>From Netwatcher http://www.ionet.net/~mdyer/baker.html

3/18/95

After hearing the preliminary evidence, the Michigan Grand Jury reviewing 
Jake Baker's case decided to
indict Baker with 5 counts of transmitting a threat to injure or kidnap, 
in violation of 18 USC 875 (c).
Each count carries fines and up to 5 years imprisonment.

3/10/95

Baker has been released on $10,000 bond on the condition that he not post 
articles to the internet. He
may read and download material online, but cannot post. The terms of his 
release also call for him to
receive a psychological evaluation.

In releasing Baker, the Judge indicated that he did not feel that it was 
likely that Baker would carry
through with the alleged threats made in the newsgroup article and e-mails.

The Judge ordered that Baker's mother, Vilma Baker, take third-party 
custody of Jake. Mrs. Baker is to
report any unusual behavior to the court. Baker is to avoid Ann Arbor, 
except to visit with his attorneys,
and is to have no contact with students at the University of Michigan.

After his release, Baker stated that it was "stupid" to have used the 
girl's real name in the article, but
that, since he had been out of touch during his month of incarceration, 
he did not feel he had the proper
perspective to make public comment. 

HISTORY: SUMMARY OF RELEVANT EVENTS

  January 9

--A University of Michigan alumnus, living in Moscow, saw the post and 
alerted University officials.

  February 2

--Baker was escorted from the campus on February 2, and suspended. 

  February 3

--Baker and his attorney meet with school officials to ask that Baker be 
allowed to resume classes and
his duties as a projectionist on the north campus.

  February 9

--A hearing is held on the UM campus. At approximately 1:00 p.m., prior 
to the scheduled hearing,
Baker is arrested by federal authorities at the office of his attorney. 
Baker is taken before a magistrate,
charged with Interstate Transmission of a Threat, in violation of 18 
U.S.C. sec. 875, which carries a
maximum prison term of five years. He is also accused of sending and 
receiving e-mail correspondence
with an unnamed Canadian man, in which both describe their desire to 
kidnap and torture women. Baker
is jailed overnight without bail, even though the prosecutor recommends 
bond be set.

  February 9

--Baker's mother and an Ann Arbor psychiatrist appear at the hearing on 
the UM campus. The
psychiatrist and Baker's mother both testify that Jake is not a threat to 
anyone on campus. The
psychiatrist characterizes the writings as "thoughts", with no plan of 
action. The psychiatrist also states
that Baker is not delusional. Baker's attorney states that Baker has no 
criminal record.

  February 10

--U.S. Magistrate Thomas Carolson orders Baker held without bail, in 
spite of the prosecutor's request
that bond be set at $100,000. Magistrate Judge Carolson stated that the 
posts were "more than just a
story" and quoted the messages to the unnamed Ontario man as stating 
"Just thinking about it any more
doesn't do the trick. I need to do it." The magistrate further noted that 
the correspondence involved
where and how to carry out such an assault. A court affidavit of an FBI 
agent states that the messages
between Baker and the Canadian man "described Baker's desire to commit 
acts of abduction, bondage,
torture, mutilation, sodomy rape and murder of young women. Baker's 
mother, a high school English
teacher, said after the UM campus hearing that her son chose the name 
from 200 names in a class, and
picked the one he did simply because the woman's last name "is a sexual 
pun." Baker's defense attorney
announces that he will appeal the denial of bail.

  February 10

--A U.S. District Judge, having read the e-mail correspondence between 
Baker and the Canadian man,
upheld the ruling of the Magistrate Judge to hold Baker for trial without 
bail. Saying "I wouldn't want
my daughter to be on the streets of Ann Arbor or Ohio with him in the 
condition I believe he is in at this
time", Judge Bernard Friedman said that he was convinced that the female 
subject of Baker's story,
whose identity Judge Friedman ordered kept secret, could not be protected 
from Baker unless he was
jailed. At the hearing, Baker's attorney presented findings of a 
psychiatrist and psychologist, both of
whom had spoken with Baker, who stated that Baker is not dangerous or 
mentally ill. The attorney also
pointed out that Baker had cooperated with authorities, giving them his 
e-mail password as they
searched for evidence.



*Sidenote:*

Last April, another UM student used a classmate's logon to post 
statements from an Organization for the
Execution of Minorities, which threatened blacks, and criticized Latinos, 
Jews and gays.