Elizabeth Smart kidnap trial halted

A U.S. federal appeals court has interrupted the Elizabeth Smart kidnapping trial to rule on a defence motion demanding that it be moved out of Utah.

A clerk at the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver said a three-judge panel agreed to take up the question of whether Brian David Mitchell can get a fair trial because of publicity his lawyers say has tainted the jury pool.

Clerk Betsy Shumaker told The Associated Press the trial is on hold pending a ruling by a three-judge appeals court panel.

U.S. District Judge Dale Kimball interrupted opening statements in the Salt Lake City trial Thursday and sent jurors home. Kimball told jurors he wasn't happy about the delay.

Elizabeth Smart's mother and sister were at the courthouse and prepared to testify Thursday.

Mitchell has twice been found incompetent for trial in state court for allegedly kidnapping Smart in 2002.

Smart was rescued nine months after her abduction at knifepoint from her Salt Lake City home when a motorist spotted her walking through a suburb with Mitchell and his estranged wife, Wanda Eileen Barzee.

Last October, Smart testified she was raped repeatedly each day after she was abducted from her bedroom at age 14 and told she would be killed if she yelled or tried to escape.