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For six years, experts were uncertain whether Wanda Eileen Barzee would ever be mentally competent to stand trial for the 2002 abduction of Elizabeth Smart.
Today, the 64-year-old wife of street preacher Brian David Mitchell is expected to put that question to rest and plead guilty to federal charges.
The details of her deal with federal prosecutors will not be revealed until after she makes a plea before U.S. District Judge Dale Kimball.
A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office declined to comment Monday, and Barzee's defense attorney could not be reached.
Smart's father, Ed Smart, said Monday that he is aware of the plea bargain but could not reveal any specifics.
"We are very much behind the U.S. attorney in what they're doing," Smart said.
Barzee -- who claimed she is the "mother of Zion" and received messages from God through her television, according to testimony at earlier court hearings -- recently completed a forced regimen of psychotropic drugs. Doctors at Utah State Hospital asserted this fall that she was competent to stand trial.
Defendants who strike plea bargains generally get a benefit, such as being allowed to plead to a lesser crime than originally charged or having the prosecution ask for leniency. In exchange, they sometimes testify against co-defendants.
Kimball has the option of accepting or rejecting any plea bargain. Had the case proceeded, the judge would have made a determination about whether Barzee could understand the charges against her and assist her lawyers in her defense, the standard for mental competency.
Barzee and Mitchell are charged in federal court with kidnapping and unlawful transportation of a minor for allegedly taking Smart from Utah to California. The maximum punishment for kidnapping is life in prison, and she could face another 15 years for the transportation count.
Today's 10 a.m. hearing is listed as an initial appearance and an arraignment. A decorum order issued by Kimball said Barzee "will be arraigned and is anticipated to enter into a guilty plea pursuant to an agreement with the United States."
Dora Corbett, Barzee's 88-year-old mother, said Monday that she's not surprised her daughter is taking responsibility for her actions.
Although she has not talked specifically with Barzee about the plea bargain nor the length of any recommended prison sentence, Corbett said her daughter "expects to be there the rest of her life."
Mitchell, 56, and Barzee are accused of kidnapping Smart on June 5, 2002, from her Salt Lake City home. They were arrested in March 2003 while walking in Sandy with the girl.
A judge in the state's 3rd District Court has ruled Mitchell cannot be forcibly medicated to try to restore his mental competency; the same judge ruled Barzee could be forcibly medicated, a process that began at the Utah State Hospital in May 2008. The state court ruling led the U.S. Attorney's Office to begin a case against the couple.
pmanson@sltrib.com Reporter Stephen Hunt contributed to this article.
Street preacher Brian David Mitchell and his wife, Wanda Eileen Barzee, face charges in both state and federal courts in the abduction of Elizabeth Smart. The Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office and the U.S. Attorney's Office have been working together in the matter.
The federal case is proceeding now, and Barzee is slated to plead guilty today under a plea deal. A two-week hearing to determine whether Mitchell is mentally competent to stand trial begins Nov. 30 before U.S. District Judge Dale Kimball.
State charges that include kidnapping and sexual assault are still pending against both. A hearing in Utah's 3rd District Court on Barzee's mental competency was scheduled for Thursday but has been postponed until Jan. 6.
