Wanda Eileen Barzee is slated to be sentenced Friday morning by U.S. District Judge Dale Kimball for her role in helping her husband kidnap the then-14-year-old in 2002 and hold her captive for nine months.
A few hours later, Judge Judith Atherton in the state's 3rd District Court will hand down a second sentence, this one stemming from a plot to abduct Smart's cousin.
Under plea deals, Barzee is expected to get a 15-year sentence in the federal prosecution, with credit for her time in custody since March 2003, and a 1-to-15-year term in the state case. The terms likely will be served concurrently.
Still pending is a trial of street preacher Brian David Mitchell, Barzee's husband. The proceeding, set to begin Nov. 1 in U.S. District Court, is expected to last more than two weeks and will center on the mental state of Mitchell, a self-proclaimed prophet who allegedly wanted Smart as his plural wife.
Smart, who is serving a mission in Paris for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is not expected to be present at Barzee's sentencings.
Mitchell, 56, and Barzee, 64, were charged with abducting Smart on June 5, 2002, from her home in Salt Lake City's Federal Heights neighborhood. They were arrested in March 2003 while walking in Sandy with the girl and charged with kidnapping and other crimes.
After hearings in 3rd District Court, Atherton ruled that the two were mentally incompetent to stand trial. The judge said Mitchell could not be forcibly medicated to try to restore his mental competency. She also ruled Barzee could be forcibly medicated, a process that began in May 2008.
When the state case against Mitchell and Barzee stalled over the competency issue, the U.S. Attorney's Office began a case against the couple. A federal grand jury issued an indictment in 2008 charging Mitchell and Barzee with kidnapping and unlawful transportation of a minor.
Doctors at the Utah State Hospital said last fall that they believe Barzee is mentally competent, and she struck the plea bargains. And after a competency hearing, Kimball ruled earlier this year that Mitchell is competent to stand trial in his court.
Barzee has agreed to testify against Mitchell in both state and federal courts. She pleaded guilty in federal court to kidnapping and unlawful transportation of a minor, and pleaded guilty and mentally ill in state court to second-degree felony aggravated kidnapping.
Mitchell is charged in federal court with kidnapping and unlawful transportation of a minor. A not guilty plea was entered on his behalf to those charges. The proceedings in state court, where he was charged with kidnapping, burglary and sexual assault, have been on hold.
0 comments:
Post a Comment