Shasta’s advocate fights delay

BOISE – The court-appointed advocate for Shasta Groene said in court papers Friday that even if the child doesn’t have to testify against Joseph Duncan, it’s in her best interest to have all the proceedings in his case wrapped up as soon as possible.

John Sahlin, guardian ad litem for Shasta, argued that all proceedings in the case should be finished “on or before June 1, 2008, so that SG may have a summer to enjoy and prepare for her transition to public middle school, a major life transition for her.”

Duncan’s attorneys have asked to delay the federal sentencing hearing until September 2008.

Federal prosecutors have agreed to a delay only until April – and agreed to that only in exchange for a commitment that Shasta won’t have to testify. Instead, her testimony will be presented through statements she made to law enforcement officers after she was rescued from Duncan in July of 2005.

Duncan has admitted killing Shasta’s mother, 13-year-old brother and mother’s fiancé in a bloody attack at their home just east of Coeur d’Alene in 2005, then kidnapping the family’s two youngest children, molesting both repeatedly and killing Shasta’s 9-year-old brother. Duncan pleaded guilty to all charges and is awaiting a sentencing hearing. Three of the federal charges to which he’s admitted carry possible death sentences.

Sahlin wrote, “The sooner this matter is concluded, the sooner she and her family can truly begin the process of grieving and healing that has been postponed now for two and one-half years.”