FBI to testify about Baby Kate search

LUDINGTON, Mich. (WOOD) - A witness for the prosecution against Sean Phillips was added to the docket for Thursday on Wednesday -- an FBI agent involved in the search for Baby Kate.

The agent visited a Birmingham, Mich. family on Wednesday. The family is one of those looking to adopt on a site called parentprofiles.com and had been searched on Phillips' computer.

Prosecutor Paul Spaniola said in court that the agent met with the family around 4:30 p-.m. Wednesday and that the information on the search was brand new. He said that the information from the agent could be significant in the case.

But Defense attorney Annette Smedley objected to the new witness. Visibly frustrated, she said that the information was not new. She said the flood of new information in the case has buried her in documents.

But Smedley has a surprise witness of her own recently added to the docket: Jamie Jones of the Missing You Foundation, who is expected to aid in the defense's ongoing strategy to discredit Baby Kate's mother Ariel Courtland.

Jones' testimony has to do with the clothing that Baby Kate was allegedly wearing when she was last seen.

Phillips faces charges of unlawful imprisonment in connection to the 2011 disappearance of his daughter.

Wednesday consisted of a full day of testimony from other witnesses for the prosecution.

Courtland's wallet, identification and purse were found in Phillips' car the day their 4-month-old daughter went missing, but, a detective testified, not her cell phone.

Michael Kenney, a detective with the Mason County Sheriff's Department, said he spoke with Courtland around 6 p.m. on June 29, 2011.

At that time, he said, "We didn't know who took Katherine."

After getting a search warrant, Phillips' car was searched at the Ludington Police Department. He said Courtland told him she left her cell phone in his car, but it was not there.

Her cell phone was never found. Kenney added he found no text messages on Phillips' phone from that day.

But her other personal items were there, as well as a recently soiled diaper, found underneath the front passenger seat of the car, Kenney said.

In a search at Phillips' Scottville home, he found custody paperwork and a young male's clothing in Phillips' room. He also found the shoes introduced into evidence on Tuesday, shoes with soil that likely came from a part of western Mason County near a lake or marsh.

During the search, Courtland showed up, Kenney said. Phillips' father, Larry, hugged her and started crying, while his mother, Kim, did not react to Courtland.

Kenney said detectives, using various records, were able to account for all of Courtland's time that day, but they could not account for Phillips' time.

Spaniola showed a timeline of Courtland's activities for the day, but Smedley objected, saying some events from that day are not on the timeline.

Kenney admitted Phillips' stop at a fireworks stand around 3 p.m. -- testified to earlier in the trial -- is not on the timeline.

Judge Richard Cooper ruled the timeline can be shown to the jury as a "demonstrative exhibit," but not as evidence.

Courtland's cell phone records were revealed. She called Phillips' phone at 9:56 a.m., 10:13 a.m., 10:17 a.m., 10:19 a.m., 10:20 a.m., and at 10:44 a.m. On that call, they spoke for 12 minutes.

At 11:42 a.m., surveillance video captured Phillips' car driving by the hospital. At 12:04 p.m, video captured Phillips leaving the hospital.

At 12:27 p.m., Ariel's friend Alaina Campbell calls Courtland, who said Phillips is at her apartment. At 12:33 p.m., Courtland calls the hospital.

A few minutes after that, Courtland called Kim Phillips and left a message that said, "Sean kidnapped our daughter. ... I want my daughter back and I want her back now."

Then Kim Phillips called Sean's cell phone and left a message: "Obviously, stuff's going on. ... Would you just please call me?"

Throughout the afternoon investigators testified that reenactments further proved Courtland's version of events.

And, detectives said, Phillips changed his shoes between the time he was seen at the hospital on camera and the time he was interrogated by the police.

The trial, with Mason County Judge Richard Cooper presiding, is expected to continue through this week.

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