Former Abductee Elizabeth Smart to Take Stand

Oct. 1, 2009 — -- Elizabeth Smart is expected to take the stand in court today for the first time since she was kidnapped as a teenager in 2002 in a case that garnered international media attention.

A Utah judge decided Monday that Smart would be allowed to testify about her alleged nine-months in captivity with homeless preacher Brian David Mitchell to determine Mitchell's mental competency.

Now 21-years-old, Smart was 14 when she was taken from her Salt Lake City, Utah home at knife point. In the highly publicized ordeal, Smart's parents made multiple television appearances, pleading for their daughter's return.

Smart was found nine months later in March 2003 with Wanda Barzee and Mitchell, a self-proclaimed prophet who called himself "Emmanuel" and once had done work at Smart's home.

Both Barzee and Mitchell have been repeatedly declared mentally incompetent to stand trial for charges including kidnapping, sexual assault, burglary and conspiracy to commit kidnapping.

According to U.S. District Judge Dale Kimball, who determined Smart should be allowed to testify, Smart's inclusion in this latest review was necessary because Mitchell has refused to submit to any psychological evaluations or diagnostic tests, The Salt Lake Tribune reported.

For Smart's father, Ed Smart, there is no question about Mitchell's competency.

"He is the ultimate manipulator," Ed Smart told "Good Morning America." "He's manipulated the system to the nth degree. He is competent. He is a pedofile and he needs to be brought to trial.

"He hasn't been held accountable yet and I'm hopeful that this will really bring him to accountability," he said.