Utah: Kidnapping Defendant Found Fit for Trial (Elizabeth Smart)

[WriteDown]

Source: NYT

The man charged in the 2002 kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart is competent to stand trial, a federal judge ruled Monday. The ruling that the defendant, Brian D. Mitchell, 56, does not suffer from a mental disease or defect that harms his ability to understand the proceedings against him follows a 10-day competency hearing held last year. Experts who testified before Judge Dale Kimball were divided about the competency of Mr. Mitchell, a former street preacher who is accused of kidnapping Ms. Smart from her bedroom in her family’s Salt Lake City home in June 2002, when she was 14. She was found in March 2003.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/02/us/02brfs-002.html

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This guy is screwn.

[TheDebbieDee]

1. Nobody ever mentions the innocent man that was questioned

to death in the first weeks following Elizabeth's disappearance. Richard Ricci was his name.

Rest in peace, Richard Ricci.

[WriteDown]

2. I believe his wife recently settled one case with the state and has another pending...

He had numerous previous convictions including a previous conviction for attempted murder of a police officer so all eyes turned towards him.

[marshall]

3. Sadly that happens all too often

Somebody does one bad thing (or a few) and the authorities have them marked for every related crime.

[WriteDown]

4. Well he had just committed a bunch of robberies right in that area...

That is not going to endear you to anybody.

[TheDebbieDee]

5. Clearly Mr. Ricci wasn't a saint. I was only pointing out

that he was questioned to death about an event in which it turns out he had no involvement.


Edited for tone: I don't want to give the impression that I'm attacking you.

[Flaneur]

6. I grew up in Salt Lake City. Brian Mitchell was a childhood friend of mine.

My mother still talks to his mother, but I haven't spoken to Brian in, like, 46 years.

His das was a real religious weirdo, not to mention vegetarian, which was quite unusual back in the early 1960s.

His mom told my mom he did a bunch of acid as a young man and has been crazy as hell ever since.