Mitchell sings to get out of court, new reports say

New reports filed in court indicate the man accused of kidnapping and sexually assaulting Elizabeth Smart may be using religion as a front to get what he wants, including being thrown out of court.

Brian David Mitchell suffers from pedophilia, antisocial personality disorder and narcissistic personality disorder, according to Dr. Michael Welner, a renowned forensic psychiatrist from New York City who is expected to be the government's key witness when Mitchell's competency hearing resumes in late November.

In addition, Mitchell is malingering, or faking his illness, to avoid prosecution, according to court documents.

The U.S. Attorney's Office recently filed a 35-page response to the defense's sealed motion to have Welner excluded from testifying. In its response, the government reveals portions of Welner's report of Mitchell.

Welner's 206-page report gives the most comprehensive examination of Mitchell to date, according to prosecutors. More than 160 sources were cited. Court documents indicate that some of Welner's report examines how Mitchell's behavior at the hospital is different than when he's in court.

Prosecutors argue Welner's testimony is relevant, based on scientific fact and data, and the defense's arguments to exclude him are not justified. Welner's report was based on more than 60 interviews with workers at the Utah State Hospital who dealt with Mitchell, family members, church leaders, friends and others, court records state. Welner interviewed Smart and even attempted to interview Mitchell during a five-hour meeting in which Mitchell refused to participate.

"(Welner's report) considers far more source material and discusses it in far greater detail than any of the prior expert reports in this case," according to prosecutors.

The report is expected to talk about Mitchell's "word fasts," which Welner argued did not have any religious origins. Welner said Mitchell's word fasts may have started because of a conversation Mitchell had with a lab technician at the hospital.

The fasts started "the day after another psychiatric technician had bragged to a patient that they were able to prove that a patient was competent to stand trial based on conversations they had with him," according to court documents.

Mitchell's court hearings have become known for his singing and refusal to stop, leading to him being removed from the courtroom.