#bashara

New Post has been published on http://www.rockindlaw.com/gentz-creates-epic-legal-disaster-bashara/

Gentz creates ‘epic legal disaster' for Bashara (Press - Macomb Daily)(The Oakland Press)

Gentz creates ‘epic legal disaster’ for Bashar

Bob Bashara got the witness he wanted to take the stand, but “Master Bob” didn’t get the testimony he wanted.

Far from it.

In what was called an “epic legal disaster” by an attorney, Joe Gentz virtually sealed Bashara’s fate in his attempt for a new trial by saying Bob Bashara ordered him to kill Bashara’s wife, Jane.

Gentz provided new details on Jane Bashara’s death as he testified Thursday in Wayne County Circuit Court that a gun-wielding Bashara told him to kill Jane in the garage of their Grosse Pointe Park home.

“He pulls a gun on me and says shut her up,” Gentz said. “I was scared for my life.

“They were arguing. … Jane Bashara told Bob to get all his s— out of the garage. I went to move boxes and the next thing he pulls a gun on me and says, ‘Shut her up, do it now.’”

Gentz said after he killed Jane Bashara, Bob Bashara leaned over her lifeless body on the floor and lifted up her blouse to expose her breasts.

“He goes over to her and says, ‘Sorry baby. I didn’t mean it.’ And he put the top back up.”

From the witness stand, Gentz said Bob Bashara promised him a ring, $8,000 and a Cadillac, and threatened to kill him if he told anyone. Bashara said he would have someone follow Gentz.

Gentz, Bashara’s handyman, testified he and Bashara put Jane’s body in her Mercedes SUV. Bashara retrieved his wife’s purse from the house and threw its contents throughout the vehicle, he said.

Gentz drove Jane’s vehicle from the house while Bashara left in a Lincoln Navigator. Gentz said another vehicle followed him but that he lost the vehicle before he left the Mercedes in an east-side Detroit alley.

He said the incident occurred after he arrived at the home at 6 p.m Jan. 24, 2012. He said it was 7:30 p.m. when he left the house in the SUV.

Gentz’s testimony was a bizarre turn in a case that has had many twists and turns. It was the first time he provided details about the incident that has been subject of intense interest.

During Thursday’s testimony, Bashara appeared disappointed and slightly shook his head in disbelief.

The testimony contradicted statements Gentz supposedly made in a signed affidavit that was released in January in which he says he acted alone and was influenced by Grosse Pointe Park police to blame Bashara. He says in the affidavit Bashara wasn’t home at the time of the killing.

His testimony was in line with his pretrial courtroom statement more than three years ago that Bashara forced him to kill Jane Bashara.

Gentz’s mood on the stand appeared to teeter between jovial and angry, and he at times joked with Judge Vonda Evans, who forced him to read the affidavit aloud. He struggled at times with wording. At several points he interjected, “That’s a lie.”

“The whole thing’s a lie,” he said.

Before the took the stand, Gentz was warned repeatedly by Judge Evans that taking the stand could expose him to first-degree murder and perjury charges.

But Gentz insisted he testify on the expectation of many courtroom observers that he would support the affadavit.

Instead, Gentz blamed the lies in the affidavit on Carlo Vertinelli, a fellow inmate at the Macomb Correctional Facility in Lenox Township who typed the document.

Gentz admitted he gave Vertinelli his presentence report but did not write the statements. He said he signed the affidavit because he was “mad” at Grosse Pointe Park police for his treatment while he was held for four days without an attorney before his arrest, and at prison officials because he said he was ensured he would be safe, but has been assaulted four times in prison.

Metro-Detroit criminal defense lawyer Neil Rockind, who is not connected to the case, said the hearing was an epic legal disaster for Bashara and his appellate attorney, Ronald Ambrose.

Rockind compared Gentz to a “Trojan horse.”

“He infected the appeal to the point that it cannot be won and should be withdrawn,” he said. “To call a witness expecting him to say one thing and then to have him say the exact opposite is a lawyer’s and party’s worst nightmare. Lawyers lay awake at night fearing that experience.”

Evans scheduled a May 10 hearing for Gentz to continue testifying and said she hopes to make a decision on Bashara’s new-trial motion by the second week of June.

Bashara, 58, was convicted of first-degree murder and other charges for the death of Jane, 56, a Mount Clemens native, in December 2014 following a trial. He is serving life in prison without parole. Gentz did not testify at the trial.

Prosecutors said Bashara killed to maintain an affair and his bondage-sadomasochist lifestyle with other women and for financial benefit.

Gentz, 52, formerly of St. Clair Shores, is serving 17 to 28 years in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree murder for Jane’s death. He has served about four years.

Bashara is also serving 80 months in prison after admitting to trying to have Gentz killed while behind bars.

After the hearing, Gentz’s attorney, John Holler, said he was not sure beforehand how Gentz would testify but was glad that he told the truth and didn’t commit perjury.

He agreed that Gentz, who has below-average intelligence, may not have reduced the chances of retaliation by other prison inmates for being a so-called “snitch,” but that Gentz’s logic may not “comport” with others.

“I can’t think that it will help him,” he said of Gentz’s standing in prison.

Before Gentz testified, Judge Evans ordered Gentz to meet with his brother, who had come to the court, in private about his decision to testify. His brother declined comment after the hearing.

New Post has been published on http://www.rockindlaw.com/press-legal-expert-commentary-on-bashara-case/

(Press) Legal Expert Commentary On Bashara Case

Bob Bashara’s bid for a new trial has been delayed until February.  WDIV continues to cover the case including my commentary and analysis as the WDIV legal expert. While Gentz’s credibility is in question, this is unusual. He is not a juror recanting a vote for guilty nor is he a witness recanting trial testimony.  He was not called as a witness at trial.

Unlike cases where prisoners offer information that helps the state and seek leniency or early release, Gentz is doing the opposite.  This is important! He is offering evidence that directly inculpates and incriminates himself. His testimony in the affidavit hurts the state and he is, so far, asking for nothing.  While the claims of those seeking to help themselves for reduced sentences are met with obvious and warranted skepticism, Gentz’s affidavit seeks nothing for himself other than redemption for arguably causing an innocent man to be incarcerated.   The contrast should be clear: if a prisoner’s claims to help himself are viewed with skepticism, shouldn’t we view Gentz’s without similar motivation with acceptance.

I am not saying that Bashara is innocent. Far from it… I offer no opinion on his guilt or innocence.  However his trial did take on the form of a character assassination with only circumstantial evidence being admitted to convict him.  A trial where Gentz testifies is warranted when a man’s life hangs in the balance and the state should, but likely won’t, agree.

One of the challenges here and on our system is that prosecutors control when witnesses can be given use immunity, a form of immunity that allows them to testify without fear of those words being used against them.  Neither a judge nor a lawyer can do so.  This puts the state at a distinct advantage: they can silence witnesses by joy offering immunity and encourage them to testify with use immunity and plea bargaining.

Criminal justice reform should include an examination of this practice and make these tools available  to the defense too.  Stay tuned for more from WDIV and me.

New Post has been published on http://www.rockindlaw.com/basharaanalysis/

(Press) Expert Legal Analysis On Bombshell News In The Bashara Case

I provided expert legal analysis today on the Bashara case.  Today, breaking news developed in that case.  If you recall,  Grosse Pointe icon Robert Bashara was convicted of participating in the murder of his wife, Jane Bashara.  Today, the gunman, Joseph Gentz, submitted a sworn affidavit claiming that Bashara had nothing to do with the murder and that he, Gentz, acted alone.  This is bombshell development in the Bashara case.

WDIV-TV, @local4news and reporter Shawn Ley discussed the implications of the newly discovered evidence with me today in my role as the WDIV-TV legal expert/analyst.  I explained that this is powerful evidence that could result in Bashara obtaining a new trial.  Neither the judge nor prosecutor can simply dismiss Gentz’s sworn affidavit as another in a line of contradictory statements.   For a jury, this admission by the gunman would prove hard to ignore when compared to the entirely circumstantial case upon which the state relied.

Here is the story and my commentary:

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/joe-gentz-on-jane-bashara-death

Here is the text from the WDIV, www.clickondetroit.com website:

Joe Gentz, in his own words, is changing his story again about how he was involved in Jane Bashara’s murder.

A sworn affidavit was filed last week. In it, Gentz said the former police chief of Grosse Pointe Park, David Hiller, and the detective who investigated the murder when it happened in January of 2012 allegedly told him to lie. Gentz claims they coached him on what to say when he told them, “I alone did it.”

In the affidavit Gentz writes: “That my testimonial statements against Mr. Robert Bashara was the product of coercion and subornation of perjury by Sgt. Reducio and Chief David Hiller.”

Gentz said he killed Jane and Bob Bashara was not home at the time of the murder. Here’s more of what Gentz wrote in the affidavit (view the affidavit file here):

“I could no longer live knowing Mr. Robert Bashara was completely innocent, and further explained to him that Mr. Robert Bashara was not even in his house when I killed his wife.”

Gentz is saying he went to the Bashara home in Grosse Pointe Park angry that Bob hadn’t paid him for two recent jobs.

“I knew Mr. Bashara was not in his house. So, I broke into his home, walked into the garage and Mrs. Jane Bashara caught me and I lost control,” he writes in the affidavit.

Gentz told all of this to a fellow inmate inside the Macomb Correctional Facility. That inmate relayed Gentz’s words to a private investigator who presented it to Bob Bashara’s new attorney. The affidavit was signed by Gentz.

Joe Gentz’s original story:

Gentz worked as a handyman for Bob Bashara, who owned real estate across the metro Detroit area. His original story was that Bob Bashara hired him to kill Jane. Gentz claimed Bob held a gun to his head as he strangled Jane.

In December, Bob Bashara was found guilty of murdering his wife. He was accused of arranging to have her killed. After nine weeks of testimony with nearly 80 witnesses, a Wayne County Circuit Court jury rendered the following verdicts against Bashara:

First-degree murder – guilty Conspiracy to commit first-degree murder – guilty Solicitation to commit murder – guilty Witness intimidation – guilty Obstruction of justice – guilty He was sentenced to a minimum of 80 months in prison and a maximum of 20 years. The state parole board will determine when to release him.

Bashara is appealing the conviction and fighting for a new trial. He has maintained his innocence.

Could Gentz’s new story get Bashara a new trial?