Kidnapping trial ends in acquittal

Nearly the entire courtroom audience burst into tears Friday when a jury pronounced David James Bell "not guilty" of child kidnapping and burglary.

Some were jubilant Bell supporters who had claimed all along that he was being singled out for prosecution on flimsy charges because he is gay.

But relatives of the two preschoolers involved in the case wept bitterly and left the courtroom without saying a word as theywiped their tears and helped other distraught family members walk outside.

Lulu Latu, the mother of one of the children in the case, continued sobbing in the hallway outside the courtroom and while she got into the elevator to leave. Angry comments could be heard as some courtroom observers left — some snapping that the trial's outcome would have been different if the children had been white. The families involved are Pacific Islanders; Bell is Caucasian.

After the verdict was announced, Bell went into a back room, seeking to confer with jurors. He emerged later flanked by two defense attorneys who held his arms aloft like a triumphant athlete as a sizeable crowd in the 3rd District courthouse hallway cheered and clapped.

"For once, in the very corrupt system that I found it, justice has been served," Bell, 31, said.

Roger Kraft, one of Bell's defense attorneys, said a plea bargain had previously been offered that would have required some type of guilty plea by Bell with recommendation for no prison time. But Kraft said Bell said they wanted to fight the charges because he is innocent.

"I wasn't willing to cop to something I didn't do," Bell declared, as the crowd cheered repeatedly.

Defense attorney Susanne Gustin said jurors she spoke to after the trial were "disgusted and irritated" that the charges had even been brought by the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office, and the jurors were displeased by the estimated $100,000 cost of the trial. "They said they were angry," Gustin stated.

Bell said his sexual orientation may have been a factor in the case, but there was more to it.

The unusual case has, from the beginning, involved allegations of prejudice on both sides and brutal assaults on Bell and his partner, Dan Fair, that have not been prosecuted. However, a spokeswoman for the district attorney's office told the Deseret News after the verdict Friday that the assault allegations will be reviewed again and assault charges considered.