JUDGE GAGS RILEY CHOATE CASE

GAGGED

'NO EVIDENCE

THE case against monster dad Riley Choate who is accused of torturing killing his 13-year-old son took a bizarre twist, when the judge placed a gagging order on the case.
Along with his wife Kimberly Kubina, he is accused of the brutal torture of his son Christian, keeping him locked in a dog cage and barely feeding him.
The tragic 13-year-old wrote "I want to die" in a diary, just weeks before his life was cut short and his body was found buried near their home in a Gary, IN, trailer park.
But now Lake County Judge Diane Boswell  has placed a gagging order on the case, preventing any further reporting on the potentially sordid details of the case.
 The Juvenile Court last week released copies of their files on the Choate family, which detailed statements made by witnesses who said the couple and Christian's older sister regularly beat the boy from about 2007 until he died in the spring of 2009, allegedly after a Riley repeatedly struck the boy in the head.
The files also showed the Department of Child Services investigated  numerous allegations of abuse -- some substantiated, others not-- against Choate and Kubina dating as early as 1999.
As far back as 2008, caseworkers visited their home but  a period when his sister has told investigators the boy was being kept in a 3-foot-high dog cage, but after interviews they found no evidence of abuse.

PROSECUTOR TO JUDGE: WE WANT RILEY CHOATE'S DNA

EVIL?

TRAGIC

RILEY Choate's DNA is being sought by prosecutor's working on the horrific murder of his 13-year-old son. Christian Choate's battered body was found in a shallow grave near his home on the Gary, IN, trailer park where he was allegedly kept in a dog cage and horribly abused by his father and stepmother Kimberly Kubina.
The tragic 13-year-old wrote "I want to die" in a diary, within weeks of his tragic life being cut short.
Now, Deputy Prosecutor Michael Wood is asking Criminal Court Judge Diane Boswell's permission to collect genetic material with a cotton swab from the mouth of 39-year-old Riley, who is pleading not guilty to murder.
Choate's defense attorney Randy Godshalk said: "I presume they are trying to establish a DNA match between Riley and Christian Choate. It's kind of a standard request."
He told the NWI Times  said state law gives him little leeway to oppose the DNA evidence collection from his client.
Choate is set to appear in court for a variety of pretrial motions, including a request by the prosecution for his handwriting sample and a defense motion for a independent autopsy to investigate the medical cause of the victim's death.
The coroner's office states Christian died in early 2009 of blunt force trauma and a skull fracture.
Godshalk is asking the court to dismiss the case against his client on grounds the charges are too vague regarding the time and other details of the boy's death.
Kubina Choate also is pleading not guilty.

CHRISTIAN CHOATE': 'A VERY SAD, DEPRESSED CHILD'

THAT SOUND you hear is one a thousand asses being covered. The murder of Christian Choate just goes from bad to worse. In a diary, he wrote how he was hungry, thristy and wanted to die.
The 13-year-old boy's body was recovered from a shallow grave in a Gary, Indiana trailer park after years of horrific abuse and being held captive in a dog cage. The details in documents released Friday are heartbreaking to say
the least. His father Riley 'White Trash' Choate and stepmother Kimberly Kubina have been charged with his murder.
The report states: “Christian wrote of why nobody liked him and how he just wanted to be liked by his family. Christian stated that he wanted to die because nobody liked the way he ‘acted.' Christian’s writings detail a very sad, depressed child who often wondered when someone, anyone, was going to come check on him and give him food or liquid. Christian often stated he was hungry or thirsty.”
So, now he's dead. The report also outlines sexual molestation allegations against his natural mother, Aimee Eriks Estrada's live-in lover, Silas Estrada. Christian also alleged that his mother may have been "inappropriate" with him. Now, why is it we're against the death penalty?
According to the Chicago Sun-Times: The guardians of Christian Choate were investigated numerous times by Department of Child Services for physical abuse, educational neglect, and molestation. A caseworker last saw Christian on June 30, 2008.
Nice job.

HOW RILEY CHOATE WAS NABBED IN SON'S MURDER

IT IS AN OFT-REPEATED cliché that time is of the essence but never was it more apt than in this cold case in Indiana. Lake County Sheriff's Department (LCSD) Deputy Commander of the Detective Bureau Matt Eaton’s interest was tweaked one night when he overheard a call from police dispatch to a patrol officer while on his way home from the gym, according to The Gary Post-Tribune.
The call came from the home of Gary, Indiana resident Aimee Estrada. Estrada, biological
mother of 13-year-old Christian Choate, who had disappeared two years earlier told cops that she’d just found out that her son was, in fact dead, and that his body was buried somewhere in Colfax mobile home park.
One detective said: "It’s unbelievable that this actually happened to a child who looked like that. This kid lived a life of hell."
Before Eaton returned home there were more calls – this time from Christian County in Kentucky. Christina Choate, Christian’s older sister also called police with information. It was a clear break in a case gone hopelessly stale; the calls were genuine and Eaton immediately sprang into action.
He insisted on radio silence, telling dispatchers to ‘hold your traffic’ while he went about building a plan. Eaton, a veteran of the LCSD, knew that it was vital to halt radio communications in case word got out about the burial site.
Eaton put together an experienced team of a dozen officers to search the area and brought in veteran detectives Jeff Minchuk and Michelle Weaver to work the case. However, it wasn’t going to be easy.
It was a pitch black night and the area in question was a massive ten acres in size. Cops worked hard, trying to uncover as much as possible – but with no success.
In the meantime, cops arrested Christian’s stepmother, Kimberly Leona Kubina on foot of an outstanding arrest warrant. Kubina was brought in for questioning and it didn’t take long before she lawyered up.
Riley Lowell Choate, Christian’s father –also had outstanding warrants and was brought in for questioning the next day. That questioning lead to what cops called “real solid information” and a search warrant was issued for an area close to the alleged burial site.
On Wednesday, May 4th, Christian Choate’s body was discovered in a shallow grave close to where the Choate family once lived, almost two years after he went missing. It didn’t take long before details surfaced about sickening cruelty that Christian allegedly endured at the hands of Riley Choate and Kubina. According to cops Christian was treated worse than a dog – he was forced to sleep naked in a cage, was handcuffed to a bedpost and was beaten mercilessly.
The beatings were so severe that he suffered a fractured skull and massive internal bleeding. The trials of Choate and Kubina are still in the preliminary states and have been plagued by delays.
The next scheduled court date is July 05th, 2011.

RILEY CHOATE'S LAWYER SEEKS CHILD CUSTODY FILES

RILEY CHOATE'S mouthpiece is making moves to help the horrific hillbilly wiggle out of murder charges. Riley who? He's the 39-year-old Hammond, Indiana man, who along with his gal pal, Kimberly Kubina, 45, beat and tortured his son Christian Choate, 13, until he died. Let him live in a dog cage. Starved him. Beat him. Then they buried him like a dead animal under a concrete slab. Both have been charged with murder and a litany of other crimes. They have pleaded not guilty.
Now, his lawyer is seeking records relating to child
custody issues with the boy's biological mother, Amy Estrada, no prize herself. Prosecutors have hinted that more people could be charged.

Witnesses have told detectives that Choate, Kubina and at least one other person repeatedly abused the boy, who was confined in a locked dog cage for more than one year prior to his death on April 5, 2009, court records state. 
Riley Choate had custody of Christian and his sister Christina, who is said to be "safe, sound and doing well" considering "she was in danger a good part of her life."
MORE IN THE GARY POST-TRIBUNE

RILEY CHOATE, WIFE PLEAD NOT GUILTY IN TORTURE SLAY

NOT GUILTY? Well, after we stopped laughing that Riley Choate and wife Kimberly were serious when they entered pleas of not guilty in the vicious torture murder of their son Christian Choate, 13, we had to step back and shake our head at the system. But we digress... the couple had made separate court appearances last week and pleaded not guilty in the preliminaries.
Now, Kimberly Choate, 45, has been appointed appointed with a public defender, Linda Kollintzas while Riley Choate, 39, appeared with his private attorney, Randy Godshalk. But there is a ways to go before they can been convicted and the keys tossed away.

Positive identification of Christian's battered body remains pending. The boy was buried in a shallow grave in a mobile home park in Gary, Indiana for two years before authorities were alerted. Lake Criminal Court Judge Diane Boswell ordered the body be held by the Lake County coroner's office pending a hearing June 14.
The couple is next expected in court May 24 for a hearing on a state's request for handwriting samples.
The gruesome twosome have been hit with a total of 13 charges, including: murder, battery, four counts neglect of a dependent, criminal confinement, three counts obstruction of justice, and altering the scene of a death, and failure to report a dead body.

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