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[video]http://www.fox13now.com/videobeta/e66a978e-a2e3-45b5-990d-67fbec00016b/News/Brian-David-Mitchell-believes-he-ll-be-found-guilty-relative-says[/video]
SALT LAKE CITY —
Federal prosecutors have called their last witness to the stand in the trial of the man charged with the 2002 kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart.
Dr. Michael Welner, a New York-based psychiatrist who evaluated Brian David Mitchell is now on the stand. He is a fairly controversial witness, having been paid more than $680,000 for his evaluation and testimony for the prosecution.
The trial is winding down with the jury being asked to stay late to get through the testimony.
UPDATE at 9:10 p.m.: Outside of court, Dr. Michael Welner stopped and made a brief statement to reporters about his testimony.
"It's a complicated case. A complicated tragedy. I did the best that I could to add to what the jury's already heard," he said.
U.S. District Judge Dale Kimball told the court on Thursday that there was a slight chance that the trial could wrap up earlier than expected. Defense attorneys were expected to call a psychiatric expert of their own on Thursday. Kimball said there is a chance that closing statements could begin that afternoon.
The jury could begin deliberations by Friday. Even if the jury has not yet reached a verdict, Brian David Mitchell apparently has. In an interview with Fox 13 late Wednesday, Mitchell's stepdaughter said she visited him in the Salt Lake County Jail where he believes he will be found "guilty."
"He feels that whatever happens is God's will," Rebecca Woodridge told Fox 13. "He thinks everybody's been brainwashed. Just like they brainwashed Elizabeth into hating him and going against him. It's very strange."
UPDATE at 5:05 p.m. Cross-examination continued with Dr. Michael Welner being questioned by Brian David Mitchell's defense attorney, Wendy Lewis.
"Dr. Welner, I want to go through more detail on your diagnosis," Lewis began. "Let's start with anti-social personality disorder."
One of the things he relied on was a report prepared by a doctor who evaluated Mitchell in 1970, whom he claimed called Mitchell "highly mature but highly anti-social." Lewis insists it was nowhere to be found in that original report.
"I may have put something in quotation marks that I was in fact paraphrasing," Welner said.
"The question was you misquoted her," Lewis said.
"I may have," he said.
After a terse exchange, Welner said he may have misattributed it. Lewis pressed him about the original report and inconsistencies in his 205-page report to prosecutors.
Welner maintained throughout the questioning that he disagreed with others' diagnosis that Mitchell is mentally ill.
The line of questioning continued for the remainder of the day. U.S. District Judge Dale Kimball wrapped up the proceedings, but said in court there is a chance that closing statements could begin Thursday afternoon.
Under cross-examination by defense attorneys, Dr. Michael Welner testified that he bills a daily rate of $5,000 for testimony (he has testified for about three days now). His initial retainer was $26,250 for the case, Brian David Mitchell's lawyer noted.
Defense attorney Wendy Lewis pressed Welner about why he was hired by the prosecution, after government doctors had already been requested to evaluate Mitchell. Welner was retained before Mitchell even went to a federal mental facility to be evaluated, Lewis pointed out.
"The point is, we were working on a case," Welner said.
"The point is you got that additional $30,000," she replied.
Lewis pointed out another $40,000 bill, something that Welner disputed.
"You don't know what that $40,000 is for?" Lewis asked.
"It's for work," Welner said, saying he does not know how the billing specifically is handled by his firm.
"The bottom line is by January 26, 2009, there had been approval to pay $96,296," she said.
"86" Welner corrected her.
Lewis asked about the role of Welner's firm, the Forensic Panel, and how much the other members charged for their services.
Adding up all of the billings, Lewis said Welner and his firm have billed the government more than $748,000 for the Elizabeth Smart kidnapping case. She asked if the figure would go up by the time the trial was over.
"Depends on how much longer you keep me on cross-examination," Welner quipped to laughter in the courtroom.
"For the taxpayers, I'll try to keep it a little bit shorter," Lewis replied.
"I'm sure that the taxpayers will thank you," he retorted.
Welner spoke about the qualifications of the members of his firm, with Lewis continuing to pepper him.
"When someone is an independent consultant and their job is to review your work, what does that mean exactly?" Lewis asked.
"They're expected to be critical and address the objectivity of your work," he said. "For the areas I've testified to today, we spoke about the different areas of psychopathy."
Lewis gave Welner a portion of the report he prepared for the government. She noted the comments on the side, written by one of Welner's peers. She claimed that none of the comments were substantive.
"I agree with you the comment 'please put in 'and' here' is not a substantive comment," Welner said, offering to look at more pages.
Lewis pulled out another part of the report, which recommended another word change. Welner defended his peer's suggestions.
"If we went through the entirety of these comments, we would find he has an eye for detail and that's a strength rather than a weakness," Welner said. "It shows me that he gives a darn."
Welner said his colleagues at the Forensic Panel are encouraged to speak up.
"I'm glad he cares," Welner said.
Lewis asked about Welner's qualifications, then asked why he never bothered to interview some of those who managed Mitchell on a daily basis. Welner wanted to know why she never called them as a witness.
"You didn't conduct some of these interviews personally. The FBI conducted them," Lewis pointed out. "You put together questions for the FBI?"
Welner said he made recommendations to the attorneys, who had the FBI ask questions that might be helpful in his evaluation.
"Are you aware that all the other experts interviewed the collateral sources themselves?" Lewis said.
"I conducted 58 interviews on my own," Welner said. "I asked the FBI for assistance and I'm grateful they gave it to me."
Lewis asked why Welner never contacted Dr. Whitehead, who evaluated Mitchell at the Utah State Hospital. Welner disagreed.
"I contacted Dr. Whitehead, I had a couple of factual questions and I posed them to him and he responded as best he could," he said.
The judge called for a break in the proceedings.
UPDATE at 2:14 p.m.: After a lunch break, Dr. Michael Welner, a forensic psychiatrist hired by prosecutors to evaluate Brian David Mitchell, resumed his testimony. Federal prosecutors got right to the point.
"Was Brian David Mitchell delusional when he committed this crime?" prosecutor Diana Hagen asked him.
"In my professional opinion, he was not," Welner said.
Welner said be believes Mitchell is a pedophile, a narcissist and anti-social, but not insane.
Hagen pointed to the testimonies of Mitchell's stepdaughters Rebecca Woodridge, Heidi Woodridge, LouRee Gayler and Elizabeth Smart as evidence he is a pedophile. Delusional disorder and schizophrenia are rare among pedophiles, Welner testified. It is more common for pedophiles to be anti-social, he said.
The doctors at the Utah State Hospital never spoke to Mitchell about pedophilia, Welner said.
"This is a crime that has many features in common with kidnapping, rape of children that is carried out by people who are sex offenders who have no psychiatric condition," he said.
Mitchell changed his story in efforts to manage people's impressions of him, Welner testified, describing many of the hallmarks of a pedophile. Mitchell has a sense of entitlement, he told the jury.
SALT LAKE CITY —
Federal prosecutors have called their last witness to the stand in the trial of the man charged with the 2002 kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart.
Dr. Michael Welner, a New York-based psychiatrist who evaluated Brian David Mitchell is now on the stand. He is a fairly controversial witness, having been paid more than $680,000 for his evaluation and testimony for the prosecution.
The trial is winding down with the jury being asked to stay late to get through the testimony.
UPDATE at 9:10 p.m.: Outside of court, Dr. Michael Welner stopped and made a brief statement to reporters about his testimony.
"It's a complicated case. A complicated tragedy. I did the best that I could to add to what the jury's already heard," he said.
U.S. District Judge Dale Kimball told the court on Thursday that there was a slight chance that the trial could wrap up earlier than expected. Defense attorneys were expected to call a psychiatric expert of their own on Thursday. Kimball said there is a chance that closing statements could begin that afternoon.
The jury could begin deliberations by Friday. Even if the jury has not yet reached a verdict, Brian David Mitchell apparently has. In an interview with Fox 13 late Wednesday, Mitchell's stepdaughter said she visited him in the Salt Lake County Jail where he believes he will be found "guilty."
"He feels that whatever happens is God's will," Rebecca Woodridge told Fox 13. "He thinks everybody's been brainwashed. Just like they brainwashed Elizabeth into hating him and going against him. It's very strange."
UPDATE at 5:05 p.m. Cross-examination continued with Dr. Michael Welner being questioned by Brian David Mitchell's defense attorney, Wendy Lewis.
"Dr. Welner, I want to go through more detail on your diagnosis," Lewis began. "Let's start with anti-social personality disorder."
One of the things he relied on was a report prepared by a doctor who evaluated Mitchell in 1970, whom he claimed called Mitchell "highly mature but highly anti-social." Lewis insists it was nowhere to be found in that original report.
"I may have put something in quotation marks that I was in fact paraphrasing," Welner said.
"The question was you misquoted her," Lewis said.
"I may have," he said.
After a terse exchange, Welner said he may have misattributed it. Lewis pressed him about the original report and inconsistencies in his 205-page report to prosecutors.
Welner maintained throughout the questioning that he disagreed with others' diagnosis that Mitchell is mentally ill.
The line of questioning continued for the remainder of the day. U.S. District Judge Dale Kimball wrapped up the proceedings, but said in court there is a chance that closing statements could begin Thursday afternoon.
Under cross-examination by defense attorneys, Dr. Michael Welner testified that he bills a daily rate of $5,000 for testimony (he has testified for about three days now). His initial retainer was $26,250 for the case, Brian David Mitchell's lawyer noted.
Defense attorney Wendy Lewis pressed Welner about why he was hired by the prosecution, after government doctors had already been requested to evaluate Mitchell. Welner was retained before Mitchell even went to a federal mental facility to be evaluated, Lewis pointed out.
"The point is, we were working on a case," Welner said.
"The point is you got that additional $30,000," she replied.
Lewis pointed out another $40,000 bill, something that Welner disputed.
"You don't know what that $40,000 is for?" Lewis asked.
"It's for work," Welner said, saying he does not know how the billing specifically is handled by his firm.
"The bottom line is by January 26, 2009, there had been approval to pay $96,296," she said.
"86" Welner corrected her.
Lewis asked about the role of Welner's firm, the Forensic Panel, and how much the other members charged for their services.
Adding up all of the billings, Lewis said Welner and his firm have billed the government more than $748,000 for the Elizabeth Smart kidnapping case. She asked if the figure would go up by the time the trial was over.
"Depends on how much longer you keep me on cross-examination," Welner quipped to laughter in the courtroom.
"For the taxpayers, I'll try to keep it a little bit shorter," Lewis replied.
"I'm sure that the taxpayers will thank you," he retorted.
Welner spoke about the qualifications of the members of his firm, with Lewis continuing to pepper him.
"When someone is an independent consultant and their job is to review your work, what does that mean exactly?" Lewis asked.
"They're expected to be critical and address the objectivity of your work," he said. "For the areas I've testified to today, we spoke about the different areas of psychopathy."
Lewis gave Welner a portion of the report he prepared for the government. She noted the comments on the side, written by one of Welner's peers. She claimed that none of the comments were substantive.
"I agree with you the comment 'please put in 'and' here' is not a substantive comment," Welner said, offering to look at more pages.
Lewis pulled out another part of the report, which recommended another word change. Welner defended his peer's suggestions.
"If we went through the entirety of these comments, we would find he has an eye for detail and that's a strength rather than a weakness," Welner said. "It shows me that he gives a darn."
Welner said his colleagues at the Forensic Panel are encouraged to speak up.
"I'm glad he cares," Welner said.
Lewis asked about Welner's qualifications, then asked why he never bothered to interview some of those who managed Mitchell on a daily basis. Welner wanted to know why she never called them as a witness.
"You didn't conduct some of these interviews personally. The FBI conducted them," Lewis pointed out. "You put together questions for the FBI?"
Welner said he made recommendations to the attorneys, who had the FBI ask questions that might be helpful in his evaluation.
"Are you aware that all the other experts interviewed the collateral sources themselves?" Lewis said.
"I conducted 58 interviews on my own," Welner said. "I asked the FBI for assistance and I'm grateful they gave it to me."
Lewis asked why Welner never contacted Dr. Whitehead, who evaluated Mitchell at the Utah State Hospital. Welner disagreed.
"I contacted Dr. Whitehead, I had a couple of factual questions and I posed them to him and he responded as best he could," he said.
The judge called for a break in the proceedings.
UPDATE at 2:14 p.m.: After a lunch break, Dr. Michael Welner, a forensic psychiatrist hired by prosecutors to evaluate Brian David Mitchell, resumed his testimony. Federal prosecutors got right to the point.
"Was Brian David Mitchell delusional when he committed this crime?" prosecutor Diana Hagen asked him.
"In my professional opinion, he was not," Welner said.
Welner said be believes Mitchell is a pedophile, a narcissist and anti-social, but not insane.
Hagen pointed to the testimonies of Mitchell's stepdaughters Rebecca Woodridge, Heidi Woodridge, LouRee Gayler and Elizabeth Smart as evidence he is a pedophile. Delusional disorder and schizophrenia are rare among pedophiles, Welner testified. It is more common for pedophiles to be anti-social, he said.
The doctors at the Utah State Hospital never spoke to Mitchell about pedophilia, Welner said.
"This is a crime that has many features in common with kidnapping, rape of children that is carried out by people who are sex offenders who have no psychiatric condition," he said.
Mitchell changed his story in efforts to manage people's impressions of him, Welner testified, describing many of the hallmarks of a pedophile. Mitchell has a sense of entitlement, he told the jury.
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