Comments about ‘Elizabeth Smart could testify before leaving for LDS mission’

why are we still dealing with this mitchell did not give the smart girl any rights.

Not sure how they sleeps at night if he/she has to file a motion to throw out any testimony from the victim. In what case would victim testimony not be admissible and VERY relevant. really makes one miss mid-evil punishments.

This picture of Elizabeth does not show the strong woman that she has become. She leads a very normal life and is a great person. My daughter knew her at college and she is very healthy. I can't help believe that there were more prayers offered in her behalf than any other crime victim. That is why she is OK. Her ordeal was so widely publicised. Her family's support was a big influence also. She is a stable and strong person who has decided to put this behind her and not let if define her.

Go, Elizabeth!!!

If you get the chance, stare him down and put an evil man in jail!!!!!!!!

I hope Elizabeth gets her day in court, but I am glad she didn't have to do it early on. She has grown into a very mature woman and is probably better able to articulate what happened during the kidnapping and emotionally better equipped to face this jerk.

This is an interesting case and the DesNews has done a very good job with coverage. Now we can see Ed Smart back in front of the camera. I'm sure the family and the community would like to see this case in the books.

Elizabeth has more support (and prayers) than she can ever imagine. Her return to her home after 9 months of hell is nothing if not a miracle.

Do what you must Elizabeth, we will continue to give you our prayers.

LDSinWA

If he is in the courtroom,, Mitchell will likely pull his act once again to disrupt the proceedings.

Mitchell may have deprived her of rights, but if we do the same to him we are no better than he was/is.

I see two problems with this so far.

I respect her comfort level of talking about this but is it very fair for the defendant to have this testimony so far after the event. People are human, even good people; people can dramatize things and change them, especially when they have been hurt. I only question the time from 2002 until now.

One thing that truly upsets me is how he can get away with this 'unfit for trial' crap when the man sings; he certainly wasn't singing before all this began, muzzle him and put him in the courtroom already.

Back to the previous concern. I respect her rights completely, but I am only conserned for a valid reason. Serious events happen in many lives and we like to forget them. People will say the ever popular phraze 'how could she forget' but in order to convinse me that this is a fair testimony we need to use reason and logic, not popular 'fad' phrazes. There are too many unknowns in this case already.

I hope Elizabeth gets the chance to testify. The idea that Mitchell's lawyers would even consider trying to prevent her from doing so is idiotic at best. Every time they pull stunts like this they make their client look more & more guilty. Obviously they know he's guilty as sin, otherwise they wouldn't be worried about this.

Be Fair:Elizabeth wasn't ready emotionally or mentally to testify before, now she is. It's Mitchell's fault that this testimony is coming so far after the event. He's determined to fake his "imcompetency" to avoid prison, so he disrupts the proceedings every time he's brought to court. If he'd behave himself in the courtroom this whole thing would not have gone on for so long. & I doubt that Elizabeth could forget nine months of terror.

@ Be fair | 2:42 p.m. Sept. 17, 2009

I seriously don't know why you would be "concerned" about the age of Smart's testimony. The guy was caught red-handed. The only reason he is still in the courts is because of his efforts to be declared insane.
The only question is about his mental health. I personally don't care about his mental health. He was sane enough to plan and perpetrate the crime. He is sane enough to do the time.

Are you seriously afraid he might be declared competent because of old testimony? Does it matter?

Crazy or not. All that matters is that Mitchell stays behind bars so that he can do no more harm.

I think enough time has gone by with this case just hanging in the air, waiting for some resolution, especially for Elizabeth and her family. Mitchell and Barzee should not ever be set free, but there needs to be some kind of conclusion to this whole thing for Elizabeth. She is an amazing young woman, from an amazing family. And she has gone forward with her life quite well, as far as the public can see. But I believe there has to be some part of her that would like to have this chapter of her life concluded, not just drag it on forever. If she can testify and get that over with, and never have to do so again, then I believe she will truly be better able to put it behind her, as well as her family.

I am not saying that she will or will not forget. I am only saying that people can block things and even if unblocked they can forget crucial details; that in order to create a fair trial, which every person deserves according to our constitution and my personal beliefs.

In order to provide a fair trial I am not sure that her testimony is AS valid 6-7 years later. I am not saying that she is wrong and he is right and I am certainly not saying that her testimony is worth nothing. I am only saying that it concerns me.

Any case this large in the publics eye often meets unfair court process. I do not like to see this happen. Children from different circumstances are not protected from the same scruitny that Ms. Smart is. If one child can be forced into giving information, then how do we justify this case being different? There are too many factors that the media is ignoring. This is my main concern.

Please respectfully keep in your mind that I am NOT criticizing Elisabeth Smart but questioning the integrity of our court process and fairness to EVERYONE, not just her.

I am going to clarify a comment I made. I did NOT say that I support Mitchell and I also stated that the insanity bit is ridiculous as he obviously was perfectly 'sane' every day up until the courtroom.

I am NOT defending who I consider is more than likely an immoral person. I am only questioning the trial process and I am not in fact making fun of it, being rude, or disrespectful, I am QUESTIONING. Until people get that through their heads they will live in an ignorant life where people who ask questions are hurt. Please realize that I am only being decent here and everyone else is blowing things out of proportion.

Unless you guys have made up your mind about this man/case before having absolute knowledge of it. What a Jury you would make!

You claim it is a Red Herring that the defense is claiming to be insane. This is not a Red Herring as it is relevant to the punishment that can be inflicted; it does not change whether the man is guilty. Thus it is relevant and not a logical fallacy.

However, no offense intended, your 'statement' was full of a very blatant red herring.

"The question of whether or not Mitchell is sane seems a lot less important than the question of whether or not Mitchell is dangerous"

Whether he is a danger to yourself is irrelevant to his guilt, his sanity determination, or anything else. Playing on people's fear is ACTUALLY classified as a red herring and one of the most common, at that. I hope you realize this fallacy because though I am not trying to be rude to you, I want others to reckognize what a R.H. is so as not to make the same mistake.

Mitchell's attorneys are trying to prevent Elizabeth from testifying? Sounds like they know something we don't, like maybe Micthell is playing them for all they worth and is more than competent?

"Not sure how they sleeps at night if he/she has to file a motion to throw out any testimony from the victim."

This strange concept is called duty. If you believe it and love the American system of justice, as a defense attorney, you realize this is an adversarial system where it's you job to get each defendant the best defense you can.

"I also stated that the insanity bit is ridiculous as he obviously was perfectly 'sane' every day up until the courtroom."

Sane people walk around telling people they are prophets and kidnapping young girls to be they celestial wives? Why do I find your view of sanity unique?

>The only reason he is still in the courts is because of his efforts to be declared insane.

No, the only reason he is still in the courts is that unfortunately nobody double-tapped him the second he was seen.

How much money does old Ed want for this? I'm sorry I don't believe this whole thing. I think there are hidden issues yet to come out. I have lost faith in this since they started making money with this whole mess. Time will tell the truth.