Elizabeth Johnson gets new competency hearing, refuses to say what happened

PHOENIX - A judge has postponed a competency hearing for the jailed mother of an Arizona boy missing since December 2009.

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Paul McMurdie on Tuesday set an Aug. 11 competency hearing for 25-year-old Elizabeth Johnson who refused to attend the hearing.

“She decided she didn’t want to come,” said Johnson’s attorney Dan Raynak.

Raynak told ABC15 he wasn’t surprised his client didn’t want to come to the hearing, but went on to say he will make sure Johnson is told to appear at the next one.

“I’ll tell her that she needs to appear. Anytime the judge has made it clear that she must appear, she has appeared,” said Raynak while sitting in his Phoenix office.

Four doctors have found Johnson incompetent to stand trial, while one doctor says she is competent.

Some of the doctors may testify at the Aug. 11 hearing.

When asked if Johnson would testify, Raynak responded, “Anything is possible. We haven’t crossed that bridge yet.”

Johnson is charged with kidnapping, child abuse and custodial interference and at times has been uncooperative with her attorneys.

“I won’t discuss what she talks about, but she has never refused to speak to me, so her and I do have discussions,” said Raynak.

Johnson's 8-month-old son Gabriel was last seen with her in San Antonio, Texas in December 2009.

Authorities still don't know whether the boy is alive. Johnson originally claimed she killed the baby but later said she gave the child to a couple in San Antonio.

While Raynak wouldn’t discuss details about what Johnson has told him about Gabriel, he admitted while he’s focused on her defense, he thinks about the little boy.

“Not only as an attorney, but as a father of three myself, I’m also concerned about Gabriel and certainly that’s something I’ve kept a priority and made it a priority," he said.