Mitchell defense documents unsealed

Defense motions in the federal case of Brian David Mitchell that had been previously kept out of the public eye were unsealed Thursday.

One of the unsealed motions Thursday was a 36-page memorandum seeking to exclude the testimony of Dr. Michael Welner from Mitchell's upcoming competency hearing and another 24-page memorandum in support of the motion.

Welner, a renowned forensic psychiatrist from New York City, is the government's key witness during Mitchell's competency hearing scheduled to resume Nov. 30. He has prepared what some consider to be the most extensive report on Mitchell to date, and said he believes Mitchell is competent to stand trial.

The motion re-states what had previously been released that Welner believes Mitchell is neither "schizophrenic nor suffering from delusional disorder, but that rather, among other things, that Mr. Mitchell is instead malingering," according to court documents.

Welner also concluded that Mitchell suffered from pedophilia, nonexclusive type, antisocial personality disorder, narcissistic personality disorder, malingering and alcohol abuse but was not mentally incompetent to stand trial.

Welner's report is inadmissible, according to court documents filed by Mitchell's attorneys, because it is not based on sufficient facts outlined under federal rules and "omits facts and findings contrary to Dr. Welner's conclusion."

Mitchell further claims the report omits key information from the Utah State Hospital, such as the conclusions from Mitchell's treating physician at the hospital.

The motion examines four elements of Welner's report on Mitchell, including Mitchell's word fasts, his singing, Mitchell's belief that the court system is corrupt and his alleged escape plan from the Utah State Hospital.

In regard to their client's singing in court, the defense believes Welner's report "omits consideration of the possibility … of Mr. Mitchell's actual faith, rational or otherwise, in the power of hymn, which, in this instance, could just as readily be interpreted as Mr. Mitchell's reliance and belief in a God who would counteract what Mr. Mitchell perceives as a corrupt system."

The defense motion revealed other tidbits about Mitchell and how he refused to use the state hospital's soap or toothpaste because they were the products of a corrupt system, as was the government, the judicial system and industries such as the meat industry.