Trial set for Brian David Mitchell, charged in Elizabeth Smart case deemed competent

March 1, 2010

washingtimes.com

By Mike Stark and Paul Foy

ASSOCIATED PRESS
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SALT LAKE CITY -- A federal judge on Monday ruled that the man charged in the kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart is competent to stand trial, paving the way for him to face charges nearly eight years after the girl was snatched from her bedroom.

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U.S. District Judge Dale Kimball wrote in a 149-page ruling that Brian David Mitchell, 56, "does not presently suffer from a mental disease or defect that impedes his rational and factual understanding" of the proceedings against him.

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A court hearing is scheduled on March 26 to set a trial date...

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October 2009

abcnews.go.com

Elizabeth Smart Says Brian David Mitchell Raped Her Daily
By EMILY FRIEDMAN and BARBARA PINTO

SALT LAKE CITY Oct. 1, 2009

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Elizabeth Smart, the Utah girl snatched from her bed and later found alive in 2002, has been allowed to give testimony today against kidnapper Brian David Mitchell in his competency hearings...
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Smart, who is now 21 and a senior at Brigham Young University, testified that during the ordeal, she was raped frequently, sometimes 3-4 times a day. Smart said that the assaults were frequent and that she was rarely able to defy her attacker, causing friction with Barzee:
“Wanda would get very upset with him,” said Smart. “She’d say ‘All you do is lust after her.’”
Smart said “There wasn’t an actual 24-hour period he wasn’t able to rape me.”...
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aolnews.com

Elizabeth Smart's Kidnapper Pleads Guilty in Related Case

February 2010

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(Feb. 9) -- Elizabeth Smart's kidnapper, Wanda Barzee, pleaded "guilty but mentally ill" in a Utah court on Monday to charges tied to the attempted kidnapping of Smart's 15-year-old cousin in 2002. Barzee also agreed to testify against her estranged husband, Brian David Mitchell.

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According to court documents and police reports, Barzee and Mitchell attempted to abduct Smart's cousin on July 24, 2002, about seven weeks after Smart's kidnapping. The couple allegedly planned to hold the two girls together but were scared off when the girl's 18-year-old sister awoke.... Last year, Barzee, 64, entered a guilty plea to federal charges in connection with Smart's abduction in exchange for a 15-year federal prison term.

Sentencing in Barzee's case is scheduled to take place May 19...