SALT LAKE CITY -- A Utah judge has signed an order dismissing state charges against the former street preacher accused of kidnapping and raping Elizabeth Smart.
Third District Judge Judith Atherton signed the order Tuesday.
Prosecutors asked Atherton to dismiss the state charges against Brian David Mitchell after he was convicted by a federal jury in December. He was sentenced in May to two life terms on charges of kidnapping and unlawful transportation of a minor across state lines for sex.
Mitchell has decided not to appeal.
Court papers say the dismissal of the pending state case is in the interest of justice since Mitchell will already spend his life behind bars.
Smart was 14 in 2002 when she was kidnapped from her Salt Lake City bedroom, raped and held for nine months.
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