Editing Kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart (section)

==Legal proceedings==
===Competency evaluations===
The court requested that Mitchell undergo a [[Competence (law)|competency evaluation]],<ref name=facts/> based on his claims of being a religious [[prophet]].<ref name=inside>{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Health/inside-mind-elizabeth-smarts-kidnapper/story?id=14318730|work=ABC|title=Inside the Mind of Elizabeth Smart's Kidnapper|date=August 19, 2011|author=Effron, Laura|access-date=November 19, 2017}}</ref> While awaiting the evaluation, Mitchell was incarcerated at the [[Utah State Hospital]]. Stephen Golding, a psychologist hired by the defense, distinguished between zealous belief and delusion, and concluded that Mitchell's beliefs transcended zeal and were in fact delusional. It was Golding's opinion that Mitchell was not competent to stand trial as a result of his delusions. The court, however, overruled Golding's opinion and found Mitchell to be competent in 2004.<ref name="DBMD">{{cite web|url= https://abcnews.go.com/images/TheLaw/SmartDocs.pdf |title=US v. Brian David Mitchell Decision |website=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] }}&nbsp;{{small|(556 KB)}}</ref> Plea negotiations subsequently began between the defense and the prosecution. The defendant was willing to plead guilty to kidnapping and burglary for a 10- to 15-year sentence on condition that Smart should not testify. The prosecution refused to drop sexual assault charges against Mitchell, and no agreement was reached.<ref name="DBMD"/>

On October 15, 2004, plea negotiations had still not determined an agreement. The defense appealed as late as October 21, asking the prosecution to rethink their position in terms of what they were offering Mitchell. Up until this point the defense did not highlight breakdown in competence as a contributing factor to the deterioration of plea negotiations; they cited the lack of a coming to an agreement as being the result of the sole discretion of their client. The appeal was subsequently rejected.

Jennifer Skeem, a psychologist who initially stated that Mitchell was competent, interviewed Mitchell again per the defense's request in February 2005. After this interview, Heidi Buchi, Mitchell's attorney, filed a brief stating that Mitchell was no longer competent to stand trial. Mitchell subsequently began to act out in court, while jail staff observed no change in his behavior and thought process. Ultimately, Judge Judy Atherton agreed with the defense, asserting that Mitchell's behavior reflected psychosis. The defendant re-entered Utah State hospital on August 11, 2005, and remained there until 2008. While he was in the hospital, no staff members observed Mitchell being paranoid in a pathological sense.

In February 2006, a bill went before the [[Utah State Legislature|Utah legislature]] to allow prosecutors to apply for forcible medication on defendants to restore their competence to face trial. Permission to forcibly medicate Wanda Barzee was also sought, relying upon the [[U.S. Supreme Court]]'s decision in ''[[Sell v. United States]]'' (2003), which permits compulsory medication when the state can demonstrate a compelling interest is served by restoring a person's competence and that medication would not harm the person or prevent them from defending themself. In June 2006, a Utah judge approved the forcible medication of Barzee so that she could stand trial.

On December 18, 2006, Mitchell was again declared unfit to stand trial in the Utah state courts after screaming at a judge during a hearing to "forsake those robes and kneel in the dust."<ref name=facts/><ref>{{cite news|last1=Reavy|first1=Pat|title=Highly agitated Mitchell still incompetent for trial|url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/650216140/Highly-agitated-Mitchell-still-incompetent-for-trial.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141021205242/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/650216140/Highly-agitated-Mitchell-still-incompetent-for-trial.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 21, 2014|newspaper=Deseret News|access-date= June 30, 2014|date= December 19, 2006}}</ref> Doctors had been trying to treat Mitchell without drugs, but prosecutor Kent Morgan said after the scene in court that a request was likely to be made for permission to forcibly administer drugs. On December 12, 2008, it was reported that Mitchell could not legally be forcibly medicated by the State of Utah to attempt to restore his mental competency, also claiming that it is "unnecessary and needlessly harsh," and therefore a violation of the Utah state constitution, to prolong trial proceedings to this length.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Hunt|first1=Stephen|title=Defense wants state charges against Mitchell dismissed|url=http://www.sltrib.com/ci_11198169|website=The Salt Lake Tribune|access-date=June 30, 2014|date=December 11, 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714181418/http://www.sltrib.com/ci_11198169|archive-date=July 14, 2014}}</ref>

The case was eventually transferred to Federal court on October 10, 2008. Issues of competency proved to be the crux of the case, and the court held an evidentiary hearing on Mitchell's competency on October 1, 2009, and November 30 through December 11, 2009. On one occasion during a hearing in October, it was reported that Mitchell burst out singing [[hymn]]s in court.<ref name=facts/> During one of these hearings, Smart described Mitchell as "smart, articulate, evil, wicked, manipulative, sneaky, slimy, selfish, greedy, not spiritual, not religious, not close to God."<ref name=testimony>{{Cite web|title = The testimony of Elizabeth Smart|url = http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_13462888|access-date = October 9, 2013|work = The Salt Lake Tribune|date = October 1, 2009|url-status = dead|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131021214629/http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_13462888|archive-date = October 21, 2013}}</ref>

Competency evaluations conducted by Noel Gardner, [[Michael Welner]] and Richart DeMier were presented at the hearing. Gardner maintained that he believed Mitchell was fully aware of his actions and was attempting to deceive the court. Welner, another witness in the case, reviewed 210 sources and 57 separate interviews including Mitchell, his wife Wanda Barzee, his family, and Elizabeth Smart. The Court credited Welner with presenting a 206-page report.<ref name="CST">{{cite web |url= http://www.forensicpanel.com/data/Unsorted/BDM_CST_Report.pdf |title= Brian David Mitchell CST Report |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120327140904/http://www.forensicpanel.com/data/Unsorted/BDM_CST_Report.pdf |archive-date=March 27, 2012}}&nbsp;{{small|(1.56 MB)}}</ref> Welner opined that Mitchell was competent to stand trial, and diagnosed him with non-exclusive [[pedophilia]], [[antisocial personality disorder]], [[narcissistic personality disorder]], [[malingering]] and [[alcohol abuse]] in a controlled environment.<ref name=inside/> Welner believed that Mitchell was highly manipulative and used his religious expression as a way to coax people into overlooking his high function and dismissing him as delusional.<ref name=inside/> Experts for the defense including Dr. DeMier, a clinical psychologist, did not dispute these diagnoses; they maintained he had a concurrent fixed delusional disorder, believing that Mitchell was mentally ill at the time of the crime, and this greatly impaired his judgment. Mitchell was deemed competent to stand trial on March 1, 2010.

===Prosecution and sentencing===
Wanda Barzee eventually pleaded guilty and was sentenced to concurrent terms of 15 years in state and federal prison. However, due to the delays and mental evaluations, it took Mitchell's case almost eight years to come to court.<ref>{{Cite journal|title = Newspapers provide context in Elizabeth Smart Abduction|last1 = Bullock|first1 = Cathy Ferrand|date = 2013|journal = Newspaper Research Journal|doi = 10.1177/073953291303400403|last2 = Spratt|first2 = Margaret|last3 = John|first3 = Sue Lockett|volume = 34|issue = 4|pages = 24–39|s2cid = 141615725}}</ref>

Mitchell's trial began on November 8, 2010. The defense acknowledged that Mitchell was responsible for the crimes, but contended that he was [[Insanity defense|legally insane]] at the time of the crime, and should therefore be found [[Insanity defense|not guilty by reason of insanity]].<ref name="DBMD"/> The insanity defense for Mitchell was rejected on December 11, 2010, when the jury found him guilty of kidnapping and transporting a minor across state lines with intent to engage in sexual activity.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Romboy|first1=Dennis|title=Mitchell sentenced to life behind bars for kidnapping Elizabeth Smart|url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705373319/Mitchell-sentenced-to-life-behind-bars-for-kidnapping-Elizabeth-Smart.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110528033427/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705373319/Mitchell-sentenced-to-life-behind-bars-for-kidnapping-Elizabeth-Smart.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 28, 2011|newspaper=Deseret News|access-date=June 30, 2014|date= May 25, 2011}}</ref> U.S. District Judge [[Dale A. Kimball]] sentenced Mitchell to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Mitchell is currently serving his sentence at [[United States Penitentiary, Terre Haute|U.S. Penitentiary, Terre Haute]], a high-security [[Federal Bureau of Prisons|federal prison]] in [[Terre Haute, Indiana]].

In 2016, Barzee's federal imprisonment was terminated and she was transferred from the [[Federal Medical Center, Carswell]] in [[Fort Worth, Texas]], to the [[Utah State Prison]] in [[Draper, Utah]], to begin serving her state prison sentence. She was released in September 2018, which Smart protested.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/elizabeth-smart-kidnapper-wanda-barzee-due-be-released-prison-wednesday-n910966|title=Elizabeth Smart kidnapper Wanda Barzee released from prison|website=NBC News|date=September 19, 2018 }}</ref>