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Thursday, April 16, 2009

[FL] Groveland Police KNEW WELL what Jesse Baker had done BEFORE they hired him

Groveland Police Lt. Jesse Baker (center)

"...in spite of the scathing report in which Baker was fired as a wildlife officer, he was hired by Groveland Police Department. The police chief knew about Baker's past but didn't want to talk on camera..."

He is a Lieutenant now
and appears to be 2nd in Command.

Groveland - his home turf.

Some things just beg
to be remembered.


Previous post:
[FL] Sgt. Baker, a pile of screaming articles, & this awful tossing and turning

EXCERPTS FROM PAST NEWS ARTICLES

GAME OFFICER IS ARRESTED IN BEATING
Official's Arrest Just 1 Of Many During Weekend

The Orlando Sentinel
September 15, 1997
By Robert Sargent Jr.
A Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission officer was arrested Sunday on charges that he beat a woman so severely that he broke her collarbone and caused bruises over 75 percent of her body, authorities said... Baker, 39, of Groveland, was being held without bail in the Lake County Jail. He has been placed on administrative leave, said Lt. Joy Hill of the Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission. The couple were fighting at their home when a relative separated them and took the woman to the hospital, according to a police report. Deputies interviewed the woman and then arrested Baker at 1:10 a.m. Sunday, confiscating his badge and a .38-special handgun...

WIFE SUES OVER CASE AGAINST HUSBAND
The Groveland woman, who was bruised over most of her body, blames her manic-depressive illness.

The Orlando Sentinel
November 15, 1997
A woman whose husband was arrested on charges of domestic violence is suing the State Attorney's Office, saying that she didn't complain to authorities about the alleged abuse and that her right to privacy has been been violated... his wife was treated for bruises over 80 percent of her body, a large bump on the back of her head and a collarbone that was separated from her shoulder blade... Pamela Baker states that she suffers from manic-depressive and bipolar disorders, had overdosed on prescription drugs and "has little memory of any events occurring after she ingested the prescription drugs." She said her husband has never hit her in their 18 years of marriage. Jesse Baker, apparently, is sometimes frightened of her, according to the suit. It said he has sometimes seen her lose control and has locked himself in the couple's bedroom, in part to keep prescription drugs away from her. One of the drugs, according to Jesse Baker's criminal attorney, James Hope, is Depakote, an epilepsy medicine used to treat seizures and convulsions. One of the side effects is that it causes bruising... Blair said no one knows what happened. "She took way, way too many pills," Blair said. "She has no memory." The suit said Jesse Baker found his wife nude on the floor and put her in bed to recuperate from her injuries...

WAS IT DOMESTIC VIOLENCE?
Wife says she can't remember how she got cuts, bruises

THE ORLANDO SENTINEL
May 26, 1998
By Frank Stanfield
...Pamela Baker, 44, her body a mass of huge bruises and cuts, her collarbone broken and a shiner under one eye, stares bleakly into the camera lens on Sept. 14, 1997. Some of the bruises in the 8-by-10 color photos are huge, black splotches that cover her buttocks. Others on her body are sickly, yellow areas intersected by nasty-looking cuts. Her legs are a mass of mottling. More than 75 percent of her body was covered in bruises. "I've seen dead people who haven't looked this bad," said Assistant State Attorney Sue Purdy... Pamela Baker said she doesn't remember because she had overdosed on the pills she was taking for the treatment of bipolar disorder, sometimes called manic depression. She figures she probably trashed her house, then kept falling on the debris. One of the side effects of one of the pills she was taking is bruising...

COUPLE IN ABUSE CASE ALLOWED TO STAY TOGETHER
The wife said her injuries were not caused by her husband.
The Orlando Sentinel
June 5, 1998
By Frank Stanfield
A judge in a pending, controversial domestic violence case has ruled that the couple can be reunited even though the parties usually are ordered to stay apart until the matter is resolved....

BATTERY TRIAL DELAYED AGAIN
A possible conflict over lawyers has put off the trial of the former wildlife officer charged with beating his wife.

The Orlando Sentinel
July 24, 1998
By Frank Stanfield
...Not only does his wife, Pamela, not want her husband prosecuted, she even sued the State Attorney's Office asking that charges be dropped... She has speculated she caused the injuries to herself, but she cannot remember...

WOMAN: PAINFUL DAY WAS LOST IN DRUG STUPOR
Pamela Baker says she cannot recall the day she was hospitalized and her
husband was charged with beating her.

The Orlando Sentinel
October 27, 1998
By Frank Stanfield of The Sentinel Staff
Assistant State Attorney Sue Purdy promised jurors they would hear from witnesses who overheard the married couple argue before family members took Pamela Baker to the hospital. "Tell 'em I did it. Just tell 'em I did it," she said of a quote attributed to Jesse Baker. "You know you did it!" Pamela Baker supposedly shouted back. One of the first witnesses called to the stand was Pamela Baker's nephew, Michael Leverett. He testified that Pamela Baker showed up "a little intoxicated" at his home in Umatilla. He drove her to her house in Groveland on Sept. 11, 1997. He said he woke Jesse Baker, who asked, "Did she kill herself?" When he said no, he said, Baker replied: "I wish she had." Later, on cross-examination, Leverett conceded that because it was more than a year ago, he could not remember exactly what his uncle had said. Also testifying was Pamela Baker's sister, Jean McDaniel. McDaniel went to the house when no one answered the phone. She found the house "trashed," with furniture overturned and eggs and food thrown on the floor. She then discovered her sister naked, scraped up and puffy and sprawled on the bed, she said. She said she had seen similar incidents when her sister had abused pills, but conceded it had never been quite that bad. "Did Jesse or somebody do this to you?" she testified that she asked her sister. Baker said no. McDaniel said she asked repeatedly what had happened. "I fell a bunch of times," Baker said...

WOMAN'S BRUISES GET COURT SCRUTINY
Jurors must decide what caused them in the domestic-abuse trial of a Groveland man accused of beating his wife.

The Orlando Sentinel
October 28, 1998
By Frank Stanfield
Were some of the nasty black and blue bruises that covered Pamela Baker's body boot marks? Nurses and a doctor who treated Baker at Florida Hospital-Waterman testified Tuesday that they thought so. One reason, said emergency room nurse Katherine Urquhart, was a remark Baker made to her. "That's a pretty good-sized boot mark on my back, isn't it?" the 44-year-old Groveland woman said while being treated in September 1997... Also Tuesday, emergency room physician Dr. Bill Bernhart testified that he thought a round bruise looked like a boot mark. However, he said he couldn't say with absolute certainty that it was a boot mark. Defense attorney James Hope pressed for an alternative explanation for the mass of bruises on her thighs. He pointed out that family members found a bathtub full of water, a towel rack pulled off the wall, and razors in the tub. She could have fallen and straddled the tub, couldn't she? he asked. Bernhart couldn't accept the theory of how so many bruises ended up on the inside of Pamela Baker's limbs. "A person would have had to have dived head first into a tub." Hope went after the testimony of ER charge nurse Arlene Redmon, who also thought some of the bruises were boot marks... Rebecca Hutcheson said she walked into the middle of an argument when she approached her aunt's home on Sept. 12, 1997. She had learned from other family members earlier that Baker had been found naked, scraped and puffy in a house that had been turned upside down - furniture tipped over, a refrigerator rack pulled out, food and broken glass thrown on the floor. She testified she heard Jesse Baker say: "They're going to blame me for this, too." Pam Baker was quoted as saying, "You did this to me."...

SPOUSE DENIES INJURING WOMAN
He says she went on a rampage, hunting for prescription tranquilizers to
satisfy her addiction.

The Orlando Sentinel
October 29, 1998
By Frank Stanfield
...He said his wife, Pamela Baker, has wild mood swings, is impulsive, hears her dead brother's voice and undergoes periods of hyperactivity, sleeplessness and deep depression. In the hours leading up to her injuries on Sept. 12, 1997, she had gone on a rampage, demanding that he give her pills to satisfy her drug addiction... He said the only injuries he noticed were some red marks on her body. He picked her up, helped her to bed and left for work.... Baker said he had seen it before. He said he was reluctant to take her to the hospital because "all they have done in the past is give her more pills and increase my insurance bill."... Assistant State Attorney Sue Purdy tore into his story. "Were you not concerned enough to call 911?" the prosecutor asked, after reminding jurors that Pamela Baker also suffers from life-threatening seizure disorders.... Jurors also heard from Deputy Sheriff David Pelton, who talked to Pamela Baker at Florida Hospital-Waterman. "She did not understand what happened, that he had never beat her like this before," Pelton said....

BAKER IS FOUND NOT GUILTY
Man Didn't Beat His Wife, Jurors Say

The Orlando Sentinel
October 30, 1998
By Frank Stanfield
Former law enforcement officer Jesse Baker is not guilty of beating his wife, separating her shoulder and covering her body in bruises, a jury decided Thursday. "I'm very glad it's over," Pamela Baker said. "It's been a long year."... Jesse Baker took the stand to explain his wife couldn't remember because of prior injuries, including a car accident, years of severe mental illness and abuse of prescription medicine... Assistant State Attorney Sue Purdy showed picture after picture - more than 60 color blow-ups - of the ugly wounds that covered nearly 90 percent of Pamela Baker's body. Doctors and nurses at Florida Hospital-Waterman speculated some injuries looked like boot marks. But defense attorney James Hope argued the doctors' and nurses' views were tainted from the beginning with the suspicions of Pamela Baker's niece, Rebecca Hutcheson, who checked her aunt into the hospital. Hutcheson said she wept when she saw her aunt's shoulder drooping and bruises so bad on her buttocks they were black, not purple... Hutcheson also heard the couple arguing as she approached the house. "You did this to me," Pamela Baker shouted. Jesse Baker testified she was threatening to make up a story about abuse because he was refusing to allow her to overdose on tranquilizers... Jesse Baker's face was a knot of tension as he sat in Circuit Judge Barbara Gurrola's court- room awaiting the verdict. When it was read, he closed his eyes and let the tension slowly drain from his body. "I'm glad this part is over with," he said. "Now I'm hoping the Game and Fish Commission does the right thing and gives me my job back"...

OBITUARIES
THE ORLANDO SENTINEL

January 9, 2000
PAMELA DELOLA BAKER, 45, 16650 Douglas Road, Groveland, died Thursday, Jan. 6. Mrs. Baker was a homemaker. Born in Altamont, Tenn., she moved to Central Florida in 1957. She was a member of Hillcrest Baptist Church of Mascotte...

FLORIDA OFFICER WITH HISTORY OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE PATROLLING THE STREETS

Story by wftv.com
November 14, 2005
...Channel 9 began to investigate Officer Baker, a sergeant at Groveland Police Department, after receiving complaints from other law enforcement officers in Lake County... A jury never heard testimony from her and Baker was found not guilty, BUT A SUBSEQUENT INVESTIGATION BY STATE OFFICIALS INDICATED "YOU WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE BATTERY OF YOUR WIFE," further finding that he "left her unconscious for six hours ... while he went to work" as a wildlife officer... In Baker's court files, a counseling evaluation states that he'd taken full responsibility for his actions. But when he was arrested and in the Lake County jail, the Fish and Wildlife Commission found Baker was "uncooperative, belligerent and made derogatory statements to corrections officers."... BAKER'S WIFE, PAMELA, DIED from heart trouble a year to the day after Baker was officially fired from Florida Fish and Game. But in spite of the scathing report in which Baker was fired as a wildlife officer, he was hired by Groveland Police Department. The police chief knew about Baker's past but didn't want to talk on camera. The chief told 9 Investigates that he is confident in Baker's ability and even gave him a lie detector test before hiring him.

PAMELA DELOLA
Feb 10, 1954 to Jan 6, 2000

14 comments:

  1. I wrote this last year in another place:


    AFTER MY BLOOD RAN COLD THAT HE WAS STILL EMPLOYED, AND PROMOTED... IT HIT ME - REALLY HIT ME - THAT BAKER'S WIFE IS

    DEAD. PAMELA DELOLA IS GONE.

    SO I SET OUT TO FIND WHAT I COULD FIND.
    I SEARCHED FOR HOURS. I SEARCHED LONGEST AND HARDEST - AFTER I HAD FOUND MANY ARTICLES - FOR THE OBITUARY.

    PAMELA IS A COMMON NAME.
    SO IS BAKER.
    FLORIDA IS BIG.
    BUT I FOUND IT:

    OBITUARIES
    THE ORLANDO SENTINEL
    January 9, 2000
    PAMELA DELOLA BAKER, 45, 16650 Douglas Road, Groveland, died Thursday, Jan. 6. Mrs. Baker was a homemaker. Born in Altamont, Tenn., she moved to Central Florida in 1957. She was a member of Hillcrest Baptist Church of Mascotte. Survivors: husband, Jesse L.; son, [HP], Los Angeles; daughter, [KY], Osteen; sister, [JM], Mascotte; one grandchild. Kurfiss Funeral Home, Groveland.


    DOESN'T IT SEEM SO SHORT?

    WHERE'S EVEN HER BIRTHDATE? SEEMS REALLY REALLY SHORT WHEN YOU CONSIDER THAT THE ORLANDO SENTINEL HAD DONE SO MUCH PRESS ON HER.

    AFTER ALL MY SEARCHING TOO I CAN SAY THAT I COULDN'T FIND ONE ARTICLE THAT SAID SHE DIED... LIKE - WHAT KIND OF INVESTIGATION??? OR ASSURANCE??? THAT HER HEART QUIT??? THAT SHE WASN'T MURDERED???

    IF SHE HAD BEEN MURDERED WHAT WOULD BE THE LIABILITY AND SCANDAL???

    I'M NOT GOD. HEARTS DO QUIT. JUST - I'M NOT SATISFIED.
    I HAVE QUESTIONS...

    LIST OF WHAT I FOUND:

    1986_Article shows a Jesse Baker was the GAME WARDEN.txt

    1997_0915_Game Officer Is Arrested In Beating.txt

    1997_1115_Wife Sues Over Case Against Husband.txt

    1998_0526_Wife says she cant remember how hurt.txt

    1998_0527_CORRECTIONS_CLARIFICATIONS.txt

    1998_0528_Packed Courthouse Postpones Battery Trial.txt

    1998_0605_Couple Allowed To Stay Together.txt

    1998_0715_Judge Rules Against Wife In Abuse Case.txt

    1998_0724_Battery Trial Delayed Again.txt

    1998_1026_Domestic Violence - Or An Accident.txt

    1998_1027_Woman_Painful Day Was Lost In Drug Stupor.txt

    1998_1028_Womans Bruises Get Court Scrutiny.txt

    1998_1029_Spouse Denies Injuring Woman.txt

    1998_1030_Baker Is Found Not Guilty.txt

    2000_0109_Pamela Delola Baker Obituary.txt

    2004_Officer Baker and the taillight murder coverup.txt

    2005_1114_Officer With History Of DV Patrolling The Streets.txt

    2006_I SPY Promoted Sgt Baker.txt

    Bakers dad was military and law enforcement.txt


    WHY WASN'T I SATISFIED? WASN'T THAT ENOUGH READING AND FEELING FOR A DAY AND A NIGHT? I DON'T THINK I WAS SATISFIED YET BECAUSE THERE WAS SOMETHING MORE FOR ME TO FIND. (I GET GUT FEELINGS.) I FOUND THE CONNECTION TO SOMEONE ON MYSPACE AND ON THEIR PAGE I FOUND THE PHOTO OF PAM'S GRAVESTONE.

    IS THAT BEAUTIFUL AND FRIGHTENING AT THE SAME TIME?
    IT IS TO ME.

    HAVING SAID ALL THAT, I NEED TO SAY THIS. THE ARTICLE LAST YEAR SAYS

    "...Baker was fired from the Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission after they determined he had battered his wife, leaving her hospitalized for a week..."

    I PAUSE IN A MOMENT OF SILENCE.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lake, FL Genexchange™ - Cemetery Registry
    Name: BAKER, Pamela Delola
    Date of death: 6 Jan 2000 Lake, FL
    Publication: Daily Commerecial
    Date of Obit: 9 Jan 2000
    Notes: Pamela Delola Baker of Groveland. Born in Altamonte, Tn., she moved to Groveland in 1957 from Tracy City, Tn. She was a homemaker and attended Hillcrest Baptist Church of Mascotte. Survivors include her husband, Jesse L.; a son, Heath Patterson of Los Angeles; a daughter, Kendy Yawn of Osteen; a sister, Jean McDaniel of Mascotte; and one grandchild. Kirfuss Funeral Home, Groveland.
    Source: obit
    Posted By: Submitter # 33630
    Email Address: mommiehez@aol.com
    http://www.genexchange.org/cemreg?id=31585&state=fl&county=lake

    BAKER, Pamela Delola

    BAKER, Pamela Delola ( ); 45; Groveland FL; Daily Commercial; 2000-1-9; jjphethean

    BAKER, Pamela Delola ( )[PATTERSON]; 45; Altamont TN>Groveland FL; OS; 2000-1-9; kat

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousMay 16, 2011

    Lt. Jesse Baker
    http://groveland-fl.gov/?page_id=259

    ReplyDelete
  4. Yeah,I agree. I don't how the "Good Ole' boy" network is still alive and kicking even today and this guy is still allowed to be employed as a l.e.o. nonetheless...

    ReplyDelete
  5. THANK you for taking the time to comment because I like to be reminded to shout it from the rooftops now and then.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I dont know who the Good Ole Boy comment is for, but my father has fired alot of bad employees and Jesse Baker was never a violent man.......Chief Merrill did the right thing with hiring Jesse, especially when his wife said he has never been an abusive husband!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Do Not know who your Dady is but Merrill did the wrong thing by hiring a MURDERER !!! I lost my job because I voiced an opinion to my LT at the time I was told I would have to be moved to Bakers shift I told the LT I did not like the Idea of working with someone who had a Murder charge brought aginst them to which the Lt stated well you are going to have to work with him sometime to which I replied yes sir I also have to die dosen't mean I am in a Hurry to do either I WAS A GOOD OFFICER BUT NOT ONE OF DRUNKY MERRILLS FAVORITES !!!

      Delete
  7. My post keeps getting deleted,,,i wonder by who???? Must be them nice groveland police officers,,,,not to worry my day in court is coming and it will make the news and show how corrupt the department is!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Did you post yesterday because it may be on the other post.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Yes your right my mistake

    ReplyDelete
  10. It is a Good Ol' Boy system. The department protects the lack luster employees who back their rummy friends and refuse to support or acknowledge the work of quality officers. The department appears to be heading in a great direction and even still, the alcoholic drains of the city are stopping progress. Quality employees are over shadowed but the scum of the bar crowd friend circle of the good ol boy system. The days of poor quality cops and corruption is over. Jesse Baker deserves to be fired, his certificate revoked by the state and sent packing from this town in shame. His best friend, Cindy Homelius, is another crooked cop with the thought process of an uneducated piece of trash. Her tumultuous stint at Clermont P.D. is reason enough not to hire her, but Jesse Baker helped to speed her hiring process up and rush her into investigations where she did nothing but shop all day and hang out with her explorer kids. The victims in her cases I'm sure would love to see how great of a detective she was not while she used city paid time to satisfy her personal demands. Country racism that refuses to move into the New era of police work. Professional Law Enforcement my ass. You employ a murderer, Jesse Baker, a thief, Cindy Homelius, an overly medicated retard who is know to fabricate all of his drug cases, Shane Mowery, an alcoholic flunkie from Mascotte, John Rigdon, a temperamental Brazil Ian who could care less about the public and more about what's owed to him, Mario Cardoso. These are just some of the many problems that the Police Department needs to get rid of in order to succeed. I hope it happens soon. Wake up your drunk wastes of space, your time is over. Step aside and watch professionals move your department into a premier Law Enforcement agency.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Replies
    1. It's clear to me (a Groveland Resident and Non-Groveland LEO) and my neighbors that G.P.D. is full of a bunch of racist pieces of crap. From what I saw on T.V. I like to know how the hell G.P.D. thinks a proper and professional response to a claim of racial discrimination is to have a mass gathering of all "white" officers behind this new chief of police. It was a disgusting "show of force" designed to intimidate and discourage public outcry. It looked like a Klan rally and the only thing those cops were missing were their hoods. This new chief was hired by a piece of crap and we have no reason to think there is any reason he himself is not. From everything I see on the street G.P.D. has gotten worse. Their infighting is insane and is plainly visible to the public. All the cops there have checkered pasts and I have no confidence in them at all. Dig in the past of this new chief and his hiring in Okaloosa County caused a big stink in county government there for a reason. His leaving his chief position there is just as telling. They were happy to see him leave. Why does Groveland keep hiring others trash? It's simple, when a piece of crap gets elected mayor he hires crap, this crap hires more crap and you can bet your rear this newest chief piece of crap has plans to bring in his crony crap. It appears that Groveland has caught the disease that has plagued Clermont for the last 50 years. Sad South Lake County residents are stuck with this mess, but they get what they pay for. The decent cops don't waste their time looking for jobs in Lake County anyways for this reason.

      Delete

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