SALT LAKE CITY (AP)- The man charged with kidnapping teenager Elizabeth Smart was kicked out of his mental competency trial Friday after he began singing a religious hymn, the fourth time he has been removed from hearings for singing.
As Brian David Mitchell was led away, he shouted, "He mocks and scorns the son of God. ... You know I speak the truth. You know I speak the truth."
The hearing then resumed with defense expert Stephen Golding testifying that Mitchell has become increasingly more mentally disturbed and unfit for trial.
Golding said Mitchell has vowed to do everything possible to disrupt the trial and has said he will not allow Elizabeth who he contends is his wife to be questioned on the witness stand.
Prosecutors argue that Mitchell is competent to face trial.
Mitchell, 51, a self-proclaimed messenger of God, is accused of kidnapping then 14-year-old Elizabeth in 2002, sexually assaulting her and keeping her as his second wife.
He and his wife, Wanda Barzee, 59, are charged with kidnapping, aggravated sexual assault, aggravated burglary and attempted aggravated kidnapping. He is also charged in the attempted abduction of Elizabeth's cousin seven weeks after her kidnapping.
Mitchell's lawyers have said he has grown delusional in jail since September, when he was declared competent after seven months of evaluations. He was ordered to undergo a new round of mental evaluations in December after he broke into a hymn during a hearing.
Barzee, who has filed for divorce, has been ruled incompetent to stand trial and is being treated at a state facility.
Ok, so this (I will refrain from using the name "freak") guy, who calls himself the prophet "Emmanuel", abducted Elizabeth from her home in the early hours of June 5th 2002, Sexually assaulted her, he beat her multiple times to the point that she suffered from Stockholm syndrome, after he threatened that he would kill all of her family if she spoke out when they where in public. He traveled throughout the surrounding states and even spent many of the 9 months here in the Salt Lake Valley, the 3 were found on a Salt Lake City street corner on March 12 2003.
Question: "How in the world are we supposed to define the competency of a man who thinks that he is the "Emmanuel"?"
Personally, I think that he is trying to hard to get the incompetent vote, I mean how often do mentally disturbed people just burst out singing actual hymns and not just mindless, drunkard like ramble? And not during real trials does he do this, only during his competency trials. Yeah, he's crazy, but I believe, that he was completely aware and should be held 100% responible for his actions.
