Coldpizza]

Roop Raj ‏@rooprajfox2
Bob Bashara may take the stand at 9am to talk about why he thinks got a bad trial. I'll be in court.

https://twitter.com/rooprajfox2?lang=en

 

[jacct]

Gina Damron, reported for the Detroit Free Press will be live blogging here:

http://www.freep.com/story/news/loc...sse-pointe-businessman-murder-trial/73880686/

I am still looking for a live stream.

 

[CarolinaMoon]

Live now in courtroom

http://www.wxyz.com/live2

 

[jacct]

Live Stream here: http://www.wxyz.com/live2

Camera and sound are live, court hasn't started yet.