Erica Baker update

Judge Rebuffs Prosecutors in Erica Baker Case - 01/28/05
Judge Rebuffs Prosecutors in Erica Baker Case
By Rob Modic, Dayton Daily News

DAYTON — U.S. District Judge Walter Rice refused Friday to dismiss a federal lawsuit filed by former federal Public Defender Beth Lewis, who is seeking to block her subpoenaed testimony before a Montgomery County grand jury about the 1999 disappearance of 9-year-old Erica Baker.

Rice said arguments would be held before March 1 on Lewis's claim that federal rules protecting attorney/client privilege bar her testimony.

Montgomery County Prosecutor Mathias Heck Jr. sought to return the case to state courts, where a judge has held Lewis in contempt for refusing to testify.

Lewis was an appointed lawyer for Jan Marie Franks, a drug addict whom police believed had information about what happened to the girl. After Franks died in December 2001, prosecutors subpoenaed Lewis to appear before a grand jury to testify about what her deceased client may have told her about Erica Baker.

They produced a document signed by Franks' widower, Shane Franks, waiving the confidentiality of communications between lawyer and client.

The Ohio Supreme Court ruled that the waiver is valid and that Lewis must testify before the grand jury.

Lewis went to federal court, contending that, as a public defender in the federal system, her professional duties are governed by federal law rather than in Ohio law.

The Official Erica Nicole Baker Website