Elizabeth Smart Kidnapping - 2010 Federal Court Trial

2010 Federal Court Trial

Mitchell's criminal trial on federal kidnapping charges began on November 8, 2010.

During the trial both the prosecution and the defense accepted that Mitchell had kidnapped and assaulted Ms. Smart repeatedly but the defense claimed that he was insane at the time and therefore not guilty by reason of insanity. Many stipulations were presented and many lay witnesses were called covering Mitchell's alleged sanity and his alleged insanity. The defense relied most of all on the testimony of two mental health professionals, Dr. Paul Whitehead and Dr. Richard DeMier. Dr. Whitehead is the clinical director of the forensic unit at the Utah State Hospital and studied Mitchell extensively since his arrest in 2003 and concluded that Mitchell suffered from a delusional disorder which made him both incompetent to stand trial and not responsible for his crimes. Dr. DeMier testified that Mitchell suffers from both grandiose and paranoid delusions which he characterized as bizarre however he offered no opinion as to what Mitchell's mental health was at the time of the crimes between 2002 to 2003 because he only analysed his mental state as of 2008.

Prosecutors presented many lay witnesses for rebuttal to the insanity defense. A total of seven lay witnesses were called to testify on December 3, 2010 regarding Mitchell's cruelty and religious beliefs including his two former stepdaughters who testified that Mitchell abused them long before he claimed to be "Immanuel" or a prophet. Also testifying was a former Mormon missionary who said that he met and spoke to Mitchell in San Diego during the time he had Elizabeth Smart with him describing Mitchell as very well behaved and very polite. A US Marshal who escorted Mitchell into the courtroom each day testified that Mitchell only sings inside the court room. The officer also said that Mitchell spent his time in the nearby holding cell following proceedings, napping or exercising. Mitchell's behavior outside the courtroom changed only when his wife Wanda Barzee testified with Mitchell standing as close as possible to the monitor, not moving during the duration of her time on the stand.

Then a Utah psychiatrist, Dr. Noel Gardner, testified during five hours that he disagreed with defense experts and claimed that Mitchell is not delusional nor sincere in his religious beliefs and was only a pedophile. Gardner evaluated Mitchell in 2003 and found him to have narcissistic personality disorder but was competent for trial. The prosecution's last witness was Dr. Welner, a forensic psychiatrist from New York City, who spent more than 1,600 hours working on a report on Mitchell, and charged the U.S Attorney's Office nearly $750,000 for all his work. His 206-page report is believed to be the most extensive study of Mitchell to date and lists 210 sources of information, including interviews with Smart and Mitchell's estranged wife, Wanda Barzee. Dr. Welner testified that Mitchell does not suffer from a mental illness, but rather pedophilia, anti-social personality disorder and narcissistic personality disorder adding that to know Brian Mitchell is to be fooled by Brian Mitchell. Amongst other things he testified that Mitchell would abandon his revelations when it suited him which showed they weren't sincere and that Mitchell used blessings to control his wife and used threats and force as a way to control Elizabeth Smart. He noted that although Mitchell could repent for not following his own revelations, Wanda could not and would be eternally damned if she disobeyed him.

The defense then called as its rebuttal witness a third forensic psychologist Dr. Stephen Golding, an emeritus professor at the University of Utah, who rejected most of Dr. Welner's testimony and disputed several point by point arguments made earlier by the prosecution's expert witnesses. He stated that a study Dr. Welner used did not have enough scientific backing to be considered reliable. He also stated that delusions can wane and vary over time so it was irrelevant what Mitchell's behavior was during isolated incidents. He was also critical of Dr. Welner for claiming that Mitchell's ability to learn chess whilst in custody was proof of a non-delusional mind, claiming that the thought was simply a myth and not backed up by any research.

However the jury ended up deliberating for only about five hours, a relatively short time given the amount of evidence they needed to cover, rejected the insanity plea and returned guilty verdicts on both counts early on Friday, December 10, 2010.

On May 25, 2011, Judge Dale Kimball sentenced Mitchell to life in prison. Mitchell is currently serving his life sentence at the United States Penitentiary, Tucson, a high security federal prison.