Mental health testimony due for Mitchell

SALT LAKE CITY, Nov. 29 (UPI) -- Jurors in Utah will hear testimony to determine if a man who allegedly kidnapped and raped Elizabeth Smart nearly a decade ago is mentally competent.

Brian David Mitchell is charged with kidnapping Smart, then 14, from her Salt Lake City home in 2002. The competency phase of his trial starts Monday in federal court in Salt Lake City,The Salt Lake Tribune reported.

Testimony from mental health experts could determine if he spends life in prison or in a secure mental health facility, the newspaper said.

Smart has already testified. Jurors have heard testimony that Mitchell allegedly raped her almost daily for the nine months she was held captive after her abduction.

Defense attorneys want the jury to find Mitchell mentally incompetent, but prosecutors say the self-proclaimed prophet only acts mentally ill when it is to his benefit.

Mitchell has been removed from court daily for singing religious and Christmas songs.

Prosecution witnesses include Noel Gardner, a psychiatrist and medical director of South Valley Mental Health. He testified at an earlier competency hearing that Mitchell's singing in court is "cunningly and shrewdly" developed to disrupt court proceedings.

The mental competency phase of the trial could last up to two weeks, the newspaper said.