BY TOM O'NEILL
The Cincinnati Enquirer
WILMINGTON -- After three hours of testimony from attorney David Bender and two hours of waiting, an often-contentious pretrial hearing Thursday in the Tracey Baker case ended with only one decision. The trial of Mr. Baker, set to begin Monday, was postponed until May 18. Mr. Baker is accused of helping his half-brother, Vince Doan, dispose of the body of his former girlfriend, Carrie Culberson of Blanchester.
Judge William McCracken in Clinton County Common Pleas Court requested writings from both sides before ruling on potential trial testimony from Mr. Bender. The lawyer said Thursday he received two faxes from Baker defense attorney Scott J. Frederick that caused Mr. Bender concern.
Those faxes, dated March 26 and 27, relate to the pending divorce of Mr. Baker and his wife, Lori, whom Mr. Bender is representing. Mr. Frederick vehemently contended there was no offer to accommodate Mrs. Baker in the divorce case in exchange for anything related to her expected testimony against Mr. Baker.
Mr. Bender acknowledged that he didn't call Mr. Frederick to clarify the intent of the faxes and that there were no divorce conditions in Mr. Frederick's faxes that Mr. Bender hadn't already pursued, such as use of the marital residence.
Clinton County prosecutor William Peelle often referred Mr. Bender to the portion of the March 26 fax in which Mr. Frederick wrote, "Please advise me of your clients (sic) position on the spousal privilege issue, and depending on her position, I believe we can resolve this divorce to her benefit."
"I took it to be if she cooperated they would cooperate with the divorce," Mr. Bender testified.
There were numerous heated exchanges as Mr. Frederickquestioned a fellow attorney about Mr. Frederick's own actions. "There's a difference between knowledge and concern," Mr. Bender answered at one point, to which Mr. Frederick snapped back, "Thank you so much. I agree."
