Elizabeth Smart Thread, 9/26/02 to ???

[stlnative]

NEW THREAD - PING WHOM EVER YOU LIKE - I DON'T PING ANYMORE - SORRY

[Devil_Anse]

That's a good thought--at last we can pinpoint the time of at least one scream.

[varina davis]

You can both knock yourselves out as apologists for the Smarts, but in the end, you may have to face the fact you were defending a nicely honed facade. If not, then you pat each other on the back.

[varina davis]

Why do you think that the suits made this decision?

Same reason suits usually make such decision -- profits. They wanted to keep their specialized customers happy and not have to field complaints from the vocal objectors.

[sandude]

You can both knock yourselves out as apologists for the Smarts, but in the end, you may have to face the fact you were defending a nicely honed facade.

I would defend any family in the same situation. If there is ever any evidence of their implication then I'll join up with you Smart haters. I'd ask you about Ricci but you already told me once that no matter what happened with Richard that you would feel he was framed. I trust the police, you don't. End of story. Goodnight.

[Devil_Anse]

Yes, particularly his self-serving statement about how he could never hurt a child. Why did he feel it necessary to make a public statement, when he had a Constitutional right to remain silent, and his silence could never, ever be used against him in any court or for any penalty?

Then there was his apology to the Smarts. Remember that? What was he apologizing for?

We heard that he'd said he took the jeep 4-wheeling. Then we heard that he'd said he never took the jeep. Did he say those things; if not, what was his lawyer doing going around saying them on his behalf?

[sandude]

Same reason suits usually make such decision -- profits.

I'm sure that profit was a factor. Liability may have been another. Decency might have entered their minds. I don't recall a huge clamor in Salt Lake over this issue.

[Devil_Anse]

I know he pleaded not guilty. But before doing so, he confessed.

Lots of people confess, then enter a plea of not guilty. That plea, early on, is more of a procedural move. Often the person foolishly talks to police, falling for their line that "if we can just clear up some things, everything will be fine." (Ricci shd have known better, he'd been in police custody so many times--but they never seem to learn.)
Then the person gets a lawyer. The lawyer looks at the circumstances under which the confession was given, and says he'll at least try to have it not admitted as evidence. The person's hopes are raised: w/o the confession, maybe they won't have enough evidence to convict him. So he pleads not guilty, which is the same as saying to the authorities, "put your money where your mouth is, I want a trial."

[Devil_Anse]

Who says he'd have taken the cash then?

He wasn't that stupid.

Are you saying that an addict who wants quick money can't get his stuff together to, for example, plan and pull a robbery? B/C I know for a fact that they can.

[varina davis]

I don't recall a huge clamor in Salt Lake over this issue.

Were you there?

[Devil_Anse]

Who knows? Maybe he thought that if he denied ever having it, people would think it had been at Neth's the whole time. Come to think of it, I believe that's what he DID think.

[Devil_Anse]

They didn't clear him. They found no evidence against him at the time.

He was suspected, at least by Ed. But there's this thing called the Constitution, see...

[Devil_Anse]

You can't get much more reasoned than your answer here. [Expecting a swoop from varina momentarily...]

What a great disappointment it will be if this turns out not to be some intricate plot involving multiple family members, incest, accidental bleeding or worse on some newspaper or receipt, and wild homosexual parties. (Where did Ed find time for all this stuff, I wonder? The man must have more energy than he appears to have.)

How totally boring it will be if it turns out to be the obvious guy.

I can't understand the cult following of Ricci. But then, even Charles Manson has a cult following.

[Devil_Anse]

Ever notice, etc.

Or maybe, mercifully, they've just momentarily found something better to do...

[Devil_Anse]

blindly accepts whatever canned info is handed out

Better than blindly accepting whatever the National Enquirer hands out.

[Devil_Anse]

That's a hell of a lot more than there is on anyone else at this point.

It is, it really is. But some people just enjoy arguing.

[Devil_Anse]

I heard it was a wife. Same impeccable source.

[Devil_Anse]

Maybe they're more interested in directing their energies to Elizabeth's case, than in doing a Carolyn Condit on the National Enquirer.

The statute of limitations is going to be a year, maybe two in Utah.

Are you saying nobody files a personal injury suit right before the statute runs? Wanna bet?

[jandji]

point here is that NE printed information that seems so outrageous and unbelieveable at the same time the smart clan has total access to national media via larry king, paula zahn, twice weekly press conferences, etc.. and the family not only doesn't sue the NE for millions, they don't even deny any of the printed claims.

[Devil_Anse]

Lakey, you are really showing your ignorance.

You needn't ever go into a courtroom to see how.

Have you never watched a true crime show on TLC or Discovery? Have you never heard a replay of some person's confession to a crime? Have you never heard of such a thing being played for a jury?

If it's being played for a jury, that means the guy confessed---then pled not guilty and had a trial.

How old are you, really?

[Devil_Anse]

Yes, everyone is in on it! Ed, and Tom, and the police, and the church, and every store owner who pulled a National Enquirer off the shelf!!

It would surprise me if the Masons weren't in on it, too.