Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY -- A trial date was set Friday in the federal case against Brian David Mitchell. The man accused of kidnapping and sexually abusing Elizabeth Smart is scheduled to stand trial in November of this year.
However, the defense is intending to seek a change of venue.
Mitchell was not present in federal court Friday. His attorney requested he be absent since it was just a scheduling conference.
Elizabeth's parents, Lois and Ed Smart, made their way into the courthouse Friday morning just before 9:00. They sat in the front row, awaiting the judge's decision on trial date.
U.S. District Judge Dale Kimball was adamant that the trial happen this year. He also wanted to set the date in stone, saying he would not change it. That's why he agreed to pushing all deadlines back by about a month, making the trial date Nov. 1.
March 12, 2003 - Elizabeth Smart found alive
July 26, 2005 - Brian David Mitchell found incompetent to stand trial
Feb. 12, 2008 - Judge orders Smart suspect, Wanda Barzee, to be medicated
March 5, 2008 - Accused Elizabeth Smart kidnappers indicted
March 11, 2008 - Utah Supreme Court stops Barzee's forced medication
Oct. 9, 2008 - Judge denies forced medication request for Mitchell
Oct. 17, 2008 - Mitchell's case moves to federal court
May 1, 2009 - Elizabeth Smart talks about months in captivity
Oct. 1, 2009- Elizabeth Smart relives kidnapping ordeal at Mitchell hearing
Nov. 17, 2009 - Barzee pleads guilty to federal charges in Smart kidnapping
Nov. 29, 2009 - Competency hearing set in Smart abduction case
Nov. 30, 2009 - Testimony begins in Mitchell's 10-day competency hearing
March 1, 2010 - Mitchell found competent for trial
Both prosecutors and the defense agreed the trial would only take two weeks at the most.
The question is, where will the trial be?
The defense has to file a motion to change venue by May 26.
Defense attorney Robert Steele explained, "The notion is if a community is invested in a case, perhaps it needs to be moved somewhere else."
He says the trial can be anywhere else in the 10th Circuit, which covers several western states. The location would be for the judge to decide if he grants the motion.
Judge Kimball and the attorneys also discussed the jury selection process. Kimball said they should probably send questionnaires to a pool of 400 or 500 people.
Smart was 14 when she was kidnapped from her Salt Lake City bedroom in on June 5, 2002. She was found nine months later on March 12, 2003 -- seven years ago Friday -- walking a suburban street with Mitchell and his now-estranged wife, Wanda Barzee.
"Today is the seventh anniversary of Elizabeth's return, and we count our blessings that she is back home and that she is doing so well and able to move forward with her life," Ed Smart said.
Steele said in court that he plans to raise the insanity defense for Mitchell. He also said they plan to hire another mental health expert.
"I think it's a mental health case. I always have," Steele said. "If I'm going to stand up in court, I wouldn't change my approach."
Earlier this month, Judge Kimball ruled that Mitchell was competent to stand trial. A parallel case in state courts has stalled over the question of Mitchell's competency. His lawyers maintain he is unable to assist in his own defense, but Kimball disagreed and the federal case is moving forward.
Steele told KSL outside of court that like any case, he is preparing to go to trial but is continuing to see if there's a way to settle.
-------
Story compiled with contributions from Nicole Gonzales, Randall Jeppesen and the Associated Press.
