OH: ex-p.d. compelled to testify

Attorney agrees to testify in Erica Baker case

A former public defender has agreed to testify about what a former client may have told her about the 1999 disappearance of 9-year-old Erica Baker.

In announcing what ends a 3 1/2-year legal dispute, Montgomery County Prosecutor Mathias H. Heck Jr. said Beth Lewis' lawyers contacted him before noon Tuesday and said she was prepared to testify before a grand jury...

(Lewis) lost another legal fight on Tuesday in her effort to avoid testifying about what a former client may have told her regarding the missing 9-year-old girl.

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati ruled 3-0 that federal courts do not have jurisdiction in the matter and sent the case back to state court, which found Beth Lewis in contempt for refusing to testify in the disappearance...

Ohio is one of the few states that allow a surviving spouse to give permission for an attorney to reveal privileged conversations between lawyers and clients.