Salt Lake City – A man accused of kidnapping Elizabeth Smart in 2002 again was declared mentally unfit to stand trial Monday after screaming at a judge to “forsake those robes and kneel in the dust.”
Brian David Mitchell was removed from the courtroom after a loud stream of outbursts. Third District Judge Judith Atherton also reviewed a doctor’s report that said he is not participating in therapy.
“I find the defendant continues to be incompetent to stand trial,” Atherton said.
Mitchell and his estranged wife, Wanda Barzee, 61, are charged with kidnapping Smart from her home in June 2002. She was 14 at the time.
The hearing was delayed for more than two hours so Mitchell could be transported from the Utah State Hospital in Provo, where he had refused to leave.
The judge, who had not seen him for a year, demanded that Mitchell appear.
Once Mitchell was inside the courtroom, however, his appearance was brief.
“Repent, ye. Repent, ye. Forsake your idolatry,” said Mitchell, his wrists restrained with a chain around his belly. “How dare you sit in those filthy robes, those robes of false priesthood. Forsake those robes and kneel in the dust.”
Mitchell, 53, had made similar outbursts at previous hearings.
He and Barzee so far have been found unfit to face charges tied to Smart’s nine-month odyssey from Salt Lake City to California and back to Utah, where they were discovered walking a suburban street in 2003.
In Barzee’s case, her attorneys are asking the Utah Supreme Court to overturn Atherton’s order forcing her to take medication to restore competency.
