Judge to consider Smart competency hearing date
Lawyer Blogs
A federal judge on Monday may set a date for a competency hearing for the man charged with the 2002 abduction of Elizabeth Smart.
Brian David Mitchell, however, was not expected to attend the hearing in U.S. District Court.
Federal prosecutors sought the hearing in June and implied that two doctors who evaluated Mitchell reached different conclusions about his ability to participate in his defense.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Lambert has said a hearing could take 10 days. Court documents show prosecutors plan to call about 39 witnesses, including family, friends, former church leaders and staff at the Utah State Hospital, where Mitchell has been incarcerated for most of the last six years.
In court papers filed last week, Mitchell's defense attorney, Robert Steele, asked a judge to shorten the list in part because most of the proposed witnesses are not qualified to provide an assessment of competency. In addition, the information could potentially date back to Mitchell's childhood and have little relevance to his current mental state, Steele wrote.
Similarly, testimony from state hospital staff is irrelevant because Mitchell has been in the Salt Lake County jail since federal prosecutors took him into custody 10 months ago, court papers say.
Related listings
-
Court limits Delaware betting to NFL parlays
Lawyer Blogs 08/31/2009A federal appeals court on Monday dealt another body blow to Delaware's plans for a new sports betting lottery, saying it must be limited to parlay bets on professional football games.A three-judge panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decla...
-
Ex-CIA spy's son pleads guilty to conspiracy
Lawyer Blogs 08/28/2009The son of an ex-CIA spy agreed to testify against his imprisoned father Thursday in a plea deal that could help him avoid jail time for taking money from Russian agents. Nathaniel Nicholson pleaded guilty on Thursday to conspiracy to act as an agent...
-
Court rejects FCC 30 pct cap on cable market share
Lawyer Blogs 08/28/2009An appeals court on Friday overturned a rule that said a cable TV company could not serve more than 30 percent of the nation's subscribers. The verdict was a victory for the largest cable company, Comcast Corp., which has 26 percent share and sued to...
Grounds for Divorce in Ohio - Sylkatis Law, LLC
A divorce in Ohio is filed when there is typically “fault” by one of the parties and party not at “fault” seeks to end the marriage. A court in Ohio may grant a divorce for the following reasons:
• Willful absence of the adverse party for one year
• Adultery
• Extreme cruelty
• Fraudulent contract
• Any gross neglect of duty
• Habitual drunkenness
• Imprisonment in a correctional institution at the time of filing the complaint
• Procurement of a divorce outside this state by the other party
Additionally, there are two “no-fault” basis for which a court may grant a divorce:
• When the parties have, without interruption for one year, lived separate and apart without cohabitation
• Incompatibility, unless denied by either party
However, whether or not the the court grants the divorce for “fault” or not, in Ohio the party not at “fault” will not get a bigger slice of the marital property.