A federal judge has ruled that the man charged in the 2002 kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart is mentally competent to stand trial.
SALT LAKE CITY - A federal judge has ruled that the man charged in the 2002 kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart is mentally competent to stand trial. U.S. District Judge Dale Kimball issued the 149-page ruling Monday, which said 56-year-old former street preacher Brian David Mitchell "does not presently suffer from a mental disease or defect that impedes his rational and factual understanding."