Brian David Mitchell, Appears to Suffer Seizure in Court/ Elizabeth storms out of courtroom during trial/ Federal jury finds Elizabeth Smart kidnapper, Brian David Mitchell, GUILTY!!

Elizabeth Smart testifies against her accused kidnapper

For the first time since her 2002 abduction and nine months of captivity, Elizabeth Smart testified in a courtroom about the horrifying ordeal.
Smart, 21, took the stand in Salt Lake City's U.S. District Court at 9 a.m. Thursday and described how Brian David Mitchell kidnapped her from the bedroom of her Federal Heights home in the middle of the night on June 5, 2002, when she was 14.
Smart's testimony was part of a larger hearing on whether Mitchell is mentally competent to stand trial in her kidnapping. The self-proclaimed prophet, who allegedly wanted the then-teen for a plural wife, has been diagnosed with a delusional disorder.
Smart described the brutal sexual assaults she was forced to endure at the hands of Mitchell, three to four times a day throughout her captivity.
She testified that Mitchell used religion as an excuse to justify having sex with her. In the early days of her kidnapping, he kept her leg bolted to a cable attached to two trees to keep her from escaping, she said.
Mitchell forced Smart to take drugs and alcohol to lower her resistance to his sexual advances, she said. He showed her pornography and told her she needs to "be humble" to him, she said.
She said Mitchell once forced her to drink too much alcohol and she became sick. He made her lay face down in her vomit for the entire night so Smart would understand "the true state" she was in, she testified.
"Anything I showed resistance or hesitation to, he would turn to me and say, 'The Lord has commanded you to do this, you have to experience the lowest form of humanity to experience the highest.' "
Smart said she tried to fight Mitchell's sexual attacks once, when she bit him. He told her he would never have sex with her again and that she would be "miserable" because of it, but he then continued to rape her, Smart testified.
In earlier testimony, Smart recounted the night Mitchell broke into her bedroom between 2 and 3 a.m.
"He came into my room and held a knife to my throat and threatened me with my life and my family's life to come with him," Smart said.
"He placed his hand on my chest. He then put the knife up to my neck he told me to get up quietly and if I didn't then he would kill me and my family."
Smart described how Mitchell -- who was dressed in sweats, a stocking cap and tennis shoes -- ordered her to put on some shoes. He told her he was taking her hostage to hold her for ransom, Smart testified.
With a knife held to her throat, Smart went with Mitchell as he brought her to the mountains behind her home, she said. He forced her to duck down behind some bushes along the way, fearful the two would be caught. They headed three miles into the canyon, where Mitchell ultimately hid her, she said.
The two arrived at a camp where they met up with Mitchell's wife, Wanda Eileen Barzee, Smart testified. Mitchell and Barzee then prepared Smart for a "marriage ceremony," she said.
"He took me inside where Wanda then tried to force me to bathe. After arguing with her, she eventually just proceeded to wash my feet and told me to change out of my pajamas into a robe type of garment. And when I refused she said if I didn't she would have Brian Mitchell come rip my pajamas off," Smart said. "I put the robe on in which he came and performed a ceremony which was to marry me to him."
Following the ceremony, Mitchell raped her, Smart said.
Smart testified that during her captivity, Barzee became jealous of Mitchell's lustful behavior toward her and asked that Mitchell set up a rotation between the two, where he would rotate nightly to have sex with each woman. Smart said that short period was the only time she got a reprieve from Mitchell's sexual assaults; he often would find away to rape her anyway on occasions he was "scheduled" to be with Barzee, she said.
The rotation soon ended, however, and the three went to San Diego when winter began to arrive in Utah, Smart said.
Smart described how Mitchell worked to manipulate people, including a clerk at a Wild Oats grocery store who gave him free food and an LDS family that Mitchell dined with. She said Mitchell planned to kidnap yet another wife from an LDS family he met at church and had dinner with in San Diego, but those plans didn't progress when Mitchell saw a man through the window of the family's home when he went to kidnap their teenage daughter.
Mitchell boasted of his previous sexual exploits with women, Smart said. He admitted to wanting two women in his past named Julie and Kelly to become plural wives, Smart testified. He also told Smart he had molested children in his previous marriages, she said.
"He talked about how in high school he was one of the graduating seniors and there was a girl who was younger and she was physically mature for her age and he came up behind her and stuck his hand down her shirt and walked away and nothing ever happened. And he talked about his two previous marriages and how he had been accused of molesting his second wife's youngest daughter and how nothing ever happened, how he was able to walk away from that," Smart testified.
She said she observed Mitchell singing hymns often -- a tactic he has used during court appearances, including Thursday's hearing, which has resulted in judges removing him from the courtroom. Smart testified she believes Mitchell uses singing to manipulate situations.
She said Mitchell told her he was "God's voice on Earth" and that he would "one day fight the anti-Christ."
When U.S. Attorney Brett Tolman asked Smart which words she would use to describe Mitchell, she replied, "evil, wicked, manipulative, sneaky, slimy, selfish, greedy, not spiritual, not religious, not close to God."
Smart testified she used Mitchell's radical religious beliefs to trick him into bringing her back to Utah from San Diego.
She said she knew no one would discover her in California, so she told Mitchell she" had a very strong feeling about going to Salt Lake." She asked Mitchell what God was telling him and reminded him that he had told her she "had to sink below all things to rise above all things," she testified.
Mitchell then decided to bring Smart and Barzee back to Utah, where he said he would prepare to fight the anti-Christ, who Mitchell defined in part as former LDS President Gordon B. Hinckley.
Smart's testimony attracted a throng of reporters from around the world, as well as several members of the Smart family.
Ed Smart, Elizabeth's father, said he is proud of his daughter for having the courage to testify about what happened to her. Elizabeth's vivid account should leave no doubt that Mitchell is competent, Ed Smart said.
"If this doesn't clinch the issue of competency, our nation is in very, very big difficulty," Ed Smart said.
He said his daughter's testimony revealed details of the kidnapping he had not heard about before.
"I had no idea what she'd gone through out there," Ed Smart said, his voice shaking with emotion. "To hear what a predator [Mitchell] was -- constantly -- it was horrible to hear how he abused her."
Ed Smart said his daughter was disappointed Mitchell was removed from the courtroom because she wanted to face him. She had even asked Tolman if Mitchell could be muzzled instead of removed from the proceedings, Ed Smart said.
Despite the difficult memories she shared in court, Smart remained calm, poised, articulate and never lost control of her emotions on the stand.
Court officials said Thursday that they had received coverage requests from about 30 news organizations, among them leading national and international print and television news networks.
A defense attorney said at a hearing last week that Smart should be allowed to testify about the facts of her kidnapping but not offer opinions about Mitchell's state of mind or what motivated his behavior.
A prosecutor, though, said Smart can provide important observations about Mitchell, including "that what preoccupied him was sex."
U.S. District Judge Dale Kimball, who eventually will rule on whether the prosecution can go forward, ruled Monday that Smart can give her "lay observations" at Monday's hearing.
Smart's ordeal captured worldwide attention. The girl was taken in 2002 and was rescued on March 12, 2003. In between, there was a massive search for Smart and a police investigation of hundreds of leads.
By the time Smart was found walking along State Street in Sandy with Mitchell and Barzee, the reward for finding her totaled $295,000. The money was divided among eight individuals, including two couples who called police about a minute apart when they spotted the three.
Mitchell has refused to submit to any psychological evaluations or diagnostic tests.
Tolman and Mitchell's defense attorney, Robert Steele, both praised Smart's testimony.
Steele, however, said Smart's story proves Mitchell is delusional.
Thursday's hearing concluded shortly before 11 a.m., after Smart's one hour and forty minute testimony.
The case continues on Nov. 30, when Kimball will hear from prosecution and defense witnesses in connection with Mitchell's competency.

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About the case
»Brian David Mitchell, 55, and his wife, Wanda Eileen Barzee, 63, are accused of kidnapping Elizabeth Smart on June 5, 2002, from her Federal Heights home. They were arrested in March 2003 while walking in Sandy with the girl.
»A judge in the state's 3rd District Court has ruled Mitchell cannot be forcibly medicated to try to restore his mental competency; the same judge ruled Barzee could be forcibly medicated, a process that began at the Utah State Hospital in May 2008.
» The state court ruling led the U.S. Attorney's Office to begin a case against the couple. A federal grand jury issued an indictment last year charging Mitchell and Barzee with kidnapping and coercion of a minor with intent to engage in sexual activity for allegedly taking Smart from Utah to California. They face up to life in prison if convicted on the kidnapping charge.
» Mitchell was ordered to undergo mental competency examinations at a federal facility to determine if he is competent to stand trial on the federal charges.
» On Nov. 30, U.S. District Judge Dale Kimball will hear from both prosecution and defense witnesses about whether Mitchell is able to understand the charges against him and can assist in his defense. Smart's testimony is being taken Thursday because she is leaving for a mission to Paris for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
» Barzee has not been arraigned yet in the federal kidnapping case. State charges of kidnapping and sexual assault are still pending against her and Mitchell.

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She is such a brave and articulate young woman. I have seen her on Dr. Phil with her folks, she is so poised and so polite and sweet. Her parents sure did something right when they got her back, therapy that worked.

Elizabeth Smart to Face Alleged Abductor in Court


Seven years since she was abducted from her Salt Lake City bedroom by knifepoint, Elizabeth Smart will be in the same room on Thursday as her alleged kidnapper, Brian David Mitchell.

Smart, now 21, wanted to testify about her nine-month ordeal before she leaves on an 18-month mission to Paris for the Mormon church in early November. Although Mitchell's latest competency hearing isn't scheduled until Nov. 30, U.S. District Dale Kimball ruled Monday that Smart could testify early about her interactions with the self-avowed prophet, who allegedly wanted her as a plural wife.

Wants Justice Served
"It's not something she's looking forward to, but she wants to see justice served," says Smart's father, Ed Smart, who plans to accompany his daughter to court on Thursday. "It's been frustrating for all of us to see it drag on for so many years. Elizabeth has said to me a number of times, 'It's amazing how justice isn't being served. It's obvious that he did what he did - there is absolute evidence that he did what he did.'"

Federal defender Robert Steele says he has no problem with Elizabeth testifying, but he argued that the court should not allow her to give her opinion about Mitchell's sanity. The judge ruled on Monday that "none of Ms. Smart's proposed testimony suggests that she will be opining on anything other than her lay observations."

Ed Smart tells PEOPLE he believes that Mitchell is competent and is simply "manipulating the courts to the nth degree." "There's been no headway – we're ready to finally proceed," he says. "Let's get this done and move on."

Mitchell, who allegedly abducted Elizabeth late on the night of June 5, 2002, from the bed she shared with her younger sister, Mary Katherine, has been in and out of court for competency hearings since his arrest with alleged accomplice Wanda Barzee. The pair were found walking with Smart in a Salt Lake City suburb after living for several months in an abandoned trailer in Lakeside, Calif.

Forced to Wear Veil
At previous competency hearings, Mitchell has been removed from the courtroom for disrupting the proceedings by humming and singing religious hymns. Ed Smart hopes the same thing happens this time "so that he won't be able to see Elizabeth," he says. "Personally, though, I think he may sit there for a change and not say anything. Whatever happens, Elizabeth is prepared. It's amazing how strong she is."

It is expected that Elizabeth, who was forced to wear a white robe and veil and wasn't allowed to bathe or eat much more than bread during her months held captive, will answer questions from prosecutors and Mitchell's defense team for several hours.

"She's ready to tell what she knows and show that Mitchell knew exactly what he was doing," says her father. "Her comments to me have always been, 'Dad, there just really isn't question that he's guilty of what he did."

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She should be bitch slapped for this:

by Wrapitup Today at 1:24 pm She should be bitch slapped for this:

Priceless! I remember this.

I am sitting here crying right now. Elizabeth Smart just getting over that terrible ordeal now had to tell everything that happened to her in a courtroom with everybody watching and anybody entering, perhaps even her classmates. What a juicy story, what a sad little girl.

Shame on our courtsystem that they can't in some way make this a whole lot better for the victim.

My heart is just broken over her and her family having to once more be the victims. God Love Them.

Maybe her testimony will make empower her.......like those who write books about their bad experiences. She's the innocent one and has no reason to feel ashamed. She's a survivor! Bless her!

I wish I could watch that video right now. I have to wait until after work. Thank you so much for posting this story. What a beautiful brave young woman she is.

BJ it is the most terrible thing in the whole world to walk into that court of law as a victim of a sex crime. They ask you everything and you relive your pain.
Everybodys eyes are on you and you feel so powerless with the attorneys.
Courtrooms are open and the defense usually packs them with the victims classmates from high school or college...a field trip. How they do that I don't know but it is terrible for a victim to testify infront of her family and friends.
And the accused. Usually they have found the Lord or are pleading insanity.

BJ in OR wrote:Maybe her testimony will make empower her.......like those who write books about their bad experiences. She's the innocent one and has no reason to feel ashamed. She's a survivor! Bless her!

She is an innocent in this story. Yes,she should be proud to call herself survivor. She is the victor here. I too say bless her for being so brave and strong.

by jeanne1807 Today at 10:27 pm BJ it is the most terrible thing in the whole world to walk into that court of law as a victim of a sex crime. They ask you everything and you relive your pain.

I can't imagine anything worse than that, but she doesn't have a choice. It's too bad that her testimony can't be given under different circumstances; there should be more consideration for the victim!

The victim remains the victim in our court of laws. Usually a nice young woman and an evil perpetrator who has nothing to lose. The woman, as usual, has everything. She is victimized over and over again.

Am I understanding this correctly? Elizabeth was on this program to discuss and attempt to get support for a bill, and the interviewer was attempting to get her to discuss this ordeal. Am I correct in assuming her refusal to do so was because of the possibility of damaging the case against the kidnapper, and not because of any shame she felt about what had taken place? She appears to be a very together young woman, and although she went through HELL at the hands of this monster and his wife (?) she seems to me to have no guilt or shame and while she was a victim, has risen above this stigma.

Doctors at the Utah State Hospital have determined that Wanda Barzee, accused of kidnapping Elizabeth Smart, is now competent to stand trial.

Barzee appeared in court Friday for the first time since doctors at the Utah State Hospital were given the go ahead to involuntarily medicate her in May.

A report from the Utah State Hospital determined that since taking the medication, Barzee is now competent to stand trial. Judge Judith Atherton set a Dec. 19 court date to determine how to proceed and whether defense attorneys plan to fight the competency decision.

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Brian David Mitchell, the man accused of kidnapping Elizabeth Smart seven years ago, has never been tried for his crimes. Twice he has been found incompetent to stand trial.

A judge ruled that Elizabeth could take the stand in a third competency hearing for Mitchell, and on Thursday, she did just that.

Below is the complete transciprt of Elizabeth's testimony in the proceeding:

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Marica wrote:Am I understanding this correctly? Elizabeth was on this program to discuss and attempt to get support for a bill, and the interviewer was attempting to get her to discuss this ordeal. Am I correct in assuming her refusal to do so was because of the possibility of damaging the case against the kidnapper, and not because of any shame she felt about what had taken place? She appears to be a very together young woman, and although she went through HELL at the hands of this monster and his wife (?) she seems to me to have no guilt or shame and while she was a victim, has risen above this stigma.

what more does the media need to know that isnt already known? she was kidnapped and raped, thats ENOUGH TO KNOW!

By Ashley Hayes, CNN
November 16, 2009 7:57 p.m. EST
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Wanda Barzee shown here in 2005
(CNN) -- A woman accused along with her then-husband of kidnapping Utah teenager Elizabeth Smart in 2002 is set to plead guilty in federal court Tuesday under terms of a plea deal reached with prosecutors, according to court documents.

Wanda Eileen Barzee, 64, is charged with kidnapping and unlawful transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, according to a 2008 indictment that a federal grand jury returned against her.

The terms of her plea agreement have not been made public and will not be until the agreement is executed in court, Melodie Rydalch, spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office for Utah, told CNN on Monday.

Barzee and Brian David Mitchell, 56, are accused of abducting Smart, then 14, at knifepoint from the bedroom of her family's Salt Lake City, Utah, home in June 2002.

She was found nine months later, walking down a street in the Salt Lake City suburb of Sandy, Utah, in the company of Barzee and Mitchell, a drifter and self-described prophet who calls himself "Emmanuel." He had also done some handyman work at the Smarts' home.

At a competency hearing for Mitchell last month, Smart, now 21, testified she was held captive in Utah and California during that time. Just after her abduction, Mitchell took her to a wooded area behind her home and performed a mock marriage ceremony with her, she said. During the nine months of her captivity, no 24-hour period passed without Mitchell raping her, Smart testified.

The competency hearing is set to continue November 30, but Mitchell's attorneys have asked for it to be delayed.

Smart, a student at Brigham Young University and a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, testified in October because she was set to leave on a mission, something typical for young Mormon men but becoming more common for women as well.

Many documents in the court cases against Mitchell and Barzee are sealed. However, an order sealing a transcript of an in-chambers conference held last week in the case makes reference to discussing "a possible cooperating witness in the case."

Barzee, who has been housed at the Utah State Hospital while courts determined her competency, filed for divorce from Mitchell in 2004, according to media reports. It was unclear whether the divorce has been granted.

After years of being declared incompetent, Barzee recently was declared by doctors at the hospital to be competent to stand trial, according to the Salt Lake Tribune newspaper.

A state court had ruled she could be forcibly medicated, a ruling that led federal prosecutors to bring a case against the couple, the Tribune said.

Both Barzee and Mitchell still face state charges including kidnapping and sexual assault.

How interesting that after years of being deemed incompetent now she IS competent!!!! Unreal. Makes me sick that she is getting a plea deal.

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SALT LAKE CITY — For the third time since his arrest in 2003, a court will hold a competency hearing for the man charged in the 2002 abduction of Elizabeth Smart.

The 10-day hearing for Brian David Mitchell begins Monday in Utah's U.S. District Court.


U.S. District Judge Dale Kimball will ultimately decide whether the 56-year-old former street preacher is competent to stand trial.

It's unclear how long Kimball will take to issue a ruling. His decision will determine how the case will proceed — toward a trial if Mitchell is competent or an effort to restore Mitchell's competency if he is not.

The hearing will be Mitchell's first in federal court, but it's a replay of state court proceedings where Mitchell was twice deemed incompetent for trial.

Diagnosed with a rare delusional disorder Mitchell — who sings hymn incessantly during court appearances and once yelled at a judge to 'repent' — has been primarily held at the Utah State Hospital and has refused treatment. Last year, a state judge refused to order forced medication for Mitchell, saying she was not convinced that anti-psychotic drugs would restore his competency.

A self-described prophet of God, Mitchell was indicted by a federal grand jury in 2008 on charges of kidnapping and unlawful transportation of a minor. A state case, where he is charged with multiple felonies, has been held up over the competency issue.

Smart was just 14 on June 5, 2002, when she was taken from her home at knifepoint and held captive for nine months. At an October hearing, Smart said she was forced to become Mitchell's second wife in a religious ceremony and then raped.

Smart was recovered in March 2003 after motorists saw her walking a suburban street with Mitchell and his now-estranged wife, Wanda Eileen Barzee.

Federal prosecutors contend Mitchell is faking psychiatric symptoms in order to avoid prosecution — an opinion supported by a report by New York forensic psychiatrist Dr. Michael Welner, who was paid to evaluate Mitchell.

The full 206-page report is not yet public, but excerpt of it in court documents show Welner disputes the findings of previous evaluations of Mitchell. According to Welner, Mitchell, 56, suffers from an anti-social personality disorder, psychopathy, alcohol abuse and malingering — faking or exaggerating symptoms.

Welner will be a key witness for prosecutors, who contend his report is the most complete evaluation of Mitchell ever done, despite Mitchell's refusal to cooperate.

Mitchell's federal public defenders maintain that he is incompetent and have said evidence of his delusion can be found in his religious ramblings and writings, including a 27-page manifesto, "The Book of Emmanuel David Isaiah." The tract outlines Mitchell's own brand of religion, a mix of early Mormon theology and teachings from New Age writers.

Among the experts included as witnesses for prosecutors are a pair of religious experts expected to dissect Mitchell's tome.

In addition, federal prosecutors have proposed a list of 26 other witnesses for the 10-day hearing. They include Mitchell's former co-workers and religious leaders, employees of the Utah State Hospital, and several relatives,including Barzee's mother, her sister and one of her daughter.

Barzee herself will not testify. Welner, however, is expected to discuss his interview with Barzee in court.

Defense attorneys have proposed just seven witnesses. All are either mental health experts or care providers who have worked with or evaluated Mitchell in the past.

Most notably, the defense has said it will likely call Dr. Richart DeMier, a psychologist at the U.S. Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, Mo. as a defense expert.

De Mier evaluated Mitchell for federal prosecutors. Court documents indicate he concluded Mitchell was incompetent.

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March 1, 2010 5:24 p.m. EST

(CNN) -- Brian David Mitchell, accused of kidnapping Utah teenager Elizabeth Smart in 2002, is competent to stand trial, a federal judge ruled Monday.

Carlie Christensen, acting U.S. attorney for Utah, released a statement saying she was pleased with U.S. District Judge Dale Kimball's ruling, calling it "a significant step toward holding the defendant accountable for his conduct."

Mitchell, now 56, is accused of abducting Smart, then 14, at knifepoint from her bedroom in her family's Salt Lake City home in June 2002. Smart was found nine months later, walking down a street in the Salt Lake City suburb of Sandy, Utah, in the company of Mitchell and his wife, Wanda Eileen Barzee. Mitchell, a drifter and self-described prophet who called himself Emmanuel, had done some handyman work at the Smarts' home.

In November, Barzee, now 64, pleaded guilty in federal court to kidnapping and unlawful transportation of a minor in connection with Smart's abduction. As part of her plea deal with prosecutors, she entered a guilty plea to a lesser charge and agreed to cooperate in the state and federal cases against her husband.

Smart, now 21, testified at a competency hearing for Mitchell in October, saying she had been held captive in Utah and California after her abduction. Just after she was kidnapped, she testified, Mitchell took her to a wooded area behind her home and performed a mock marriage ceremony with her, then raped her. She said that during the nine months of her captivity, no 24-hour period passed without her being raped by Mitchell.

State court proceedings against Mitchell had been on hold pending the outcome of the federal case against him.

Read the judge's opinion

"Elizabeth Smart, her family and this community have waited many years for resolution of this case," Christensen said in the statement.

"While we have great respect for the state court efforts in this case, we believe that the additional in-depth testimony of both fact and expert witnesses presented to Judge Kimball in the federal competency proceedings was instrumental in his decision-making process," she said. "Many of these fact and expert witnesses testified for the first time during the federal competency hearing."

As a next step, Kimball will set a date for Mitchell's trial to begin, she said. His ruling on Mitchell's competency cannot be appealed until after the case concludes.

Barzee had been housed at the Utah State Hospital while courts determined her competency as well as that of her husband. After years of being declared incompetent, she was found competent to stand trial, according to The Salt Lake Tribune. A state court had ruled she could be forcibly medicated, and that ruling led federal prosecutors to bring a case against the couple.

Last month, Barzee pleaded guilty but mentally ill in state court in the attempted kidnapping of Smart's cousin a month after Smart's disappearance. In exchange for her plea to one count of conspiracy to commit aggravated kidnapping, state prosecutors dropped charges against her in Smart's abduction, according to Nancy Volmer, spokeswoman for Utah state courts.

Federal prosecutors have recommended that Barzee serve a 15-year prison sentence but asked that her sentencing date be continued to allow for her prosecution in the case against Mitchell. She faces between one and 15 years in prison on the state charge, but prosecutors agreed to allow that sentence to run concurrently with the federal sentence. Sentencing is set for May 21 on the state charge.

At her plea hearing, she apologized to Smart and her family, saying, "I'm greatly humbled as I realize how much Elizabeth Smart has been victimized and the role I played in it.

"I'm so sorry, Elizabeth, for all the pain and suffering I have caused you and your family," she said, according to a court transcript. "It is my hope that you will be able to find it in your heart to forgive me one day."

Smart was not in court to hear her apology. But her father, Ed Smart, told reporters afterward, "I just hope that it was sincere, and that she will continue on that track and prove that through the rest of Brian Mitchell's trial, or whatever happens."

Thanks for the update Nite! I bet the whole Smart family will be glad when the trial is over with and they can move on with their lives. Elizabeth is one brave and amazing young lady!!

By Emanuella Grinberg and Ashley Hayes, CNN
May 21, 2010 8:27 p.m. EDT


(CNN) -- A woman who admitted her role in kidnapping Utah teen Elizabeth Smart in 2002 was sentenced Friday to 15 years in federal prison.

Wanda Eileen Barzee, 64, apologized to the Smart family during the 30-minute sentencing in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City.

"I know the gravity of my crimes and how severe they have been, and I'm just so sorry, again, for all the pain and suffering I have caused upon the Smart family," Barzee said, according to court transcripts.

As part of a plea deal between the defense and federal prosecutors, Judge Dale Kimball gave Barzee credit for seven years that she already has served, the U.S. attorney in Utah said.

After her release, at about age 70, Barzee will be on supervised release for 60 months, federal prosecutors said.

Barzee pleaded guilty in November to federal charges of kidnapping and unlawful transportation of a minor in Smart's kidnapping. In exchange for her guilty plea, she agreed to cooperate in the state and federal cases against her husband, Brian David Mitchell, federal prosecutors said.

"The United States believes that a 15-year sentence reflects the seriousness of this offense, promotes respect for the law and provides just punishment, especially considering the defendant's past cooperation and continued willingness to cooperate in this case in the future," U.S. Attorney Carlie Christensen said.

Smart's mother, Lois, addressed Barzee at the hearing, calling her acts unconscionable and evil.

"Wanda Barzee, what you did to our family and to our girl Elizabeth was wrong. It was wrong, and it was evil. You hurt our family in ways that you will never know. We had sleepless nights. We had endless days," she said.

But the family has not let bitterness overtake them, she said.

"Elizabeth is doing beautiful. She's brilliant. She's bright. She is thriving, but not because you helped her in any way at all," Lois Smart said. "I hope that you will be able to make peace with your maker."

Outside the courthouse, Smart's father, Ed, expressed mixed emotions over the sentence.

"It is what it is. I'm grateful that she is going to be deemed a sex offender, she's going to have to register," he told CNN affiliate KUTV.
Wanda Barzee, what you did to our family and to our girl Elizabeth was wrong. It was wrong, and it was evil.
--Lois Smart, Elizabeth Smart's mother
RELATED TOPICS

* Elizabeth Smart
* Wanda Barzee
* Brian David Mitchell
* Kidnapping

When pressed by a reporter as to whether the sentence was appropriate, Ed Smart sighed heavily.

"I think that Elizabeth felt that it wasn't strong enough, but to have it come to an end, it's been so many years," he told KUTV.

Barzee and Mitchell were accused of abducting Smart, then 14, at knifepoint from her bedroom in June 2002. She was found nine months later, walking down a street in the Salt Lake City suburb of Sandy with Barzee and Mitchell, a drifter and self-described prophet who calls himself Emmanuel. He had done some handyman work at the Smarts' home.

The month after they kidnapped Smart, Barzee and Mitchell attempted to break into the home of Smart's cousin but were unsuccessful, prosecutors alleged. In state court in February, Barzee pleaded guilty but mentally ill to one count of conspiracy to commit aggravated kidnapping in the attempted kidnapping of Smart's cousin. In exchange for her plea, prosecutors dropped state charges against her in Smart's abduction, Volmer said.

"Mr. Mitchell's attempt was thwarted when the minor child awakened, which caused Mr. Mitchell to flee," the court documents said.

After her arrest in 2003, Barzee told authorities that she and Mitchell went to the home to abduct the girl and planned to hold her, along with Smart, in the couple's camp in the mountains, according to court documents.

In a separate hearing in state court Friday afternoon, Barzee was sentenced to one to 15 years to be served concurrently with her federal sentence. Under Utah law, the state parole board decides how much time a defendant actually serves, Utah state courts spokeswoman Nancy Volmer said.

Barzee's mother, Dora Corbett, attended the hearing, where Barzee made a similar statement to the court, Volmer said. Ed Smart also addressed the court.

Barzee had been housed at the Utah State Hospital while courts determined her competency as well as Mitchell's. After years of being declared incompetent, she recently was declared competent to stand trial, according to the Salt Lake Tribune newspaper. A state court had ruled that she could be forcibly medicated, and that ruling led federal prosecutors to proceed with bringing a case against the couple, the Tribune said.

At a competency hearing for Mitchell in October, Smart, now 21, testified that she had been held captive in Utah and California. Just after her abduction, Mitchell took her to a wooded area behind her home and performed a mock marriage ceremony with her, she said. During the nine months of her captivity, Smart testified, no 24-hour period passed without her being raped by Mitchell.

In March, Kimball ruled Mitchell competent to stand trial. His federal trial is set to begin November 1. State court proceedings against him were put on hold pending the outcome of the federal case.

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How can she be expected to move forward when our Judicial system continues to drag this case on and on and on?
Poor Jaycee it's just a glimpse into what is in store for her.

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10:41 PM MDT, October 26, 2010

SALT LAKE CITY - Elizabeth Smart will return to Utah next month to testify against the man charged with kidnapping her back in 2002. Smart will leave her mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in France to testify at the trial of 56-year-old Brian David Mitchell, which is scheduled to begin Monday.

Smart's name appears on the list of 40 possible witnesses along with her mother Lois and her younger sister Mary Katherine.

A federal judge ruled last week that Mitchell can get a fair trial in Utah. Judge Dale Kimball said 330 potential jurors have filled out questionnaires and there is no "significant prejudice" against Mitchell.

Lawyers for defendant Brian David Mitchell had claimed the trial should be moved to another state because of the intense news coverage of the 2002 abduction.

Mitchell's estranged wife, Wanda Eileen Barzee, is not included in the list of people to testify at the trial. Barzee pleaded guilty to federal and state charges and Smart's abduction.

Mitchell is accused of kidnapping Smart from her Salt Lake City bedroom when she was 14. The former homeless street preacher and Barzee were arrested in March 2003 after they were found with Smart in Sandy.

Brian David Mitchell AP – FILE - In this Dec. 18, 2006 file photo, Brian David Mitchell, the alleged kidnapper of Elizabeth Smart, …[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
By JENNIFER DOBNER, Associated Press Writer Jennifer Dobner, Associated Press Writer – 16 mins ago

SALT LAKE CITY – The man accused of taking Elizabeth Smart from her home in the middle of the night is finally facing trial, after years of delays caused by questions about his mental health and a jump from state to federal court.

Jury selection began Monday in U.S. District Court for the former street preacher charged in the 2002 kidnapping. Brian David Mitchell was indicted in March 2008 on federal charges of kidnapping and unlawful transportation of a minor across state lines. If convicted, he could spend the rest of his life in prison.

Federal prosecutors moved to take over the case in 2008 after a parallel state court case stalled over questions about Mitchell's mental health.

U.S. District Judge Dale Kimball decided earlier this year that the 57-year-old is competent to face trial.

Some 600 potential jurors were called. After exclusions based on hardships or responses to a 42-page juror questionnaire, about 220 remain and will be questioned in person by attorneys for both sides.

Jury selection could take several weeks, and the trial is expected to last into December.

Defense attorneys had sought to move the trial out of Utah, claiming that publicity of the case since Smart's abduction in 2002 had tainted the jury pool and make it difficult for Mitchell to get a fair trial. Both Kimball and the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver rejected that request.

Smart was 14 when she was kidnapped at knifepoint from her home on June 5, 2002. She was recovered nine months later — in March 2003 — after a motorist spotted her walking the streets of a Salt Lake City suburb with Mitchell and his now-estranged wife, Wanda Eileen Barzee.

Now 22, Smart is expected to return to Utah from serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in France to testify against Mitchell. Smart testified for the first time last year as part of a competency hearing for Mitchell, saying that within hours of her kidnapping she was forced to become Mitchell's polygamous wife and endured repeated rapes and other abuses throughout her captivity.

Barzee, 64, pleaded guilty last year to federal charges related to Smart's kidnapping and is serving a 15-year term in federal prison. The plea came after Barzee was ordered by a state judge to undergo forced mental health treatment at the Utah State Hospital to restore her competency to stand trial.

As part of a plea agreement, Barzee said she would cooperate with prosecutors in cases pending in state and federal court. But Barzee's name doesn't appear on the list of 22 witnesses the government plans to call in Mitchell's trial. Instead, court papers show Barzee listed among the 24 people defense attorneys plan to call to testify on Mitchell's behalf.

Mitchell was diagnosed with a delusional disorder and was twice deemed incompetent for trial in state court.

Defense attorneys maintain Mitchell is unable to participate in his own defense. In court papers, attorneys have said they'll mount an insanity defense, claiming Mitchell was so impaired in 2002 that he can't be held legally responsible.

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I think this guy is crazy, insane, a whakadoo, a nut case, a schizofrenic. I do NOT think he should be having a trial. We all know he took Elizabeth. She - Thank God - is safe and in France preching the word of God as a Jehovah Witness. :study:

This guy is scary looking!!! Just put him in a mental home or give him letal injection IF he is competant to stand trial.

Elizabeth Smart kidnap suspect kicked out of court
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Brian David Mitchell is escorted into the Frank E. Moss Federal Courthouse Monday, Nov. 1, 2010, in Salt Lake City.

By JENNIFER DOBNER, Associated Press Writer Jennifer Dobner, Associated Press Writer – 33 mins ago

SALT LAKE CITY – The man accused of the 2002 abduction of Elizabeth Smart was kicked out of a federal courtroom Monday for singing hymns as jury selection for his trial got under way.

U.S. District Judge Dale Kimball tolerated about a half-hour of Brian David Mitchell's soft hymns before ordering Mitchell to be taken to another room in Salt Lake City's federal courthouse to watch Monday's proceedings by remote video.

Kimball also rejected Mitchell's request to don the robes he was wearing when he was arrested with Smart in March 2003, nine months after the girl vanished from her bedroom.

Mitchell faces federal charges of kidnapping and unlawful transportation of a minor across state lines. He could spend the rest of his life in prison if convicted.

Federal prosecutors moved to take over the case in 2008 after a parallel state court case stalled over questions about Mitchell's mental health.

Kimball decided earlier this year that the Mitchell is competent to face trial. The 57-year-old had been diagnosed with a delusional disorder and twice deemed incompetent for trial in state court.

Defense attorneys maintain Mitchell is unable to participate in his own defense. In court papers, attorneys have said they'll mount an insanity defense, claiming Mitchell was so impaired in 2002 that he can't be held legally responsible.

Some 600 potential jurors were called for the trial. After exclusions based on hardships or responses to a 42-page juror questionnaire, about 220 remained to be questioned in person by attorneys for both sides.

Jury selection could take several weeks, and the trial is expected to last into December.

Defense attorneys had sought to move the trial out of Utah, claiming that publicity of the case since Smart's abduction in 2002 had tainted the jury pool and make it difficult for Mitchell to get a fair trial. Both Kimball and the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver rejected that request.

Smart was 14 when she was kidnapped at knifepoint from her home on June 5, 2002. She was recovered nine months later after a motorist spotted her walking the streets of a Salt Lake City suburb with Mitchell and his now-estranged wife, Wanda Eileen Barzee.

Now 22, Smart is expected to return to Utah from serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in France to testify against Mitchell. Smart testified for the first time last year as part of a competency hearing for Mitchell, saying that within hours of her kidnapping she was forced to become Mitchell's polygamous wife and endured repeated rapes and other abuses throughout her captivity.

Barzee, 64, pleaded guilty last year to federal charges related to Smart's kidnapping and is serving a 15-year term in federal prison. The plea came after Barzee was ordered by a state judge to undergo forced mental health treatment at the Utah State Hospital to restore her competency to stand trial.

As part of a plea agreement, Barzee said she would cooperate with prosecutors in cases pending in state and federal court. But Barzee's name doesn't appear on the list of 22 witnesses the government plans to call in Mitchell's trial. Instead, court papers show Barzee listed among the 24 people defense attorneys plan to call to testify on Mitchell's behalf.

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My heart breaks for beautiful Elizabeth. She has had to be a victim of this terrible man for so long.

Wouldn't it be nice if it would all go away and she could get on with her beautiful life.

Each time she has to testify it all comes flooding back at her.

That is what it is like being a victim.

My prayers are going out to God that Elizabeth will have the courage and strength to endure all of this.

Wow - Elizabeth sure handled that in a very classy but firm manner! The first time she mentioned that she didn't want to talk about the past, you would think that NG would get the point & quit pushing her. But, she didn't and Elizabeth had to be more blunt. Good for her!!

Rainbow wrote:Wow - Elizabeth sure handled that in a very classy but firm manner! The first time she mentioned that she didn't want to talk about the past, you would think that NG would get the point & quit pushing her. But, she didn't and Elizabeth had to be more blunt. Good for her!!

:woot: Way to go Elizabeth!

Re: Nancy Grace Has No Grace!

Thank you Wrap for posting that - it's a darn good reminder why I cannot stand NG!

NG has absolutely no class what-so-ever but Elizabeth sure handled her with class.
I just feel so much for Elizabeth having to endure going thru' this trail, he should have plead guilty or the state should have kept him classified as incompetent and thrown him in the looney bin so she doesn't have to go thru' this. Doesn't Utah still have the firing squad? Too bad it's against his rights to put him in front of it now, save the state lots of money and save Elizabeth from having to deal with him again.

raine, I agree with every word you said!!!!!

Raine well said. I wish they would do that with Miss Casey Anthony too.

We are too lax on these "for sure" criminals. Time to get tough.

A federal appeals court on Thursday halted the trial of a man accused of kidnapping Elizabeth Smart to decide if he can get a fair trial in Utah.

Opening statements in the case of Brian David Mitchell were interrupted to announce the decision by the three-judge panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver.

The trial was put on hold as the panel considered a claim by defense attorneys that extensive publicity about the abduction has tainted the jury pool. Prosecutors have until 12:59 a.m. Friday to respond to the claim.

U.S. District Judge Dale Kimball, who is presiding at the trial, sent jurors home just an hour after they were selected in Salt Lake City.

"I'm of course very unhappy about this," Kimball told the nine men and five women serving as jurors and alternates before he apologized and released them for the day. "I have to do what the 10th Circuit says. I don't know what they'll do when they consider it."

Kimball previously rejected defense requests to move the case from Utah.

Like federal prosecutors, the judge maintained an impartial jury could be found, based on the court's decision to call more than 500 prospective jurors and to prescreen their attitudes with a 42-page questionnaire.

News of the appeals court decision came shortly after defense attorney Parker Douglas began his opening remarks.

"It's horrible timing, no one should be stopped in the middle of opening arguments," he said.

It was unclear how quickly the court might rule or when the trial might resume.


The Smart family, from left, Elizabeth Smart, Mary Katherine Smart, Lois Smart and Ed Smart, leave through the back of the Frank E. Moss Federal Courthouse in Salt Lake City on Thursday.
Ed Smart, Elizabeth's father, said the family did not want to comment on the 10th Circuit decision.

Melodie Rydalch, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney, also declined comment.

In its petition filed Wednesday, the defense contended that three days of jury selection proved that pretrial publicity made finding an impartial panel a "practical impossibility."

The petition alleged the court was only able to impanel a jury by discounting the significance of the bias against Mitchell.

The filing included selected transcripts from jury questioning in which prospective jurors said they believed Elizabeth Smart had been abducted, held captive and raped by Mitchell.

Rebecca Woodridge, whose mother had been married to Mitchell, praised the appeals court's decision.

"People are biased in this state toward this case," she said. "They don't look at Brian as a person who deserves a fair trial. They look at him as a monster."

If Mitchell is convicted of the charges, he could spend the rest of his life in prison.

Elizabeth Smart's mother and her sister Mary Katherine, who was sleeping in the same bed with Elizabeth when she was taken at knifepoint, were at the courthouse and prepared to testify Thursday.

Elizabeth Smart is also expected to give lengthy, detailed testimony about her abduction, alleged sexual abuses during nine months of captivity, and threats she has said Mitchell made on her life and her family.

Smart was 14 when she was snatched from her bedroom in June 2002. She was found with Mitchell nine months later.
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Sorry, but this "fair" trial and defense atty crap is not what our justice system inventors intended. If EVERYONE sees me on video committing a crime how is it not fair to convict me of said crime? I may be PRESUMED innocent until proven guilty in a court of law BUT I am NOT INNOCENT. Everyone is entitled to a defense by which their attty makes sure their rights are protected, the evidence is proper, witnesses honest, etc. Their job is not to help a guilty person get away with their crime without punishment.

Very true, Laga! I don't think it really matters where they move the trial to - everyone knows he is guilty! And, how long is this trial going to be dragged on? Poor Elizabeth - she has suffered enough!!

I have been following this trial on the news, and am both horrified & amazed at all that Elizabeth went through. I don't want to get into all the details of the case, but I am horrified that such a young & innocent girl was subjected to such degrading & horrific abuse (sexually & psychologically) at the hands of these two monsters!! At the same time, I am amazed at her strength & resilience - she still possesses that same sweet smile & calm expression that she had before this nightmare. I think a lot of credit must go to her upbringing & family support, but she truly is a remarkable young woman & I wish her the best in life. I also hope that this scumbag (Brian David Mitchell) spends the rest of his life behind bars... where he can sing his songs all day long!!

By RUSSELL GOLDMAN
Nov. 10, 2010

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Elizabeth Smart and her mother, Lois Smart, left, walk out of Federal Court after her testimony Nov. 8, 2010, in Salt Lake City.

Elizabeth Smart told a court today that her kidnapper had grandiose religious illusions, referring to himself as the "Davidic King" or the "one mighty and strong," but many of the prayers he said out loud were for God to make Smart "perform her wifely duties."

Smart underwent a brief cross examination today, her third day of testimony in the trial of Brian David Mitchell who is accused of kidnapping her at the age of 14 from her Salt Lake City home and terrorizing her with almost daily rapes and the constant threat of killing her if she tried to escape.

In a gentle 15 minute cross examination, Mitchell's lawyer appeared to be trying to depict his client as severely mentally ill, whose extreme religious views and abusive practices indicate the depths of his insanity.

Smart said Mitchell held bizarre religious views, melding traditional Mormon philosophy with new ageism and his own doctrine that included a book he wrote, "The Book of Immanuel David Isaiah," which he made Smart read.

She said Mitchell forced her to pray for lengthy periods and said Mitchell would pray out loud for Smart to have sex with him.

"The things that he would say in his prayers were things that I would never have said," she said. "He would say, 'Please bless me,' [Smart], that I would be able to cope with my wifely duties and be able to rise to the occasion and fulfill my wifely duties. That is about the farthest thing from my prayers."

Mitchell also had his confessed accomplice Wanda Barzee make up a book of hymns and would make Smart sing whatever songs he chose.

She testified that Mitchell declared that he was the one destined to fight the anti-Christ because he was the "one mighty and strong" and the "Davidic King."

"Nine months of living with him and seeing him proclaim that he was God's servant and called to do God's work and everything he did to me ... is something that I know that God would not tell somebody to do," she said. "God would never tell someone to kidnap her at knifepoint from their bed, from her sister's side ... never continue to rape her and sexually abuse her."

Elizabeth Smart Contributed to Her Rescue

Lawyer Robert Steele also had Smart describe Mitchell's belief in a healing process he called lymphology which involved touching places that hurt and "bouncing," which was jumping up and down. She said he was a restless sleeper who frequently got up during the night to bounce for several minutes, sometimes on one leg, before going back to bed.

In addition, Steele asked Smart if she ever saw Mitchell lose consciousness.

"Yes. We were in California at the time. He was in the middle of raping me and he experienced a seizure," she said calmly.

Mitchell, 57, is charged with kidnapping and transporting a minor across state lines for sexual purposes. He was captured in March 2003. Barzee has already confessed and has been sentenced to 15 years in prison.

During her three days on the stand, Smart, now 23, was poised and unruffled as she detailed her nightmarish nine months with Mitchell and Barzee. She said that at one point she was confronted by a police officer looking for Elizabeth Smart and he wanted to look under the veil Mitchell made her wear. She was so afraid of Mitchell's death threats that she didn't speak up and was heartsick that the officer wasn't more persistent.

When she was finally rescued, she initially denied her identity out of fear that Mitchell would make good on his death threats.

She did, however, make an effort to get help when she was allowed to go to a bathroom in a Hard Rock Cafe and tried to scratch "Help" on the bathroom wall.

She also contributed to her rescue after Mitchell took them to California. She told Mitchell that God wanted them to return to Salt Lake City. She suggested he pray on it, and said he could probably kidnap another wife from a Mormon camp for girls in the area.

Mitchell supposedly prayed about her suggestion and decided to return to Salt Lake City where Smart was eventually discovered and rescued.

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By Tim Nudd

Tuesday November 30, 2010 11:55 AM EST


Elizabeth Smart's alleged kidnapper collapsed at his trial in Salt Lake City on Tuesday morning, possibly from a seizure, and was taken to hospital.

As the judge entered the courtroom to begin proceedings, Brian David Mitchell, who entered the courtroom singing "O Holy Night," dropped his head, was silent for about two minutes, then moaned loudly and collapsed, local TV station KSL reports.

"Judge, I think he's having a seizure," one of Mitchell's attorneys said.

Mitchell was treated at the scene, while remaining shackled, and then taken to hospital, looking alert but wearing an oxygen mask.

It was not confirmed that he had a seizure, or what other medical problem he might be suffering from. Mitchell has exhibited odd behavior throughout the trial, and has even been kicked out of court for singing.

His stepdaughter, Rebecca Woodridge, said Mitchell has been suffering seizures in jail for about a year but has refused medical treatment. "This isn't something he's making up," she told reporters outside the courthouse. "This is real."

Mitchell is standing trial for the nine-month abduction of Smart when she was 14. Charges against him include kidnapping and sexual assault. During her testimony Smart mentioned that Mitchell had experienced a seizure while they were in California. "He was in the middle of raping me and he experienced a seizure,” she testified. She said it was the only time she had seen Mitchell have a seizure.

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By the CNN Wire Staff
December 1, 2010 9:00 p.m. EST

* Psychiatrist was testifying in trial of man accused of kidnapping smart
* She and her mother left the room during testimony about babies
* Brian David Mitchell's trial had been halted after an apparent seizure Tuesday

For more on this story, see CNN affiliate KTSU

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(CNN) -- Elizabeth Smart stormed out of the courtroom Wednesday during the trial of Brian Mitchell, charged with kidnapping the Utah teenager in 2002, CNN affiliate KSTU reported.

Visibly upset, she left the courtroom during the testimony of a defense witness, Dr. Paul Whitehead, a forensic psychiatrist at the state mental hospital who treated Mitchell from 2005 to 2008.

Whitehead testified about Mitchell's desire to bear children with Smart, KSTU reported.

"Mr. Mitchell was talking with Ms. Smart about having babies to the point where Ms. Smart actually picked out a name in case that happened," Whitehead testified. That statement prompted Smart's departure. She was followed by her mother.

Mitchell's federal trial had been halted a day earlier when Mitchell suffered a medical problem in court.

On Tuesday, KSTU posted a picture of Mitchell on its website, showing him wearing an oxygen mask and sitting on a stretcher as he was being loaded into an ambulance.

Mitchell, as usual, had begun singing when he was led into the courtroom Tuesday: "O Holy Night," KSTU reported.

U.S. District Judge Dale Kimball began the proceedings by raising an issue in a note sent from jurors. As Kimball asked for jurors to be brought in, Mitchell began to wail and dropped to the floor, KSTU said. Defense attorney Wendy Lewis told Kimball, "He's having a seizure, your honor."

An ambulance was called, and paramedics came into the courthouse to examine Mitchell, according to KSTU.

"The judge told the jury that an issue had come up and the trial would be suspended," said Melodie Rydalch, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office in Utah.

Rebecca Woodridge, Mitchell's stepdaughter, told KSTU he has suffered seizures before. "He's had a few of them in the past year. I don't think there's any reason for him to fake this," she said.

Defense attorney Robert Steele said outside the courthouse that Smart herself had testified about Mitchell suffering a seizure during her time in captivity. "We watched a seizure," he said, according to KSTU. "It really happened."

Mitchell, 57, faces charges of kidnapping and unlawful transportation of a minor across state lines in Smart's abduction. Then 14, she was kidnapped from her bedroom in her family's Salt Lake City, Utah, home. Nine months later, she was found in the company of Mitchell -- a drifter and self-described "prophet" who called himself Immanuel -- and his wife, Wanda Barzee.

Mitchell's trial resumed Monday after taking last week off. Barzee earlier testified as a defense witness.

Defense attorneys are mounting an insanity defense for Mitchell, hoping to prove that mental illness clouded his mind to such a degree that he did not understand that his actions were wrong when he abducted and held Smart.

The defense said Tuesday in court that they plan to conclude their case late this week, perhaps Thursday. The prosecution said it has up to five days of rebuttal witnesses, but both sides assured Kimball that they would be finished with closing arguments by December 10.

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Poor Elizabeth. This terrible thing that happened to her just won't stop.

I pray she has the strength to endure. I pray for her parents also.

They say that God never gives you more than you can handle and that each thing you endure makes you stronger.

Well Elizabeth shall be like Hercules after all this.

Please everybody pray for Elizabeth.

Salt Lake City, Utah (CNN) -- A federal jury has found a homeless street preacher guilty of kidnapping Elizabeth Smart in 2002 and transporting the 14-year-old girl across state lines with the intent to engage in sexual activity.
Jurors deliberated for about five hours before announcing the verdict in the case of Brian David Mitchell, 57, court officials said.
Smart, now 23, was the prosecution's star witness. She spent three days on the witness stand after traveling to Utah from Paris, France, where she is on a mission with the Mormon church. Afterwards, she sat with her parents in the front row of the courtroom, watching the trial.
Smart testified that she awoke to find a man holding a cold steel blade to her neck. She was taken from her bed and marched up a rugged mountain path in her red silk pajamas. When they reached Mitchell's remote camp, Smart testified she was "sealed" to her captor in a marriage ceremony, raped and shackled between two trees with a metal cable. She said she was degraded and treated "like an animal."
Smart said she was raped nearly every day during nine months in captivity and forced to drink alcohol, smoke cigarettes and watch Mitchell have sex with his legal wife, Wanda Barzee. She was forced to wear robes and a veil in public and was not permitted to speak to other people. She said she feared Mitchell would act on his threats to kill her and her family if she did.
"I felt that because of what he had done to me, I was marked," Smart testified. "I wasn't the same. My personal value had dropped. I was nothing. Another person could never love me," she added. "I felt like I had a burden the size of a mountain to carry around with me the rest of my life."
The Elizabeth Smart case
Jury deliberates Smart, alleged kidnapper arrive at court
RELATED TOPICS
Elizabeth Smart
Brian David Mitchell
Wanda Barzee
Kidnapping
She said Mitchell told her their marriage was preordained and that she would be by his side as he took seven times seven wives and successfully battled the Antichrist. They would hold exalted positions in God's new kingdom, she was told.
A battle over a Mitchell's mental health played out during the month-long trial, with defense attorneys arguing that he was so mentally ill at the time he took Smart that he did not know it was wrong. Defense experts told the jury he was delusional and psychotic. One expert diagnosed him as a paranoid schizophrenic.
"An insanity defense is designed by Congress to be a very, very difficult thing to prove," assistant federal defender Robert Steele told the jurors. "I have to convince you by clear and convincing evidence there's a high probability that he has a severe mental illness. I have to convince you as a result he was not able to understand what he was doing, or what was wrong."
"If I've convinced you that God told him to kidnap, take another wife, take Elizabeth Smart, then he is not guilty by reason of insanity of kidnapping," Steele said during his closing argument. "If he believed he was commanded to go get more wives, that's part of the delusion, and that charge, too, is subject to the possibility of a not guilty by reason of insanity verdict."
Prosecutors portrayed Mitchell as a pedophile, narcissist and skillful manipulator who used fundamentalist religious dogma when it benefited him. Their experts said Mitchell could turn his religious beliefs on and off at will and talk his way out of trouble. Religious writings that might have seemed psychotic, including his manifesto, were actually cobbled together from other sources, one expert testified.
"The defendant's professed beliefs are highly consistent with fundamental extremists on what we might call the Mormon fringe -- the belief that polygamy needs to be restored," Assistant U.S. Attorney Diana Hagen said during her closing argument. "This is the environment that Brian David Mitchell became immersed in in the early 1990s.
"It provides a perfectly natural, non-psychotic explanation for why Brian David Mitchell behaves the way he does," she told the jurors. "There is no reason to resort to a mental health explanation in this case. The facts you have heard during this trial explain it all."
As winter approached in late 2002, the trio journeyed from Utah to a homeless camp outside San Diego, California, where they spent several months. Mitchell was arrested after he tossed a brick through a church window and spent a week in jail. Back at the camp, Smart and Barzee grew so weak from hunger that they could barely stand up, Smart testified.
Mitchell gave a false name when he was arrested, and authorities released him without discovering his true identity.
The testimony revealed several encounters that could have exposed Smart's identity and perhaps brought her home months earlier had more questions been asked. Their robes and odd ways drew the attention of a police officer in the Salt Lake City Library, as well as others during their travels.
The officer testified that he asked to lift the young woman's veil, but the man refused, citing religious reasons. He did not press them further.
A woman who encountered them in California called the FBI, but the call wasn't followed up on, according to testimony. Another woman dubbed Mitchell "Osama bin Dairy Queen" and noticed the young woman with him seemed oddly withdrawn, but did not pursue it.
After Mitchell's arrest in California, Smart said she convinced him to return to Utah, saying the idea had come to her in a revelation. She said she knew her chances of being found would improve as she got closer to home.
Police stopped Smart, Mitchell and Barzee, on March 12, 2003, after a tipster spotted them outside a Walmart in Sandy, Utah, just a few miles from Smart's home. At first, Smart testified, she was afraid to tell police who she was and gave officers a false name, as Mitchell had instructed.
Smart's demeanor on the witness stand was measured and matter-of-fact. The only time she displayed emotion was when she described being found by police and when she branded Mitchell a self-serving hypocrite.
He was crude, vulgar, self-serving. He was his number one priority.
--Elizabeth Smart
Mitchell seemed preoccupied more with the pleasures of the flesh than matters of the spirit, she said, and used "revelations" and "blessings" to rationalize everything from sexual acts to smoking marijuana and reading Hustler magazine.
"He was crude, vulgar, self-serving. He was his number one priority, followed by sex, drugs and alcohol, but he used religion in all of those aspects to justify everything," Smart testified.
"Everything he did to me and my family was something I know God would never, would never ask somebody to do," Smart said pointedly. It was the only time the volume of her voice rose noticeably in court.
Mitchell's defense attorneys called a string of family members and friends, who described him as increasingly isolated and volatile as his religious zeal grew.
The defense case was marked by brief, dramatic moments in the courtroom.
Mitchell, who sang in court and was removed each day, fell to the floor with an apparent seizure while singing a Christmas carol. The following day, an upset Smart stormed from the courtroom when a witness testified about Mitchell's plans to have babies with her.
The defense ended its case with a psychologist who had diagnosed Mitchell as a paranoid schizophrenic, saying he suffers from "bizarre delusions." In his 2008 evaluation, Dr. Richart DeMier noted that Mitchell appears to have a family history of mental illness and was deemed "pre-psychotic" at 16 after exposing himself to an 8-year-old neighbor.
The prosecution countered with Dr. Michael Welner, who characterized Mitchell as a sadistic pedophile and a narcissist with a personality disorder. But, Welner said, he didn't have the "severe mental disease or defect" necessary for a successful insanity defense.
Mitchell's legal wife, Barzee, brokered a deal with state and federal prosecutors this year and was sentenced to 15 years in prison in exchange for testimony against her husband. But it was the defense, not the government that called Barzee to the witness stand.
The 64-year-old woman, an accomplished organist, described how the couple went from living in a Salt Lake City apartment and being active members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to a nomadic existence as the prophet "Immanuel" and his queen "Hephzibah" -- the Biblical names Mitchell chose for them.
She said she was crushed when her husband told her about a divine revelation that he should take plural "celestial wives" but complied with his instructions.
"We were given the commandment to take young girls, between the ages of 10 to 14 years old. We were to snatch them out of the world and train them in the ministries of God," testified Barzee, who is being treated for mental illness while serving her sentence in a Texas federal prison.
Barzee became emotional under cross-examination by prosecutor Felice Viti, conceding that her husband had taken advantage of her religious faith.
"He's a great manipulator," she said.

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:cheering: :woot: I don't see anything about a sentencing date. Did I miss that part?

I just heard this on the news today! That is awesome news!!

I haven't heard when the sentencing is, but I did hear that he will most likely spend the rest of his life behind bars (singing his strange songs, I'm sure)!!