Gabriel Scott Johnson (8 mos.) 12/27/09 Tempe, Arizonia

Elizabeth Johnson's Attorney Alleges Unlawful Questioning
PHOENIX - Baby Gabriel Johnson has been missing since December 2009, and hasn't been seen since -- his mother is jailed in his kidnapping.

Elizabeth Johnson's attorneys want her case thrown out, claiming her rights were violated by a San Antonio detective who questioned her in jail.

Attorney Nicholas Alcock says that back in May, a detective went to the Maricopa County Jail and questioned Johnson for three hours, without telling her attorneys. He's now asking a judge to dismiss the kidnapping case against her, citing a now-tainted case.

"What happened here is outrageous, what happened here is completely unusual," says Alcock. "This detective was told don't go there, don't go visit Miss Johnson and he did."

According to court paperwork, Johnson was on lithium during the questioning. The detective allegedly removed her shackles, held her hand and touched her thigh, asking her about the whereabouts of baby Gabriel.

http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/dpp/news/justice/elizabeth-johnson-unlawful-questioning-10-8-2010

Baby Gabriel Hearing~
http://www.foxsanantonio.com/newsroom/top_stories/videos/vid_3627.shtml

Baby Gabriel's Mom Confessed Twice
Johnson Confession Reportedly Came During Jail Interview
Pat McReynolds, CBS 5 News
December 8, 2010

PHOENIX -- A source close to the missing Baby Gabriel investigation has told CBS 5 News that his mother, Elizabeth Johnson, confessed to a San Antonio, Texas, detective in May she killed her son.

That confession came during an unauthorized meeting between Johnson and the detective in the Estrella Jail in Phoenix, a meeting of which her attorney was unaware.

Because the meeting was unauthorized, it is not admissible in court unless there is a ruling otherwise.

Detective John Salame of the San Antonio Police Department might have been just moments away from learning the location of Gabriel Johnson's body when one of Johnson's attorneys appeared and ended the meeting, the source said.

The child known as Baby Gabriel was last seen in Dec. 26, 2009. He vanished shortly after his mother took him to Texas.

Johnson, in a text message to the boy's father, Logan McQueary, in December 2009, confessed to killing the boy, but later recanted after she was in custody.

Salame, the source told CBS 5 News, said Johnson confessed the second time during the three-hour jail meeting. But before she could tell him where she hid the body, one of Johnson's attorneys learned of the interview and put an end to it.

Citing damage that interview did to the trust between him and his client, Johnson's lead attorney, Nick Alcock, left the case.

In other developments Tuesday, Tammi Smith, the Scottsdale woman who tried to adopt Gabriel before Elizabeth Johnson fled to Texas, reportedly tried to adopt Elizabeth Johnson as a means to gain custody of the child, according to court papers filed by Smith's attorney.

The state alleges she tried that and other ploys to gain custody without the father's consent, but eventually learned that was not legally possible.

In court papers, Smith's attorney argues that exploring the possibility of adoption was not illegal and doesn't prove a conspiracy.

McQueary said, "Tammi (smith) is just trying to wiggle her way out of this like she always has."

Despite Johnson's alleged confession, McQueary said he maintains his belief that Gabriel is still alive.

http://www.kpho.com/news/26050243/detail.html?treets=pho&tml=pho_12pm&ts=T&tmi=pho_12pm_1_01000112082010

Smith Audio: 'God Wanted Us To Take Gabriel'~

January 17, 2011

CBS 5 News had obtained new recordings showing how sure Tammi Smith and her husband, Jack, were that Gabriel would be theirs. The recordings further reveal what the Smiths did to try to adopt Gabriel even after the boy vanished.

http://www.kpho.com/news/26204667/detail.html


Baby Gabriel's Mom Details Last Day

http://www.kpho.com/slideshow/news/26159915/detail.html

Texas judge orders detective to testify in Arizona's Baby Gabriel case

Posted: Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Texas judge orders detective to testify in Arizona's Baby Gabriel case By Mike Sakal
Another quagmire is brewing in the case of missing Baby Gabriel Johnson, and no one seems to be closer to knowing the child’s whereabouts or well-being than they were 15 months ago when the child disappeared.

A state district court judge in San Antonio ruled on Friday that Jesus Salame, a police detective from that city, will have to testify about an interview he conducted with Elizabeth Johnson, Gabriel’s mother at a Maricopa County jail without her attorneys present.

However, the San Antonio city attorney’s office is considering an appeal to Judge Philip Kazen’s decision to require Salame to testify in Arizona, and to force the city’s police department to provide the recorded portion of the interview with Johnson, who has both said she killed her son and gave him away in late 2009.

“The tape is not relevant to the charges in Arizona,” Bernard said. “It’s part of the evidence here in Texas. It’s really a fishing expedition for the defense. The prosecution in Arizona hasn’t heard the tape, hasn’t asked for the tape and won’t be using the tape. With what is supposedly said on the tape during the interview, I wouldn’t know why the defense would want it. Be careful what you ask for.”

Bernard said the city attorney’s office would confer with the police department as to how much of the judge’s decision would be appealed, and he would know in about a week.

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/local/article_9c24c5d6-49cc-11e0-86dc-001cc4c03286.html

Detective: 'Mother Said She Killed Gabriel'
Recordings Reveal Details Of Elizabeth Johnson Interrogation

http://www.kpho.com/news/26696391/de...medium=twitter


VIDEO: Our Exclusive Interview With Salame
http://www.kpho.com/local-video/inde...deo_id=4521009

Attorney for 'Baby Gabriel's' mom will seek to have case dismissed

In less than two weeks, an attorney representing the Tempe mother of missing "Baby Gabriel" Johnson will argue before a Maricopa County Superior Court judge and prosecutors to drop the charges against her and dismiss the case.


http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/loc...cc4c002e0.html

Elizabeth Johnson's attorney expected to request case be dismissed


Tonight on ABC15 News at 10, Christopher Sign explains the letter he received from a woman who is currently behind bars and claims to have knowledge in the case.


http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/region...medium=twitter

Elizabeth Johnson, mother of missing baby Gabriel, appears for a hearing in Maricopa County Superior Court March 17, 2010, in Phoenix.


Baby Gabriel hearing set for Friday

Judge will decide if detective must testify on jailhouse interview.


“It's very much premature to say what (Salame) did there was illegal,” Reamey said of the interview, because it was in connection with a separate offense being investigated. Johnson was not under arrest in the San Antonio case, and the fact that she had invoked her right to counsel only applied to the Arizona case — whether she needed to be told her Miranda rights again is a decision for a judge, Reamey said.

Raynak said the cases are linked because the homicide case arose from the kidnapping case and they should be treated as such.



http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/Baby-Gabriel-hearing-set-Friday-1039158.php#ixzz1FZdVGaFQ

Texas hearing in Baby Gabriel case
ABC15 Posted:March 3, 2011

The hearing on Friday is to determine if Salame must appear in Arizona to answer questions under oath by Johnson's current attorneys.

A hearing originally scheduled for May 3, 2011 was moved to May 2, 2011 on the request of attorneys involved in the case because May 3 is Gabriel's birthday.


SAN ANTONIO - A hearing in Texas on Friday will decide whether an Arizona attorney defending the mother of a missing Tempe baby can get testimony from a San Antonio police detective.
Eight-month-old Gabriel Johnson was last seen the day after Christmas in 2009 before he disappeared in San Antonio. The boy's disappearance gained nationwide attention as "the Baby Gabriel case."
Gabriel's mother, 24-year-old Elizabeth Johnson, has been in the Maricopa County Jail since January 2010 on charges of kidnapping, custodial interference and child abuse. Johnson has at times said she killed her son, but his body has not been found and police there have never called Johnson a homicide suspect.
According to MySanAntonio.com , a homicide investigation was opened in San Antonio to allow detectives to search a local landfill. But no clues were found to explain the boy's disappearance.
The newspaper reports that San Antonio Police Department Detective Jesse Salame interviewed Johnson last May at the Maricopa County Jail.
Johnson's previous lawyers claim Salame interviewed Johnson without her legal counsel present. That prompted them to contend that Johnson's Sixth Amendment rights were violated and the case should be dismissed.
The hearing on Friday is to determine if Salame must appear in Arizona to answer questions under oath by Johnson's current attorneys.
MySanAntonio.com reports that Johnson's current defense attorney, Daniel Raynak said he hopes to get one step closer to questioning the detective. Raynak said Salame's jailhouse interview with Johnson was illegal.
A hearing originally scheduled for May 3, 2011 was moved to May 2, 2011 on the request of attorneys involved in the case because May 3 is Gabriel's birthday.
Johnson refuses to say what happened to Gabriel and has changed her story and attorneys several times over the course of the investigation.


http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/nation...y-gabriel-case

Missing Baby's Mom A No-Show



POSTED: March 8, 2011

The mother of missing baby Gabriel Johnson was a no-show in court Tuesday morning.

Deputies said Elizabeth Johnson refused to attend a scheduled hearing.


She's charged with child abuse and kidnapped of her 8-month-old son. Gabriel hasn't been seen in more than a year.

VIDEO: Witness: James Ray Did Nothing To Help
Johnson is expected to be back in court next month.


The judge added if she refuses again, deputies would physically take her to court.

http://www.kpho.com/news/27123905/detail.html

Groupon drops promotion tied to Baby Gabriel defendant
Mar. 10, 2011, Arizona Republic News

Groupon, an online coupon company, raised a ruckus today by temporarily offering a promotion for a company owned by Tammi Smith, who is charged in the disappearance of Baby Gabriel.

The first fuming comment, from Tonia G. (Groupon comments omit last names) was “Can’t believe you would put an accused criminal facing trial for a missing baby on your site. Very disappointed in Groupon today, and I am going to cancel my account.”

Dozens of similar comments were posted, and Groupon decided to pull the deal.


http://tucsoncitizen.com/arizona-new...iel-defendant/

April 11, 2011

Baby Gabriel's Mother Writes Poem To Boy's Father From Jail


Elizabeth Johnson: "I Forgive You. God Bless."

March 7, 2011


PHOENIX -- Elizabeth Johnson has refused to attend her many recent court hearings, but she is still getting her point across. The mother of missing baby Gabriel has written several letters to the judge, her friends, and last week for the first time, to Gabriel's father, Logan McQueary.

When she first fled the state with her 8-month-old boy, Johnson was determined show her contempt and anger for McQueary. This is a brief transcript of what she told him in a phone call while on the run.

"You destroyed my life," said Johnson. "I haven't destroyed anything," replied McQueary. "Yes, you have, Logan. You made me kill my baby boy," confessed Johnson.

Johnson later recanted that confession, saying rather that she gave her boy away to strangers in a Texas park. But now, after her arrest, and after her boy has been missing for more than a year, Johnson is still reaching out to torment McQueary. In the past two weeks, she sent a post card and a letter to Gabriel's father.

The letter is an illustrated poem entitled "The Universal Mother," and it includes a drawing of a pregnant woman, not unlike old photos of Elizabeth when she was carrying Gabriel.

Some of the lines of the poem are twisted lyrics from a song by the band Everlast. She writes, "Maybe one day you might know what it's like to walk the blues. They call her a sinner, they call her a killer, and they call her a whore. Maybe one day you really will know what it's like to be alone."

It ends simply with the word "Hypocrites," and then a personal message for McQueary: "Really, I should thank you, and you I. I forgive you. God Bless."

But on the postcard, Johnson is less forgiving, writing to McQueary, "Don't mess with the Monkey, and the Monkey won't mess with you."

If she has found God, as spiritual advisers inside the jail claim, then she found a vengeful one. Johnson chooses Bible quotes that deal only with her vindication, including this from Jeremiah 20:12, "My persecutors will stumble and will not prevail. They will be greatly ashamed, for they will not prosper. Their ever-lasting confusion will never be forgotten."

Logan McQueary told CBS5 that he is angry that Johnson is apparently more concerned with hurting him than telling authorities where Gabriel is. But he also said for the first time, he wants to talk with her, yell at her, write letters of his own, anything to make her come clean and tell the whole truth.

http://www.kpho.com/news/27105704/detail.html

Age Progressed Picture: