From Deseret News archives:
Barzee accepts ruling on her sanity
But she asserts she doesn't consider herself mentally ill
The move could result in Barzee, 58, being sent to the Utah State Hospital for treatment.
Defense attorneys Scott Williams and David Finlayson on Wednesday filed a waiver of Barzee's right to a mental-competency hearing — a hearing she had previously requested. But in a statement included in the document, Barzee made it clear that she still disagrees with the diagnoses of Dr. Nancy Cohn and Dr. Jeff Kovnick.
"I do not believe myself to be mentally ill or infirm or incompetent in the eyes of the Lord," Barzee wrote.
The doctors could not "understand the special nature of my relationship with God and my role as a minister and servant unto Him," she said. "He has given me a discerning spirit, which the evaluators cannot understand. Their inability to understand is also a result of their different belief system and the influence of Satan's subtle powers upon them."
Barzee said in her waiver that she was speaking through her lawyers because "I have been taken out of the world by our Lord and because I am to be submissive and obedient to Him and his true Prophet; it is not my place to play a role in this proceeding, or to speak publicly."
In a separate development Thursday, David Biggs, the attorney for co-defendant Brian David Mitchell, 50, withdrew from the case and reportedly is leaving the Legal Defenders Association for another position. The Legal Defenders Association confirmed Biggs' withdrawal, but no explanation was offered Thursday.
Biggs could not be reached for comment Thursday. There was also no word Thursday whether Kimberly Clark, who was co-counsel for Mitchell, would take over the case entirely or if someone else would be brought in to help represent Mitchell.
Barzee and Mitchell are charged with kidnapping Elizabeth, then 14, in 2002 and holding her for nine months. Elizabeth was taken from her home during the night of June 5, 2002, sparking a nationwide search. On March 12, 2003, two couples in Sandy noticed three people walking near 10200 S. State and notified police, who subsequently arrested Mitchell and Barzee and returned Elizabeth to her family.
In addition to being charged with first-degree felony kidnapping, Barzee and Mitchell are also charged with five other felonies: two counts of first-degree felony aggravated sexual assault, two counts of first-degree aggravated burglary and second-degree felony attempted aggravated kidnapping.
