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(AP/KSL News) A man accused of kidnapping Elizabeth Smart in 2002 again was declared mentally unfit to stand trial Monday after screaming at a judge to "forsake those robes and kneel in the dust."
Third District Judge Judith Atherton had planned to listen to experts and hold a hearing to review Brian David Mitchell's competency. But it quickly ended after a loud stream of outbursts.
"Repent ye, repent ye. Forsake your idolatry," said Mitchell, his wrists restrained with a chain around his belly.
"How dare you sit in those filthy robes, those robes of false priesthood. Forsake those robes and kneel in the dust," he told the judge.
He was immediately removed from the courtroom, but you could still hear him shouting from the holding cell.
Mitchell, 53, and his estranged wife, Wanda Barzee, 61, are charged with kidnapping Smart from her home in June 2002. She was 14 at the time.
They have been found mentally unfit to stand trial and both are at the Utah State Hospital.
The Utah Supreme Court is considering whether Barzee can be forced to take drugs to improve her mental health. Doctors have been trying to treat Mitchell without drugs. But after the scene in court, prosecutor Kent Morgan said a request to forcibly administer drugs likely would follow.
Kent Morgan, prosecutor: "We've exhausted all of the traditional means of restoring him to competency and the report as we indicated on the record indicates that that forced medication is the next step."
This morning's hearing was delayed for about two and a half hours because Mitchell refused to leave the state hospital. A judge had to order him to come here today. Atherton said he had no choice and ordered deputies to bring him to court.
Next up for Mitchell is a hearing on the forced medication issue, possible sometime next month, in the near future.
Mitchell and his ex-wife, Wanda Barzee, are accused of kidnapping Elizabeth Smart from her home in 2002. A judge also found Barzee, incompetent to stand trial. The state Supreme Court is considering whether she can be forced to take medication. Prosecutors say that decision could set the guidelines for the Mitchell's case.
In 2003, nine months after Smart disappeared, she was found with Barzee and Mitchell walking along a street in Sandy, a Salt Lake City suburb. All were wearing robes, and the teen also had a veil over her face.
Ed Smart doesn't think medication will change Mitchell's behavior.
More coming up on Eyewitness News at Five.
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
