Hoholnews Houston:Elizabeth Smart arrives at the federal court house for the closing arguments in the trial of Brian David Mitchell on Thursday in Salt Lake City.
JENNIFER DOBNER
The Associated Press
A federal jury has convicted a former street preacher of kidnapping Elizabeth Smart more than eight years ago.
The verdict reached Friday finally brought justice for Smart and her family after the ordeal that began when Brian David Mitchell took her from her home at knifepoint and held her captive for nine months when she was 14.
Now 23, Smart testified during the five-week trial that she was forced into a polygamous marriage and endured near daily rapes.
The jury found Mitchell guilty of kidnapping and unlawful transportation of a minor across state lines for the purposes of illegal sex. It rejected the defense argument that he was not guilty by reason of insanity.
Each charge carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.
'Predatory chameleon'
During the trial, Mitchell was removed daily from the courtroom for singing hymns and disrupting proceedings. Last week, he had a seizure in the holding room where he watches the trial on television. He spent several hours at a hospital before being returned to a jail.
Prosecutors say the 57-year-old is faking mental illness to avoid prosecution.
"He's a predatory chameleon with the cunning to adapt his behavior to serve his needs and desires at any given moment," Assistant U.S. Attorney Diana Hagen said during an 80-minute closing argument.
Hagen told jurors that Mitchell acted deliberately when he took Smart from her home at knifepoint in the middle of the night and threatened her life if she cried out for help. Mitchell was also deliberate when he forced Smart into a polygamous marriage, raped her daily and held her captive for nine months, hiding her behind long robes, a head scarf and veil, and a religious name.
Colin E. Braley / AP
Brian David Mitchell in Salt Lake City. Mitchell is on trial for the kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart.
"He stripped her of her clothes, her identity and her innocence," Hagen said.
Hagen said Mitchell didn't eschew mainstream society and live on the streets in the mid-1990s because of either a command from God or because a mental illness, but because he wanted to avoid work, child support payments and income taxes.
He chose when to follow his so-called revelations from God, Hagen said.
"If he chose those ideas then he can certainly choose to conform his conduct to the demands of the law," she said. "He can certainly choose not to rip a child away from her home and family, to rape and abuse her, to keep her bound like an animal, to rob her of her identity, her dignity and her childhood."
Steele disputed that Mitchell could shape his behavior to conform, since he had the delusional belief that he was above everyone else. It was a delusion that drove him to break laws starting at age 16, when he was convicted of exposing himself to an 8-year-old girl.
"It's easy to say that he's just making it up," Steele said during his hourlong closing argument. "But this is sustained, a long-term drive. He thinks he is special. This is not an overnight thing."
Outside the courthouse Steele said Mitchell was waiting for the verdict in the holding cell where he watches court proceedings each day.
"He's pretty indifferent to what is going on," Steele said.
Now 23, Smart has testified that she was forced into a polygamous marriage with Mitchell after the abduction, held prisoner on a tether and forced to endure nearly daily rapes. She also said Mitchell forced her to wear hand-sewn, religious-looking robes, to use drugs and alcohol, view pornography and to go to California against her will.
Smart has attended the trial, taking a break from serving a religious mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Paris.
Mitchell's estranged wife, Wanda Barzee, pleaded guilty to Smart's kidnapping last year and is serving 15 years in federal prison.
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Associated Press reporter Josh Loftin contributed to this report from Salt Lake City.
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