Mitchell returning to court

The highest-profile kidnapping case in Utah history will return to center stage at the Matheson Courthouse Tuesday.

The court proceedings involving Brian David Mitchell, accused of kidnapping Elizabeth Smart, have been bogged down by many appeals over the years, causing the case to proceed at a snail's pace. Now they are scheduled to resume in 3rd District Judge Judith Atherton's courtroom for a three-day "Sell" hearing to determine whether Mitchell can be forcibly medicated in an attempt to restore his competency so he can stand trial.

The self-proclaimed prophet — along with his estranged wife, co-defendant Wanda Barzee — each were charged with five first-degree felonies and one second-degree felony on March 18, 2003, including aggravated kidnapping and aggravated sexual assault. A state grand jury indicted the couple on identical charges six months later. Those charges superceded the previous ones. Four years later, however, neither defendant has gone to trial.

Barzee was first ruled incompetent to stand trial Jan. 9, 2004. In June 2006, Atherton ruled Barzee met the guidelines established in Sell vs. United States, a case that set the standard for involuntary medication, and could be forcibly medicated. It was the first-ever Sell hearing in Utah. On July 7, 2006, Barzee's defense team filed a petition asking the Utah Supreme Court to look at Atherton's ruling. The state's high court agreed to hear the case Dec. 6, 2006, and took the arguments under advisement. As of Friday, the court had not issued its decision.

Mitchell will become the second person in Utah to have a Sell hearing.

A 12-day trial was scheduled for Mitchell at one point on Feb. 1, 2005. On the day the indictment was unsealed, Mitchell stood motionless and expressionless as he listened to the charges against him and responded "not guilty" to each.

The trial was postponed, however, after Mitchell's courtroom demeanor drastically changed at each subsequent hearing.

Courtroom appearances by Mitchell have now become sideshow spectacles. It began with Mitchell being removed for singing in 2004. Today, Mitchell barely gets to his seat before disrupting the courtroom with yelling, usually telling people to repent.

During his last courtroom appearance in 2006, a highly agitated Mitchell had his angriest outburst to date, yelling even before he was led into the courtroom and then targeting his tirade specifically at Atherton once he got there.

"How dare you (wear) those filthy robes. Forsake those robes and kneel in the dust," he screamed at her while also saying Atherton wore the "robes of the false priesthood."