Elizabeth Smart's Captor Found Guilty of Kidnapping

Brian David Mitchell was found guilty today of kidnapping and transportation of a minor over state lines with the intent to engage in sexual activity. The verdict came after only five hours of deliberation. Mitchell was escorted from the courtroom after the verdict was read. As on most days of the trial, Mitchell was singing loudly.

Brian Mitchell's defense attorneys had launched a defense based on insanity, claiming the self-proclaimed minister was so far removed from reality that he did not know right from wrong and therefore could not be held responsible for his actions. The jury found that defense to be weak and rejected it.

Mitchell will be sentenced next May and can receive a maximum of a life sentence. Under Utah law, a capital punishment sentence is only allowed in cases of aggravated murder.

The jury's rejection of the insanity defense in the Brian Mitchell trial follows a trend in recent years toward favoring retribution over treatment. Juries are becoming more critical of claims that behavior outside the norm is caused by mental illness.

In Mitchell's case, the defense brought in experts to claim that he was a paranoid schizophrenic and was so mentally ill at the time he took 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart from her bed at knifepoint in 2002 that he was not aware what he was doing was a crime. The expert also argued that Mitchell suffered from ongoing delusions that often made him believe that alternately he was God or could talk directly to God. The history of mental illness in Mitchell's family was also used to back up the claim.

The prosecution's psychologist, on the other hand, claimed that while Mitchell was clearly a "sadistic pedophile and a narcissist with a personality disorder," his traits lacked the severity to be considered as a legal defense in a criminal trial. Mitchell's legal wife, Wanda Barzee, serving 15 years for her part in the abduction after brokering a deal with prosecutors, called Mitchell a great manipulator and claimed he used her religious faith to convince her that he was receiving communications from God. These revelations, Mitchell told her, commanded them to take young girls and live in pluralistic marriage. Plural marriage was once common in the Mormon church but was outlawed in 1896 as part of the negotiations for Utah to become a state.

Brian Mitchell will be remanded in custody until his sentencing in May as defense attorneys work on an appeal of the conviction.

Sources:

Federal Jury Finds Elizabeth Smart Kidnapper Guilty

History of Utah