SALT LAKE CITY – Utah State Hospital officials plan to update a state judge on the mental competency of the woman charged in the 2002 kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart.
Wanda Eileen Barzee was expected in a Salt Lake City court for a hearing on Friday. Barzee has been receiving court-ordered psychiatric treatment since May 2008 in an effort to restore her competency.
The 63-year-old was twice deemed incompetent to stand trial.
Barzee and her estranged husband, Brian David Mitchell, were arrested in March 2003 and charged with multiple felonies related to the June 2002 kidnapping of then-14-year-old Smart in Salt Lake City.
If state hospital officials believe Barzee now meets the legal standard for competency, the case could be headed for a trial.
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