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| The HOPE Organization has received a Creative Ministries of Presbyterian Women Thank Offering grant to fund a 2-year "Jump Start" life-skills program for children in the Hildale/Colorado City/Centennial Park communities. Read our press release Read our program flyer | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Breaking News | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Here's the latest on what's happening. These news articles are listed in chronological order. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| The Polygamists | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A sect that split from the Mormons allows multiple wives, expels | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Scott Anderson National Geographic Magazine Published: February 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The first church members arrive at the Leroy S. Johnson Meeting House in Colorado City, Arizona, at about 6 p.m. Within a half hour the line extends out the front doors, down the side of the building, and out into the parking lot. By seven, it stretches hundreds of yards and has grown to several thousand people—the men and boys dressed in suits, the women and girls in Easter egg–hued prairie dresses.
The mourners have come for a viewing of 68-year-old Foneta Jessop, who died of a heart attack a few days ago. In the cavernous hall Foneta's sons form a receiving line at the foot of her open casket, while her husband, Merril, stands directly alongside. To the other side stand Merril's numerous other wives, all wearing matching white dresses. Foneta was the first wife. Colorado City is a town with special significance for those of Foneta's faith. Together with its sister community of Hildale, Utah, it is the birthplace of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS), a polygamous offshoot of the Mormon Church, or LDS. Here in the 1920s and '30s, a handful of polygamous families settled astride the Utah-Arizona border after the leadership of the Mormon Church became increasingly determined to shed its polygamous past and be accepted by the American mainstream. In 1935 the church gave settlement residents an ultimatum: renounce plural marriage or be excommunicated. Practically everyone refused and was cast out of the LDS. At the memorial service for Foneta, her husband and three sons give testimonials praising her commitment to the covenant of plural marriage, but there is an undertone of family disharmony, with vague references by Merril Jessop to his troubled relationship with Foneta. No one need mention that one of Merril's wives is missing. Carolyn Jessop, his fourth wife, left the household in 2003 with her eight children and went on to write a best-selling book on her life as an FLDS member. She describes a cloistered environment and tells of a deeply unhappy Foneta, an overweight recluse who fell out of favor with her husband and slept her days away, coming out of her room only at night to eat, do laundry, and watch old Shirley Temple movies on television. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Jeffs trying to usurp UEP Trust, attorneys say | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Geoff Liesik Deseret News Originally published Friday, Jan. 22, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SALT LAKE CITY — Warren Jeffs may be a convicted felon serving prison time, but attorneys for the United Effort Plan Trust say that hasn't stopped the FLDS leader from causing problems for them, and in turn, for his current and former followers. From behind bars, Jeffs has instructed a "shadow elite" comprised of Fundamentalist LDS Church leaders, such as Willie Jessop, to block any effort by a court-appointed fiduciary, Bruce Wisan, to administer the trust, according to a memorandum filed Thursday in 3rd District Court by UEP attorneys. "These instructions included the hiding and destruction of documents and directing municipal government leaders," the court filing states. Jeffs is serving two sentences of five years to life in prison on a two-count conviction of accomplice to rape stemming from a "spiritual marriage" he presided over between a 14-year-old girl and her 19-year-old cousin. He faces additional charges in Arizona and Texas, as well as federal charges tied to his attempt to flee from authorities, which landed him on the FBI's Most Wanted list for a time. Rod Parker, a Salt Lake attorney who represents FLDS members opposed to the fiduciary's plans for the trust, calls the allegations that Jeffs is still in control of the sect from prison "outrageous." He characterized it as a tactic Wisan is using to "divert people's attention from his own failure as the fiduciary." "He's at war with the beneficiaries of the trust. He openly acknowledges it," Parker said. "He calls it a psychological war. That's what this is when they put this kind of stuff out. This has nothing to do with the administration of the trust." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Colorado City Makes Cover of National Geographic; Magazine Portrays FLDS as Over-Sexed Amish-Types | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Ray Stern in Those Wacky Mormons Phoenix New Times Originally published Fri., Jan. 22 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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With fewer half-naked aborigines in the world to hang out with, National Geographic decided to spend some time last year with the polygamist clan north of the Grand Canyon.
The magazine received "exclusive" access to members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Colorado City, Arizona and adjacent Hildale, Utah, resulting in the cover story by Scott Anderson -- with photos by Stephanie Sinclair -- for the February issue. The writer and photographer attended an FLDS funeral, talked to kids doing their farm chores and chatted with polygamist wives about sharing their husbands. Town leaders sought and received the approval of Warren Jeffs, the cult's imprisoned leader, before letting National Geographic in, Anderson states. The article mentions the cult's higher-than-usual prevalence of fumarase deficiency, a disease that often results in severe mental retardation and is caused by too much inbreeding. Perhaps the second-ugliest aspect of polygamist life (the first being institutionalized child rape), is the "reassignment" of wives from one husband to another by the FLDS' leader, and Anderson asked about that: After hearing Melinda's stout defense of [Warren] Jeffs, I ask what she would do if she were reassigned. "I'm confident that wouldn't happen," she replies uneasily. "But what if it did?" I ask "Would you obey?" For the only time during our interview, Melinda grows wary. Sitting back in her chair, she gives her head a quarter turn to stare at me out of the corner of one eye. Despite some tough questions, the exclusive access seems to have mainly gotten the magazine a heavy dose of FLDS spin. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| February hearing set on searches of FLDS property | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By JIM SECKLER Mohave Daily News Originally published Sunday, January 24, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| KINGMAN - Subpoenas were issued for four Texas and Arizona law enforcement officers in the criminal case against Warren Steed Jeffs. Jeffs' attorney, Mike Piccarreta, filed criminal subpoenas against a Mohave County probation officer, Mohave County sheriff's deputy, a Ranger with the Texas Department of Public Safety and a Schleicher County sheriff's deputy also from Texas. The subpoenas call for the officers to testify at a hearing Feb. 17 before Superior Court Judge Steven Conn to argue a defense motion to exclude from Jeffs' trial, evidence seized during a 2008 raid by law enforcement on a Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints compound in Texas. Mohave County Attorney Matt Smith previously told Conn that he does not plan to introduce any evidence from the raid at the Texas compound at Jeffs' upcoming trial in Mohave County. Piccarreta's argument is that Arizona law enforcement investigators were "tainted" by evidence that was allegedly seized illegally during the raid. The motion claims that the phone call that triggered the Texas raid was a hoax and officers used the hoax to obtain a warrant to search each house at the compound. Arizona law enforcement officers also spent time in Texas with illegally seized items and documents Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ariz. lawmakers try again with anti-polygamy legislation | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Melanie Kiser Cronkite News Service The Arizona Republic Originally published Jan. 25, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A loophole in Arizona's law against incest handcuffs officials wanting to crack down on polygamists who marry relatives under age 18, according to two state lawmakers. Sen. Jonathan Paton, R-Tucson, and Rep. David Lujan, D-Phoenix, thwarted last session when they co-sponsored legislation on the issue, have introduced separate bills to make the incest law apply when victims are minors. The law currently defines incest as between adults. Paton's bill, SB 1061, which received a unanimous endorsement Monday from the Senate Judiciary Committee, would make incest with a minor a Class 2 or Class 3 felony, carrying sentences ranging from two and a half years to 10 years, depending on whether the child is 15 or older or younger than 15. Paton said the "quirk in the law" became glaringly apparent in the prosecution of polygamist leader Warren Jeffs in Mohave County. In 2008, a Superior Court judge dismissed four counts against Jeffs involving marriages allegedly arranged between two underage girls and their adult half-cousins, citing the wording of the incest law. Jeffs still faces four other counts alleging that he acted as an accomplice in sexual misconduct with a minor. Assistant Attorney General Tim Linnins, who specializes in cases out of Colorado City, told the committee that based on the way the law is written a polygamist is better off marrying a relative under 18. In a telephone interview, Mohave County Attorney Matt Smith said the change would make it easier to combat polygamy involving relatives. "If you have a 40-year-old and a 12-year-old, it's not incest, as absurd as that might seem," he said. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sisters who escaped polygamist cult help other victims | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Elaine Walker Anacortes American - Anacortes, Washington Originally published January 26, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rena and Kathleen Mackert of Anacortes grew up in a household with one father, four mothers and 31 children. Seventh-generation members of a polygamous family, they belonged to the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Both escaped the cult, which, they said, relies on iron-fisted oppression and physical, mental and sexual abuse of women and children. "Our father was abusive on every level," Rena said. They want to establish a shelter in Anacortes for victims of polygamy and domestic violence, who face similar issues. However, polygamy refugees present unique challenges. "They have been isolated. The outside world is labeled as evil," Kathleen said. "It’s like being placed on an alien planet. They have no social skills." By providing jobs and a safe place to live, the sisters hope to help escapees adapt and thrive. The FLDS, a sect long-split from the Mormon Church, made news in 2008 when Texas Child Protective Services took more than 400 Yearning for Zion Ranch children into custody. Footage of wholesome-looking women in demure dresses and children being torn from a seemingly pious refuge made viewers uneasy, as church members invoked religious freedom. Rena and Kathleen said the FLDS has a history of such media manipulation: In 1953 their father Clyde Mackert and his wives were featured in Life magazine after an Arizona raid. "Our family was used as poster children for polygamy. He had three beautiful, educated wives and they were all age appropriate," Kathleen said. Quaint images of the big family working and singing hymns swayed public opinion — and ended prosecution. "It’s the same tactics they use today to justify it," Kathleen said. The serene-looking women shown on TV don’t recognize their subjugation as abuse. "It took us a long time to realize it ourselves," Rena said. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| B.C. polygamy trial draws odd list of interveners | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Daphne Bramham Canwest News Service Originally published January 27, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| VANCOUVER — A free-speech group allied with Holocaust deniers, women's advocates and fundamentalist Mormons are among those looking to have their say at a B.C. trial that will determine the constitutionality of Canada's anti-polygamy law. They are seeking intervener status in the case, which would let them and the others call evidence and question witnesses during the B.C. Supreme Court trial. In October, B.C. Attorney General Mike de Jong asked the B.C. Supreme Court to clarify the controversial anti-polygamy law, and rule on whether it violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. A date for the trial has not been set. Winston Blackmore and James Oler — two men charged with practising polygamy more than a year ago — have sought intervener status. Charges against the men were eventually quashed. Blackmore is the leader of one faction of fundamentalist Mormons living in the community of Bountiful in southeastern British Columbia. Oler is the Canadian bishop of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which is led by Warren Jeffs. Jeffs has been convicted in Utah as an accomplice to rape and is in jail in Arizona awaiting trial on similar charges there. He has also been charged federally for evading prosecution and for other sex-related crimes in Texas. In addition to Oler and Blackmore, the Canadian Association for Free Expression has registered for intervener status. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Brandi Twilley and Binod Shreshtha display religious themes in paint, mixed media | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Allison Meier Oklahoma Gazette - Oklahoma City, OK Originally published January 27, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Brandi Twilley and Binod Shreshtha Wednesday-Saturday, through Feb. 6 Individual Artists of Oklahoma (IAO) Gallery 706 W. Sheridan 232-6060 or www.iaogallery.org. Systems of faith swing from the extreme of religious cults to the beauty of a simple ritual. Inspired by those opposites are Brandi Twilley and Binod Shreshtha, both exhibiting at the Individual Artists of Oklahoma Gallery. Twilley, who is from Oklahoma City, uses portraiture to explore oppression in Mormon fundamentalism. "It comes from the FLDS cult in Texas that was raided in April 2008," she said. "I was interested in the women’s appearances because they had these crazy hairdos and were wearing these prairie dresses that they sewed themselves. They didn’t groom themselves the same as other people." While initially drawn by their appearance, she moved into their emotional states as she learned about life in the polygamist community. "I was thinking about how I would feel or be thinking if I was in that situation," she said. "In the red dress portraits, they’re rebelling by letting their hair down from that same uniform and hairdo, breaking loose from their normal strange way that they have to be all the time." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| More intervenors apply to be heard in polygamy case | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Daphne Bramham Think Tank Vancouver Sun Originally published January 27, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Canadian Polyamory Advocacy Association, REAL Women of Canada and the Christian Legal Fellowship are the latest groups to ask for standing in the B.C. Supreme Court case that will determine whether the anti-polygamy law is constitutional. More groups are expected to apply before the deadline. And once all of the applications have been received, Chief Justice Robert Bauman will set a date for the trial. B.C. Attorney General Mike de Jong asked the court to rule on the law after polygamy charges against two fundamentalist Mormon leaders were quashed last year. The two leaders -- Winston Blackmore, who has registered his group as the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Inc., and James Oler, the Canadian bishop of the U.S.-based Fundamenatalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (known as the FLDS), have already filed their applications to be heard. The government of British Columbia and Canada will argue that the law is constitutional and that the Charter of Rights and Freedom's guarantee of religious freedom does not override the Criminal Code sanction on polygamy. George McIntosh, a respected Vancouver lawyer, has been hired by the court as an amicus to argue the other side. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Blackmore applies to intervene in polygamy case | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Polygamist leader Winston Blackmore among 14 who applied by deadline to intervene in constitutional reference to the B.C. Supreme Court | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Globe staff The Globe and Mail - Toronto, Ontario Originally published Thursday, Jan. 28, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Polygamist leader Winston Blackmore says he would like to introduce extensive evidence of persecution and discrimination against Mormons when the B.C. Supreme Court considers the constitutional reference on polygamy. In an application to intervene on a case that has attracted international attention, Mr. Blackmore says he would also want "full right" to challenge evidence and cross-examine witnesses that portray him and his congregation in a negative light. His participation would be conditional on finding the money to pay for his legal fees, he says, adding that he intends to ask the court to order the B.C. government to pay his legal bills. Mr. Blackmore is among 14 who applied by Thursday’s deadline to intervene in the constitutional reference to the B.C. Supreme Court. A hearing to schedule a date to review the applications is expected to be held in mid-February. The list of those who hope to intervene includes well-known advocates for the right of woman and children, anti-polygamists and activists who have been outspoken in defence of freedom of expression and freedom of religion. Mr. Blackmore and James Oler, leaders of a religious polygamist group in southeastern B.C., also applied to intervene. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Groups apply to intervene in B.C. polygamy case | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Tamsyn Burgmann The Canadian Press CTV News Originally published Friday Jan. 29, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| VANCOUVER — Several groups, including a children's rights group, are hoping the B.C. Supreme Court will consider their opinions in an unusual legal test case aimed at clarifying whether or not polygamy is a crime. The Canadian Coalition for the Rights of Children and the Canadian Polyamory Advocacy Association, which supports multiple marriage, are among 16 groups and individuals wanting to provide their input to the B.C. Supreme Court when it weighs the legality of the federal polygamy law. B.C.'s attorney general launched the constitutional reference case after polygamy charges were dropped last October against the two leaders of a polygamous sect in the community of Bountiful, B.C. Winston Blackmore and James Oler, who lead two separate factions of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a breakaway sect of the mainstream Mormon church, no longer face criminal charges but they have also applied to intervene in the case. Blackmore, who's been accused of having 19 wives, says the law violates his charter right to religious freedom. The Canadian Association for Free Expression is also seeking status in the case, as well as the B.C. Teachers' Federation, whose concerns revolve around two provincially-funded schools in Bountiful it alleges subjects students to sexual and educational abuse. Others who submitted applications to intervene to the court by a Thursday deadline include the Christian Legal Fellowship, the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, the David Asper Centre for Constitutional Rights, the Catholic Organization for Life and Family, the Knights of Columbus, B.C. and Yukon Chapter, West Coast Women's Legal Education and Action Fund, and REAL Women of Canada. Nancy Mereska, who founded the group Stop Polygamy in Canada following her own experience as a young and abused Mormon wife, has applied as well. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Court to hear dismissal arguments in rape case | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Associated Press KGUN 9 - Tucson, Arizona Originally broadcast January 29, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ST. GEORGE, Utah (AP) - A 5th District judge on Friday will hear dismissal arguments in a rape case involving a man whose 2001 spiritual marriage was the basis for the Utah criminal trial of polygamous church leader Warren Jeffs. Washington County prosecutors charged Allen Steed with one count of rape in September 2007 - the day after Jeffs was convicted of 2 counts of rape as an accomplice for his role in Steed's marriage to 14-year-old Elissa Wall. The marriage was arranged by leaders of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The couple divorced in 2004. Steed's attorneys say the charges were filed after the statute of limitations expired. Prosecutors contend that changes to Utah law in 2005 allow them up to eight years to file charges. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Court hears dismissal arguments in rape case | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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KSL 5 TV Originally broadcast January 29, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ST. GEORGE, Utah (AP) -- A state court judge has heard dismissal arguments in a rape case involving a man whose 2001 spiritual marriage was the basis for the Utah criminal trial of polygamous church leader Warren Jeffs. Washington County prosecutors charged Allen Steed with one count of rape in September 2007 -- the day after Jeffs was convicted of two counts of rape as an accomplice for his role in Steed's marriage to 14-year-old Elissa Wall. The marriage was arranged by leaders of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The couple divorced in 2004. Steed's attorneys say the charges were filed after the statute of limitations expired. Prosecutors contend that changes to Utah law in 2005 allow them up to eight years to file charges. Fifth District Judge G. Rand Beacham said Friday he will issue a written ruling in the case. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Video Courtesy of KSL.com | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Judge weighs possible dismissal of rape case | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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BY KEVIN JENKINS The Spectrum Originally published January 30, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ST. GEORGE - Fifth District Court Judge G. Rand Beacham has taken "under advisement" arguments about whether he should dismiss a rape charge against a Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints member whose marriage to an underage bride provided the foundation for convicting polygamous church leader Warren Jeffs. Allen Glade Steed was charged in 2007 with raping his cousin, Elissa Wall, whom he had married in April 2001 when she was 14 and he was 19. Both were members of the FLDS church, a religion based in the Utah-Arizona border communities of Hildale and Colorado City that practices arranged marriages and polygamous marriage. The Spectrum does not generally identify people who say they were sexually assaulted, but Wall has spoken publicly about her life and published a nationally distributed book about the marriage. Steed's attorney, Jim Bradshaw, filed documents in 5th District Court in August requesting an end to the prosecution of Steed, on the grounds that the four-year statute of limitations has run out on the charges. The Utah Legislature changed the statute last year to eliminate the statute of limitations on 14 categories of crimes, including rape and sex crimes against children, but the case is being tried under the statute that was in effect at the time Steed was charged. "This can be a tricky and dizzying legal exercise," Bradshaw said as he presented the dates when the marriage took place, when information about it was shared with outside parties, and when charges were filed in Washington County. "How does the state file information in September 2007 that they allege happened in May 2001?" Bradshaw asked. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Court hears dismissal arguments in Warren Jeffs rape case | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Deseret News Originally published January 30, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ST. GEORGE (AP) — A state court judge Friday heard dismissal arguments in a rape case involving a man whose 2001 spiritual marriage was the basis for the Utah criminal trial of polygamous church leader Warren Jeffs. Washington County prosecutors charged Allen Steed with one count of rape in September 2007 — the day after Jeffs was convicted of two counts of rape as an accomplice for his role in Steed's marriage to 14-year-old Elissa Wall. The marriage was arranged by leaders of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The couple divorced in 2004. Steed's attorneys said the charges were filed after the statute of limitations expired. Prosecutors contend that changes to Utah law in 2005 allow them up to eight years to file charges. Fifth District Judge G. Rand Beacham said Friday he would take the arguments under advisement and will issue a written ruling in the case. It was not clear when it will be issued. Revered as a prophet by followers, Jeffs is in an Arizona jail pending two criminal trials. In the 2007 Utah case, Jeffs was sentenced to consecutive prison terms of five years to life. Wall has spoken publicly about the case and published a memoir, "Stolen Innocence," detailing her life leading up to the trial. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FLDS Mental Burqa: National Geographic & Every Woman’s Right to Be Slave | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Jeanette Pryor David Horowitz's NewsReal Blog - David Horowitz Freedom Center Originally published 2010 January 29 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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If Elissa could change anything, she wouldn’t have made that special meal for her ten brothers and sisters, and her three mothers. Trying to brighten the Polygamous house with flowers on the table had the catastrophic effect of drawing her step-father’s notice. Such domesticity told him the girl was ready to wed, ready to birth the babies that would populate her husband’s future planet. At fourteen, Elissa, threatened with damnation, had to submit to the Prophet’s command and marry her repulsive 19 year-old first cousin.
Abandoned by her parents to rape and abuse, Elissa survived four miscarriages and an attempted suicide. She fled the Mormon paradise and helped convict Fundamentalist Prophet, Warren Jeffs, as an accessory to rape. I would love to ask her what she thinks of the February 2010, National Geographic feature which claims: "Members of the faith describe the life...idyllic, one in which old-fashioned devotion and neighborly cooperation are emphasized and children are raised in a wholesome environment...Critics, on the other hand, see the FLDS as an isolated cult (of) rigid social control. To spend time in Hildale and Colorado City is to come away with a more nuanced view."Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Utahns Make Effort to Get Accurate Count in Census 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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FOX 13's Ben Winslow reports KSTU-TV Originally broadcast January 30, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SALT LAKE CITY - Everyone is supposed to be counted in the 2010 Census, but what about those who may not want to be counted? It sounds unusual but it is a perplexing problem for Census takers especially for Utah's polygamous population who aren't counted. People in polygamous communities have a historical fear of government which advocates say have led to some resistance in participating in the Census. "I think our people have been hesitant in the past, because they were afraid the information would be used with other government agencies, such as IRS, law enforcement. And as the Utah state law stands, it is a felony in the state of Utah," Anne Wilde of Principle Voices said. The Pro-polygamy group, Principle Voices, is urging people in the Fundamentalist Mormon communities to fill out the Census. Another group that is often under-counted is illegal immigrants. "It's so important, today and always, to be counted, regardless of your legal status, because social programs depend a lot on the Census," Tony Yapias of Proyecto Latino de Utah said. Yapias finds it a hard sell to get people who try to fly under the radar to be counted, but he says it's vital for everyone. "We're going to make it every effort in the community, to get the word out to make sure that everyone is counted,' Yapias said. Besides being constitutionally required, Census data helps states get federal funding and representation in Congress. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prosecutor won't use Texas evidence at Jeffs' trial | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By JIM SECKLER Mohave Daily News Originally published Sunday, January 31, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| KINGMAN - A Mohave County prosecutor agreed not to use evidence seized at a 2008 raid of a Texas compound at Warren Jeffs' upcoming trial in Kingman. Mohave County Attorney Matt Smith filed a motion agreeing not to use the evidence seized by Texas officers at the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints compound in Eldorado, Texas, in April 2008. "The state believes that this should take care of the pending evidentiary hearing and there should be no need to proceed with the hearing at any time," Smith said. Jeffs' attorney, Mike Piccarreta, recently filed criminal subpoenas against a Mohave County probation officer, Mohave County sheriff's deputy, a Texas Ranger with that state's Department of Public Safety and a Schleicher County sheriff's deputy from Texas. The subpoenas call for the officers to testify at a hearing Feb. 17 before Superior Court Judge Steven Conn to argue a defense motion to exclude from Jeffs' trial, evidence seized during the 2008 raid at the FLDS compound in Texas. Piccarreta claims that Arizona investigators were tainted by evidence that the defense attorney claims was illegally seized during the raid. Piccarreta also argues that the phone call that triggered the Texas raid was a hoax and officers used the hoax to obtain a warrant to search the compound. Arizona law enforcement officers also spent time at the Texas compound. Jeffs, 54, is the former leader of the FLDS, a polygamist church based in Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah. He is in county jail facing felony charges in Mohave County including four counts of sexual conduct with a minor in two 2007 cases. He is charged with being an accomplice of two men who had sex with two underage girls, which allegedly took place in 2002 and 2003. Jeffs is also charged with felony sexual assault of a child under 17 and aggravated sexual assault in Schleicher County, Texas after the raid by officers at the YFZ compound in Texas. Jeffs was convicted in 2007 in Utah on two counts of rape as an accomplice and was sentenced in November 2007 to 10 years in a Utah prison. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 51st Judicial District (Schl. Co. Case) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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District Courts Calendar co.tom-green.tx.us Last Updated on: February 1, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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When: Thu Feb 18 2pm – 5pm Central Time Where: COURTROOM C - JUDGE WALTHER 3028 Schl. Co. In The Interest of Jessop, Children Motion to Sign Order for C/S N.Malonis/A.Hennington | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 51ST JUDICIAL DISTRICT - SCHL. CO. TRIAL #4 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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District Courts Calendar co.tom-green.tx.us Last Updated on: February 1, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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When: Mon Mar 8 9am – 5pm Central Time Where: COURTROOM C - JUDGE WALTHER 995 The State of Texas VS Merril Leroy Jessop Jury Trial E.Nichols/A.Goodwin/N.Calfas | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Polygamist Leader's Hearing in Arizona to go Forward | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prosecutor contends the hearing is unnecessary | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Associated Press KCSG TV Originally broadcast Feb 1, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (Kingman, Arizona) - A judge says he'll hold a hearing on a defense request to prevent evidence seized in the raid of a polygamous sect in Texas in polygamist leader Warren Jeffs' trial in Arizona. Prosecutor Matt Smith contends the hearing is unnecessary because he has agreed not to use the evidence from the April 2008 raid on the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints compound in Eldorado, Texas. Jeffs' attorney Mike Piccarreta wants Smith to prove the evidence has not and will not be used directly or indirectly in the Arizona case. Mohave County Superior Court Judge Steven Conn on Monday said the Feb. 17 hearing won't be vacated unless both parties agree. Jeffs is awaiting trial in Arizona on four counts of being an accomplice to sexual conduct with a minor, charges that were filed in 2007. Jeffs was moved to Kingman from the Utah State Prison in February 2008. In September 2007, a Utah jury convicted Jeffs of two counts of rape as an accomplice for his role in the 2001 marriage of an underage follower to her husband. He was sentenced to two consecutive prison terms of five years to life. See photo | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Meet the Mormon man with 239 grandchildren | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Exclusive by Beth Neil The Daily Mirror - London, England Originally published February 2, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gathering Joe Jessop’s brood together for a group photo is a challenge for even the most patient of snappers. After all, there are five wives, 46 children and – at the last count – 239 grandkids to squeeze into the frame. That’s because the 88-year-old is the bed-hopping patriarch of one of the world’s most extraordinary families. Joe and his clan live in Short Creek, Utah, a 6,000-strong community of members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, a polygamous offshoot of the Mormon Church. Joe says: "My family came to Short Creek for the same reason as everyone else. "To obey the law of plural marriage, to build up the Kingdom of God. Despite everything that’s been thrown our way, I’d say we’ve done a pretty good job." Each wife has her own bedroom and takes responsibility for her own children. But, dressed in their distinctive pioneer-style dresses, they share the domestic chores equally. One will take control of the kitchen, another will take on the role of schoolmistress (most FLDS children are home-taught), while someone else will be in charge of sewing. Family mealtimes begin with a prayer with up to 12 adults and adolescents sitting at the main table and the toddlers to teens taking their place around two tables in the next room. TV and junk food are banned but the community does have internet access and younger members regularly check emails and listen to religious music on their iPods. And while their distinctive outfits may seem more in keeping with a horse and cart, most men drive SUVs and mobiles are as common here as in the rest of the US. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mormon Media Observer: Challenges, National Geographic | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National Geographic covers FLDS | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Joel Campbell Mormon Times Originally published Wednesday, Feb. 03, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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In a cover story titled "The Polygamists," National Geographic does a pretty good job covering the FLDS community in Utah. The article makes clear that the sect broke away from the "Mormons." And clearly outlines how the groups left the LDS Church. Perhaps if there is one flaw it might be the fact that the FLDS are left to interpret "historical Mormon policy" to their liking with no response from the LDS Church.
While NatGeo got it right, the British press didn't. The Daily Mirror ran an excerpt of the article and a large photo with a headline "Meet the Mormon Man with 239 grandchildren." | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Big Love Renewed for Fifth Season | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By KATE STANHOPE TV GUIDE Seattle Post Intelligencer Originally published February 3, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| HBO has renewed Big Love for a fifth season, TVGuide.com has confirmed. The series — starring Bill Paxton as practicing polygamist Bill Henrickson and Jeanne Tripplehorn, Chloe Sevigny and Ginnifer Goodwin as his three wives — attracted 1.7 million viewers for its Season 4 premiere last month, a 49 percent rise from its Season 3 opener, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Overall, the series' ratings are up 13 percent compared to last year. The current season, including guest star and Oscar winner Sissy Spacek, spotlights Henrickson's attempt to break into politics. See photos from Big Love The show's awards profile is also on the rise. Big Love was nominated for an Emmy for best drama series last year and took home its first Golden Globe award in January — for best supporting actress winner Sevigny. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| EXCLUSIVE: Utah Attorney General demands settlement in FLDS land war | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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FOX 13's Ben Winslow reports KSTU-TV Originally broadcast February 3, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SALT LAKE CITY - Utah's Attorney General is demanding a settlement to the ongoing legal feud over the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' land-holdings arm. In a letter obtained by Fox 13 News, Mark Shurtleff puts a 30-day deadline on any settlement negotiations. "It appears to me there is no reason why a settlement cannot be achieved along the lines of this proposal," Shurtleff wrote to lawyers representing the FLDS Church. "Some items may need to be tweaked, and others may need to be massaged a little further, but on the whole it appears to me that if the parties are to achieve a settlement the best chance for that is to work from this proposal. If your client has trouble with the fact that the proposal comes from the Special Fiduciary, then let's call it my proposal." The United Effort Plan (UEP) Trust controls homes and property in the polygamous border towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz. It was taken over by the Utah state courts in 2005 over allegations that FLDS leader Warren Jeffs and others mismanaged it. A court-appointed special fiduciary was installed to manage it. The FLDS have recently challenged the management of the trust and the planned sale of land in their communities. Settlement talks last year failed, but Shurtleff's letter adds incentive to reach a resolution, assistant Utah Attorney General Tim Bodily told Fox 13 News on Wednesday. If no resolution is reached, Shurtleff's letter suggests they will throw support behind recommendations by the Arizona Attorney General and the special fiduciary, which would likely include the sale of land collectively held by the trust. Beyond the settlement, Shurtleff also made another threat: "we are prepared to seek a disincorporation of the city of Hildale with the Legislature if necessary." FLDS attorney Rod Parker told Fox 13 News they continue to negotiate in good faith and that Shurtleff's letter was inconsistent with the spirit of the ongoing talks. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Read Mark Shurtleff's Letter to FLDS attorneys regarding settlement of the UEP Trust feud within 30 days dated January 26, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Shurtleff issues ultimatum to FLDS over trust | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Geoff Liesik Deseret News Originally published Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SALT LAKE CITY — An attorney for the FLDS Church is blasting Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff over a letter that gives the sect 30 days to settle an ongoing dispute over a multimillion-dollar trust or face consequences. "It's politics, and I'm here to say I don't want him to get away with that," said attorney Rod Parker, who added the letter "comes right out of left field." "(Shurtleff) knows that's not an honest letter," Parker said, "and he needs to step up and take responsibility for what's going on." Shurtleff and leaders of the Fundamentalist LDS Church have been in ongoing negotiations for the past six months, seeking to settle a nearly 5-year-old dispute over the United Effort Plan Trust. The $100 million-plus trust holds most of the homes and property in Hildale, Utah; Colorado City, Ariz.; and Bountiful, British Columbia, Canada — communities long dominated by members of the FLDS Church. It was seized by Utah's courts in 2005 after state attorneys alleged that FLDS leader Warren Jeffs — then a fugitive from Arizona criminal charges — had used trust assets for personal benefit and left it vulnerable to liquidation from default judgments in civil lawsuits filed in 2004. In a Jan. 26 letter to three FLDS attorneys, Shurtleff said he expected their clients to accept a settlement proposed by Bruce Wisan, the court-appointed special fiduciary of the trust. He set a Feb. 26 deadline for such a settlement. "If your clients are not willing to accept this offer, I will assume that they have no intention, or at least do not have the ability, to resolve this matter by settlement and that future settlement negotiations would be futile," Shurtleff wrote. He added that failure to reach a settlement by Feb. 26 would indicate that he should "support the rule of law" and join Wisan and the Arizona Attorney General's Office in their efforts to carry out previous court orders regarding the trust. "It is not politics," assistant Utah attorney general Jerrold Jensen said Wednesday. "What's prompted this is their refusal to make any movement toward settlement. All they want to do is file motion after motion with the courts." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Utah AG demands settlement of land trust dispute | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Jennifer Dobner The Associated Press The Sierra Vista Herald - Sierra Vista, Arizona Originally published February 3, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah’s attorney general is demanding a settlement in a five-year dispute over control of a communal land trust once held by a polygamous church led by Warren Jeffs. The United Effort Plan Trust holds most of the property and homes in Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., the twin border towns that serve as home for most members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Valued at more than $110 million, the trust has been under the control of the Utah courts since 2005 after allegations of mismanagement by Jeffs and other church leaders. State attorneys said church leaders had used trust assets for their own benefit and failed to defend civil lawsuits that left the trust vulnerable to liquidation. Shurtleff’s office attempted last year to negotiate a settlement with the parties, including the FLDS, a court-appointed accountant and the Arizona attorney general’s office, but a judge rejected the plan. In a letter sent last week, Shurtleff gives FLDS attorneys 30 days to settle and suggested a proposal from Bruce Wisan, who manages the trust for the court, offers the best framework for a deal. "Some items may need to tweaked, and other may need to be massaged, a little further, but on the whole it appears to me that if the parties are to achieve a settlement the best chance for that is to work from this proposal," Shurtleff wrote. "This matter has gone on long enough." Rod Parker, an attorney for the FLDS, said the letter was "out of left field." "The conclusion we draw from that is that it’s a political statement designed to help him evade responsibility in the future," Parker said. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Utah AG Threatens To Dissolve Hildale | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Reported by: Brian Mullahy KUTV 2 News Originally broadcast Wednesday, Feb 3, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mounting allegations against the polygamous city of Hildale could launch a move to dissolve its city government. Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff raised the potential in a letter to FLDS lawyers last week, writing that "serious issues" must be addressed in the community, and that his office is "prepared to seek a disincorporation" with the Legislature if necessary. Possible translation: shape up, or lose your city. "It just hits with a tremendous shock," said FLDS spokesman Willie Jessop in a 2News phone interview Wednesday. "I don't know how you can appease the Attorney General's Office when he's threatening this action." Jessop openly wondered how the same move would be received in a host of other Utah cities. The Attorney General's Office said it's investigating specific allegations in Hildale, including water fees not going into the water system, but ultimately to FLDS leaders, police beholden to those leaders, and non-FLDS residents thwarted on getting building permits. A "disincorporation" bill is in play at the Utah State Capitol this legislative session, but it does not seem to relate to Hildale. Still, such a move could be forthcoming. In the meantime, Shurtleff is urging sides in vexing property disputes in Hildale and its twin, Colorado City, to reach a settlement within 30 days. A fiduciary appointed by the court to oversee property in the United Effort Plan Trust is at odds with FLDS representatives, who want the property turned back to them. If Hildale government is dissolved, the area on the Utah side of the Utah-Arizona line would come under the control of Washington County government. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Leader of Canada's Largest Polygamy Group Has Estimated 25 Wives, 121 Children | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Canadian Group Says Polygamy as Moral as Other Lifestyles | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By JUJU CHANG and LINDA OWENS Good Morning America ABC News Originally broadcast Feb. 5, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Winston Blackmore, head of Canada's largest polygamist group, has an estimated 25 wives plus 121 children. And despite criticism of plural marriages, the group says polygamy is as moral a lifestyle as any other, which it's determined to prove to the world. Blackmore's 11th wife, Zelpha Chatwin, is the mother of his latest child, Jedediah Mike Blackmore. She defended her fundamentalist community. "Having a sister-wife, it's like having the same relationship with your husband, but it's just two women, or three women or four, instead of a man and a woman," said Chatwin, who is the mother of seven children. "I love these girls. … And I couldn't live without them. I really couldn't." Chatwin and her extended family will be featured in National Geographic magazine and on the National Geographic Channel. "Inside Polygamy" premieres Feb. 10 on the channel. There'll be more on the story in the magazine's February issue. The tight-knit polygamous community of Bountiful located near Creston, British Columbia, faces a unique set of challenges. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Polygamist leader has 25 wives, 121 children | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Adam Thomas KSL 5 TV Originally broadcast February 5th, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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SALT LAKE CITY -- A new exposé on a polygamist community in Canada is shedding light on a secretive world. "There's definitely jealousy in plural marriage," says one of the wives of Winston Blackmore, the leader of a polygamous community of about 500 people in Bountiful, British Columbia. "I love those girls, I really truly do," says another of Blackmore's estimated 25 wives. While the special was being put together, Blackmore welcomed his 121st child. "I hope he grows up to honor his father and mother," the new mother says. But tradition isn't necessarily being followed in this close-knit community. Some women live in traditional, monogamous marriages. Blackmore's group broke away from former Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints leader Warren Jeffs in 2001. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police arrested 52-year-old Blackmore last January. He was charged with bigamy and sexual exploitation. A judge later quashed those charges, ruling the province did not have the authority to appoint a special prosecutor to consider Blackmore's case after previous prosecutors recommended against charges. This month's issue of National Geographic, as well as a television special beginning Feb. 10 on the National Geographic Channel, explores the lives of several polygamist communities.
E-mail: athomas@ksl.com | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FLDS Trial | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Reported by: KLST News - San Angelo, Texas Originally broadcast Friday, Feb 5, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| IN DECEMBER -- A SCHLEICHER COUNTY JURY SENTENCED THE 57-YEAR-OLD KEATE TO 33 YEARS IN PRISON FOR CHILD SEXUAL ASSUALT IN RELATION TO UNDERAGE MARRIAGE AT THE Y-F-Z RANCH. IN ELDORADO TODAY -- JUDGE WALTHER HELD A HEARING ON A MOTION FROM KEATE'S ATTORNEY FOR A FREE -- COURT REPORTER'S RECORD FROM THE DECEMBER PROCEEDINGS -- TO USE IN DOCUMENTS APPEALING KEATE'S CONVICTION. THE TRIAL FOR THE FOURTH F-L-D-S MEMBER INDICTED FOR CHILD SEXUAL ASSUALT IN SCHLEICHER COUNTY IS SCHEDULED NEXT MONTH. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| HBO renews 'Love' vows | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Post staff writer New York Post Originally published February 5, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 'Big ratings for "Big Love" have earned the show an other season. HBO has renewed the polygamy drama for a fifth season, based on its increased viewership so far this season. Last month's opener was up nearly 50 percent in viewers (to 1.7 million) from the season three premiere. HBO has ordered 10 episodes for next season, one more than this season, according to Variety. "Love," which stars Bill Paxton, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Chloe Sevigny and Ginnifer Goodwin, is up 13 percent in viewership this season -- despite facing stiff Sunday-night competition from the NFL playoffs and the Grammys. It also received its first Emmy nomination (for Best Series) last year -- while Sevigny won a Golden Globe last month for her work on the show. The show's core cast is expected to return next season, save for Amanda Seyfried, according to trade reports. There's also the chance that former co-stars Zeljko Ivanek and Sissy Spacek could return next season. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 'Big Love' Renewed For Fifth Season | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By EU News Network OfficialWire Originally published February 06, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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(EUNewsNet.com and OfficialWire)
LOS ANGELES, CA HBO has ordered a fifth season of its U.S. polygamy drama series "Big Love," The Hollywood Reporter said. The show, now in its fourth season, stars Bill Paxton as a Utah man with three wives played by Jeanne Tripplehorn, Chloe Sevigny and Ginnifer Goodwin. This season reportedly is focusing on Paxton's character running for office, whereas next season is expected to concentrate on his family life. Series creator Mark V. Olsen told the entertainment industry trade newspaper Season 5's episodes will be "settling into the storytelling." "We want to take the temperature of the marriages," added co-creator Will Scheffer. Contact European News Network EU News Network wire@eunewsnet.com Tel: +44 (0) 758-845-6978 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FLDS Church announces new president | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Ben Winslow FOX 13 News - KSTU-TV Originally broadcast February 6, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| HILDALE - The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has a new president, at least of its corporate entity. The move raises questions about the role of convicted polygamist leader Warren Jeffs in the church. In a filing with the Utah Department of Commerce obtained by Fox 13 on Saturday, it was announced that Wendell Loy Nielsen has been "called as president of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in conformity with the constitution, canons, rites, regulations or discipline of such church..." Nielsen, 69, was previously a counselor in the FLDS Church. Jeffs, 53, resigned his role as president of the FLDS back in 2007 shortly after being convicted in Utah of rape as an accomplice for performing a marriage between a then-14-year-old girl and her 19-year-old cousin. He is also facing criminal charges in Arizona and Texas. The filing appointing Nielsen to head the 10,000-member FLDS Church raises questions about Jeffs' role as leader, although it is likely he remains the church's spiritual figurehead. FLDS Church attorney Rod Parker told Fox 13 on Saturday that any decisions about who members follow are made on an "individual basis." Many members consider Jeffs a prophet. The FLDS Church is a breakaway sect from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FLDS Church chooses new President | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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ABC 4 News Originally broadcast February 7, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ELDORADO, Texas (ABC 4 News) - With Warren Jeffs behind bars, the FLDS church has chosen a new President. 69-year old Wendell Nielsen has been chosen as president of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints. That's according to a document filed with the state of Utah. The document names Nielsen as the president of the FLDS Church's Corporate Entity, but that doesn't necessarily mean that Jeffs won't still be regarded as prophet by the sect. Nielsen is said to have at least 21 wives and lives at the YFZ ranch in Eldorado, Texas. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Judge bars evidence in Warren Jeffs hearing in Arizona | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Deseret News Originally published Monday, Feb. 8, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| KINGMAN, Ariz. (AP) — A judge has granted a defense request to bar evidence seized in the raid of a polygamous sect in Texas from being used in polygamist leader Warren Jeffs' trial in Arizona. Mohave County Superior Court Judge Steven Conn's decision means a Feb. 17 hearing on the request has been vacated. Prosecutor Matt Smith and Jeffs' attorneys agreed in documents released Monday that no evidence from the April 2008 raid on the Fundamentalist LDS Church compound in Eldorado, Texas, will be used directly or indirectly in the Arizona case. Conn says he believed the issue had been a major obstacle in resolving the case. Jeffs is awaiting trial in Arizona on four counts of being an accomplice to sexual conduct with a minor, charges filed in 2007. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hearing on the use of Texas evidence at Jeffs' trial vacated | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By JIM SECKLER Mohave Daily News Originally published Monday, February 8, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| KINGMAN - A Mohave County judge vacated a hearing next week to hear arguments whether evidence seized during a 2008 raid of a polygamist church's Texas compound can be heard at Warren Jeffs' upcoming trial. The attorneys in the two cases against Jeffs, the jailed leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, agreed not to use any evidence seized in the raid by Texas officers at the FLDS compound in Eldorado, Texas, in April 2008. Jeffs' attorneys, Mike Piccarreta, of Tucson, and Richard Wright, of Las Vegas, along with Mohave County Attorney Matt Smith, agreed that the evidence seized, including Jeffs' personal property, will not be used at Jeffs' trial. Despite Smith's earlier stipulation not to use the evidence, Piccarreta still argued that Arizona police officers and prosecution witnesses who testify at Jeffs' trial would still be tainted by the evidence. State witnesses include former church members Carolyn Jessop, Rebecca Musser and Richard Holm. With the agreement, Superior Court Judge Steven Conn granted a defense motion to suppress the evidence from the search and vacated the Feb. 17 hearing. The judge also said that the hearing was seen as a "major obstacle" to setting a trial and that maybe a trial can now be set, especially after Jeffs has been in custody for almost two years, which is the maximum sentence he faced if convicted of either of his two cases. Jeffs, 54, is charged with four counts of sexual conduct with a minor in two 2007 cases. He is charged with being an accomplice of two men who had sex with two underage girls, which allegedly took place in 2002 and 2003. Jeffs is serving a 10-year prison sentence after being convicted in Utah in 2007 of two counts of rape as an accomplice. He also is charged with felony sexual assault of a child under 17 and aggravated sexual assault in Schleicher County, Texas, after the raid by officers at the YFZ compound in Texas. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| These Days | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Polygamy in America | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Maureen Cavanaugh KPBS San Diego Originally broadcast February 8, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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As San Diegans prepare to celebrate Valentine's Day with their "one and only," there are towns in America where Valentine's
Day is a lot more complicated. We'll explore the phenomenon of POLYGAMY IN AMERICA, the feature story in this month's National Geographic magazine.
MAUREEN CAVANAUGH (Host): It's an odd sort of Valentine that the National Geographic magazine and channel have given us this month. The magazine's February issue features an in-depth article on polygamy, that is, "Polygamy in America." And their TV channel will premiere a documentary this week called "Inside Polygamy." There seems to be a fascination with this lifestyle, as evidenced by the success of the HBO series "Big Love." Even as polygamist compounds are raided and their leaders put on trial, the questions linger about why such cults still exist in the United States, why child welfare authorities have turned a blind eye for so long, and why some women still put up with it. I'd like to welcome my guest, Scott Anderson. He's a war correspondent and novelist, and he wrote the feature article "Polygamy in America" in this month's National Geographic. And welcome, Scott, to These Days. SCOTT ANDERSON (Author): Thank you, Maureen, nice to be here. CAVANAUGH: If you could start out by telling us about the town of Colorado City, Arizona, where your report starts out. That’s sort of really polygamy central in the United States, isn’t it? ANDERSON: That’s right. It’s actually twin communities. It’s Colorado City and Hilldale, and it’s right on the Utah, Arizona border. And the placement is actually rather important because when it became a center for polygamy back in the 1920s, 1930s, it was – the situation right on the border was so that if there were raids carried out by one state or the other, members could just slip across the state line to the other side. But it has been a center of polygamy for a very, very long time. CAVANAUGH: And about how big is the polygamy group in Colorado City and Hilldale? ANDERSON: Well, there’s several different groups. The FLDS, the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints, which is the group that I focused on and that’s the group that their prophet is Warren Jeffs, who’s now in prison. There’s about 6000 members in the Colorado City area, and about 10,000 nationwide. There’s several smaller groups and not groups at all, just individuals who practice polygamy in the Colorado City area. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Critic's picks | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| I do! I do! | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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NEAL JUSTIN TV/DVD/Gaming Minneapolis Star Tribune Last update: February 9, 2010 - 5:42 PM | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bill Henrickson of "Big Love" is an amateur compared with Winston Blackmore, star of the new documentary "Inside Polygamy: Life Is Bountiful" (8 p.m., National Geographic Channel). That's because the British Columbian has more than 20 wives and more than 100 children. Shockingly, the Octomom is not among his beloved. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Reporter Explores FLDS Communities for National Geographic | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Jeff Robinson KCPW News - Salt Lake City Originally broadcast February 9, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (KCPW News) A new article for National Geographic Magazine explores the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints up close through interviews and photographs. Scott Anderson traveled to their communities in Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Arizona, to report the cover story, "The Polygamists," for this month’s issue. KCPW’s Jeff Robinson spoke with him to learn what he found out. Tomorrow night, the National Geographic Channel will premiere "Inside Polygamy," spotlighting a polygamist community in Bountiful, British Columbia. That begins at 7 p.m. Listen to the interview | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| On TV Wednesday, Feb. 10 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Tampabay.com In Print: Wednesday, February 10, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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On TV tonight
"Inside Polygamy: Life in Bountiful", 9 p.m., NatGeo A real-life version of Big Love profiles Winston Blackmore, a Canadian with more than 20 wives and 100 children. Remembering birthdays must be a full-time job. — Joshua Gillin jgillin@tampabay.com | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hey, Watch It! - Wednesday's TV Picks | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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San Francisco Chronicle Originally published February 10, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Valentine's Day is Sunday, and the National Geographic Channel is celebrating early with a pair of documentaries that take a look at...unconventional relationships.
First up is "Inside Polygamy: Life Is Bountiful," a look inside a fundamentalist Mormon polygamist "community"--others may say "cult"--in Bountiful, British Columbia. I wonder if they celebrate Valentine's Day...That's a LOT of chocolate and flowers if they do...6 P.M. and 9 P.M. "Taboo: Strange Love" looks at more unusual relationships, although I am not sure the word "love" can really apply to all of them. One story focuses on a couple in Australia who have sex with strangers, while maintaining a romantic relationship with each other. Another investigates the life of a seven-year-old child bride in India, (that's where the word "love" troubles me). And finally, there's a glimpse inside real life Lars and the Real Girl couplings, where men forsake any attempt at real-life love for relationships with expensive sex dolls. Watch it at 7 P.M. and 10 P.M | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wednesday on TV | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Scott D. Pierce Deseret News Originally published Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Inside Polygamy: Life In Bountiful (7 and 10 p.m., National Geographic Channel): No, we're not talking Bountiful, Utah. (Whew!) This is about Winston Blackmore, the leader of what the documentary filmmakers insist on calling "a fundamentalist Mormon polygamist community" in British Columbia. Never mind that you can't be a Mormon and a polygamist — that distinction tends to escape those who don't exactly understand what they're talking about. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| More than a dozen parties seek intervener status in anti-polygamy case | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Applications to be considered before trial | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Neal Hall Vancouver Sun Originally published February 10, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| More than a dozen parties have applied for intervener status in a polygamy case sparked by the marriage practices of a Mormon sect living on a commune near Creston, B.C. Last December, the trial judge, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Robert Bauman, directed that any interested persons or groups that wish to intervene should be notified by Dec. 15 and invited to participate. The deadline to file an application was Jan. 28. A case management conference will be held Feb. 16 to consider applications for parties seeking intervener status in a reference case to determine whether Canada's anti-polygamy law is constitutional. The groups or individuals seeking intervener status include the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, Beyond Borders, the Christian Legal Fellowship, the Catholic Organization for Life and Family, the Knights of Columbus, the Canadian Association of Free Expression, West Coast Women's Legal Education and Action Fund, B.C. Teachers' Federation, the Canadian Polyamory Advocacy Association, Stop Polygamy in Canada, William Kyle Blackmore, the Canadian Coalition for the Rights of Children, the David Asper Centre for Constitutional Rights, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ and Latter Day Saints and James Oler. It is the first time in B.C. that a constitutional reference will be heard in a trial court. Normally, a reference case is argued before an appeal court and no evidence or witnesses are called. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Polygamy in America | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| An estimated 30,000 to 50,000 people live a polygamist lifestyle in the US, many in sects splintered from the Mormon Church. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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From PRI's Here and Now PRI Public Radio International Originally broadcast February 12, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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This story is adapted from a broadcast audio segment; use audio player to listen to story in its entirety.
According to researchers at Brigham Young University, an estimated 30,000 to 50,000 people live a polygamist lifestyle in the US. Many polygamists live in sects splintered from the Mormon church after it renounced polygamy in the 1800s. Those sects believe that Joseph Smith had a revelation that, in order to replenish earth and the celestial afterlife, men should have as many children and wives as possible. "Our whole life's goal and aim is to make it to the celestial kingdom, and become gods and goddesses in our own right, and have our own children," said Zelpha, one of 25 wives of a patriarch in a Canadian community profiled in a film on the National Geographic Channel. National Geographic also gained access to a large polygamist group in America after consulting with Warren Jeffs, the imprisoned prophet of The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS). Many Americans learned about the group after a raid at Texas' Yearning for Zion Ranch in 2008. That raid led to charges against church members for bigamy and sex with minors. Journalist Scott Anderson, along with photographer Stephanie Sinclair, spent time in FLDS communities in Colorado City, Arizona; Hildale, Utah; and the Yearning for Zion Ranch in Texas. He wrote about his experience in February’s "National Geographic." "It's a very wholesome environment; there was very much an outdoor lifestyle; kids helped in the community with projects -- they'd bring in harvests," said Anderson. "But then, whenever it starts feeling very normal, I'd encountered situations like two sisters married to the same man; I interviewed a mother and daughter married to the same man -- it wasn't incest because the mother had been transferred from another husband, and the daughter married the same man six months later." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Listen to this PRI interview | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National Geographic Goes 'Inside Polygamy' This Valentine's | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Beliefnet - Fox Entertainment Group Originally published Friday February 12, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| If you think it's hard enough finding that perfect gift for your sweetie on Valentine's Day, imagine finding that special something for more than 20 significant others. This Valentine's Day National Geographic Channel gives viewers an intimate look into the lives of a fundamentalist Mormon polygamist community in Bountiful, British Columbia, with "Inside Polygamy: Life at Bountiful." In the early 20th century, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS) split from the mainline Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints over the practice known as "the principle," the belief that "plural marriage and siring dozens of children will help guarantee entrance into the highest of Heavens," which is still practiced by an estimated 10,000 people across the United States and Canada. Winston Blackmore, patriarch of the Bountiful community, gave producers unprecedented access to his family of more than 20 wives and 100 children and the result is surprising in a number of ways. Aside from the polygamy, they seemed rather normal, discussing everything from what to cook a gaggle of kids for dinner to which cell phone plan to chose; a real life "Big Love" indeed. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| For Valentine’s Day: A True Big Love and a Big Planet | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Seth Arenstein On the Circuit CableFAX - Rockville, MD Originally published February 12, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The cover story of this month’s National Geographic Magazine appears to poke some fun at Valentine’s Day. The cover shot shows a thin, elderly man in a cowboy hat, surrounded by what appear to be roughly 50 people. The headline: Polygamy in America. The subhead: One Man, Five Wives, 46 Children.
Yet in terms of sheer numbers, National Geographic Channel will best its parent’s magazine cover subject with a special Valentine’s Day edition of its investigative series Inside (6pm; Wed, Feb 17, 5pm). This week’s focus on Inside is the polygamy of Winston Blackmore, who lives just over the U.S. border in Bountiful, British Columbia, with his 25 or so wives and some 100 children. Yes, old Winnie estimates when it comes to his wives and offspring. "It’s a best guess, as he won’t confirm the exact number," Nat Geo’s narrator tells us. For fans of HBO’s series about a polygamist family, Big Love, this special will be especially important viewing. The parallels between the lives of the Blackmores and the Henricksons, the fictional polygamists on Big Love, are fascinating. This special will be interesting viewing for others, too. That’s because beyond the obfuscation about exact numbers of wives and kids, Blackmore might be the perfect polygamist for the media. He’s photogenic, articulate, approachable, seemingly honest and, most important, very willing to allow his lifestyle to be recorded by National Geographic’s cameras. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Polygamist leader's diary posted to Web | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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United Press International NY • US • WORLD Utica Daily News - Utica, NY Originally published February 12, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SALT LAKE CITY, Feb. 12 (UPI) -- Excerpts from polygamous leader Warren Jeffs's diary were posted on the Web this week after an Arizona lawyer released them by mistake, officials said. D'Arcy M. Downs-Vollbrachtn is representing Bruce Wisan, court-appointed trustee of the United Effort Plan, which was founded by Jeffs's father. She thought she had only released sections of the diary dealing with the plan but mistakenly included 4,000 additional pages, The Salt Lake Tribune reported. Jeffs, the leader of the Fundamentalist Church of the Latter Day Saints, is serving a prison term in Utah for arranging a marriage for an underage girl. He faces similar charges in Arizona. Downs-Vollbracht is defending Wisan against a trespass charge in Arizona. Bloggers who already operate two sites about the FLDS announced a new one Monday, FLDS Priesthood Records. They began posting selections from Jeffs's diary the next day. Downs-Vollbracht, who learned of the posting from a Tribune reporter, got the records taken off the Internet and asked a judge to seal the records Wednesday. She apologized to Jeffs. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lesson from Utah: 12th graders are slackers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Editorial Board St. Louis Post-Dispatch Originally published February 15, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Blessed as we are to have two state legislatures to entertain us, we often don’t often appreciate the rich menu of weirdness that permeates legislatures in the 48 other states. Utah, for example. There, a state senator has proposed making senior year in high school optional. State Sen. Chris Buttars, a Republican from the Salt Lake City suburbs, at first proposed eliminating the senior year altogether. Reason: It would save the state $102 million, and a lot of kids spend their last year in high school just goofing off, anyway. "You’re spending a whole lot of money for a whole bunch of kids who aren’t getting anything out of that grade," Mr. Buttars told an appropriations subcommittee hearing earlier this month. "It comes down to the best use of money." Gone would be such institutions as the senior prom, senior cut day, senior project and senior advanced placement courses for those grinds who take education seriously, not to mention a full year of eligibility for football, basketball and other sports teams. Thousands of 17-year-olds would be turned loose on a job market that already is full of unemployed 18- and 19-year-olds. Kids would learn early that they have to pick themselves up by their bootstraps. Mr. Buttars’ proposal doesn’t seem to have much support from his fellow lawmakers, who often treat him as if he were radioactive. But he is not a man who cares what other people think. His previous legislative initiatives have included preventing retailers from instructing their employees not to wish shoppers "Merry Christmas." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FLDS church names new president | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Deseret News Originally published Monday, Feb. 15, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SALT LAKE CITY — A polygamous church led by Warren Jeffs before he was jailed in 2007 has named a new president who is facing bigamy charges. Wendell Loy Nielsen, 69, was named president in documents filed with the Utah Department of Commerce. He has long been a senior leader in the hierarchy of the southern Utah-based Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He previously served as a counselor to Jeffs and his father, Rulon Jeffs, who led the church until his death in 2002. Nielsen "has been running the day-to-day affairs of the church for some time," church spokesman Willie Jessop said. "He has the trust of the people." A successful businessman, Nielsen lives at the faith's Yearning for Zion ranch in Eldorado, Texas. He faces three counts of bigamy for having allegedly married three adult women in 2005. Handwritten family records seized by police showed Nielsen may have as many as 21 wives. In 2008 he was one of 12 men indicted by Texas authorities on criminal charges that followed a raid on the ranch after an allegation that a teen bride had been physically and sexually abused. Nielsen was named president of the church in papers recorded last month. Warren Jeffs officially resigned as president of the church in late 2007. It's not clear if Nielsen is now considered the church prophet or if Jeffs retains the role despite his incarceration after a conviction in Utah for rape as an accomplice in 2007. The state paperwork is a legal formality that clarifies that Nielsen has the authority to make decisions related to church business and legal dealings, church attorney Rodney Parker said. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Utah Supreme Court to weigh in on FLDS trust issues | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Emiley Morgan Deseret News Originally published Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Supreme Court will hear two arguments relating to the Fundamentalist LDS Church Wednesday, including one asking the justices to overrule a lower court decision authorizing the sale of land they consider sacred. The hearings are the latest in what has become an ongoing conflict between members of the polygamous group and the state. The struggle between the two has been ongoing since the United Effort Plan trust was accused of abusing its financial powers and a state judge appointed a fiduciary, Bruce Wisan, five years ago. The UEP was established in 1942 and was fashioned after the United Order, a 19th-century religious concept under which church members donate all their assets to a communal organization and everyone would share so there would be no poverty or materialism. Utah took over financial oversight of the UEP in 2005 amid allegations of mismanagement by the group's leader, Warren Jeffs, who is now in prison in Arizona for being an accomplice to rape. He faces other felony charges in Arizona and Texas. According to court documents filed in the case, the trust was set up, ideally, to "protect the FLDS people." "The FLDS leaders were using the trust as a tool to expel boys from their homes and families and force preteen and teenage girls to enter into 'spiritual marriages' with men often decades older," one court document alleged. But FLDS members believe their rights of religious freedom were violated by the reformation and seizure of the trust. In court documents they say the state control of the trust "is an arrogation of state power over religious freedom on a scale not seen since this court dealt with an historical precedent more than a century ago." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Photojournalist Captures 'Polygamy In America' | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Talk of the Nation National Public Radio Originally broadcast February 17, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Stephanie Sinclair was given rare and intimate access to the men and women of the polygamist Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS). Sinclair's photos, taken during several periods since April of 2008, appear in National Geographic. Sinclair spent about 18 months with the group, on-and-off. She started her project in Texas right after the raid in which more than 400 children were taken from the Yearning for Zion ranch. She told host Neal Conan, "it took probably four months to really start getting access, to start convincing them that [she] wasn't out to villianize them," or make judgments. Sinclair spent time with polygamist, FLDS families in multiple communities in the U.S. and Canada.
NEAL CONAN, host: Few knew much about the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints until April of 2008, when Texas law enforcement officials raided an FLDS compound called the Yearning for Zion Church, or Ranch. The FLDS is a polygamist sect unconnected to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Texas authorities suspected that underage girls were being married to much older men. And after what turned out to be phony 911 calls, they removed more than 400 children from the ranch. In the wall-to-wall coverage that followed, we saw pictures of women and girls in front of a Texas courthouse in pastel prairie dresses and elaborately braided hair. The Texas Appeals Court returned almost all of the children to their families within two months after finding that authorities did not have evidence to hold them. Photography - Stephanie Sinclair was granted rare and exclusive access to the FLDS communities in Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Arizona. Her work appears in a series of extraordinary images featured in this month's edition of National Geographic. You can see some of those on NPR's photo blog The Picture Show at npr.org. And Stephanie Sinclair joins us here today in Studio 3A. Thanks very much for coming in. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Listen to this interview | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Utah high court hears FLDS land trust dispute | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Associated Press The Spectrum Originally published February 17, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The Utah Supreme Court will hear arguments in a five-year-old dispute over control of a communal land trust once held by Warren Jeffs' polygamous church. Justices are scheduled to hold two hearings related to the United Effort Plan Trust on Wednesday. The trust is valued at more than $110 million and holds most of the homes and land in Hildale, Utah and Colorado City, Ariz. The twin towns are home to most members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The Utah courts took control of the trust in 2005 after allegations of mismanagement by Jeffs. In court papers, attorneys for the FLDS argue that Utah's management of the trust has violated the sect's religious rights. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Justices hear arguments on FLDS land trust | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lawyers argue the validity of the 'united order' agreement | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Emiley Morgan Deseret News Originally published Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SALT LAKE CITY — Some believe the action was, and is, a matter of protecting homes. Others, including those whose homes are at stake, believe it is a violation of their religious rights. The Utah Supreme Court heard from both sides Wednesday in the ongoing fight over the state's decision to take over and reform a land trust held by the Fundamentalist LDS Church. Attorneys on both sides argued about the validity of the trust, which was created by the FLDS church in 1942 on the concept of a "united order," allowing followers to share in its assets. Utah courts took control of the trust in 2005 following allegations that it had been mismanaged by church leader Warren Jeffs. Members of the polygamous sect contend a judge changed the trust from a religious to a secular entity in violation of their First Amendment rights to practice their religion freely. The state contends that the land in question had been abandoned and the time for appeal has passed. The arguments directly addressed 3rd District Judge Denise Lindberg's 2006 decision to reform the trust, which is valued at more than $110 million and holds most of the property in Hildale, Utah; Colorado City, Ariz.; and Bountiful, British Columbia. Lindberg later authorized the sale of Berry Knoll, a 438-acre parcel of land the FLDS claim was consecrated for a temple, to repay the trust's $3 million in debt — largely incurred by the ongoing litigation. Chief Justice Christine Durham asked attorneys for the trust whether they can even bring a "collateral attack" on an order that is now 3 1/2 years old. Rod Parker, attorney for the FLDS, said church members initially saw the reformation as a "test of their faith." But when they felt their test was complete, they went to court to assert their rights over the trust and its $100 million-plus in assets. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Utah Supreme Court considers FLDS land case | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Ben Winslow FOX 13 News KSTU-TV Originally broadcast February 17, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SALT LAKE CITY - The Utah Supreme Court is considering an appeal by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints over who controls all the homes and land in the polygamous towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz. The land is part of a communal trust now under court control, and FLDS Church members want it back. FLDS members argued before the Utah Supreme Court today that the state's control of the $100 million United Effort Plan (UEP) Trust violates their right to consecrate their property to their church. "Thousands of people are relying on what's happening here today in terms of their entire future," said Rod Parker, a lawyer for the FLDS Church. The UEP is a "united order," where everything is communally owned. The FLDS argue that they have a right to consecrate it. The courts took control of it back in 2005, saying that Warren Jeffs and others put the trust at risk by failing to defend it from lawsuits. Now the trust is deep in debt and land is being sold to pay bills. For years, the FLDS were silent. An attorney for the 10 thousand member polygamous church told the Supreme Court the reason why, was "a test of faith." In court, the Supreme Court justices questioned if they were too late in objecting to the court takeover of the trust. "How many years have we been standing at the courthouse steps saying we're here?" FLDS member Willie Jessop said outside of court. "And how do we get in?" Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FLDS fighting for property trust in Utah Supreme Court | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By John Hollenhorst KSL 5 TV Originally broadcast February 17, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SALT LAKE CITY -- Followers of imprisoned polygamist leader Warren Jeffs took their battle to the Utah Supreme Court Wednesday morning. They're fighting for control of a property trust that's worth more than $100 million. The loyal followers of Jeffs are fighting an uphill battle to win back the property trust. It was seized by the courts in 2005. At that time, Jeffs' followers kept quiet and didn't fight the state takeover because Jeffs ordered them not to -- as a test of faith. Now they're fighting tooth and nail. The trust funds nearly all of the property and homes in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) home base, the twin communities of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz. Jeffs used to control nearly all the homes and real estate in the FLDS community. The so-called "U.E.P. trust" is supposed to benefit all members. But critics claim Jeffs used his power to assign housing as a way to control the FLDS. The state seized the trust when lawsuits threatened to undermine it financially. The court seized the trust theoretically on behalf of FLDS members. That's because Warren Jeffs and other FLDS leaders were not defending it against lawsuits that might have cost members their homes. Wednesday, FLDS leaders went to the State Supreme Court at the Matheson Courthouse, trying to win back the property trust. They say the court-appointed trust fiduciary has racked up millions in legal fees and is trying to raise the money by selling off church property. They argue that seizure and control by the fiduciary has trampled their religious freedoms and caused a financial train wreck in their community. FLDS spokesman Willie Jessop said, "At the end of the day, this thing has really been nothing but a Ponzi scheme from the attorneys to figure out how to liquidate land for their own selves and not for the people." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Video Courtesy of KSL.com | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Future of FLDS assets comes before Supreme Court | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Reported by: Marcos Ortiz ABC4 News Originally broadcast February 17, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4 News) – The future of FLDS property is in the hands of the Utah Supreme Court. Arguments in a five year old battle over control of property assets owned by the polygamist Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) were heard by the state’s highest court. The land is located in Hildale, Utah, Colorado City, Arizona, and Bountiful, British Columbia and is home to 10,000 members of the FLDS. In 2005, state attorneys alleged that then FLDS leader Warren Jeff’s mismanaged the property and Utah courts took control of the trust. Wednesday, attorneys for the state argued that it’s too late for church members to ask the Supreme Court to stop the takeover. They also argued that their decision to allow any member to petition for trust benefits doesn’t violate their religious beliefs. But in court, attorneys for the FLDS argued that state control is a violation of their constitutional right as a religion. At stake is whether members past or present have any say in assets owned by the FLDS church. Members donate any assets when they become members and it is then shared amongst members. When those who leave the faith whether it’s voluntarily or through excommunication, any claims to trust assets are given up. If assets are controlled by a trustee those members would be able to lay a claim to that property. Attorneys for the FLDS claim that such a move would violate the church’s original covenant. The doctrine created by founder Joseph Smith ordered that church leaders were the one’s who made decisions in the interest of the entire community, not individuals. The Supreme Court took the matter under advisement. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dispute Over Polygamous Sect Property Trust Argued Before Utah Supreme Court | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FLDS: Did sect wait too long to object? | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Associated Press KCSG TV Originally published February 17, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (Salt Lake City, UT) - Utah's highest court weighed in on the long running dispute over a polygamous sect's property trust Wednesday with one central question: Why did sect members wait so long to challenge a judge's decision to remove the trust's religious foundation? Members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints claim their Constitutional rights were violated when a judge reformed the United Effort Plan Trust, transforming it into a secular trust. Rod Parker, an attorney representing the sect, said the sect initially viewed the trust takeover as a "religious test" but reached a point where they decided "the test was over and they needed to protect the trust." Parker told the justices he believes there is no time limit for raising constitutional objections in a matter that is "wrapped up in religion." He asked the justices to stay all court proceedings, including sale of land considered sacred by the FLDS, while they consider the sect's petition. Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff sought the trust's takeover in 2005 after its assets were targeted by former FLDS members' lawsuits. He also alleged that the FLDS trustees were mismanaging the trust, which holds property valued at $110 million in Hildale, Utah; Colorado City, Arizona; and Bountiful, British Columbia, Canada. Trust property consists primarily of homes, several farms, vacant land and some commercial developments. Third District Judge Denise Lindberg, who presides over the UEP case, rewrote the trust charter in 2006 to exclude religious tenets that included support of polygamy. She ordered that it be managed on "neutral principles." That, Parker said, allowed FLDS members to be discriminated against and set in motion a "train wreck" in the community. Parker argued that the district judge had one option after taking over the trust in 2005: To find that the trust had failed and, as required by its then bylaws, deliver its assets to the church's corporate entity. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| An open letter to the Vancouver Sun | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Joel Campbell Mormon Times Originally published Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Patricia Graham, Editor The Vancouver Sun Dear Ms. Graham: I know you are busy with all of that Olympic stuff going on up there in British Columbia, but when the flame burns out, here is something to consider about how you use the terms "Mormon" and "Mormon fundamentalist" in your reporting, particularly as Mormons open a new temple in Langley. As both a journalist and a Mormon, I am continually dismayed that the Vancouver Sun and associated CanWest wire service choose to describe the British Columbia polygamist group with the terms "Mormon sect" and the "fundamentalist Mormon." In one column, it was even discussed as the "Mormon Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" in connection with Warren Jeffs, the jailed FLDS leader. There are at least three reasons I think your terminology is misguided and errant journalistic practice. 1. Accuracy: Use of the term, "Mormon" to describe the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) group confuses readers. Case in point on how this plays out around the world: My brother was recently on an airline flight, when an educated businessman said, "Oh, you are a Mormon. That means you can have more than one wife." NOT. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or the nickname "Mormon church" (note the lower case "c" as required by Associated Press Style) abandoned polygamy in 1890. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lost children of polygamy | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Reported by: Brent Hunsaker ABC4 News Originally broadcast February 18, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ST GEORGE, Utah (ABC 4 News) - Caleb Barlow is the first to acknowledge that he's one of the lucky ones. Caleb left Colorado City when he was in his mid-teens. He followed in the footsteps of some of his older brothers who also left, disgusted with the control and the isolation of the polygamist, FLDS community. But unlike his older brothers, Caleb found a new home with a host family in St. George thanks to the Diversity Foundation. The stability of the family helped him to overcome a series of barriers in the outside world faced by all those who are exiled from Colorado City. Once called the "lost boys", these teenage refugees from polygamy are now both boys and girls. They are rejected by their family, friends and religious leaders. In the outside world, they find themselves among people they'd been taught to distrust and even fear. Caleb said, "When I first left, I was kind of scared." Caleb was not only scared, but also feeling guilty and hopeless. The children of Colorado City are told all their lives that everyone outside the group is damned. Now they're on the outside. Shannon Price of the Diversity Foundation said, "These kids are dealing with emotional issues of feeling maybe guilty or feeling abandoned. I had one child who said his mother said the church was more important than he was. That's abandonment." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Control of polygamous church's land disputed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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BY JENNIFER DOBNER Associated Press The Spectrum Originally published February 18, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah judge should be ordered to return control of a communal land trust once held by Warren Jeffs’ polygamous church because it violates the sect’s religious rights, lawyers argued Wednesday before the Utah Supreme Court. Justices heard arguments in the five-year-long dispute over control of the trust that is valued at more than $110 million and holds most of the property in Hildale, Colorado City and Bountiful, British Columbia. Those communities are home to members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The Utah courts took control of the trust in 2005 after state attorneys alleged mismanagement by Jeffs, who left it vulnerable to liquidation by failing to fight a pair of civil lawsuits in 2004. In his argument, Wednesday, FLDS attorney Rodney Parker said 3rd District Court Judge Denise Lindberg’s 2006 decision to strip the trust of its original religious purposes went too far when she "reformed" the trust into a secular entity. "We don’t think the court had the power to do it," Parker said. Those opposing the church — including the Utah and Arizona attorneys general and court-appointed accountant Bruce Wisan, who manages the trust — said it’s too late for church members to ask for such reversals. Under the law, the ruling should have been challenged within 30 days, said Arizona Assistant Attorney General Bill Richards. "The answer lies inside the religious box. ... It was a test of faith," said Parker, trying to explain during oral arguments why the FLDS failed to challenge the changes until 2008. The law, Richards argued, provides no exceptions "for a rigorous test of faith." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Blackmore not granted leave to intervene in polygamy trial | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Religious leader refused to agree to ground rules; appeal to be heard March 26. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Staff The Globe and Mail - Toronto, Ontario Originally published Thursday, Feb. 18, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Vancouver — The central figure in a high-profile polygamy case has yet to find out whether he will be given leave to intervene in a constitutional reference to B.C. Supreme Court on whether the crime of polygamy is in conflict with Charter protections for freedom of religion. Winston Blackmore's application was discussed at a case-management conference Monday after the religious leader, who once had 25 wives, refused to agree to the ground rules for participating in the much anticipated court case. Mr. Blackmore has requested "full party" status, rather than the "interested parties" status awarded to the applicants by the court. He also asked for his costs to be funded, something not offered under the ground rules. A hearing to participate has now been set for Mr. Blackmore on March 26, at no cost to him, for a ruling on his requests. Mr. Blackmore has indicated he would introduce extensive evidence of persecution and discrimination against Mormons. Also, he wanted "full right" to challenge evidence and cross-examine witnesses that portray him and his congregation in a negative light. The provincial government sought a ruling on the constitutionality of the law after charges of polygamy were quashed on procedural grounds against Mr. Blackmore and James Oler, another religious polygamist group leader in southeastern B.C. The two men were members of a polygamist colony of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Counsel have been asked by the Chief Justice to block off Nov. 15, 2010, to the end of January 2010 for the trial. See photo | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Utah polygamist's family of 200+ lets world in | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By RITA DELFINER New York Post Originally published February 18, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| They must have needed a really wide-angle lens to snap this family portrait. Smack at the heart of the group shot -- which shows five smiling women wearing floor-length prairie dresses seated in front -- is cowboy-hat-wearing Utah patriarch Joe Jessop, 88, who has had 46 children with five wives. He also has had 239 grandchildren. "I've had a blessed life," the polygamist said. "I wouldn't trade places with anyone," he told the National Geographic in an article for this month's issue. Jessop is a proud pillar of the controversial Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) whose prophet Warren Jeffs was convicted for officiating at the "marriage" of a 14-year-old girl. But Jessop, who lives in Hildale, Utah, among its walled compounds and farm fields, sounds like he is on a blessed mission that began when he came to the area as a young lad. He refers to the settlements together as Short Creek. "When I first came to Short Creek as a boy, there were just seven homes down there," he told the magazine as he stood on a bluff behind his home. "It was like the frontier." "My family came to Short Creek for the same reason as everyone else," he said. "To obey the law of plural marriage, to build up the kingdom of God. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Polyamorists, Catholics, teachers' union target polygamy law | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| B.C. attorney general to clear up Criminal Code definition | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Janaya Fuller-Evans, Special to Vancouver Courier Vancouver Courier Originally published Friday, February 19, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Vancouverites who practise "polyamory" are hoping a clarification of Canada's polygamy law will make their lifestyle of more than one conjugal partner legal. Approximately 15 different parties have applied for intervener status in a case launched by British Columbia's attorney general, Michael de Jong, to clear up the Criminal Code of Canada's definition of polygamy. William Blackmore and James Oler, who each run one of two branches of the polygamous sect, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, in Bountiful, have also applied to be interveners. The church has also submitted an application. "Other than the men from Bountiful, I'm the only one representing people directly affected by the law," said John Ince, the Vancouver lawyer representing the Canadian Polyamory Advocacy Association. The law prohibits polygamy or "any kind of conjugal union with more than one person at the same time, whether or not it is by law recognized as a binding form of marriage," according to section 293 of the Criminal Code. Ince, who has been a polyamorist for 30 years, wants the law to be overturned or altered so that polyamory is no longer included in the definition. The law against polyamory is not legally enforced, Ince said. "But it is completely unacceptable that a law remains on the books that says that." Polyamory is very different from polygamy, he added. "At its core is the concept of equality," Ince said, pointing out that polyamorists accept same-sex partnerships. The law is detrimental to polyamorist people, according to Danielle Duplassie, a registered clinical counsellor, clinical sexologist and sex therapist in Burnaby. "They are small fish in a big sea of monogamy," Duplassie said, adding that the lack of access to places where "triads or quads" can go together on dates can be difficult. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Court To Decide Fate Of FLDS Trust | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By EU News Network (EUNewsNet.com and OfficialWire) Originally published February 19, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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OfficialWire
SALT LAKE CITY, UT The Utah Supreme Court must decide whether a judge had the authority to sever a trust's ties with a polygamous religious group. Lawyers for the Fundamentalist Church of Latter-Day Saints argued Wednesday that Judge Denise Lindberg acted unconstitutionally when she rewrote the charter of the United Effort Plan, The Salt Lake Tribune reported. The UEP owns property in the FLDS enclaves of Colorado City, Utah; Hildale, Ariz., and Bountiful, B.C. The major issue before the court is whether the FLDS waited too long to challenge Lindberg's 2006 actions. Rod Parker, the lawyer representing the group, argued constitutional arguments can be raised at any time. The state attorney general launched a takeover of the UEP in 2005 after former members of the FLDS sued it. Parker argued the result has been a "train wreck," with Bruce Wisan, the Salt Lake City accountant appointed as trustee, running up millions of dollars in debt, much of it in fees to himself. Contact European News Network EU News Network wire@eunewsnet.com Tel: +44 (0) 758-845-6978 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bus needed to transport county inmates | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By JIM SECKLER Mohave Daily News Originally published Friday, February 19, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| KINGMAN — Inmates going to court may have to be bused from the new Mohave County Jail once it is completed this summer. The county is going out for bids for a passenger bus to hold at least 30 inmates. The bus will be used to take jail inmates the mile-long drive from the new jail to Superior Court in Kingman. Currently, the jail is across the street from the courthouse and guards walk inmates the hundred yards to court. Only high-profile inmates such as Warren Jeffs are driven in a sheriff’s office vehicle to the courthouse’s back entrance. The bus is expected to average about 30 to 35 inmates a day, taking about four trips each day to the courthouse. The cost of gas will depend on the type of bus purchased. The county could buy a diesel-powered bus, Mohave County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Trish Carter said. Superior Court Judge Steven Conn sees most of his criminal cases, about 40 or 50 defendants, on Mondays. Judge Rick Williams has most of his criminal cases on Fridays. Judge Lee Jantzen, who now handles mostly civil cases, has a few remaining criminal cases. Court Commissioner Derek Carlisle handles about 20 percent of the criminal cases, usually on Thursdays and Fridays. Judge Richard Weiss also handles a handful of criminal cases. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The perils of polygamy | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By TOM GELSTHORPE Cape Cod Times - Hyannis, MA Originally published February 19, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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"Whenever you find a man Who loves every woman he sees, There's always some kind of woman Who's a-puttin' him up a tree. Now that kind of man, he ain't got As much sense as a mule; You know everyone don't love you, They're just a-playin' you for a fool." — Ry Cooder The drive to couple is so strong and the need for lasting love so great, why do people have so much trouble staying coupled? It's so difficult to get along with anybody, why do some people try to juggle more than one partner at a time? Are they gluttons for punishment? National Geographic magazine started mainstreaming unusual anthropological phenomena into middle-class America a century ago. The February issue is running a cover story, "Polygamy in America." These aren't de facto cases like actor Anthony Quinn (12 children by four women), musician Ray Charles (12 children by nine women) or aviator Charles Lindbergh (six by his wife, five by two mistresses). There's nary a rock star, real estate mogul or sex-addicted athlete in the article. There are no kinky Hollywood compounds or teeming tenements. The story focuses on members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) ranching vast landscapes in Utah after they spun off from the traditional Church of Latter Day Saints (Mormons) when it banned polygamy decades ago. Prominent in the title page photo is a proud patriarch wearing a dark suit and tie with a matinee hero's white cowboy hat. Nearby smile four of his five wives and dozens of his 46 children and 239 grandchildren. What springs first to the mind of the uninitiated are the carnal possibilities of the polygamous lifestyle. The National Geographic deftly addresses this with a photograph of five young women frolicking in a river, wearing throat to ankle prairie dresses and Gibson girl hairdos — the FLDS version of a wet T-shirt contest. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The lessons of Haiti | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Health Edmonton Journal Originally published February 19, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Re: "Smaller families, less poverty" by P.J. Cotterill, Letters, Feb. 12.
In a short but impressive letter, P.J. Cotterill makes a strong case for smaller families. But her call to the Catholic Church to "play a lead role in effecting the cultural change that smaller families would require" will likely fall on deaf ears. Despite the burgeoning human population and the warnings of catastrophes by experts, the church refuses to discourage contraception. Result: In most Catholic countries, the rich (who quietly practise contraception) have most of the wealth, and the poor breed unchecked. Unchecked breeding is also practised by at least two important groups, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (FLDS), and by Islam. An FLDS elder, 88-year-old Joe Jessop of Hildale, Utah, has five wives, 46 children, and 239 grandchildren. Islam allows a man to have as many as four wives at once. While the edict may have been necessary years ago when Prophet Muhammad considered a quick increase in the number of his followers necessary, it is inappropriate today when one out of every six people is Muslim. In most Muslim countries, the educated usually practise monogamy, and have fewer children than the uneducated, who are mostly poor. The world should adopt Cotterill's words as its slogan for this century: "Smaller families, less poverty!" Lochan Bakshi, Edmonton | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| GETTING RESULTS: Host families for the lost children of polygamy | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Reported by: Brent Hunsaker ABC4 News Originally broadcast February 22, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) - Following an ABC 4 story on the plight of children exiled from polygamy, viewers responded by volunteering to be host families. "I had a great response," said Shannon Price, director of the Diversity Foundation. "I started getting phone calls immediately after the story. They didn't even wait for the weather report." "I probably have a list of 15 potential families that want to host a child," Price said. It's a good thing. Before the story aired, she had no available host families. That does not mean children will be placed with all 15 families immediately. These families essentially are put on call. There is rarely any advance notice that a child is being exiled. Price said, "It's nothing that they do rashly. You know, they consider that they're leaving their mom and dad and the impact that it's going to have on their family. But when they come out it's pretty quick. I have no idea when that's going to happen or ultimately if it is going to happen until all of a sudden one day I get a phone call." With 15 volunteer families on the list, at least now Shannon Price will have some options. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Utah guide offers tour of polygamous community | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Aaron Vaughn, Web Content Producer FOX 13 News KSTU-TV Originally broadcast February 22, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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HILLDALE - About 6,000 members of the FLDS Church call the border towns of Hilldale, Utah and Colorado City, Arizona their home. And it may seem like an unusual vacation destination, but tour guide, Heber Holm, says it is worth the trip for $70 tour session. As a tour guide, Holm's clients come from all over the world wanting to get a glimpse of the polygamy community with Holm's insider information about their lifestyle. But not everyone supports his method of making money. However, Holm says he wants to dispell the sesationalism around the polygamous religious sect. Holm tells his clients if their car breaks down, they will get a helping hand, not an extra wife. "They're not evil-lurking and sinister people, but they do have a lifestyle and they want to choose what they do," Holm says. A unanimous woman who is a polygamous practicing FLDS member tells FOX 13 that she is aware of the tour group. "We want to be kind, but lots of times it's not their business either," she says. FLDS spokesman, Willie Jessop, takes the sentiment even further and believes that the tourists get a tainted point of view. After hearing that the Holm says he owns an underground garage filled with luxury cars, Jessop replies: "Well, I'm dying for him to fill in those luxury cars. I didn't know I had an underground garage, but it goes right to the heart of the issue." Jessop says Heber lacks credibility and compares the tour to hearing one side of a divorce and attributes Heber's leaving the FLDS church when he was just 16-years-old.
FOX 13's Katy Carlyle has more. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Woman sues FLDS leader | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Matthew Waller San Angelo Standard-Times Originally published February 22, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SAN ANGELO, Texas — A member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Frederick Merril Jessop, owes about $170,000 in child support to a woman with whom he had eight children before she left the FLDS, the woman’s attorney said. Natalie Malonis, representing Carolyn Jessop, said the decision for child support was reached in September, although the order had not been put in writing. A hearing was held Thursday so that 51st District Judge Barbara Walther could sign the order and enforce the child support payments rather than wait for the signatures of the FLDS member’s attorneys. "We made an oral agreement," Malonis said about the September hearing. "The next step was a written order." Malonis said that she wrote up the oral agreement in December but that she could not get the signature of the attorney for Frederick Merril Jessop. "It’s important because without that written order, we can’t enforce the child support," Malonis said. Frederick Merril Jessop, who lives at the FLDS Yearning for Zion Ranch in Schleicher County, has been indicted on a third-degree felony for allegedly performing a marriage ceremony of a minor whose marriage the law prohibits. He is scheduled for trial Oct. 11. Frederick Merril Jessop’s attorney, Amy Hennington, could not be reached for comment. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| County looks for builder for new Moccasin Justice Court | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By JIM SECKLER Mohave Daily News Originally published Tuesday, February 23, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| KINGMAN — Mohave County is going out for bids to build a new Moccasin Justice Court in Colorado City. The county is looking for a design-build firm to build a 3,500-square foot, one-story metal building to use as a county courthouse on land just southeast of Colorado City just off Highway 389. The design and construction project would cost about $600,000. The courtroom would consist of a jury box, judge’s bench, clerk’s station, tables for attorneys and public seating. The building would also include the judge’s chambers, space for at least six staff members, a jury deliberation room, a holding cell, a lobby big enough for a walk-thru metal detector, restrooms, a conference for attorneys and their clients and paved parking. Interested construction firms have until March 18 to submit bids to the county’s procurement department. The firm would have six months to complete the building after the county’s approval. The county supervisors chose to put the new justice court in the Colorado City area based on the area having a larger population now rather than the Scenic/Littlefield area, which has projections for future growth. A $100 million sports complex is planned for Mesquite in Nevada. However, Moccasin Justice Court Judge Mitchell Kalauli warned that current court staff may quit instead of having to drive to the Scenic area. The board previously decided to relocate a modular building for the sheriff’s office and the county attorney’s office in Colorado City. The lease for the justice court | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Photographer Had Rare Access to Fundamentalist Mormons | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Religion News Service Beliefnet - Fox Entertainment Group Originally published Thursday February 25, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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(RNS) This month's National Geographic magazine cover story "The Polygamists" offers a rare look inside the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, a polygamous off-shoot of the mainstream Mormon Church. The story wouldn't have been the same without the access that photographer Stephanie Sinclair was granted after federal raids on an FLDS compound in Texas in 2008. Sinclair talked about how she got involved with the project, the photography that stands out to her and gaining FLDS members' trust. Answers have been edited for length and clarity.
Q: What brought you to the project? A: I was working on an assignment for The New York Times Magazine, and I went to Texas when the raid happened (in April 2008). I went out to check out the situation in Texas and learn about the community. Q: How did it transition to National Geographic? A: I contacted National Geographic after the piece ran in The New York Times Magazine because I felt I had just scratched the surface on learning about the community, and really just felt like there was a lot more that we could learn. Q: What inspired you along the way? A: Lots of different things. I was kind of enthralled by the different things at stake in what is considered a legitimate religion -- was polygamy a freedom of religion thing, (and) where is government's role in that? I thought it would be interesting to take a deeper look at their lives and see what life was like for a family that practiced plural marriage. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Goddard investigating Colorado City | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Yellow Sheet Report Arizona Capitol Times Originally published February 26, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Attorney General Terry Goddard has filed a sweeping records request with Colorado City, and the manager of the town best known for its polygamous residents is accusing the AG of going on a politically inspired witch hunt. The request was filed in January and asks for communications of Colorado City and Hildale, Utah, officials and law enforcement regarding United Effort Plan trust lands, and a smorgasbord of records on incidents of vandalism, trespassing, and other affronts involving prominent families in the town. Goddard’s office is keeping mum on the purpose of the request, other than its relation to an ongoing court dispute in Utah over management of UEP land in Hildale and Colorado City. But, his partner in fighting polygamy, Utah AG Mark Shurtleff, has made no secret of his threat to disincorporate Hildale if the lingering fight isn’t settled. Terrill Johnson, mayor of Colorado City, wrote the League of Arizona Cities and Towns this month claiming Goddard has "threatened to disincorporate the town or remove the local government from the control of the people." The AG’s Office would not comment on the allegation.
To read more on this item plus all the stories in the Feb. 25 Yellow Sheet Report, go to www.yellowsheetreport.com (Yellow Sheet Subscription Required). | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FLDS: Lawyers spar in hearing | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Defendant is 4th from sect to face trial | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Matthew Waller San Angelo Standard-Times Originally published February 26, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SAN ANGELO, Texas — The trial of another man from the Yearning for Zion Ranch is scheduled for March 8 in San Angelo. A pretrial hearing was held Thursday in the case of Merril Leroy Jessop, 35, a member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints accused of first-degree felony of sexual assault of a child. Fifty-first District Court Judge Barbara Walther said 250 jury summons forms have been sent out. The prosecution spearheaded by Eric Nichols argued for a motion that would prevent the defense from doing certain things without approaching the bench. One of the items regarded not allowing the defense to bring up media reports. "This prevents lawyers from pulling up a newspaper article, magazine article or blog post," Nichols said. Dan Hurley, Jessop’s lead defense attorney, said he might refer to articles in passing about such issues as exoneration, but he wouldn’t use articles about Jessop’s trial. Another issue in the state’s motion was intended to prevent the defense from requesting to look at evidence as if the defense hadn’t had access to the evidence. "We may ask for something to be put back on the screen," Hurley said about projected images of evidence. Walther slightly chastised the lawyers for being nit-picky in their objections to each other’s arguments. "It’s not like it’s a prohibition, guys," she said about the items in the motion. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Friday News Update | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4th FLDS Member Set For Trial | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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KLST San Angelo Originally broadcast Friday, February 26 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The fourth member of the Fundamentalist Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints charged with child sexual assault in relation to underage marriage is set to go to trial next month in San Angelo. At the Tom Green County Courthouse yesterday -- district Judge Barbara Walther presided over a pre-trial hearing for Leroy Jessop. Yesterday Jessop plead "not guilty" to the charge of having sex with a girl under the age of 17 at the YFZ Ranch in Schleicher county. Jessop's trial is set to begin March 8th. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Vent | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Spectrum Originally published February 27, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| It's fine if "conventional" marriage works for you. But when you disparage and deny other forms of marriage as "deviant," non-traditional, invalid or illegal, you go too far. Throughout world history there's been a wide variety of marriage types. For years, local religionists were quick with historic precedents for polygamy and their right to live it. Now they, and other like-minded zealots, condemn any form of alternative marriages! Go figure! | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FLDS land deadline comes and goes, both sides still talking | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Ben Winslow Fox 13 News KSTU-TV Originally broadcast February 28, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SALT LAKE CITY - A deadline to settle the years-long battle over land in the polygamous border towns of Hildale and Colorado City -- has come and gone. Now both sides are gearing up for a legal war, but say there's still hope to end the land feud. In a letter first reported by Fox 13 earlier this month, Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff issued an ultimatum to the FLDS Church: settle the ongoing feud over the United Effort Plan Trust in 30 days or prepare for massive amounts of litigation. He even threatened to disincorporate the southern Utah town of Hildale. The deadline was Friday, but Shurtleff tells Fox 13 he is still encouraging all sides to keep talking in hopes of reaching a settlement. "We litigate. We investigate. At the same time, I'm saying, 'talk to us,'" he said in an interview. Lawyers representing the FLDS Church say they are still hopeful that a settlement can be reached. "We're still talking," said Rod Parker, an attorney for the church. "I don't think anybody wants to see this thing blow up. I think everybody would like to find some way to settle it, but it's not easy." The UEP Trust is based on the early-Mormon concept of a "united order," where homes and property were put into a common pot. A judge in Salt Lake City's 3rd District Court took it over in 2005 over allegations that Warren Jeffs and other FLDS leaders mismanaged it. The FLDS have recently gone to the court, arguing that the takeover violates their right to consecrate their property to their faith. The reformed trust calls for the communal land to be subdivided, with members getting deeds to their homes. But a sticking point appears to be the deeds -- and FLDS faithful's reluctance to take a deed. "Because they've consecrated it to the Lord, and therefore they can't take it back," Parker told Fox 13. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4th FLDS Member To Face Trial | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Jay Hendricks CBS 7 KOSA Originally broadcast February 28, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (San Angelo)- A 4th member of the FLDS Polygamous Sect is going on trial charged with sexual assault of a child. Merril Leroy Jessop is scheduled to go on trial on march 8th in San Angelo. He is a member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saines who lived at the YFZ Ranch in Eldorado. Jessop is the 4th member from the Ranch to be prosecuted as a result of the April 2008 raid of the Ranch. Two others were convicted and one pleaded no-contest. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UPDATE: Medina questions need for state CPS | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Robert T. Garrett/Reporter TRAIL BLAZERS Politics Blog The Dallas Morning News Originally published Mon, Mar 01, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wharton political activist Debra Medina has questioned whether Texas needs a state child welfare agency. Medina, a Republican candidate for governor, suggested over the weekend that the state perhaps hand off child-protection duties to local law enforcement agencies closer to the people. That would mean abolishing Child Protective Services, which after suffering some budget cuts in the mid-1990s has grown rapidly under Gov. Rick Perry, in response to criticisms it was failing the state's most vulnerable youngsters and needed more caseworkers and support staff. "Why is CPS a state agency? Could that be handled by the police department or sheriff's office?" Medina (above right/AP photo) said during a campaign stop in Wichita Falls on Saturday, according to a story in the Wichita Falls Times-Record News. Medina said child abuse is a criminal offense and those agencies know the community and the law. "It's a discussion that can be had," she said. UPDATE: Medina spokeswoman clarifies candidate's position. See the jump. State law requires joint investigations by CPS and local law enforcement when a child may be at "immediate risk of physical or sexual abuse" that "could result in the death of or serious harm to the child." But CPS on its own handles the more frequent cases of low-grade, if chronic, neglect or abuse -- physical or emotional -- of youngsters. Last year, CPS' 8,600 employees looked into 253,000 tips to its child-abuse hotline. Of them, 63 percent were "priority 2," meaning not of the most criticially urgent type. CPS has 72 hours to respond to them. Does Medina really want police officers and sheriff's deputies to have to handle all of the 159,000 cases a year that fall into that "priority 2" category? Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Census Question Assistance Centers open today | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Daily News staff Mohave Daily News Originally published Monday, March 1, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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BULLHEAD CITY — Eleven sites will serve as official Question Assistance Centers for the Census 2010 in Mohave County, including three in Bullhead City. Question Assistance Centers are designed to help respondents by providing answers to questions about the Census 2010 and to assist with completing the Census forms. Question Assistance Centers are scheduled to be staffed starting today through April 18 as the nation completes the federally mandated decennial Census used to not only total the country’s population but determine any changes in Congressional representation and redistricting. Census figures also are used to help determine funding for many federal, state and local programs. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Census Question Assistance Centers in Bullhead City include:
-Mohave Community College, 3400 Highway 95. Monday through Thursday, 1 to 4 p.m. -Riviera Recreation Center, 2047 Commercial Way. Monday through Friday, 2 to 5 p.m. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| New Research Reveals Secrets About Psychology of Polygamous Sects and Their Leaders | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Top Forensic Psychiatrist Inspired by Study of Elizabeth Smart's Accused Kidnappers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Nightline ABC News Originally broadcast March 1, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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A judge ruled today that Brian David Mitchell, the man accused of kidnapping Elizabeth Smart, forcing her to be one of his multiple wives, and holding her between 2002 and 2003, is competent to stand trial. Mitchell, 56, was declared psychotic and incompetent in Utah State Court in 2005, but Federal prosecutors, who indicted Mitchell in 2008, asked a U.S. District Court to conduct another competency trial. Prosecutors asked forensic psychiatrist Dr. Michael Welner, an associate professor of psychiatry at NYU School of Medicine and the chairman of The Forensic Panel, to examine Mitchell, a street preacher who has claimed to be a Mormon prophet. To better understand the tenets of fundamentalist Mormon doctrines and practices and determine the differences between religion and psychosis, Welner analyzed the case histories of more than 60 leaders of American fundamentalist sects. He identified a number of psychiatric and justice issues distinct to polygamous and rejectionist sect leaders and followers and presented this research for the first time at the American Academy of Forensic Sciences annual meeting in Seattle last week. Welner, who is also a consultant to ABC News, shared his findings in a glimpse of the context he had to consider in evaluating Brian David Mitchell:
Q: What has surprised you the most about what you've learned about the polygamous sects? A: The sexuality issues are not to be generalized. There are sects in which one finds absolute perversion on the order of the depravity scale, and there are others in which polygamy serves the sect in ways that have nothing to do with the gratification of the leader. This study has taught me that their enforced solitude and separation from the mainstream does often conceal crime that is more devastating to human rights than anything we cover in our most sensational news. But to simply dismiss polygamists as a bunch of degenerates is a simplified broad brush. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sheriff probes false testimony claim in FLDS Warren Jeffs case | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Jennifer Dobner Associated Press Deseret News Originally published Tuesday, March 2, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ST. GEORGE — Court papers filed in an Arizona criminal case say a Utah sheriff's office is investigating allegations that false testimony was provided during the 2007 criminal trial of polygamous church leader Warren Jeffs. The investigation began last month after Washington County Attorney Brock Belnap was told that Elissa Wall may have "lied" about her medical records, according to court records. Wall's 2001 spiritual marriage — when she was 14 — to her 19-year-old cousin was the basis for the case. It is also the basis for one of two pending cases filed against Jeffs in Arizona. Jeffs, the 53-year-old prophet of the Fundamentalist LDS Church, was convicted on two counts of rape as an accomplice. He is serving two prison terms of five years to life. In Mohave County Superior Court papers filed last week, Jeffs' Arizona defense attorney Michael Piccarreta asked a judge to order Wall's current husband, Lamont Barlow, deposed. Piccarreta argues that Barlow told someone else about "false testimony given by his wife" and that information was given to Belnap. Wall's name is redacted from court papers and in a Washington County sheriff's office investigation report also filed with the court. However, there are several references to Barlow as "husband" and to "his wife" in the documents. Wall has spoken publicly about her experiences and recounted them in a book, "Stolen Innocence." According to court papers, Belnap was made aware of a possible problem with Wall's testimony by Shannon Price, executive director of the Diversity Foundation, a Utah nonprofit founded by former FLDS members. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Allegations of False Testimony in 2007 Trial of Polygamous Sect Leader Surface | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Were medical records created "all in a day?" | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Associated Press KCSG TV Originally published March 2, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (St. George, UT) - The Washington County Sheriff's Office is investigating an allegation of dishonest testimony about medical records of the state's key witness during the 2007 criminal trial of FLDS polygamous sect prophet Warren S. Jeffs, according to the Salt Lake Tribune. According to a sheriff's report, the investigation began in January after Washington County Attorney Brock Belnap was informed that a witness "had lied" about medical records presented during Jeffs' accomplice to rape trial. The case was based on a 2001 spiritual marriage Jeffs performed between Elissa Wall, then 14, and Allen G. Steed, then 19. Wall testified during the trial she objected to the arranged marriage but Jeffs, then a counselor in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, ignored her pleas. Jeffs was convicted in September 2007 and is currently serving two five-to-life sentences in Utah. He is also awaiting trial in Arizona on charges related to two underage marriages -- one based on Wall's case -- he performed. Steed was charged with rape shortly after testifying as a defense witness during Jeffs' trial but his case is on hold while a judge mulls whether the charge was brought too late. The claim that Wall's medical records were falsified was disclosed last week in a flurry of defense filings in Jeffs' Arizona case. During Jeffs' 2007 trial, Wall testified she had several failed pregnancies while married to Steed. Jane Blackmore, an ex-wife of polygamist Winston Blackmore and midwife in Bountiful, British Columbia, testified about treating Wall for a miscarriage in 2002; a medical record was submitted as part of Blackmore's testimony. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Trial date for Jeffs could be set soon | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By JIM SECKLER Mohave Daily News Originally published Tuesday, March 2, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| KINGMAN — A trial date may finally be set soon in the two-year-old case against Warren Jeffs, the jailed former leader of a polygamist church in Colorado City, Ariz. Jeffs’ attorneys, Michael Piccarreta of Tucson and Richard Wright of Las Vegas, have asked Superior Court Judge Steven Conn to set a date toward the end of March for an omnibus hearing, which usually sets trial dates. Conn scheduled that hearing for March 26. Jeffs, 54, is charged with four counts of sexual conduct with a minor in two 2007 cases. He is charged with being an accomplice of two men who had sex with two underage girls, which allegedly took place in 2002 and 2003 in the polygamist communities of Colorado City and Hildale, Utah. Jeffs, the former leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has been sitting in a Mohave County jail since February 2008 awaiting a resolution to his Arizona charges while his attorneys filed numerous motions. The latest motion is a request to officially interview Lamont Barlow, the current husband of one of the two victims in the Arizona case. Piccarreta argues that Barlow allegedly told another woman that his wife gave false testimony dealing with falsified medical records against Jeffs in his Utah case. She was also the victim in the Utah case. Jeffs is currently serving a 10-year prison sentence after being convicted in Utah in 2007 of two counts of rape as an accomplice. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Abbott assails government's reach | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Trish Choate Times Record News - Wichita Falls, Texas Originally published March 2, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| WASHINGTON — On the eve of Texas primaries, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott was in Washington firing away at the federal government over issues close to many conservative Texans’ hearts: states’ rights, individual liberties, gun rights and perceived federal government power grabs in health care and environmental regulation. Abbott, a native Wichitan, invoked the names of former President Ronald Reagan and Thomas Jefferson during an outline of his conservative agenda Monday, speaking to a packed room at the Heritage Foundation, a Washington bastion of conservatism. "We, the people, are tired of federal government intruding too deeply into our lives, trampling the liberties that have been guaranteed to us by the United States Constitution," said Abbott, who is unopposed in the Republican primary but possibly harbors aspirations for higher office. While in town, he also discussed Texas government actions against polygamist sect members at the Yearning for Zion Ranch near Eldorado. But first, he took aim at an "individual mandate" in a health-care reform bill being floated in Congress. "This mandate is unprecedented in American history," Abbott told an audience of like-minded folks such as a representative from the Institute for Limited Government. The proposal calls for Americans to have or to buy health-care coverage. Otherwise, they might face tax penalties. The proposal oversteps constitutional limits on the federal government, Abbott said. Congress is on notice that legal challenges are in the offing if the individual mandate isn’t dropped. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Claims of False Testimony a Misunderstanding | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lamont Barlow says an investigation into false testimony in FLDS leader Warren S. Jeffs' trial is based on a simple misunderstanding. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Associated Press KCSG TV Originally published March 3, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (St. George, UT) - Lamont Barlow says an investigation into false testimony in polygamous sect prophet Warren S. Jeffs' trial for rape as an accomplice is based on a simple misunderstanding, according to the Salt Lake Tribune. In newly filed court documents, Barlow said he described comments made by defense attorney Wally Bugden -- not his wife Elissa Wall -- as "lies." Barlow made the comments to Shannon Price, director of The Diversity Foundation, a nonprofit that assists teens who've left the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints sect. Barlow said Price misspoke when she shared their conversation with Washington County Attorney Brock Belnap in January. Belnap, in turn, requested that the Washington County Sheriff's Office investigate the false testimony allegation. Price told a sheriff's deputy that Barlow had told her a witness "had lied during her testimony at the Warren Jeffs trial" and that medical records had "all been created in one day, to make it look like [Wall] had seen a caretaker on several different occasions," according to the sheriff's investigative report. Jeffs was convicted in 2007 of rape as an accomplice based on the 2001 spiritual marriage he performed between Wall, then 14, and Allen G. Steed, then 19. Wall testified during the trial she objected to the marriage but Jeffs ignored her pleas. Wall also testified that she experienced several miscarriages during her marriage to Steed, but did not discuss her medical records. A midwife who treated Wall in Canada also testified during the trial and provided a clinical report of those visits as a trial exhibit. In a Feb. 25 affidavit, Barlow said in his conversation with Price he was referring to when Bugden misread portions in a "life style and social history" section of a medical report during his closing arguments. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Judge sets hearing on motion in Warren Jeffs case | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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KTVK 3TV - Phoenix Originally published March 4, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| KINGMAN, Ariz. (AP) — An Arizona judge says he's inclined to order the husband of a woman who testified in the 2007 Utah trial of polygamist leader Warren Jeffs to submit to a deposition if he refuses an interview. Jeffs' Arizona defense attorney, Michael Piccarreta, has asked that Lamont Barlow be deposed, saying Barlow told someone else about "false testimony given by his wife," Elissa Wall. Wall's 2001 spiritual marriage to her 19-year-old cousin was the basis for the Utah case in which Jeffs, the 53-year-old prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, was convicted of two counts of rape as an accomplice. It also is the basis for one of two pending cases filed against Jeffs in Arizona. Mohave County Superior Court Judge Steven Conn has set a Friday hearing on Piccarreta's request. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bountiful back-and-forth continues | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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CKNW Local News VICTORIA/CKNW(AM980) Originally broadcast March 4, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lawyers for the Province have responded to a January lawsuit filed by Bountiful commune leader Winston Blackmore. Blackmore claims his Charter rights were violated because former Attorney-General Wally Oppal went through two Special Prosecutors before polygamy charges were advanced against him. A Supreme Court Judge threw out those charges last year. In a Statement of Defence, lawyers for the Province say even if some of Blackmore's rights were violated during the prosecution, it's because he has publicly confessed to practicing polygamy. They add, Blackmore's admitted criminal conduct bars him from recovering any damages. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Doctor who evaluated Brian David Mitchell looks into psychology of fundamentalists | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Ben Winslow Fox 13 News KSTU-TV Originally broadcast March 5, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SALT LAKE CITY - A forensic psychiatrist who helped make the federal government's case that Brian David Mitchell is mentally competent to face trial in the kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart has recently completed a study examining the psychology of fundamentalists. Dr. Michael Welner, an associate professor of psychiatry at the NYU School of Medicine and the chairman of The Forensic Panel, recently presented his findings at a meeting of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences. Welner could not get into specifics about Mitchell because of the ongoing criminal proceedings. Mitchell is accused of abducting Elizabeth Smart from her bedroom back in 2002. She was found nine months later walking down a Sandy street in the company of the homeless street preacher and his wife, Wanda Barzee. "I think Brian David Mitchell is a complicated person," Welner said in an interview Friday with Fox 13. To understand Mitchell's motives, Dr. Welner also looked at other polygamous groups and their leadership dynamics. He said he reached a number of fascinating conclusions. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FLDS: Sex assault trial set Monday | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sect member first to be tried in San Angelo | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Matthew Waller San Angelo Standard-Times Originally published March 5, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SAN ANGELO, Texas — The trial of a member of the polygamist sect Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints begins Monday as Merril Leroy Jessop, 35, faces charges of sexual assault of a child, a first-degree felony. Jessop’s trial will be the first of several criminal trials of sect members to take place in San Angelo. The prosecution will be headed by Eric Nichols of the Texas Attorney General’s Office. He has been the lead prosecutor for the past three FLDS prosecutions. Lubbock attorney Daniel Hurley will take up Jessop’s defense. Fifty-first District Court Judge Barbara Walther will preside over the trial as she has the previous three cases. Jessop is the fourth of 10 men from the Yearning for Zion Ranch in Schleicher County who have been indicted to stand trial. The remaining six have trials scheduled through December. The charge against Jessop is a first-degree felony and punishable by five to 99 years in prison and a fine up to $10,000. Jessop also has an indictment against him for bigamy listed, which the indictment lists as being a first-degree felony. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Utah Attorney General investigating water company | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Ben Winslow Fox 13 News KSTU-TV Originally broadcast March 7, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| HILDALE - The Utah Attorney General's Office confirms it has opened an investigation into allegations of misuse of funds surrounding a company that owns the water rights in the polygamous border towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz. "It appears that there's been a gross misappropriation of funds," said Bruce Wisan, the court-appointed accountant overseeing the United Effort Plan (UEP) Trust, which controls homes and property in the communities. Most of the land in Hildale and Colorado City is under court control. The UEP Trust was taken over by a judge in 2005 over allegations that Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints leader Warren Jeffs and others mismanaged it. Wisan, who was appointed by the courts to manage the trust, said he has been looking into a company called Twin City Water Works to recover assets. Wisan subpoenaed bank records and check stubs to determine where money was going. Twin City Water Works is registered as a non-profit in Arizona, but controls the water rights in the communities. Wisan alleges that he found checks made out to the FLDS Church's Bishop's Storehouse and other things that he claims have nothing to do with the water company. "(The) purchase of vehicles, cabinets, for example, $53,000 in cabinets," Wisan told Fox 13. "Twin City Water Works has no official office, it's just being run out of a home." Wisan bolstered his claims by citing in a recent court filing a letter that was seized in the 2008 raid on the FLDS Church's Yearning for Zion Ranch in Eldorado, Texas. The letter was written in 2006 to FLDS leader Warren Jeffs from a trustee of the water company, Joseph Allred. The letter, which was redacted heavily in the court filing, claims that a family's living expenses had been paid by the company and seeks his advice. "I am seeking counsel on whether or not to continue paying some home bills from the company funds," the letter said. "If I were to characterize it, I would say that FLDS leadership has been using Twin City Water Works as a slush fund," Wisan said Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Polygamist group member to face trial on sex assault | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Spectrum Originally published March 8, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SAN ANGELO, Texas (AP) — A member of a polygamist group was expected to go on trial today in West Texas on a charge of sexual assault of an alleged underage bride. Merrill Leroy Jessop is the fourth member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to be tried for sexual assault of a child since Texas authorities raided the group's ranch in April 2008. The 35-year-old faces up to life in prison if convicted in the trial scheduled to start in San Angelo. Jessop has also been charged with bigamy but will be tried on that separately. Prosecutors allege that when authorities raided the Yearning For Zion Ranch, Jessop attempted to delete photos and other documents connecting him to the alleged underage bride in the case. The FLDS Church has a large presence in the towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| LIVE UPDATE 2: Jury selection continues for Jessop trial | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Matthew Waller San Angelo Standard-Times Originally published March 8, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SAN ANGELO, Texas — More than a dozen people were excused from jury duty for the trial of Merril Leroy Jessop, 35, a member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day saints who faces charges of sexual assault of a child today. The potential jurors, which still number at least about two hundred, have broken for lunch at about 11:50 a.m. until 1:30. Potential jurors filed out of courtroom A in mass for the break. "They had us in there like sardines," one summoned man said. Dozens had lined up inside the courtroom for more than an hour to give excuses that they hoped might serve as exemptions to get them off jury duty. One priest said he had a funeral to attend to that day, although he said he would not seek an exemption. He said this trial is one he is interested in serving on. Occasionally people waiting outside with the media would open the door slightly to see if the line had gone down. "It’s still there," a potential juror said once. "It grew a little bit." Potential jurors who stood outside conversed about everything from getting a snack, to debating whether punishments they had heard of relating to sexual abuse were too strict or too lenient. Jessop had stood in line outside the Tom Green County courthouse with people who will decide his fate as the jury selection process began today. Wearing a blue jacket, tan pants and boots and an American flag tie, he blended in with the crowd. People around him conversed as with any other person who had been standing in line since at least 8 that morning. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Jury pool winnowed down in Jessop trial | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Matthew Waller San Angelo Standard-Times Originally published March 8, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SAN ANGELO, Texas — Attorneys in the trial of Merril Leroy Jessop, 35, who faces charges of sexual assault of a child, finished general questioning of potential jurors Monday and began the lengthier process of questioning them one by one to seat a jury. Early Monday morning, Jessop, a member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, stood in line outside the Tom Green County courthouse with people who will decide his fate as the jury selection process began. Wearing a blue jacket, tan pants and boots and an American flag tie, he blended in with the crowd, which began assembling at 8 a.m. The last of them squeezed into the courtroom at about 9:45 a.m. "They had us in there like sardines," one said. One court official said the room, filled also with law enforcement personnel and lawyers, was about 30 people over capacity. Members of the media were not allowed in when the jury pool arrived. Others in the crowd included military service personnel, a candidate for the San Angelo City Council and a Tom Green County commissioner. About a dozen people were excused from jury duty before noon. Dozens had lined up inside the courtroom for more than an hour to give reasons they hoped might serve as exemptions. One clergyman said he had a funeral to attend to that day, although he said he would not seek an exemption. He said this trial is one he is interested in serving on. Potential jurors standing outside conversed about everything from getting a snack to debating whether punishments they had heard of relating to sexual abuse were too strict or too lenient. In the afternoon, with the potential jurors inside for the general voir dire, the crowd stayed attentive to the presentation of Dan Hurley, the lead defense attorney. Hurley began his presentation with reasons why innocent people go to jail. He included an image of the signing of the Constitution and ended with questions as to whether prospective jurors knew certain witnesses or had issues with the process. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Judge denies FLDS motion for mistrial | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Matthew Waller San Angelo Standard-Times Originally published March 9, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SAN ANGELO, Texas — One by one, potential jurors filed into Courtroom A of the Tom Green County courthouse this morning to undergo individual questioning from lawyers in the case of Merril Leroy Jessop, 35, a member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on trial for sexual assault of a child. Eric Nichols, lead attorney for the prosecution, asked potential jurors whether they would be able to set aside whatever they have heard about the case and go strictly by what is presented in court. "You need to put in a box, put to one side, anything you have heard about this case," Nicols said. One man said he could not do so. "I really don’t think so because I’ve heard too much," he said. He said he had heard rumors that FLDS members had purchased the Yearning for Zion Ranch outside of Eldorado under the pretense of buying a hunting lodge before they constructed their community on it. He was dismissed without Brandon Hudson, an attorney for Jessop, questioning him. Most of the others interviewed were released after they said they could not consider giving probation if the defendant was found guilty. "I don’t think it’s harsh enough," one potential juror said. At 12:30 p.m., the judge heard a motion for a mistrial filed by FLDS spokesman Willie Jessop, who said he was the sole representative of Merril Leroy Jessop’s family and church, was denied entry to a crowded courtroom Monday. Willie Jessop said he is Merril Leroy Jessop’s cousin and the only family member able to attend the trial. Willie Jessop, in a signed affidavit, said Merril Leroy Jessop asked him to accompany him to the court hearing Monday morning, but he could not get in and sat in the hallway until after a lunch break recess at 1:30 p.m. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| B.C. government says Blackmore brought polygamy prosecution on himself | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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James Keller THE CANADIAN PRESS Times & Transcript - CanadaEast Originally published Tuesday March 9th, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| VANCOUVER, B.C. - A B.C. religious leader who has admitted to having multiple wives brought a highly publicized and ultimately unsuccessful prosecution upon himself by openly practising polygamy, says the provincial government. In a statement of defence filed in a civil lawsuit, the province said Winston Blackmore is to blame for his own legal troubles. "The province says that any damage suffered by the plaintiff was the result of the plaintiff's own criminal conduct, including practising polygamy," says the statement of defence, filed in B.C. Supreme Court on Feb. 16. Blackmore, leader of a polygamous sect in the community of Bountiful, in southeastern B.C., is suing the province over his arrest and prosecution last year on a polygamy charge. He claims the attorney general wrongly ignored multiple legal opinions that advised against laying charges against Blackmore and another community leader in Bountiful, James Oler. The charges were eventually tossed out by the court and Blackmore launched a lawsuit two months ago, claiming he has suffered mental distress and public embarrassment from a prosecution that violated his rights. However, the province says there was no such violation. "In engaging in conduct the plaintiff knew to be contrary to the Criminal Code, the plaintiff assumed the risk of criminal prosecution," says the statement of defence. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Jury almost seated in FLDS member's trial | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mistrial sought after man’s cousin can't enter | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Matthew Waller San Angelo Standard-Times Originally published March 9, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SAN ANGELO, Texas — Lawyers are in the final stages of seating a jury for the trial of Merril Leroy Jessop, 35, a member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints charged with sexual assault of a child. The attorneys have 36 people to choose from to seat 12 jurors and two alternates. One by one, potential jurors filed into Courtroom A of the Tom Green County courthouse this morning to undergo individual questioning from lawyers. Eric Nichols, lead attorney for the prosecution, asked potential jurors whether they would be able to set aside whatever they have heard about the case and go strictly by what is presented in court. "You need to put in a box, put to one side, anything you have heard about this case," Nichols said. One man said he could not do so. "I really don’t think so because I’ve heard too much," he said. He said he had heard rumors that FLDS members had purchased the Yearning for Zion Ranch outside of Eldorado under the pretense of buying a hunting lodge before they constructed their community on it. He was dismissed without being questioned by Brandon Hudson, an attorney for Jessop. Many others interviewed were released after they said they could not consider giving probation if the defendant was found guilty. "I don’t think it’s harsh enough," one potential juror said. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Attorneys make opening arguments in trial of FLDS member Jessop | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Matthew Waller San Angelo Standard-Times Originally published March 10, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SAN ANGELO, Texas — It’s time to hear facts and make decisions. That was the admonition from attorneys who gave opening arguments in the trial of Merril Leroy Jessop, 35, a member of the polygamist sect from the Yearning for Zion Ranch in Schleicher County charged with child sexual assault in connection with allegations that he married an underage girl. "We’re now at the stage of the trial where we’re not talking about theories of cases," said Eric Nichols, the lead prosecuting attorney with the Texas Office of the Attorney General. Nichols, who spoke first, said the indictment provided a basic "road map" of what the evidence that the state brings would show in the case. He also said substantial genetic evidence would prove the assault beyond a reasonable doubt. "You will hear that she was not legally married to the defendant. You’re going to hear about what is described as a so-called spiritual or celestial marriage. You will hear evidence that not only was she placed in a spiritual or celestial marriage, but that she bore him a child," Nichols said. Nichols said the girl in question was 15 at the time of the alleged assault. Dan Hurley, the lead defense attorney for Jessop, motioned to the wooden railing at the front of the jury box. "This rail here separates you from the government," Hurley said. "It’s a shield. The state cannot reach its burden of proof because they might be guilty, because they’re probably guilty — they must be guilty." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FLDS TRIAL: 99 percent chance Jessop fathered child, experts say | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Girl said to be 15 at time of alleged sex assault | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Matthew Waller San Angelo Standard-Times Originally published March 10, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SAN ANGELO, Texas — Two DNA forensic analysts Wednesday told jurors there is a 99 percent chance Merril Leroy Jessop is the father of a child whose mother he allegedly married when she was underage. Jessop, 35, a member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints from the Yearning for Zion Ranch in Schleicher County, is on trial for sexual assault of a child in connection with the alleged marriage. Christina Capt, one of the analysts, put on white rubber gloves, opened a Styrofoam box and lifted out of it an envelope. She showed it to the jury and said it contained a small tube of Jessop’s blood. Capt later showed jurors different points on a chart filled with numbers and the names of the mother and child in question as well as Jessop. "At each marker, we are examining the genetic makeup of that individual," Capt said, and she circled number indicating genetic material that would have come from the father. Amy Smuts, another forensic analyst out of the same University of North Texas office, gave the same information. Before the results, two Texas Rangers testified on the loads of evidence seized at the YFZ Ranch in April 2008. Danny Crawford, one of the Texas Rangers, also gave "a virtual tour," as lead prosecutor Eric Nichols called it, of the ranch by putting up aerial and ground photographs of the grounds as law enforcement personnel found them. The defense emphasized the communal nature of the ranch. "It was village, a community, was it not?" asked Dan Hurley, the lead defense attorney. "Yes, sir," Crawford said, after having described such facilities as the school, dairy and rock quarry. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Shrek to take final bow at Tribeca | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Arts & Entertainment CBC News - Toronto, Ontario Originally published Wednesday, March 10, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Shrek Forever After, the final instalment of the Shrek movie series, will open this year's Tribeca Film Festival in New York. It is the first of the series about the beloved cartoon ogre to be shot in 3D. Directed by Mike Mitchel, Shrek Forever After features the voices of Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz and Antonio Banderas, The Tribeca festival, founded in 2001 by Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal and Craig Hatkoff to help revitalize lower Manhattan in the wake of 9/11, announced 34 titles in its 2010 lineup on Thursday. It will present 85 features from 38 different countries, including 45 world premieres beginning April 21. The festival plans a sneak preview of a documentary about former New York governor Eliot Spitzer being created by Alex Gibney, the filmmaker behind Taxi to the Dark Side. Spitzer made his reputation as a crusading attorney-general for the state of New York, taking on big tobacco and kickbacks in the music industry. He was in the governor's office when he was caught seeing prostitutes, in a public scandal that ruined his career. The as-yet-untitled documentary explores his story through interviews with friends and enemies. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tribeca Film Festival selections include Serge Gainsbourg biopic | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Wendy Mitchell News Brief Entertainment Weekly Originally published March 10, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Tribeca Film Festival has announced the first 34 films selected for its program for the ninth festival, running April 21 to May 2 in New York City. In the World Narrative Competition, films include Serge Gainsbourg biopic Gainsbourg, Je t’Aime... Moi Non Plus; James Franco-starring William Vincent; Irish psychological drama Snap; Korean story Paju directed by Chan-ok Park; Italian director Ferzan Ozpetek’s Loose Cannons; and My Brothers, the directorial debut of Shane Meadows collaborator Paul Fraser.
In The World Documentary Competition, selections include Down syndrome love story Monica & David; Sons of Perdition, an investigation of Warren Jeffs’ polygaminst community; sports and drugs story The Two Escobars; rugby documentary Freetime Machos; and falcon smuggling film Feathered Cocaine. Also, Showcase screenings will include Dev Benegal’s Road, Movie; French romantic comedy Heartbreaker starring Romain Duris and Vanessa Paradis; and Haiti-set Moloch Tropical. Special Events will include a showing of a specially restored Doctor Zhivago and Alex Gibney’s work-in-progress screening of his documentary about Eliot Spitzer. More films will be announced in coming weeks. In all, this year’s festival will present 45 world premieres. Tribeca recently announced that it will also launch distribution arm Tribeca Film, and the online Tribeca Film Festival Virtual. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tribeca Film Festival unveils lineup | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Selection includes 85 feature-length films | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By PAMELA MCCLINTOCK Film Variety Originally published Wed., Mar. 10, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Providing the first glimpse of its 2010 lineup, the ninth Tribeca Film Festival will treat audiences to a work-in-progress screening of Alex Gibney's documentary on fallen New York politico Eliot Spitzer -- exemplifying the fest's loyalty to its core aud of New Yorkers. Running April 21-May 2, this year's fest will showcase 85 feature-length films, as well as 47 shorts. Festival organizers Wednesday announced the first 33 titles, including the 24 films playing in the world narrative and documentary competition sections, seven films unspooling in the showcase section, which highlights global cinema, and three titles in the special events category. The 12 pictures vying in the narrative category include Joann Sfar's "Gainsbourg," a biopic of iconic French singer Serge Gainsbourg, Paul Fraser's Irish film "My Brothers" and Korean directorChan-ok Park's "Paju." Kim Chapiron and Jeremie Delon's French pic "Dog Pound" also earned a slot. "Dog Pound" and "Brothers" make their world premieres at Tribeca. Included in the documentary competition are "Son of Perdition," Jennilyn Merten's look at notorious polygamist Warren Jeffs, and "The Two Escobars," Jeff and Michael Zimbalist's intertwining profiles of Colombian druglord Pablo Escobar and fellow countryman Andres Escobar, who, though not related, shared a passion for soccer. Tribeca marks the world preem of both docs. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FLDS TRIAL: Attorneys attempt to prove Jessop lived at YFZ Ranch | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Matthew Waller San Angelo Standard-Times Originally published March 11, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SAN ANGELO, Texas — Attorneys presented evidence that Merril Leroy Jessop resided at the Yearning For Zion Ranch outside Eldorado, where the charge against him — the sexual assault of a child in connection with an alleged underage marriage — was alleged to have occurred. Pictures showed photo albums and poster-sized pictures that depicted Jessop surrounded by a crowd of children and three young women law enforcement personnel identified as his wives. "These are photos of Merril Jessop along with his spouses," one Department of Public Safety officer said. The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, of which Jessop, 35, is a member, practices polygamy. One of the projected images showed Merril in three separate photos with each one of his wives, with inscriptions of poetry accompanying each picture. The poems expressed prayers for aid of Jessop and longing to be with him. Lawyers opened the court earlier today with the facts of life as a obstetrician-gynecologist testified in the trial of Merril Leroy Jessop. Health expert Kelly Wilson said a child, shown to him in photographs, born in May of 2007 would have been conceived in August of 2006, about the time the alleged offense occurred. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FLDS TRIAL: Focus turns to marriage | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UT professor testifies on family law | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Matthew Waller San Angelo Standard-Times Originally published March 11, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SAN ANGELO, Texas — The trial of Merril Leroy Jessop took a look at the nature of marriage in Texas on Thursday afternoon when a University of Texas law professor testified on family law. Jessop, 35, a member of the polygamous sect the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, is charged with sexual assault of a child in connection with an alleged underage marriage. Lead prosecutor Eric Nichols questioned whether an enhancement to Texas law applies to Jessop’s case. The enhancement would make Jessop’s charge a first-degree felony punishable by a minimum of five years in prison with the recommendation of probation and a maximum of 99 years to life in prison and up to a $10,000 fine. "I found that Merril Leroy Jessop was prohibited from marrying, purporting to marry or living with under the appearance of marriage" the girl, said John Sampson, the law professor testifying for the state, thereby affirming that the enhancement applied. Sampson also said the girl was too young to have married anyone without having parental or judicial consent. The girl was 15 at the time of the alleged offense. The jurors attentively watched lead defense attorney Dan Hurley cross examine Sampson. Hurley mentioned a family law textbook Sampson had edited, saying the FLDS community had been cited as a reason for creating the enhancement. "Wouldn’t you agree with me that polygamy was one of the issues in the change of the law?" Hurley said. "The issue was based on the underage marriage rather than polygamy," Sampson said. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FLDS TRIAL: Rangers give details of raid on YFZ Ranch | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Matthew Waller San Angelo Standard-Times Originally published March 12, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SAN ANGELO, Texas — Two Texas Rangers testified this morning to their part in the raid of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Yearning For Zion Ranch outside of Eldorado. Merril Leroy Jessop, 35, a member of the polygamous sect the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, is charged with sexual assault of a child in connection with an alleged underage marriage. Texas Ranger Don Williams explained pictures of rows of cabinets and gun safes. The cabinets and safes, which contained numerous church records, were located inside the temple on the ranch. Brandon Hudson, one of the defense attorneys, asked about the attitudes of ranch dwellers toward law enforcement as they raided the ranch. "Would you say the men and women were distrustful?" Hudson said. Williams said they were. Williams said the locksmith took hours to open the vault door. Hudson pointed out the damage done to the framing around the side of the vault. "Were there attempts to enter without having to break the locks?" Wes Mau, one of the prosecuting attorneys, asked. "Yes sir," Williams said, and he said the residents were not cooperative with opening the safe. "I thought it was very possible someone might be in that vault." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rangers give details of raid on YFZ Ranch | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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By Matthew Waller San Angelo Standard-Times Originally published March 12, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SAN ANGELO, Texas — Ranch dwellers told the Texas Rangers lightning would strike them if they broke into their sacred limestone building. That’s according to Texas Rangers who testified today to their part in the April 2008 raid of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Yearning for Zion Ranch outside of Eldorado. Merril Leroy Jessop, 35, a member of the polygamous sect, is on trial, charged with sexual assault of a child in connection with a allegations he illegally married an underage girl. Friday was the fifth day of the trial that began with jury selection on Monday and has covered testimony from more than a dozen witnesses. "They were on their knees, crying," Texas Ranger Jesse Valdez said in describing the people who watched him and others gain access to what was known as the temple annex. "The lightning never came." Valdez testified about having entered a vault in that same building. In Courtroom A of the Tom Green County Courthouse, prosecutors use a picture enlarged by a projector to show the jury an open vault door with a hole less than three feet wide breaching a concrete wall several inches thick. "I removed all my outer clothing and entered with a flash light and a pistol, unsure of what I would encounter," Valdez said. Inside the vault, law enforcement personnel found many cabinets containing boxes of personal and church records. Texas Ranger Aaron Grigsby described the inside of the temple on the compound. He said the first story had earth tones, the second blues and the top story was pure white, down to the furniture. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "What Peace There May Be" by Susanna Barlow Susanna Barlow's book is available for sale from The HOPE Organization Order it now | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The HOPE Organization has received a Creative Ministries of Presbyterian Women Thank Offering grant to fund a 2-year "Jump Start" life-skills program for children in the Hildale/Colorado City/Centennial Park communities. Read our press release Read our program flyer | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In mid September, attorney Greg Hoole wrote an editorial regarding the efforts of Teresa Jeffs' mother to replace Natalie Malonis, the Texas court-appointed guardian ad litem who had been assigned to protect Teresa's interests. Greg submitted this opinion piece to The Salt Lake Tribune for publication. That newspaper never printed it, but you can read it here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| FLDS documentary 3 years in the making - Banking on Heaven | |
| Watch the Banking on Heaven trailer | |
| Watch the documentary Damned to Heaven | |
| Watch the documentary Banished: The Lost Boys of Polygamy | |
1. The Fall - Beyond The Reach from Brett Buchanan on Vimeo. | |
2. FLDS Secrets - Beyond The Reach from Brett Buchanan on Vimeo. | |
3. Blood Atonement - Beyond The Reach from Brett Buchanan on Vimeo. | |
4. Brent Jeffs - Beyond The Reach from Brett Buchanan on Vimeo. | |
5. Suspicions - Beyond The Reach from Brett Buchanan on Vimeo. | |
| Follow the TEXAS case on charges that Warren personally "spiritually married" little girls ranging in age from 12 to 14 and read the Court filings for and against Warren Steed Jeffs | |
| Follow the ARIZONA trial on charges of incest and charges of sexual contact with a minor and read the Court filings for and against Warren Steed Jeffs | |
| Follow the UTAH "Rape as an Accomplice" trial and read the Court filings for and against Warren Steed Jeffs | |
| Follow the numerous Texas cases of the YFZ men indicted for molesting little girls and read the Court filings regarding these men | |
| Listen to Warren Jeffs speak about the black race | |
| Listen to Warren Jeffs speak about the "Seed of Cain" and "pingy pangy" music from the black race | |
| Read the brochure for the Canadian Society for the Investigation of Child Abuse 2010 Joining Together Conference to be held May 3-5, 2010 | |
| See the KSTU-TV Fox 13 Utah Photo Gallery Polygamist Fashions | |
| Read Willie Jessop's Objection and Motion for Mistrial and his Affidavit in the State of Texas vs. Merril Leroy Jessop, filed in Schleicher County, Texas March 8, 2010 | |
| Read the State of Texas vs. Merril Leroy Jessop State's Intent to Introduce Extraneous Offenses or Acts (Prior Bad Acts) filed in Schleicher County, Texas February 22, 2010 | |
| Read the State of Texas vs. Merril Leroy Jessop State's Motion In Limine filed in Schleicher County, Texas February 22, 2010 | |
| Read the Utah Third District Court's letter from attorney R. Blake Hamilton to Judge Lingberg In the Matter of the United Plan Trust et al regarding her ruling on the UEP Trust Motion for Contempt and Sanctions Against Twin City Water Authority, dated February 19, 2010 | |
| Read the Order for Child Support requiring deadbeat dad Merril Jessop to finally start paying Carolyn Jessop overdue child support, filed in Schleicher County, Texas February 18, 2010 | |
| Read Lake Havasu Consolidated Court's Order assigning Judge Pro Tempore Paul Julian to serve as judge on the trespassing charges against Bruce Wisan and Jethro Barlow, dated February 18, 2010 | |
| Read Moccasin Consolidated Court's Objection to assigning Judge Pro Tempore Paul Julian to serve as judge on the trespassing charges against Bruce Wisan and Jethro Barlow, dated February 18, 2010 | |
| Read Moccasin Consolidated Court's Objection to Trial Being Vacated and Judge Haney Being Removed regarding the trespassing charges against Bruce Wisan and Jethro Barlow, dated February 18, 2010 | |
| Read the Utah Third District Court Affidavit of Texas Ranger J. Nick Hanna regarding the care and custody of Warren Jeffs' dictations, submitted to the Utah Supreme Court February 18, 2010 | |
| Read various Court filings to remove the judge JP Benjamin Haney, address due process issues and stay the trial regarding the trespassing charges against Bruce Wisan and Jethro Barlow, dated February 15 and 16, 2010 | |
| Read the Tom Green County, Texas Court's Affidavit of Nick Hanna sent to Natalie Malonis providing Records of Warren Jeffs discussing child bride marriages and other FLDS crimes, faxed February 15, 2010 | |
| Read the Tom Green County, Texas Court's Subpoena of Nick Hanna by Natalie Malonis to provide Records of Warren Jeffs discussing child bride marriages and other FLDS crimes, dated February 13, 2010 | |
| Read the Utah Supreme Court UEP Trust's Response to Motion to Strike Exhibits and Related Arguments regarding the inclusion of Warren Jeffs' dictations in Bruce Wisan's court filings, dated February 11, 2010 | |
| Read the Utah Supreme Court Order regarding "certain specified documents" in the FLDS vs Judge Denise Lindberg case, filed in the Utah Appellate Courts February 10, 2010 | |
| Read Colorado City Magistrate Court's Order denying the Motion to Dismiss or Sanctions regarding the trespassing charges against Bruce Wisan and Jethro Barlow, dated February 10, 2010 | |
| Read the State of Texas vs. Merril Leroy Jessop State's Application for Subpoenas for trial witnesses, filed in Schleicher County, Texas February 8, 2010 | |
| Read the Utah Supreme Court Order regarding three Motions to Strike in the FLDS vs Judge Denise Lindberg case, filed in the Utah Appellate Court February 8, 2010 | |
| Read the Utah Supreme Court Memorandum in Support of Motion to Strike Exhibits and Related Arguments regarding the inclusion of Warren Jeffs' dictations in the Utah AG's and Bruce Wisan's court filings, dated February 1, 2010 | |
| Read Peter Stirba's Letter to Mark Shurtleff regarding disincorporation of Hildale dated January 29, 2010 | |
| Read the State of Texas vs. Raymond Merril Jessop Notice of Appeal filed in Schleicher County, Texas January 28, 2010 | |
| Read Mark Shurtleff's Letter to FLDS attorneys regarding settlement of the UEP Trust feud within 30 days dated January 26, 2010 | |
| Read the Utah Supreme Court Notice regarding time alloted for each group to present their oral arguments regarding the UEP Trust, filed January 22, 2010 | |
| Read Bruce Wisan's Reply Memorandum and Memorandum in Opposition to Motion to Stay dated January 21, 2010 | |
| Read Bruce Wisan's Letter to UEP Property Occupants regarding payments of 2010 UEP property taxes, dated January 18, 2010 | |
| Read the "Lost Boys'" Original Interested Individuals' Recommended Action Regarding Continuing and Proliferating Litigation regarding the UEP Trust, dated January 14, 2010 | |
| Utah Department of Commerce Certificate claiming Wendell Nielsen is the President of the FLDS, filed January 13, 2010 | |
| Read the Utah Supreme Court's Order denying the Petition for Emergency Relief on selling the cows, filed January 13, 2010 | |
| Read the Winston Blackmore vs Her Majesty the Queen Writ of Summons and Statement of Claim sueing the BC government, filed in the Supreme Court of British Columbia January 12, 2010 | |
The Custer County Commission heard concerns from some of those who neighbor FLDS land at the commission's Jan. 6, 2010 meeting. Watch the video from the Custer County Chronicle Newspaper | |
| Read Bruce Wisan's Utah Supreme Court UEP Trust's Response in Opposition to Petition for Emergency Relief filed January 4, 2010 | |
| Read Warren Jeff's letter to Merril Jessop with instructions for Willie Jessop et al to file numerous complaints with the court regarding the UEP Trust included in Bruce Wisan's Response above filed with the Utah Supreme Court January 4, 2010 | |
| Read Harker Dairy, LLC's Utah Supreme Court Memorandum in Opposition to Petition for Emergency Relief filed January 4, 2010 | |
| Read Bruce Wisan's Report of the Special Fiduciary filed December 31, 2009 | |
| Read the Office of the Arizona Attorney General's Memorandum in Response and Objection to Petition for Emergency Relief filed in the Utah Supreme Court December 30, 2009 | |
| Read the Utah Supreme Court's Order regarding the Petition for Emergency Relief on selling the cows, filed December 30, 2009 | |
| Read Bruce Wisan's Opposition of the United Effort Plan Trust to Petition for Extraordinary Relief filed in the Utah Supreme Court December 23, 2009 | |
| Read Judge Lindberg's Response to Motion for Stay dated December 23, 2009 | |
| Read Judge Lindberg's Response to Petition for Extraordinary Relief dated December 23, 2009 | |
| Read Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard's Memorandum in Support of Motion for Partial Lift of Stay and for Order Authorizing and Directing Discovery and Recommendations dated December 21, 2009 | |
| Read Bruce Wisans's Supplement to Motion for: (many things) dated December 18, 2009 | |
| Video by The Eldorado Success Deputy Attorney General Eric Nichols comments on the 33 year sentence given to Allan Keate. | |
| Video by The Eldorado Success Willie Jessop comments on the 33 year sentence handed down to Allan Keate after his conviction on a charge of Sexual Assault of a Child by a Schleicher County Texas jury on Thursday, December 17, 2009. | |
| See photos from San Angelo Standard-Times Photo Gallery - taken during the December 7-17, 2009 trial of Allan Eugene Keate | |
| Read Judge Lindberg's Minute Entry and Order denying motions by Willie Jessop regarding the UEP Trust, dated December 11, 2009 | |
| Read Bruce Wisan's Memorandum in Support of Motion (1)For Order to Show Cause; (2)To Prohibit Further Unauthorized Filings; etc. regarding the UEP Trust, dated December 11, 2009 | |
| Read the flyer for The Polygamy Experience Tour | |
| Read the Supreme Court of British Columbia Decision to appoint George Macintosh as a reference amicus curiae to look into the constitutional question of polygamy in Canada dated December 4, 2009 | |
| Read Bruce Wisan's document filed in the Utah Supreme Court Opposition of the UEP Trust to Petition for Extraordinary Writ dated December 2, 2009 | |
| Read FLDS document filed in the 3rd District Court Memorandum in Support of Motion to Remove the Special Fiduciary dated December 2, 2009 | |
| Read the UEP Trust Motion to Intervene dated November 23, 2009 | |
| Read the UEP Trust Memorandum in Support of Motion to Intervene filed November 23, 2009 | |
| Read the UEP Trust Memorandum in Support of Motion to Vacate Reformed Declaration of Trust filed November 23, 2009 | |
| Read the UEP Trust Memorandum in Support of Motion to Remove the Special Fiduciary dated November 18, 2009 | |
| Read the Letter from attorney Natalie Malonis to Mohave County Attorney Matt Smith regarding Carolyn Jessop and the Arizona trial of Warren Jeffs, dated November 16, 2009 | |
| Read the State of Texas vs Allan Keate State's Request for Change of Venue dated November 12, 2009 | |
| Read the M.J. (Elissa Wall) v. Warren Jeffs and the UEP Trust v. Allen Steed Verified Cross-Claim filed November 6, 2009 | |
| See photos from San Angelo Standard-Times Photo Gallery - Trial ends with guilty verdict November 5, 2009 hearing and conviction in Raymond Jessop's trial | |
| Listen to the Utah Supreme Court hearing on Warren Jeff's appeal - oral arguments held November 3, 2009 | |
| Read the Utah Supreme Court opinion on Snow, Christensen & Martineau; Raymond Scott Berry; Willie Jessop; Dan Johnson; and Merlin Jessop, Petitioners vs The Honorable Denise P. Lindberg, Respondent filed November 3, 2009 | |
| Read the UEP Trust Minute Entry Regarding Revised Ruling and Order regarding the sale of the Berry Knoll property, filed November 2, 2009 | |
| Read the Canadian Angus Reid poll supporting action against the Bountiful polygamists dated October 30, 2009 | |
| See photos from San Angelo Standard-Times Photo Gallery - FLDS case continues October 30, 2009 hearing without the jury present in Raymond Jessop's trial | |
| See photos from San Angelo Standard-Times Photo Gallery - FLDS trial under way October 29, 2009 opening day of Raymond Jessop's trial | |
| See photos from San Angelo Standard-Times Photo Gallery - Polygamist trial begins October 26-28, 2009 jury selection phase of Raymond Jessop's trial | |
| From CBS News - A member of a polygamous religious compound in Texas is on trial on charges of child sex abuse and bigamy. Don Teague reports. Watch CBS News Videos Online | |
| Read the Supreme Court of British Columbia Request for Assignment of Trial Judge dated October 22, 2009 | |
| Read the Supreme Court of British Columbia Letter to Chief Justice Bauman dated October 22, 2009 | |
| Read the B.C. Attorney General Michael de Jong's press release "Province to Seek Supreme Court Opinion on Polygamy" dated October 22, 2009 | |
| Read the Petition for Extraordinary Writ regarding the UEP Trust filed in the Utah Supreme Court October 20, 2009 | |
| Read the Memorandum of Points and Authorities in Support of Petition for Extraordinary Writ regarding the UEP Trust filed in the Utah Supreme Court October 20, 2009 | |
| Read the Affidavit of Willie Jessop in Support of Petition for Extraordinary Writ regarding the UEP Trust filed in the Utah Supreme Court October 20, 2009 | |
| Read the Joint/Consolidated Motion to Quash Grand Jury Indictments filed in Schleicher County, Texas October 15, 2009 | |
| Read the Texas Court's Decision on the Motions to Suppress Evidence from the raid on the YFZ filed in Schleicher County, Texas October 2, 2009 | |
| Read Sam Brower's memo comparing the FLDS to the Mafia written October, 2009 | |
| Read Special Warranty Deed (transferring the YFZ Ranch from the Texas Heritage Trust to the new Texas Stake of Zion Trust) filed in Schleicher County, Texas September 30, 2009 | |
| Read the December 31, 2008 Declaration of Trust of the Texas Stake of Zion (creating a new FLDS Church and religious Trust) filed in Schleicher County, Texas September 30, 2009 | |
| Read defendant Raymond Merril Jessop's Objections to Evidence Pursuant to Rule 103(a)(1) filed in Schleicher County, Texas September 30, 2009 | |
| Read the Court Transcript of the Testimony of Merril Jessop regarding Carolyn Jessop's Petition for Child Support discussing the YFZ Ranch property and the Texas Heritage Trust, given in Schleicher County, Texas September 28, 2009 | |
| Read the Notice of State's Intent To Introduce Extraneous Offenses or Acts regarding the trial of Allan Eugene Keate, filed in Schleicher County, Texas September 28, 2009 | |
| Read the State's Motion in Limine regarding the trial of Allan Eugene Keate, filed in Schleicher County, Texas September 28, 2009 | |
| Read the State's Witness List and Expert's Witness Designation regarding the trial of Allan Eugene Keate, filed in Schleicher County, Texas September 28, 2009 | |
| Read the Notice of State's Intent To Introduce Extraneous Offenses or Acts regarding the trial of Raymond Merril Jessop, filed in Schleicher County, Texas September 28, 2009 | |
| Read the State's Motion in Limine regarding the trial of Raymond Merril Jessop, filed in Schleicher County, Texas September 28, 2009 | |
| Read the State's Witness List and Expert's Witness Designation regarding the trial of Raymond Merril Jessop, filed in Schleicher County, Texas September 25, 2009 | |
| Read the Motion for Partial Continuance to Conduct Discovery regarding Carolyn Jessop's Petition for Child Support from Merril Jessop, filed in Schleicher County, Texas September 25, 2009 | |
| Read the BC Supreme Court's decision to drop the polygamy charges against Winston Blackmore and Jimmy Oler dated September 23, 2009 | |
| Watch the July 29, 2009 FOX 13 Utah video by Katy Carlyle on the UEP court hearing regarding the sale of the Berry Knoll Farm | |
| Watch the July 29, 2009 FOX 13 Utah video on the UEP court hearing regarding the sale of the Berry Knoll Farm | |
| See photos taken inside the Salt Lake County Courthouse UEP hearing on the sale of the Berry Knoll Farm and published by KSL 5 TV on July 29, 2009 | |
| See photos taken outside the Salt Lake County Courthouse UEP hearing on the sale of the Berry Knoll Farm and published by KSL 5 TV on July 29, 2009 | |
| See photos taken at the Salt Lake County Courthouse UEP hearing on the sale of the Berry Knoll Farm and published by the Deseret News on July 29, 2009 | |
Watch some of Willie Jessop's testimony at the April 14, 2009 Texas House Human Services Committee hearing on the YFZ raid courtesy of the Austin American-Statesman | |
| Watch Jenny Hoff with KXAN 36 News Austin talk about the Hidden Valley Ranch salad dressing the FLDS re-labeled for the anniversary of the YFZ Ranch raid | |
| See photos from the Corpus Christi Caller Times taken March 23, 2009 by Cynthia Esparza with the San Angelo Standard-Times covering the one year anniversary of the raid on the Yearning For Zion Ranch in Eldorado, Texas | |
| See photos one year after the April 2008 raid of the YFZ Ranch in Eldorado, Texas taken by Ben Winslow of the Deseret News and Cynthia Esparza of the San Angelo Standard-Times and published by The Deseret Morning News on March 28, 2009 | |
| Video Courtesy of KSL.com Watch the KSL Video Last FLDS youth in custody could soon return to family broadcast on March 13, 2009 | |
| During the January 23, 2009 deposition of Merril Jessop, court exhibits were included in his deposition. One item was a budget from the Short Creek Stake reporting their tithings paid and how these monies were being spent to support the other FLDS compounds | |
| Read the Budget Estimates from the Short Creek Stake and see where their hard-earned money was going | |
| During the January 23, 2009 deposition of Merril Jessop, court exhibits were included in his deposition. One collection was Warren Jeffs' Personal Priesthood Record from January 16, 2007 - June 6, 2007. Excerpts of this included the "History of events of Warren Steed Jeffs while in prison (Purgatory Jail) in Washington County, Utah." Below are some of these Personal Priesthood Records | |
| Read Warren Jeffs' Personal Priesthood Record PART 1 court exhibit released February 9, 2009 | |
| Read Warren Jeffs' Personal Priesthood Record PART 2 court exhibit released February 9, 2009 | |
| Read Warren Jeffs' Personal Priesthood Record PART 3 court exhibit released February 9, 2009 | |
| Read Warren Jeffs' Personal Priesthood Record PART 4 court exhibit released February 9, 2009 | |
| Read Warren Jeffs' Personal Priesthood Record PART 5 court exhibit released February 9, 2009 | |
| Read Warren Jeffs' Personal Priesthood Record PART 6 court exhibit released February 9, 2009 | |
| During the January 23, 2009 deposition of Merril Jessop, court exhibits were included in his deposition. One collection was Warren Jeffs' Personal Dictations Below are some of these Personal Dictations fom 2005 | |
| Read Warren Jeffs' Personal Dictations PART 1 court exhibit released February 9, 2009 | |
| Read Warren Jeffs' Personal Dictations PART 2 court exhibit released February 9, 2009 | |
| Read Warren Jeffs' Personal Dictations PART 3 court exhibit released February 9, 2009 | |
| Read Warren Jeffs' Personal Dictations PART 4 court exhibit released February 9, 2009 | |
| Read Warren Jeffs' Personal Dictations PART 5 court exhibit released February 9, 2009 | |
| During the January 23, 2009 deposition of Merril Jessop, court exhibits were included in his deposition. One item was Warren Jeffs' directive to his brother Lyle Jeffs to notify faithful followers they no longer held the Priesthood | |
| Read the bad news given to some FLDS members who were told that they had to repent from afar (leave UEP property) and their families were "released" from them in the Short Creek Assignment from July 12, 2005 | |
| Read the FLDS spokesman Willie Jessop's deposition court transcript recorded January 26, 2009 | |
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MR. SCHAFFER: At this time Mr. Jessop will refuse to answer that question based upon his Fifth Amendment privilege as well — under the federal constitution as well as the state constitution. As counsel propounding these questions knows there are federal investigations involving money laundering, mail fraud, wire fraud, Mann Act violations in federal court, in addition to any allegations being investigated by the state authorities.
MS. MALONIS: For the record, this counsel is not aware of that. MR. SCHAFFER: You are now. | |
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Watch a video of Willie Jessop taken during his deposition January 26, 2009 | |
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Watch more of the video of Willie Jessop taken during his deposition January 26, 2009 | |
| Read YFZ Ranch leader Merril Jessop's deposition court transcript recorded January 23, 2009 | |
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Watch a video of Merril Jessop taken during his deposition January 23, 2009 | |
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Watch more of the video of Merril Jessop taken during his deposition January 23, 2009 | |
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Watch even more of the video of Merril Jessop taken during his deposition January 23, 2009 | |
| Read the court Notice of Intention to take Oral Deposition from Merril Jessop filed January 16, 2009 | |
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Watch the Eldorado Success Video of Willie Jessop meeting with Schleicher County Commissioners on January 12, 2009 | |
| Read the court Subpoena to Compel Appearance for Depostion for Merril Jessop dated January 12, 2009 | |
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Watch a video on FORA.tv with Steve Singular (author of When Men Become Gods) and Laura Chapman filmed September 16, 2008 during a book signing event at the Tattered Cover Bookstore in Denver, Colorado | |
| See photos from The Deseret News Photo Gallery taken during the second YFZ Ranch Grand Jury Hearing and published by the Deseret News August 22, 2008 | |
| Read the Statement of Dan Fischer dated August 1, 2008 | |
| Watch the CBS 48 Hours Mystery YFZ Ranch video where Peter Van Sant talks with Willie Jessop about the April 2008 raid of the YFZ ranch. | |
| Read the Bishop's Record of Families at the YFZ Ranch released May 1, 2008 | |
| Watch the CBS Early Show video where the YFZ Ranch men speak out from April 26, 2008 | |
| Watch the April 16, 2008 Good Morning America interview with Nancy, Marie and Esther from the YFZ Ranch in Eldorado, Texas | |
| Watch the April 15, 2008 CBS Evening News coverage by Hari Sreenivasan on the YFZ raid and the removal of the FLDS children | |
| Read the Statement for the Media sent by Wally Bugden on December 5, 2007 - announcing Warren has resigned as President of the Corporation of the President of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Inc. | |
| Read the July 9, 2007 Memorandum in Support of Motion in Limine Regarding Statements of the Defendant unsealed by the court on November 6, 2007 - This is the "I am not the Prophet" confession | |
| Watch Warren Jeffs tell Nephi that he is "not the prophet" and "never was the prophet" | |
| See the Los Angeles Time's Photo Gallery from stories published May 2006 | |
| Read the February 21, 2005 Training Given by President Warren S. Jeffs On the Places of Refuge to a Group of Men regarding the "keep sweet" training on "how to live and be Zion" and be invited to live on the lands of refuge | |
| See the Photo Gallery from Alta Academy 1988 to 1996 | |
| For more information on the April 2008 raid on the FLDS YFZ Ranch in Eldorado, Texas, visit our web page
Don't Mess with Texas | |
| For more information on the trials of the FLDS men from the YFZ Ranch in Eldorado, Texas, visit our web page
Texas Hold'em | |
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