Elizabeth Smart, who was 14 at the time, was
awakened early on June 5th, 2002 by a knife held at her throat.
Mitchell is described as being a
"clean-cut member of the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints" who
according to fellow church members is
"being persecuted for his religious zeal".
Smart than describes how she was told she was the preordained wife of Mitchell by Mitchell (who prefers to be called "Immanuel David Isaiah") and another defendant named Barzee. She also tells the jury how Mitchell explained to her that he will have 49 wives, and she must teach them how to perform their sexual duties.
Smart was rescued by police on March 12, 2003, near Sandy, Utah when she, Mitchell, and Barzee (Mitchell's dad) were returning from a trip to California. Mitchell than pleaded guilty and was senteced 15 years in prison associated with her kidnapping and rape.
However, now defense attorneys for Mitchell are amassing an insanity defense, claiming he descended into mental instability prior to the kidnapping, thus becoming unaware of the wrongness of his actions.
Either because of his insanity or to support this fabricated defense, Mitchell entered the courtroom everyday singing obsure hymns or christmas carols.
On Tuesday the prosecution rested after supplying 10 witnesses, including Elizabeth Smart herself, for support. The defense now is retaliating with a list of 24 potential witnesses for Mitchell, including a pyschologist, Mitchell's father, former collegues, and former bosses. Four men have already taken the stand, claiming that they all started to notice a change in Mitchell as he started dressing in robes and self-appointing himself a prophet named "Immanuel".
Prior to that, one of Mitchell's out of touch friends Larsen claims that Mitchell was always "utter sincere" and fulled devoted to his role as "father, priesthood holder, and husband".
With the case in full swing right now, Mitchell
faces life in prison is the jury finds him guilty of "kidnapping and transporting a minor across state lines for sexual purposes".
The major issue in this case deals with the
issue of mental unstability in criminals as it
is not questioned whether or not Mitchell commited
these heinous crimes, but whether or not
he was completely competent when he did.
The decision in this case is controversial
because it deals with the fact that it is very difficult or nearly impossible to draw the line
between who is mental unstable and who is not, as their as many different kinds of instability and pyschological issues people suffer from.
Plus, the case deals with the
issue of whether the defense
of mental instability is a good
enough excuse for commiting the
crime.
This case connects with the Supreme courts case from 2007 called "Panetti vs. Quarterman". In said case, Scott Panetti was allowed to represent himself when he was accused of murdering his parents-in-law 15 years ago. due to a long history of schizophrenia, Panetti was constantly making inane references to John F. Kennedy, Jesus, and the Pope before he was sentenced to death.
While on death row, Panetti continued to have
these illusions and was completely convinced that
his execution was a conspiracy between Texas and
demonic forces to prevent his from preaching the
gospel.
After hearing agreeing to see this case, the
Supreme Court blocked Panetti's execution on the basis that the defendant must be able to understand how the unconstitutionality of their actions is the reason for their execution, and nothing else.
QUESTION: What is your opinion on using
mental insanity as a defense, and if you agree with
it how do determine which types of insanity
provide a good enough excuse?
She was than dragged from her home to
a primitive mountainside camp, where she
was forced into marriage with Brian David Mitchell, raped, and than tied between two trees with rope.
ELIZABETH SMART CASE