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David James Bell is accused of kidnapping two children from his neighbor's house during a 4th of July party. But today, he and his attorneys walked out of a courtroom wanting a trial.
Standing just over his attorney's shoulder, David Bell kept quiet. His lawyer did the talking. "We feel good about our case. He obviously didn't take these children. We're confident in that, and we believe a jury will find him not guilty," attorney Susanne Gustin said.
Bell is charged with kidnapping the neighbor's 2-year-old daughter and her 4-year-old cousin during a 4th of July celebration. He's accused of taking the kids to his home.
In a previous interview, the 2-year-old's mother told KSL, "I noticed my 2-year-old was missing, so I searched the whole house. And I guess by instinct, I just went directly over to the neighbor's house and found the children and him and his partner in the bedroom."
She told us the children were clothed but crying. It was an incident she called "creepy."
Before police arrived, someone beat Bell and his partner, Dan Fair. Protesters called it a hate crime, but prosecutors could not find enough evidence to file charges.
Outside court today, Bell and Fair walked hand-in-hand but didn't say a word. It's still unclear how the neighbor's kids ended up inside Bell's house, and defense attorneys would not comment on that.
A South Salt Lake detective previously testified Bell gave conflicting stories -- first admitting he took the kids, then later saying they came over on their own.
In April, a jury decides who to believe. "We have a lot of motions. There are a lot of witnesses. We're trying to get to the crime scene. They're fighting us on that," Gutsin said.
The prosecutor in this case did not make a statement, but the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office feels the judge made the right call and the case should be tried in court.
E-mail: gkennedy@ksl.com
