Posted on 10/16/2004 8:26:58 PM PDT by Former Military Chick
Lawyers for the man accused of kidnapping US teenager Elizabeth Smart have filed a motion for the jury to be sequestered during the trial and the Bibles removed from their hotel rooms.
Lawyers for Brian David Mitchell, 50, argued in motions that intense media coverage of the case could influence jurors if they are not sequestered.
They asked that Bibles and other religious texts be removed from jurors' hotel rooms to "prevent prejudicial exposure".
Authorities have said Mitchell, a self-proclaimed prophet, wrote a manifesto before kidnapping Utah teenager Elizabeth in which he declares himself a messenger of God and says it is God's will for men to have multiple wives.
Mitchell and his wife, Wanda Barzee, are accused of kidnapping Elizabeth, then 14, from her bedroom in June 2002. She was found safe in a Salt Lake City suburb nine months later.
Mitchell goes on trial in February for kidnapping, aggravated sexual assault, aggravated burglary and attempted aggravated kidnapping.
Barzee is undergoing treatment at a mental hospital after being deemed incompetent to stand trial.
Sequestration is rare in Utah, though it's occasionally requested in capital murder and other high-profile cases. Judges typically rely on admonishing jurors to avoid news coverage and refrain from discussing the case.
Salt Lake County District Attorney David Yocom has until November 15 to respond to the motions.
Anyone else seeing a pattern of how we want God removed from politics, courts you name it.
If I were the Smart family I might want that just to move on.
But, also to move on, he needs to be punished and he should never EVER see the light of day outside a prison.
we can see the storm rising ..... and its not the election....
***to "prevent prejudicial exposure". ***
Somewhere down the line it will be illegal to let children read the Bible for this very reason.
That's if they don't confiscate them all first.
Take my Bible. Go ahead. Make me a martyr.
The censorship genie is out of the bottle, and it ain't going back in. No, when the Bible loses its influence will not be by banning it, but by marginalizing it and distracting us away from it. My generation has put down the Bible and picked up the Playstation.
That's why my girls will attend a private Christian school, if I have to rob a convenience store to do it.
This is outrageous - wanting to take Bibles away from people.
They aren't calling for the Book of Mormon to be excluded also?
Take away their Holy Bibles...lol. More lunacy from the loony tunes...
That doesn't sound right at all. And I do not want judges with that kind of power.
>>My generation has put down the Bible and picked up the Playstation.>>
Good point. Parents have failed with this generation. Permissive parenting is for parents who will not stand up for absolute values.
imagine the liberal reaction to that ....
>>And I do not want judges with that kind of power.>>
No matter who wins in two weeks, the power trend is for judges to legislate more than your Congressman.
Timothy McVeigh is tried, convicted and put to death in the time it takes the justice system to go after this p.o.s. Martha Stewart is tried, convicted and goes to jail in less time than it takes to nail anybody big from Enron. Why does it take this long to hang this guy?
They asked that Bibles and other religious texts be removed from jurors' hotel rooms
In Utah, when they say "other religious texts" they aren't referring to the Koran.
Fear not.
Look at it this way -- this slimeball is going into a Utah court, before a Utah judge and a Utah jury (likely mostly Mormons).
All the prosecutor needs to say is : "This scumbag knowingly and willing kinapped, physically and mentally abused and tortured this innocent young Mormon girl for the better part of one year. I rest my case."
Even if the case were moved to the far side of the moon where being Mormon is not a factor, this guy is toast! And rightly so.
Does Utah still use firing squads?
The more horrendous the crime, the more attention is paid to insuring their "rights" are not violated...
Don't ask me why, just the way the system works..
You'd think it would be just the opposite..
Agreed.
Does Utah still use firing squads?
If the don't, they still should especially in this case.
Nope, as I understand it, they know use chemicals.
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