Elizabeth Smart Suspect Ruled Incompetent

[moroni]

U.S. National - AP

Elizabeth Smart Suspect Ruled Incompetent
15 minutes ago Add U.S. National - AP to My Yahoo!

By MARK THIESSEN, Associated Press Writer

SALT LAKE CITY - One of the two people charged with kidnapping Elizabeth Smart from her Salt Lake City bedroom has been found incompetent to stand trial, a judge ruled Friday.

Wanda Barzee, 58, was ordered committed to the Utah State Hospital. Judge Judith Atherton said Barzee's competency would be reviewed at an April 15 hearing.

Two mental health experts had earlier found her not competent to stand trial. A hearing had been scheduled to contest those rulings, but Barzee earlier this week waived her right to contest the findings.

Barzee's attorneys, David Finlayson and Scott Williams, filed a motion Wednesday in which Barzee asked the court to rule "at its discretion" without an evidence hearing, though she did not agree with the experts who found her incompetent.

<snip>
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=519&e=4&u=/ap/20040109/ap_on_re_us/elizabeth_smart_suspects

No comment....