 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Non-FLDS members living in Hildale and Colorado City expressed their concerns over the UEP settlement fiasco at the Utah State Capitol on May 26, 2009. They protested the possibility of being kicked out of their homes if the FLDS is allowed to take back complete control of the UEP Trust. They created a flyer to voice their fears regarding the current UEP negotiations taking place. Read it here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| HOPE was emailed a document on May 20, 2009 which appears to be a "Settlement and Plan of Distribution" for the UEP Trust. It looks like this is a proposal from the FLDS on how they think the UEP debacle should be handled. HOPE can't attest to its authenticity, but we have it posted here for your interest. Read it here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Breaking News | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Here's the latest on what's happening. These news articles are listed in chronological order. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Final sect child in state custody to leave foster care | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Corrie MacLaggan Austin American-Statesman Originally published Thursday, May 7, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The last child remaining in state custody as a result of the state’s raid last year on a West Texas ranch owned by a polygamist sect will soon leave foster care, state officials said today. This morning, State District Judge Barbara Walther approved the girl’s placement with a relative, effective May 12, said Patrick Crimmins, a spokesman for the Department of Family and Protective Services. "We will continue to monitor her progress in this new placement," Crimmins said. On April 3, 2008, Texas officials entered Yearning for Zion Ranch, from which they would eventually take 439 children and scatter them around the state in foster care. The Texas Supreme Court later ruled that the state had overreached in removing the children, and all but one have been returned to their families. The sect is the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alleged underage bride to leave foster care | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
The Associated Press Deseret News Originally published Thursday, May 7, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SAN ANGELO, Texas — An alleged child bride of jailed polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs will be allowed to leave foster care and live with a distant relative, a judge ruled Thursday. Texas District Judge Barbara Walther agreed to allow the 14-year-old girl — the only child from the Yearning For Zion Ranch remaining in foster care — to move in with the relative next week. Although some of the records in the case are sealed, the relative does not live at the ranch or in nearby San Angelo, said Child Protective Services spokesman Patrick Crimmins. "CPS is comfortable with the placement, and the judge obviously was comfortable with it because she approved it," he said. The agency will continue to oversee her case and monitor visits with her mother until a Sept. 9 hearing, where the girl could be permanently placed with the relative. The girl, allegedly married to Jeffs shortly after her 12th birthday, was placed back in foster care last August. She had been among the 439 children returned to their parents in June after the Texas Supreme Court ruled that the state's decision to sweep all the Fundamentalist LDS children into foster care was overly broad. Walther, however, ordered the girl back into foster care after her mother, Barbara Jessop, refused to guarantee the girl's safety during a tense court hearing. Jessop, invoking her Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination, refused to answer about 50 questions, including what constituted abuse, the names of her children, her relationship with their father and whether a parent had an obligation to protect her children. At the time, Walther said there was "uncontroverted evidence" of the girl's underage marriage. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last of FLDS custody cases decided | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Matt Phinney San Angelo Standard-Times Originally published Friday, May 8, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The 14-year-old girl alleged to be a wife of Warren Jeffs will soon be taken out of foster care. 51st District Judge Barbara Walther ruled Thursday that the girl will be put in the care of Naomi Carlisle, a distant relative. The move came at the request of the Child Protective Services, as well as from attorneys for the girl and her mother, Barbara Jessop. Jeffs is the imprisoned prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which has a Schleicher county compound that state authorities raided in April 2008 on suspicions of child abuse. The girl will be released from foster care Sunday. However, Court Appointed Special Advocates argued that the girl should stay in the custody of her San Antonio foster care family. She is the last of the children taken from the YFZ Ranch near Eldorado in April 2008 to be taken out of foster care. CPS still will have regular visits with the girl and Carlisle. If all parties follow the safety plan laid out, then Carlisle will be granted full custody in September. "No child should be held in foster care," said Valerie Malara, an attorney for Jessop. "The ultimate goal is to be reunited with the family." Carlisle, 52, is an FLDS member but has never been a resident of the YFZ Ranch, and five of her 11 surviving children left the sect on reaching adulthood, according to investigation documents. Jessop walked out of the courtroom smiling. "Barbara is ecstatic," attorney Brett Pritchard said. The child, whom sect documents and pictures show as having been married to sect leader Jeffs at age 12, at one time appeared to cry during the permanency hearing, which lasted about an hour. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bountiful: home of B.C.’s secret sect | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Cathie Roy/Associate Publisher Coast Reporter - Tsawassen, BC Originally published Friday, May 8, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Jancis Andrews does not mince words when she’s talking about the Fundamental Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS). She deplores the constant foot-dragging of the B.C. attorney general’s department that allows this "cult" as she calls it to flourish in the southern B.C. town of Bountiful. Andrews is a self-made expert on the subject of Bountiful. The local woman spoke to the Canadian Federation of University Women (CFUW) April 27 at St. John’s United Church. According to Andrews, the sect, an offshoot of the American church, is not part of the present day Mormon Church. And although FLDS got its start with two families in the mid 20th century, it didn’t come to the public’s attention until about 1990 when Debbie Palmer, one of the celestial wives (so called because men needed to have at least three wives to reach heaven) went to the RCMP about the many abuses taking place in the secluded town. Palmer detailed the marriages of underage girls to men many times their age, the number of "marriages" these men were taking part in and the subsequent banishment of the young men of the town. Colin Gabelman, the attorney general of the day, declined to prosecute in spite of the fact that polygamy contravenes S.293 of the Criminal Code. That section of the law essentially said that every home in Bountiful was breaking the law. But Gabelman based his decision on his belief that the Canadian Charter protected the FLDS under the section guaranteeing freedom of religion. That, Andrews said, is bunk. "Any idiot … knows that no group in Canada, religious or secular, has a Charter right to collect women and girls as concubines in harems, to force sex on them, which is rape, to deny them birth control … to force boys out of the community in order to make more concubines available for the elders, and to threaten anyone who tries to protest with burning for all eternity in hell," Andrews said. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lawyer for B.C. man asks court to shelve polygamy charge | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Greg Joyce The Canadian Press CBC News - Canadian Broadcasting Centre Originally published Saturday, May 9, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The lawyer for one of two Bountiful, B.C., religious leaders charged with practising polygamy made an application Friday in B.C. Supreme Court to have the charge stayed, or shelved. Lawyer Joseph Arvay filed a notice of application, asking that the charge against Winston Blackmore that was laid in January not be proceeded with. Blackmore, a Fundamentalist Mormon, is accused of having 19 wives. If the court declines to stay the charge, Arvay's application says his client will again ask the court to stay the charge unless certain conditions are met. Those conditions include that the Crown agrees to pay legal fees for Blackmore to allow him to retain a legal team of his choice. The application also asks that the legal fees be paid at the same rates as those paid to the special prosecutor appointed in the case. No date for the court hearing has been set. The application also asks the court to order the Crown to provide full disclosure of all the communications that relate to the charge approval process leading up to and including the reports of lawyers Richard Peck, Leonard Doust and Terrence Robertson. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Blackmore applies to have polygamy charges stayed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By ROBERT MATAS The Globe and Mail - Toronto, ON Canada Originally published May 9, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In his opening move in Canada's first court case related to polygamy since the Charter was adopted, polygamist Winston Blackmore asked the court Friday to have polygamy charges against him stayed on the grounds that they were an abuse of process, manifestly unfair, arbitrary and involved either actual or a perception of political interference. However if the criminal charges go ahead, the court should order the government to pay for a legal team of senior and junior counsel to defend him, his lawyer Joseph Arvay says in a 10-page application filed late in B.C. Supreme Court. Mr. Blackmore is a former bishop of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a religious community of about 1,000 people that encourages multiple marriages as an article of faith. The charges against him and Jim Oler, another member of the polygamous community, are the first time any Canadian has been charged with polygamy since the adoption of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom, with its protection for freedom of religion. In a controversial move following investigations over the previous 19 years, Mr. Blackmore was charged on Jan. 7 with being in a polygamous relationship with 19 woman, contrary to the Criminal Code. He is believed to have more than 100 children. The maximum penalty for polygamy in Canada is five years in prison. Mr. Arvay, in the application to the court, portrays the charges against Mr. Blackmore as a test case on the constitutionality of the Charter provision that protects religious freedom. Mr. Arvay notes that many others are in polygamous relationship. Documents provided to his lawyers allege that approximately 25 per cent of the residents in Bountiful, the community in which he lived, were in a polygamous relationship. Polygamy is allegedly practised by an indeterminate number of other persons in Canada, whether for reasons of religion or otherwise, Mr. Arvay states in the application. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Polygamist Winston Blackmore demands charges be dropped if B.C. won't cover his legal bills | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun Originally published May 11, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Winston Blackmore wants a court order instructing the provincial government to drop the polygamy charge against him unless it is willing to pay his legal costs for a case that centres on the constitutionality of the law. Blackmore is a fundamentalist Mormon. Although the mainstream Mormon church renounced the practice of polygamy in 1890, fundamentalists continue to follow Joseph Smith’s revelation that men are entitled to have more than one wife. Blackmore is a former bishop of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He was charged in January along with the current FLDS bishop James Oler of having more than one wife. There are 19 women listed on Blackmore’s indictment and three on Oler’s. In an application filed Friday by his lawyer Joe Arvay, Blackmore is requesting the government pay for a legal team of senior and junior counsel of his choice who will be paid at the same hourly rate as special prosecutor Terry Robertson and his team are being paid. The hourly rates range from $75 an hour for articled students to $275 an hour for prosecutors. Blackmore also wants the order to be retroactive to the time when Arvay was hired. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Legal Fights Strain Polygamist Sect | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By STEPHANIE SIMON The Wall Street Journal - New York, NY Originally published May 11, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ten men from a polygamist ranch in west Texas will be in court this week for a crucial hearing ahead of their trials on criminal charges including bigamy and felony sexual abuse of girls allegedly pressed into marriage. Their organization -- the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or FLDS -- is facing far broader legal challenges, and mounting financial pressures, too. A year after Texas authorities, alleging widespread abuse, removed more than 400 children from the Yearning For Zion Ranch in Eldorado, most of those children are back on the ranch after a court ruled last year that Texas didn't have solid grounds for keeping them. But during the raid, law enforcement seized what authorities believe to be conclusive evidence of bigamy and underage marriages -- including family photos, diaries, church records and computer files. The state also conducted DNA tests to determine familial relationships. The 10 men from the Eldorado ranch who will be in court on Wednesday argue that Texas rangers illegally seized the photos and records during the raid. At the hearing in nearby San Angelo, they will press for the evidence to be thrown out of court, which could devastate the case. The Texas attorney general says the seizure was legitimate. The sect is waging legal battles in other states and in Canada, weighing it down with legal bills just as the recession is constricting income. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Big Hearing on Tap This Week in Yearning for Zion Case | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| WSJ on the cases, trends and personalities of interest to the business community. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Ashby Jones Law Blog The Wall Street Journal - New York, NY Originally published May 11, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Remember the Yearning for Zion Ranch, the insular polygamist part of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? It was about this time last year when a Texas state court of appeals ruled that the state of Texas had no right to seize more than 400 children from its compound. While the media spotlight has dimmed a bit, the legal wrangling has continued. The latest: ten men from the west Texas ranch will be in court this week for a crucial hearing ahead of their trials on criminal charges including bigamy and felony sexual abuse of girls allegedly pressed into marriage. During the April 2008 raid, law enforcement seized what authorities believe to be conclusive evidence of bigamy and underage marriages — including family photos, diaries, church records and computer files. The state also conducted DNA tests to determine familial relationships. The 10 men from the Eldorado ranch who will be in court on Wednesday argue that Texas rangers illegally seized the photos and records during the raid. At the hearing in nearby San Angelo, they will press for the evidence to be thrown out of court, which could devastate the case. Click here for the WSJ story. The Texas attorney general says the seizure was legitimate. The sect is waging legal battles in other states and in Canada, weighing it down with legal bills just as the recession is constricting income. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Motion filed to suppress evidence in Jeffs' case | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By 3 TV AZFamily - Phoenix, Arizona Originally published Tuesday, May 12, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| POLYGAMY - It's been more than a year since polygamy took center stage nationwide after a raid on a polygamist compound in Texas. But now all that law enforcement and CPS worked for could come crashing down. Fifty-six years ago Arizona law officers raided the polygamist community of Short Creek. It was a disaster. And now it seems Texas' raid on Warren Jeffs' YFZ Ranch last year is headed in exactly the same direction. A motion has been filed to suppress evidence that the defense says was unlawfully obtained. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| That poor, unfortunate polygamist | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By LYN COCKBURN Edmonton Sun - Alberta, Canada Originally published May 13, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Winston Blackmore wants the Canadian taxpayer to foot his legal bills. Blackmore is Canada's most notorious polygamist and has been charged with having some 25 wives and more than 100 children. Once the top religious leader in the community of Bountiful in eastern B.C., he is currently in court fighting polygamy charges. It's only taken 19 years to get him into a courtroom, a fact that ought to evoke shame in various B.C. attorneys general, not to mention both Liberal and Conservative federal governments. After all, according to the Criminal Code of Canada, polygamy is a crime with a potential five-year jail term. Many of us are indifferent to polygamy. Snore, we say, and who cares - when we're talking about consenting adults. We're not. In Bountiful, little girls are groomed to aspire, not to become doctors, bus drivers and Olympic athletes when they grow up, but to become members of group marriage, often to men old enough to be their grandfathers. And over the years, all 19 of them, there have been allegations about girls as young as 12, 13 and 14 being trafficked from fundamentalist polygamy communities in the U.S. to Canada ... and the other way round. Some may question whether it's criminal for young women of 18 and 19 years to enter into polygamous marriages, but there is no room for debate when the so-called brides are underage. Yet, somehow, the allegations about the marriages of little girls have never quite been investigated in such a way that would put the perpetrators in jail. Note Blackmore has publicly stated he "married" one of his wives when she was 15. Moreover, this indignity is perpetrated in the name of religion - the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It is an offshoot of the Mormon religion that gave up polygamy over a century ago. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SCHLEICHER COUNTY FLDS CRIMINAL HEARINGS | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
COURTROOM A; JUDGE WALTHER 119TH DISTRICT COURT - Tom Green County, Texas Wednesday, May 13, 2009 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM Originally published Wednesday, May 13, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
991 State VS Raymond Jessop Motion to Suppress E.Nichols/A.Goodwin/M.Stevens
999 State VS Raymons Jessop Motion to Suppress E.Nichols/A.Goodwin/M.Stevens 992 State VS Alan Keate Motion to Suppress E.Nichols/A.Goodwin/R.Wilson 993 State VS Michael Emack Motion to Suppress E.Nichols/A.Goodwin/R.Wilson 998 State VS Michael Emack Motion to Suppress E.Nichols/A.Goodwin/R.Wilson 994 State VS Leroy Jessop Motion to Suppress E.Nichols/A.Goodwin/N.Calfas 995 State VS Leroy Jessop Motion to Suppress E.Nichols/A.Goodwin/N.Calfas 1000 State VS Lehi Barlow Jeffs aka Lehi Barlow Allred Motion to Suppress E.Nichols/A.Goodwin/B.Hudson Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FLDS seeks ruling on seized documents | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
The Associated Press San Angelo Standard-Times Originally published May 13, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A court hearing is under way on whether to throw out evidence from last year’s raid on a polygamist group’s ranch. Attorneys for 10 sect men facing criminal charges have asked a judge to throw out hundreds of boxes of documents and other evidence seized from the Yearning For Zion Ranch, saying authorities misled a judge about the veracity of calls prompting the raid and the true intent of the search. A hearing on their motion to suppress the evidence, including documents that list plural and underage marriages and pregnancies among sect girls, began before Texas District Judge Barbara Walther in San Angelo today. The first witness was to be a Texas Ranger whose affidavit helped obtain the search warrant. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sect men seek ruling on seized documents | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By MICHELLE ROBERTS The Associated Press Houston Chronicle Originally published May 13, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SAN ANGELO, Texas — Attorneys for 10 polygamist sect men facing criminal charges have asked a judge to throw out hundreds of boxes of documents and other evidence seized from the Yearning For Zion Ranch, saying law enforcement misled a judge about the veracity of the calls prompting the raid and the true intent of last year's search. But the Texas Attorney General's office said Wednesday in a court hearing that the evidence, including documents that list plural and underage marriages and pregnancies among sect girls, should not be suppressed because there are no records the men lived there or had a reasonable expectation of privacy. The ranch in Eldorado is owned by a trust controlled by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which believes in maintaining all property in common, meaning community members share everything. Defense attorney Gerald Goldstein said it was unfair of the state to treat the ranch as one residence for the purposes of the search. Any decision to suppress some of the evidence could hurt the state's case because sect women and girls have been reluctant to testify, even in secret grand jury proceedings. Twelve members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints have been indicted on charges including sexual assault of a child and bigamy since the April 2008 raid. The suppression motion covers all but jailed sect leader Warren Jeffs, who awaits trial in Arizona on charges of being accomplice to rape, and a sect member who faces only misdemeanor charges. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| BREAKING NEWS: FLDS attorneys call on judge to throw out evidence gathered in raid | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By MATT PHINNEY San Angelo Standard-Times Originally published May 13, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Law enforcement agents left out key pieces of information when seeking a search warrant to the 1,700-acre YFZ Ranch that ultimately led to the removal of more than 400 children from the property, said Gerry Goldstein, an attorney for a FLDS member. Last month, attorneys for 10 indicted Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints members filed motions to suppress evidence involving 19 charges related to underage marriage and child abuse. The motions allege that Texas Rangers misled 51st District Court Judge Barbara Walther into issuing a pair of search warrants that authorized last year's raid on the polygamous sect's Schleicher County compound. In identical 61-page motions to suppress evidence - with 300-plus more pages of evidence and attachments - the attorneys accuse Texas Ranger Lt. Brooks Long of failing to provide Walther key details that would have undermined the credibility of the initial phone calls that led to the raid. Texas authorities raided the ranch in April 2008. The raid led to the largest child custody case in the nation's history. Goldstein outlined many of those claims during a hearing this morning, which continues this afternoon. "I will show the court you were misled," he told Walther. Among his arguments, Goldstein said Walther was not told there had been a history of false claims made against some ranch residents by disenfranchised sect members such as Flora Jessop, who wrote a book about her experiences as a wife in a polygamous marriage. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Trial delayed for suspected FLDS 'Sarah' | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Ben Winslow Deseret News Originally published Wednesday, May 13, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A jury trial in Colorado for the woman declared a "person of interest" in the phone call that sparked the raid on the Fundamentalist LDS Church's YFZ Ranch has been delayed again. During a hearing in a Colorado Springs court on Wednesday, court records show the trial for Rozita Swinton, 34, on a charge unrelated to the Texas raid was vacated and rescheduled to begin Aug. 31. Swinton is charged with a misdemeanor count of false reporting, accusing her of pretending to be a sexually abused teenage girl in Colorado Springs who was chained in a basement. Swinton is also facing a probation violation charge in the Denver suburb of Castle Rock, stemming from her conviction on a similar false reporting charge there. A hearing is scheduled there next week. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UPDATE: FLDS hearing recessed until Thursday | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By MATT PHINNEY San Angelo Standard-Times Originally published May 13, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A hearing on whether to suppress information taken from the YFZ Ranch in Eldorado was abruptly recessed until 9 a.m. Thursday morning. 51st District Court Judge Barbara had asked Attorney Gerry Goldstein how long it would take to pare down two large notebooks full of information to what she called the specifics. She then called a 10-minute break so Goldstein could talk with the rest of the defendants' attorneys. At one point during the break, all the attorneys for the defendants, as well as the state's attorneys, left the courtroom. A few minutes later the court bailiff made the announcement calling for the recess. During the day's hearing, Goldstein said law enforcement agents left out key pieces of information when seeking a search warrant to the 1,700-acre ranch that ultimately let to the removal of more than 400 children from the property. Assistant Attorney General Eric Nichols said any omission did not meet the burden of proof to suppress evidence taken from the ranch. Last month, attorneys for 10 indicted Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints members filed motions to suppress evidence involving 19 charges related to underage marriage and child abuse. The motions allege that Texas Rangers misled 51st District Court Judge Barbara Walther into issuing a pair of search warrants that authorized last year's raid on the polygamous sect's Schleicher County compound. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FLDS members say state acted in haste with raid | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Matt Phinney San Angelo Standard-Times Originally published Wednesday, May 13, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| There was a systematic failure by law enforcement to check vital information when seeking a search warrant to enter the YFZ Ranch last April, said the lead attorney for a group of Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints members at a hearing in Tom Green County courthouse Wednesday. In response, the state’s attorney argued there was an abundance of evidence for law enforcement to have probable cause to enter the ranch. Those arguments could continue today after 51st District Judge Barbara Walther recessed the hearing on a motion to suppress evidence taken from the ranch. Attorneys for 10 indicted FLDS members filed motions to suppress evidence involving 19 charges related to underage marriage and child abuse. The motions allege that Texas Rangers misled Walther into issuing a pair of search warrants that authorized last year’s raid on the polygamous sect’s Schleicher County compound. In identical motions to suppress, the attorneys accuse Texas Ranger Lt. Brooks Long of failing to provide Walther key details that would have undermined the credibility of the initial phone calls that led to the raid, which resulted in the state removing more than 400 children from the YFZ Ranch. Gerald Goldstein, who acted as lead attorney for the sect members at the hearing, said law enforcement told Walther they were looking for one girl at the ranch, while at the same time preparing buses, shelter and more than 100 law enforcement officers to search the entire ranch. He said he didn’t think they were really looking for just one girl on the ranch. "If they were telling you they were looking for one person, then why are they going out for buses?" he asked. "It wasn’t real, what they were telling you." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dale Barlow expected to take stand at FLDS-related trial | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Dave Hawkins, Special to the Standard-Times San Angelo Standard-Times Originally published Wednesday, May 13, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dale Barlow, who was the target of the bogus allegations upon which the Texas YFZ search was based, was the only Arizona witness expected to testify in the suppression hearing that started Wednesday morning in San Angelo. Barlow, 51, is a resident of Colorado City, the northern Arizona community that, along with neighboring Hildale, in southern Utah, is where the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is based. Late Tuesday, Barlow appeared before Mohave County Superior Court Judge Steve Conn in Kingman, Ariz. Barlow told the court he had no objection and would cooperate with the subpoena to appear as a witness in the Texas suppression hearing at the Tom Green County courthouse. Barlow remains on probation for an Arizona sex offense conviction, but Conn waived an out-of-state travel prohibition to let Barlow attend the proceedings in San Angelo. Barlow pleaded guilty in August 2007 to conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor. Mohave County Attorney Matt Smith said Barlow was legally married to another woman when he engaged in sexual relations with an underage girl who was assigned to him as a "spiritual wife" as part of the FLDS polygamous practice and custom. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FLDS want documents found in raid suppressed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Michelle Roberts The Associated Press Deseret News Originally published Wednesday, May 13, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SAN ANGELO, Texas — Authorities leveraged a fake abuse claim to justify a massive raid of a polygamist sect's ranch when their true purpose was to persecute an unpopular religious group, attorneys for 10 indicted members of the FLDS Church said Wednesday. "You were misled," attorney Gerald Goldstein told District Judge Barbara Walther at a hearing on the defendants' motion to suppress evidence seized in the April 2008 raid. Walther issued the search warrant allowing the raid. Goldstein said an investigator failed to check the veracity of the domestic abuse hot line calls prompting the raid and failed to disclose previous false calls and other information that might have caused Walther to refuse to issue the warrant. "Omissions rise to the level of misleading if they would affect the court's decision-making," Goldstein said. State prosecutors said law enforcement had probable cause to search the Yearning For Zion Ranch last year and that the evidence, including documents that list plural and underage marriages and pregnancies among sect girls, should not be suppressed. Twelve members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints have been indicted on charges including sexual assault of a child and bigamy since the April 2008 raid, in which more than 400 sect children were temporarily swept into custody. The suppression motion covers all but jailed sect leader Warren Jeffs, who awaits trial in Arizona on charges of being accomplice to rape, and a sect member who faces only misdemeanor charges. Any decision to suppress some of the evidence could hurt the state's case because sect women and girls have been reluctant to testify, even in secret grand jury proceedings. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Woman Offers 'HOPE' After Polygamy Life | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Reporting: Rick Sallinger CBS 4 - Denver Written for the Web by CBS4 Special Projects Producer Libby Smith Originally broadcast May 13, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| DENVER (CBS4) -- In the remote lands along the Arizona/Utah border, there are small close-knit communities practicing a 100-year tradition that is forbidden - polygamy. The area is home to the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints or the FLDS. Removed from mainstream America, residents here live simple lives made complicated by a practice they feel is deeply religious but also illegal. "My father had 19 wives and 75 children. There were 11 mothers growing up in my house when I was growing up and about 30 kids," said former FLDS member Sara Hammon. Hammon's father was one of the driving forces behind the FLDS in an area called Short Creek, near the twin cities of Hildale, Utah and Colorado City, Arizona. Hammon's father eventually formed a splinter group, but she says all was not well at home. "In my situation, there was a lot of sexual abuse ... physical, emotional, psychological, just about the whole gamut of abuses going on," Hammon told CBS4. When Hammon was engaged to be married at age 14, she fled the church. Now she's on the board of an organization called HOPE that helps other women leave. "I do have an issue making little girls marry older men against their will. I have an issue kicking the boys out so the numbers work out so men can have five wives," said Elaine Tyler, founder of HOPE. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FLDS ranch leader hit with child support demand | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Ben Winslow Deseret News Originally published Thursday, May 14, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A best-selling author and the ex-wife of the leader of the Fundamentalist LDS Church's YFZ Ranch is demanding child support for their eight children. In a petition filed in a Texas court, Carolyn Jessop is asking a judge to order Frederick Merril Jessop to pay child support, health insurance, private school expenses, day care, therapy, attorney's fees and other expenses. "The children have been in the possession of petitioner (Carolyn Jessop) continually since the date the parties ceased living together," Carolyn Jessop's attorney, Natalie Malonis, wrote in court documents obtained by the Deseret News on Wednesday. Two of Jessop's children, Arthur Jessop and Betty Jane Jessop, are over 18. Malonis wrote that in their case, Carolyn Jessop "is seeking only retroactive child support for the time prior to the children reaching the age of majority." For Carolyn Jessop's 9-year-old son, who is disabled, she is demanding child support indefinitely. "Petitioner requests the court to order (Frederick Merril Jessop) to obtain and maintain a life insurance policy payable to petitioner (Carolyn Jessop) for the benefit of the children to be applied toward respondent's support obligation under the child support order in the event of respondent's death," Malonis wrote. Interestingly, Malonis was the court-appointed attorney for FLDS leader Warren Jeffs' daughter Teresa during a contentious court battle during the custody case involving 439 children from the Utah-based polygamous sect. She attempted to depose Frederick Merril Jessop to glean information about the FLDS Church's financial situation as part of that case. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FLDS lawyers continue argument that judge was deceived | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Matt Phinney San Angelo Standard-Times Originally published May 14, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A hearing today in the Tom Green County courthouse involving a motion to suppress evidence taken from the YFZ Ranch near Eldorado during a state raid in April 2008 recessed for lunch with little new information being presented. The hearing is in its second day. Gerald Goldstein, lead attorney on behalf of 10 indicted Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints members, presented 25 points he said were omitted by law enforcement when they sought a search warrant to enter the ranch. The points were taken from two large notebooks Goldstein presented to 51st District Judge Barbara Walther on Wednesday afternoon. Before calling for a recess Wednesday, Walther asked Goldstein to pare the notebooks' content down to the most important information. Goldstein said this morning that he believes the true agenda for law enforcement was to "bring people off the ranch" and not just look for one girl. He said that if allowed he would call Rev. Andy Anderson from the First Baptist Church of Eldorado to testify that Anderson was asked for use of the church's buses before law enforcement entered the ranch. Girls eventually were taken off the ranch in those buses. "They were looking for an excuse to go to the ranch," Goldstein said. Other defense attorneys were about to speak before Walther called a recess for lunch. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Walther expected to rule Friday on hearing to suppress evidence | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Matt Phinney San Angelo Standard-Times Originally published May 14, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Attorneys for 10 indicted Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints members said Thursday they have met the burden of proof and deserve a hearing to suppress evidence taken in a raid of the YFZ Ranch. Late Thursday afternoon, 51st District Judge Barbara Walther recessed a preliminary hearing and is expected to rule Friday morning whether there will be a hearing to suppress the evidence. Defense attorneys have said key information was left out of affidavits seeking a search warrant to the ranch. The information could have led Walther not to sign the search warrant, they said. Mark Stevens, who represents Raymond Jessop, said omissions deserve the same treatment as falsehoods when looking at suppressing evidence. A hearing would allow attorneys to call witnesses, who then could be cross-examined. "We won't have to talk about what witnesses might say," he told Walther. "We can get to the truth." Attorneys for the defendants filed motions to suppress evidence involving 19 charges related to underage marriage and child abuse. The motions allege that Texas Rangers misled Walther into issuing a pair of search warrants that authorized last year's raid on the polygamous sect's Schleicher County compound, which resulted in the removal of more than 400 children. In identical motions to suppress, the attorneys accuse Texas Ranger Lt. Brooks Long of failing to provide Walther key details that would have undermined the credibility of the initial phone calls that led to the raid. The caller claimed to be Sarah Jessop Barlow, a pregnant 16-year-old mother of an 8-month-old child. The caller alleged she was being sexually and physically abused by her 50-year-old husband, whom she identified as Dale Barlow. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sect lawyers claim raid planned before warrant | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By MICHELLE ROBERTS The Associated Press Dallas Morning News Originally published May 14, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Days before law enforcement approached a judge asking for a warrant, officers began amassing enough firepower and equipment outside a polygamist sect's ranch to raid an entire village — a sign that law enforcement always intended to broaden its search beyond a single abused girl, defense attorneys said Thursday. The attorneys for 10 men from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints want a judge to throw out evidence from a pair of warrants issued after several fake phone calls to a domestic abuse hot line, saying the officers used the hoax calls as a pretext to rummage through the entire 1,700-acre Yearning For Zion Ranch. State prosecutors deny that, saying officers legitimately believed at the time that a 16-year-old pregnant girl was in danger. When the officers requested the warrant in April 2008, "there is a genuine belief by law enforcement that there is a victim of child and sexual abuse," said Assistant Attorney General Eric Nichols, who is leading the state's case. Defense attorney Gerald Goldstein acknowledged that he had no direct evidence showing Texas Ranger Brooks Long, who requested the warrant, or other law enforcement knew the calls were a hoax, but he contends there were details that should have raised suspicions and should have at least been shared with Texas District Judge Barbara Walther before she issued the warrant. Goldstein said the actions of law enforcement seem to belie their stated intent — to look for a girl and her abusive husband — because officers, buses, food, heavy equipment and a shutdown of the airspace over the ranch were being requested days before Walther was approached for a warrant. "Why would you need buses to bring two people off the ranch?" Goldstein said. Nichols said law enforcement routinely prepares in the event that a request warrant is issued. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Polygamy Practiced Openly In American Towns | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Reporting: Rick Sallinger CBS 4 - Denver Written for the Web by CBS4 Special Projects Producer Libby Smith Originally broadcast May 14, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| COLORADO CITY, Ariz. (CBS4) -- In a remote area along the Arizona-Utah border there are twin towns where polygamy is practiced openly. Men have multiple wives and in many cases dozens of children. The lifestyle is common among residents in Colorado City, Arizona and Hildale, Utah. Many of the residents have lived much of their lives as members of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints, or the FLDS. The church teaches that a man needs at least three wives to get to highest level of heaven. Some residents have left the church but still practice the polygamist lifestyle. "How big is your family?" CBS4 Investigator Rick Sallinger asked Marvin Wyler, a practicing polygamist. "34 children," Wyler replied. "How many grandchildren?" Sallinger continued. "110 is approximate, it changes every year," Wyler responded. Wyler is a former member of the FLDS. He's now a member of a different polygamous sect. At one time he had 3 wives, one passed away. Now he maintains homes with two wives. CBS4 visited the home of Wyler keeps with Charlette Chatwin. "Is there any difference between your wife here and your wife there? Are they perfectly equal?" Sallinger asked Wyler. "Yeah, they are both perfectly wonderful people added to my home," Wyler responded. His wives have also added dozens of children to his home. One of the tenants of the polygamist lifestyle is to pro-create which members interpret as a need to have as many children as possible. "I would never use contraceptics and I would take as many as the Lord gave me," Charlette Chatwin told CBS4. "How many did you have?" Sallinger asked her. "I had 16," she replied. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Texas Ranger questioned by FLDS attorney | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Jennifer Rios San Angelo Standard-Times Originally published Friday, May 15, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Attorneys continued interviewing the first witness of the day at noon Friday in a pretrial hearing in the Tom Green County courthouse to determine whether to suppress evidence in the criminal proceedings against 10 members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. After two days of presentations from attorneys, 51st District Judge Barbara Walther this morning decided to hear testimony from witnesses. Attorneys for the 10 sect members who stand accused of 19 counts involving allegations of underage marriage and child abuse have argued that the search warrant issued by Walther for the April 2008 raid on their Schleicher County compound, the YFZ Ranch, was based on incomplete information presented to the judge by state authorities. Material seized from that raid is the evidence under question. Defense attorneys have said key information was left out of affidavits from law enforcement when they sought a search warrant to enter the ranch, and they are calling for all evidence collected under the warrant to be suppressed. A short recess was called this morning while three witnesses were summoned to court - Sheriff Doran and Texas Rangers Phillip Kemp and Lt. Long. Texas Ranger Lt. Brooks Long was called to the stand, where lead defense attorney Gerald Goldstein questioned him on whether information was withheld from 51st District Judge Barbara Walther when authorities were seeking a search warrant for the YFZ Ranch last year. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Battle of FLDS, state attorneys continues | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Jennifer Rios San Angelo Standard-Times Originally published Friday, May 15, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints case is back to a grueling pace in a Tom Green County courthouse. Lots of testimony. Lots of speeches. But little progress on what will happen next in 10 criminal cases stemming from the raid of the Yearning for Zion Ranch in April 2008. "I thought I made myself clear at 9 a.m.," 51st District Judge Barbara Walther said Friday morning, as she asked attorneys to bring forth "actual evidence — not arguments — to support your case." Even so, as day three of a preliminary hearing dragged forward Walther was still deep in a legal battle between the state Attorney General Office and FLDS attorneys. Walther called a recess to Friday’s marathon hearing about 10:15 p.m. It started at 9 a.m. with anticipation of an early morning ruling. The hearing will resume at 8:30 a.m. today. Attorneys for 10 men in the polygamist sect who face charges want Walther to throw out evidence gathered on the basis of a pair of search warrants issued for the raid that led to the removal of more than 400 children from the ranch near Eldorado. That raid included removal of masses of documents and digital records. The FLDS attorneys argue that law enforcement intentionally omitted information while seeking the warrants from Walther. Texas Ranger Lt. Brook Long testified Friday that authorities had to act on a call they received about abuse at the YFZ Ranch, discovering only later that the call was a hoax. "We did not know that (the call was a hoax). We thought it was happening," Long said. "We had a duty to act." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Authorities deny calls were pretext for Texas raid | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Michelle Roberts The Associated Press Deseret News Originally published Friday, May 15, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SAN ANGELO, Texas — Law enforcement officers denied Friday they used fake calls to a domestic abuse hot line as a pretext to raid a polygamist sect's ranch or that they prepared to rummage through the entire complex before a search warrant was issued. Texas Ranger Brooks Long and Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran both testified in the third day of a hearing on whether evidence gathered in the raid should be excluded from the trials of 10 men from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The men face charges including sexual assault of a child and bigamy stemming from the raid last April. Attorneys for the defendants, all of the sect men charged except jailed leader Warren Jeffs and a member only facing a misdemeanor charge, have accused law enforcement of failing to check the veracity of the hot line calls because the state wanted an excuse to rummage through the ranch. But Long testified Friday that the caller, now believed to be a Colorado woman with a history of mental illness and false calls to law enforcement, was believable at the time and hot line workers were convinced she was a 16-year-old mother who was being abused at the ranch. "They totally believed this was going on and that this girl was in danger," Long said. He and Doran also denied allegations by the FLDS lawyers that they had planned for a giant raid even though the initial search warrant only gave them authority to look for the girl, her baby and her husband. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Polygamy Part of Religious Lifestyle | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Reporting: Rick Sallinger CBS 4 - Denver Written for the Web by CBS4 Special Projects Producer Libby Smith Originally broadcast May 15, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| COLORADO CITY, Ariz. (CBS4) -- It's been more than a year since authorities raided the Texas compound of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints or FLDS. Police believed that under-age marriage and abuse was happening on the compound and they removed all the women and children. Families have been reunited now, and many of them are moving back to the Church's base along the Utah-Arizona border. Driving through the twin cities of Colorado City, Arizona and Hildale, Utah is like stepping back in time. Residents wear conservative, handmade clothing, The men, women and children are covered from neck to ankle - a sign of modesty, respect and devotion to God. "I had a little girl come up to me and say, 'You don't believe in the Prophet'. She was probably 6-years-old. I said, 'Why?' 'You're not wearing long underwear'," said former FLDS member Dawna Bastline. These towns were founded by polygamist leaders. Marrying multiple wives is one tenet of the FLDS. The Church teaches that men must have at least 3 wives to reach the highest levels of heaven. The religion also extends to every aspect of life. FLDS children are home schooled. Church leaders banned dogs after a child was bitten. Television is also banned. "My dad got a call...'You got a TV in your home? Get rid of it. No questions, no nothing. Get rid of it now'," Bistline told CBS4. "They don't allow them to go to the movies. They don't allow them to listen to music. They don't allow them to have extra-curricular activities - basketball, baseball, whatever," explained Michelle Chatwin, a former FLDS member's wife. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Judge imposes time limit as FLDS bid to get evidence hearing moves into fourth day | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Michael Kelly San Angelo Standard-Times Originally published Saturday, May 16, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In Courtroom A on the second floor of the Tom Green County courthouse, attorneys for 10 members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints continued this morning to press their case to get a hearing to suppress evidence that might be used against their clients, who are accused of crimes involving underage marriage and child abuse. It is the fourth day of the session, and 51st District Judge Barbara Walther opened proceedings by imposing a time limit. "One hour per side per witness," she said. Defense attorney Kent Schaffer called Texas Ranger Sgt. Phillp Kemp, who confirmed information in reports regarding Rosita Swinton, the woman now known to have made the hoax call to a San Angelo shelter for battered women that ultimately led to the April 3, 2008, raid on the polygamous sect's Yearning for Zion Ranch. In addition to removing more than 400 children from the ranch on fears that they were in danger of sexual abuse, authorities also took out masses of documents and digital records, some of which could become evidence in the criminal cases against the 10 members facing charges. Their attorneys are seeking a hearing to argue that the evidence was obtained on a search warrant based on a hoax and therefore can't be admitted at trial. Kemp acknowledged in brief answers to Schaffer's lengthy questions that cell phone records obtained after the raid showed an array of calls from four cell phone numbers traced to Swinton, who lives in Colorado Springs, Colo., including calls to NewBridge Family Shelter in San Angelo, a shelter in Everett, Wash., and former sect member Flora Jessop in the days before the raid. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hearing on polygamist case ends after 4 days | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By MICHELLE ROBERTS The Associated Press Houston Chronicle Originally published May 16, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SAN ANTONIO — A hearing on whether documents, family photos and other evidence seized at a polygamist group's West Texas ranch should be excluded from the trials of sect men accused of bigamy and underage marriages concluded Saturday, but no decision was made. Texas District Judge Barbara Walther took a fourth day of testimony and argument in San Angelo on Saturday but gave attorneys on both sides time to submit closing arguments in writing. A decision on the defense attorneys' motion to suppress the evidence is likely weeks away. Willie Jessop, a spokesman for the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, said the men were pleased to have finally had the opportunity to present evidence about the fake domestic abuse calls and the mindset of law enforcement before the raid. "We have wanted to have our day in court to show that the search warrants and the probable cause (evidence) was very misleading and deceitful," Jessop said. Attorneys for 10 men accused of crimes including bigamy and sexual assault of a child have asked Walther to suppress the 928 boxes worth of evidence seized at the Yearning For Zion Ranch in Eldorado because the initial search warrant was based on abuse calls that turned out to be fake. The defense attorneys accuse Texas Ranger Brooks Long and Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran of doing very little to check out the veracity of the calls and ignoring information that might have suggested early on that the abused girl didn't exist. The defendants say Long and Doran gathered up resources and told others that girls would likely be removed from the ranch, even before Walther signed the initial search warrant for a single 16-year-old girl, her baby and her allegedly abusive husband on April 3. Long and Doran denied that in testimony on Friday, and Assistant Attorney General Eric Nichols said in court that law enforcement believed the calls were legitimate at the time of the raid. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Written briefs OK in FLDS case | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Michael Kelly San Angelo Standard-Times Originally published Saturday, May 16, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| It’s over, but it goes on. At the end of a four-day session, concluding with an 11-hour sitting on Saturday, 51st District Judge Barbara Walther allowed attorneys from all sides in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints bid to get an evidence suppression hearing to submit written briefs in lieu of closing arguments. Walther gave the defense team 30 days and the state three weeks, giving both what they requested at the end of the proceedings. Attorneys for 10 members of the polygamous sect pressed their case to get a hearing to suppress evidence that might be used against their clients, who are accused of crimes involving underage marriage and child abuse. Walther opened the Saturday proceedings by imposing a time limit. "One hour per side per witness," she said. Defense attorney Kent Schaffer called Texas Ranger Sgt. Phillp Kemp, who confirmed information in reports regarding Rosita Swinton, the woman now known to have made the hoax call to a San Angelo shelter for battered women that ultimately led to the April 3, 2008, raid on the polygamous sect’s Yearning for Zion Ranch. In addition to removing more than 400 children from the ranch on fears they were in danger of sexual abuse, authorities also took out masses of documents and digital records, some of which could become evidence in the criminal cases against the 10 members facing charges. Their attorneys are seeking a hearing to argue that the evidence was obtained on a search warrant based on a hoax and therefore can’t be admitted at trial. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bennett already faces challengers within his own party | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Opinion The Spectrum Originally published Sunday, May 17, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| We have more than a year to go before the Nov. 2, 2010, general election. But it looks like Utah Republicans already have some choices to make in the U.S. Senate race that will culminate that day. Sen. Robert Bennett has said that he intends to seek his fourth six-year term in office. During his time in the Senate, he has helped pass a revised Washington County Lands Bill that had the rare trait of appealing to pro-growth and environmental groups alike. He has worked to bring high-speed Internet and better business practices to rural communities and served in numerous leadership roles on committees and subcommittees. He introduced legislation aimed at fixing the pending problems with Social Security funding, and in the past week he successfully engineered a delay in the confirmation of an Interior Department official because of a dispute over oil and natural gas leases in Utah. But some Republicans think he's strayed too far from the conservative base, particularly on fiscal issues. And he already has two big-named opponents. Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff announced this week, albeit accidentally, via the social networking software Twitter that he intends to run against Bennett for the Republican nomination. Also last week, Tim Bridgewater announced that he was forming an exploratory committee so that he could raise money and gauge support. By announcing so early that they intend to run for the GOP nomination, both Shurtleff and Bridgewater are giving members of their party a few things to think about. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Books: new releases | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Baltimore Sun Originally published May 17, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lost Boy by Brent W. Jeffs with Maia Szalavitz (Broadway, $24.95). Jeffs, the nephew of former (now imprisoned) president of Utah's Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (FLDS), recently filed a sexual-abuse lawsuit against his uncle. Two of his brothers, also former FLDS members, killed themselves after leaving the FLDS community. This memoir aims to help former members cross the chasm that stands between the disparate worlds of the FLDS and American society. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Supervisors to discuss potential Colorado City location | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By JIM SECKLER Mohave Daily News Originally published Sunday, May 17, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| KINGMAN - With time running out, the Mohave County supervisors will again discuss Monday whether to buy one of several Colorado City properties to house a county government facility in that town. The supervisors twice postponed a decision to purchase one of three northern Mohave County lots to house a county facility. The county public works department initially narrowed the search to two lots in Colorado City and one lot in Fredonia, about 30 miles away. After the first board meeting, the department also looked at more than a dozen other properties. The board has to decide by September. The Colorado City lots are about an acre and a half in size with one lot costing $26,200 and the slightly larger lot costing $32,200. The Fredonia lot costs about $30,000. United Effort Plan Trust, the financial arm of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, owns the two Colorado City lots. One option is to have one facility to include a sheriff's office substation, the county attorney's office and possibly the state Attorney General's Office as well as a justice court. Another option is a separate courthouse and county facility. One suggestion was to put a court facility or a satellite office in Beaver Dam because of the growth in that area. At prior board meetings, Moccasin Justice Court Judge Mitchell Kalauli and Colorado City Manager David Darger asked the board not to put the justice court in Colorado City because of the perception the court would not be fair to Colorado City defendants. The justice court currently is in Fredonia. The justice court should be a non-political entity and putting a court in Colorado City would make it a political entity because of the media attention in the polygamist community, they contend. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lost Boy | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Web-Exclusive Reviews: Week of 5/18/2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Publishers Weekly - New York, NY Originally published May 18, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Brent. W. Jeffs with Maia Szalavitz. Broadway, $24.95 (256p) ISBN 9780767931779
In this moving debut memoir, the nephew of a Mormon sect leader chronicles life in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and what came after. Among a 10,000-member Mormon community, Jeffs grew up with three mothers, more than a dozen siblings, and a deep fear of the world outside of the church. Within the secretive community, Jeffs was taught that purity came from special attention to dress, hard work, generosity and, most importantly, obedience to one’s elders (especially his uncle, the prophet Warren Jeffs). The focus of this fast-paced memoir is the sexual abuse Jeffs and his brothers endured at the hands of their relatives during church and school functions, for which he would file a class-action lawsuit in 2004. Jeffs’s descent into depression proves the beginning of the end for his relationship with the church and, consequently, with much of his family. Jeffs outlines the core beliefs of the Church, along with the oppressive ends to which they were used, and the heartbreaking fate of those church members expelled into a society they were raised to see as evil and corrupt. This hard-to-put-down, tightly woven account pulls back the curtain on what’s become a perennial news story, while illustrating the impiety of absolute power and the delicacy of innocence. (May) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| County finds new property in Colorado City | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Jayne Hanson Today's News-Herald - Lake Havasu City, AZ Originally published May 18, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| KINGMAN — The Mohave County Board of Supervisors selected a Colorado City property Monday that could possibly be the new site for the county multi-use facility left homeless earlier this year after Mohave Community College chose not to renew the previous land lease agreement. Moccasin Consolidated Court is now entwined with the relocation in question and there is a possibility the design and construction of a new court could include a handful of agencies under one roof to accommodate the county sheriff’s and county attorney’s offices. During a discussion prior to the vote, Deputy County Manager for Development and Public Works Services Mike Hendrix said 15 Realtors were consulted in regard to searching for properties suited for the relocation or possible construction of a new building to house the Mohave County Sheriff’s Department, Mohave County Attorney, and new judicial system currently operating as Moccasin Consolidated Court. Several properties located in areas including Scenic, Beaver Dam, Littlefield, Fredonia and Colorado City were recently considered for a potential location, Hendrix said. The supervisors voted unanimously for further investigation into a suitable property located one mile south of Colorado City situated very near Colorado City Municipal Airport. "It (Colorado City property) was proposed as a donation," Hendrix said. The property’s "fatal flaw" is in regard to utilities and DSL service that may not be readily available, and are necessary for the sheriff’s and county attorney’s offices operations, he said. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Board approves Colorado City location for county building | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By JIM SECKLER Mohave Daily News Originally published Monday, May 18, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| KINGMAN - The Mohave County supervisors voted Monday to pursue an Arizona Strip property to house a county government facility. The supervisors voted to proceed with obtaining a 540-acre parcel that may be donated to the county. The property is located about one mile south of Colorado City near the turn off to the airport. A government facility would take about five acres of the parcel. A septic system would have to be built on the lot, Deputy County Manager Mike Hendrix said. Again, County Manager Ron Walker said the board had to decide between a separate facility for the county and the justice court or to build one facility. District 1 Sup. Gary Watson suggested the county go ahead and negotiate the possible donation of the property to house the sheriff's office substation, the county attorney’s office and possibly the Moccasin Justice Court. Court Administrator Kip Anderson said that Presiding Superior Court Judge Randy Bartlett must approve the move of the justice court to the new site. He also said the justice court has about $500,000 plus another $100,000 from the county to build a new courthouse. Sheriff Tom Sheahan said Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard contacted him about the possibility of also housing the state Department of Economic Security in the county building. The sheriff said he would support the parcel near the airport allowing for the convenience to fly his deputies to the area. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hearing postponed for woman linked to Texas raid | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
The Associated Press Houston Chronicle Originally published May 18, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| CASTLE ROCK, Colo. — A court hearing for a woman identified as a person of interest in the calls that triggered a raid on a Texas polygamist group has been postponed until August. Rozita Swinton faces legal proceedings stemming from two false reporting cases in Colorado that are unrelated to the Texas raid. A judge in Douglas County, just south of Denver, had been set to decide Monday whether to revoke Swinton's probation there because she now faces charges in Colorado Springs. The judge decided to delay a decision until Aug. 20, after the Colorado Springs case is expected to be resolved. Swinton has entered a plea of "not guilty, mental condition impaired" in that case. In Douglas County, Swinton was put on probation after telling police she was a 16-year-old girl who was suicidal after giving birth. She faces jail time if found guilty of violating her probation. Texas authorities raided the Yearning for Zion Ranch in Texas in April 2008 following hot line calls alleging abuse that turned out to be fake. Swinton was named a person of interest in the calls shortly after the raid. Authorities say the calls were made from a phone number linked to Swinton. However, she has not been charged with any crime in Texas. Ten men from the ranch accused of crimes including bigamy and sexual assault on a child are seeking to have evidence taken during the raid thrown out because the initial search warrant was based on fake calls. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Former Colo. Officer Helped Prosecute Polygamists | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Reporting: Rick Sallinger CBS 4 - Denver Originally broadcast Monday, May 18, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| COLORADO CITY, Ariz. (CBS4) -- A year since the Texas raid that drew nationwide attention, the polygamist church, the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints or FLDS, remains under fire. Ten men in Texas are awaiting trial on charges of bigamy and sexual assault. FLDS leader Warren Jeffs is awaiting trial in Arizona following his sentencing in Utah. And now a former law enforcement officer from Colorado is playing a key role in prosecuting members of the church. Gary Engles was a sheriff's deputy in Adams County, an officer in Golden and also Silverthorne. Now his territory includes the polygamist towns of the FLDS. His base is Colorado City, Ariz., home to the polygamous sect -- the FLDS. The church's prophet, Jeffs, is now behind bars after being convicted in Utah of rape as an accomplice for arranging an underage marriage. Engles played a key role in the investigation of Jeffs and numerous other FLDS members who have been successfully prosecuted. CBS4's Rick Sallinger paid a visit to Engles and asked him how popular he thinks he is in Colorado City. "I think I could probably rank up there with one of the most hated people here," Engles said. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| County considers office site near polygamous town | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
The Associated Press KSWT-TV - Yuma, Arizona Originally published May 19, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| KINGMAN, Ariz. (AP) - Mohave County officials are looking into a parcel of land just south of a remote polygamous town to house government satellite offices. The county began searching for a new property after a 5-year lease it had on the Mohave Community College campus in Colorado City expired last month. The Mohave County Board of Supervisors voted Monday to consider a site one mile south of Colorado City near the airport that possibly could be donated to the county. County spokesman Darryle Purcell says options for other sites aren't off the table. But he says this one is favorable because it would save taxpayers money. Some Colorado City residents have objected to the presence of the county sheriff's department and other officials in their town. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Board moves closer on new Colorado City facility | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Suzanne Adams Kingman Daily Miner Originally published Wednesday, May 20, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| KINGMAN - The county could be closer to a new location for a new court and county office building in the Arizona Strip area. The Board of Supervisors unanimously approved county staff to discuss the possibility of donating or purchasing a parcel of land near Colorado City. Mike Hendrix, deputy county manager for Development and Public Works Services, brought several new sites for a new location for county offices and/or a new justice court in the Arizona Strip area to the Board of Supervisors Monday. Hendrix also notified the Board that the fiduciary for the United Effort Plan Trust warned him that land owned by the trust might not be available to the county because of pending litigation the trust was going through. The UEP Trust controls most of the land owned by Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The group is currently protesting the sale of 700 acres of property they consider sacred along the Arizona/Utah border in court. Supervisor Gary Watson expressed interest in a particular parcel located about one mile south of Colorado City and east of the airport on Cane Beds Road. He particularly liked the idea that it was located in close proximity to the airport, which would make it easier for travel. According to County Assessor's Office records, the property is more than 539 acres in size. The county would only need about five to 10 acres. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| New research: media trying with LDS stories | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Joel Campbell Mormon Times - Salt Lake City, Utah Originally published Wednesday, May 20, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| New research on Mormons and media show that media are making attempts to distinguish between FLDS and LDS. Other research shows the polarization that often occurs in Utah media over controversial issues, in this case the cancellation of the movie "Brokeback Mountain" in some Utah theaters in 2006. A new study of newspaper coverage after the FLDS raid in Texas shows that of the 145 Spanish- and English-language articles from U.S. and international newspapers, just more than half explicitly distinguished between the LDS and FLDS, about 44 percent implicitly distinguished between the two churches and one article confused the two. Writing in Dialogue, researchers Ryan T. Cragun and Michael Nielsen conclude with this statement: "This paper detailed the two definitions of the label 'Mormon' used by the media. Until an alternative label for religions that trace their ancestry back to Joseph Smith is proposed and widely accepted, it is likely that the label 'Mormon' will continue to be used to refer to all such groups. While introducing a small amount of confusion for the uninformed reader, the use of that label does reflect the reality of a shared history and many shared beliefs. Despite the efforts of the LDS Church to claim 'Mormon' as its own, the fight over 'Mormon' will continue for the foreseeable future." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Motion in FLDS case in Texas called long shot | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Dave Hawkins/Special to the Standard-Times San Angelo Standard-Times Originally published Wednesday, May 20, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tucson attorney Mike Piccarreta believes a motion to suppress evidence seized during April 2008 raids on the Yearning for Zion ranch near Eldorado stands a better chance of being granted in Arizona than in Texas. Piccarreta in Arizona is defending Warren Jeffs, the head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the polygamous sect that owns the YFZ ranch where hundreds of women and children were rounded up in an investigation prompted by a sex offense allegation that was later proved to be a hoax. Jeffs, 52, awaits trial in Kingman, Ariz., on charges of sexual conduct with a minor, offenses he allegedly facilitated by arranging FLDS spiritual marriages between two underage girls and their legally married adult relatives. Piccarreta filed a motion in September arguing that the Texas search was illegal and that any evidence seized at the YFZ should not be used in the prosecution of Jeffs in Arizona. Attorneys for 10 members of the polygamous sect during a four-day session last week attempted to persuade 51st District Judge Barbara Walther that they deserve a hearing to argue that evidence that might be used against their clients who are accused in Texas of crimes involving underage marriages and child abuse should be suppressed. Walther is awaiting written briefs from the attorneys and the state before issuing a ruling. Noting that Walther signed the warrant for the YFZ search, Piccarreta said he’s skeptical that she’d essentially reverse that decision by granting the suppression motion. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Shurtleff fears litigation 'war' over FLDS trust | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Ben Winslow Deseret News Originally published Thursday, May 21, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| All sides in the fight over the Fundamentalist LDS Church's real-estate holdings arm will meet one last time Friday in an effort to settle the legal battle. But if they're unsuccessful, Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff fears it will be an all-out "war." "We've got to do one more, last try at this thing," Shurtleff said in an interview with the Deseret News shortly after announcing his run for U.S. Senate. "Otherwise we'll be in litigation and those people will be at war for the next five years. This is the last time to take things into our own hands and resolve this issue without just enriching the lawyers. Hopefully, they'll do it." Last month, all sides met in an effort to negotiate a settlement to the myriad lawsuits filed over the multimillion-dollar UEP Trust, which controls homes, businesses and property in the polygamous enclaves of Hildale, Utah; Colorado City, Ariz.; and Bountiful, British Columbia, Canada. Talks went on for days but resulted in no settlement. "We're still trying," said Bruce Wisan, the court-appointed special fiduciary. The specifics of the negotiations — including the sticking points — are being kept confidential. "From our perspective the question is whether all the interested parties will confirm the major points already agreed to and move from there to hammer out the remaining details," FLDS attorney Stephen Clark said in an e-mail Thursday. "The FLDS Church is prepared to do that. Unfortunately, it seems other parties may not be as focused on moving forward and may in fact be backtracking, trying to undo the progress made and re-negotiate matters already addressed. I think it will be up to the Attorney General to show leadership in keeping the forward momentum and not allowing things to regress." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Order halts park renovation | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Construction company accuses BHC of violating state law | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By NEIL YOUNG Mohave Daily News Originally published Thursday, May 21, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| BULLHEAD CITY - Work on the new Community Park ramada has come to a grinding halt. Wednesday, Mohave County Superior Court Division 1 Judge Charles Gurtler issued a temporary restraining order on behalf of Pueblo Construction to stop work on the project. The action results from the city's awarding a bid to Tonto Supply, Inc. of Colorado City to replace the ramada and construct new restrooms. The project was approved by voters in 2007 when they passed the AEL (Alternative Expenditure Limitation) initiative. After the contract with Tonto was signed, the state of Arizona "swept," or took away, a grant previously awarded to Bullhead City which would have paid for sewer improvements as part of the restroom phase of the project. The city council approved a "change order" April 7, amending the contract to remove the restrooms from the project. Pueblo owner Larry Adams protested the action at a city council meeting and City Manager Tim Ernster denied the protest. Adams returned to the council chamber Tuesday with two attorneys in tow: local attorney Dan Oehler and Joshua Grabel, from Snell and Wilmer of Phoenix. In an attempt to convince them to reverse Ernster's decision, Grabel told council members the city is in violation of state law. "An amended contract is a material change," he said. "If it's distinct or different from the original contract it must be put out to bid again." Bullhead City Attorney Kent Foree argued the project had not changed. "It's the same project," he said. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Inside Warren Jeffs' Polygamous Group | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Read an Excerpt of 'Lost Boy' Below. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Good Morning America ABC News Originally published May 21, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Former Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints member Brent Jeffs details his life inside the polygamous sect in "Lost Boy." Brent Jeffs, who is the nephew of imprisoned FLDS leader Warren Jeffs, walked away from the religious group in which he grew up because it hid a dark reality. He was the first to file a sexual abuse lawsuit against his uncle, and in his book, he discusses how in FLDS girls are valued property, but boys are expendable. Read an excerpt of this book below and check out more interesting titles in the "GMA" Library.
Heaven or Hell Every child believes he's special. But when you are number ten of twenty, with three "sister-mothers" — two of whom are full-blooded sisters — and a grandfather whom thousands of people believe speaks directly to God, it can be hard to figure out what "special" really means. All told, I have roughly sixty-five aunts and uncles on my dad's side and twenty-two on my mom's — with probably thousands of cousins. In families as large as mine, even keeping track of your own siblings — let alone cousins and aunts and uncles — is difficult. As a grandson of Rulon Jeffs and nephew of Warren Jeffs, it once seemed that I was destined for high honor in the FLDS. My family had what our church called "royal blood." We were direct descendants of our prophet through my father's line. My mother, too, is the child of a prophet, who split from our group in 1978 to lead his own polygamous sect. When I was little, my family was favored, in the church's elite. I was assured that there was a place for me in the highest realms of heaven and at least three wives for me right here on earth once I attained the Melchizedek priesthood. I was in a chosen family in a chosen people, visiting sacred land near end times. I would one day become a god, ruling over my own spinning world. So why would I ever abandon such status and rank? In the world of the FLDS, things are not always what they seem. The shiny, smiling surfaces often hide a world of rot and pain. And even royal blood and being born male can't protect you from sudden changes in its convoluted power structure. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Warren Jeffs' Nephew Breaks Silence | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Hannity Fox News Originally broadcast Thursday, May 21, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
SEAN HANNITY, HOST: It has been two years since fundamentalist polygamist leader Warren Jeffs headed to jail for marrying off a minor to her own cousin. But his acts of terror are still being brought to light by the people who trusted him the most.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) HANNITY (voice-over): These were the images the world saw of an insulated community rocked by horrific abuse at the hands of a man who calls himself a prophet. In 2007, Warren Jeffs, the leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was sentenced to two terms of five years to life after being convicted of forcing a child into marriage. It was that sentencing that would mark the close of one man's bitter battle against his own uncle and the church that he once belonged to. In his new book, "Lost Boy," Brent Jeffs opens up about his life in the FLDS community and how he helped bring down his uncle, Warren Jeffs. Brent grew up in a polygamist family with three mothers and over 20 brothers and sisters. He recounts hours of brain-washing church services, the strict rules on what you could wear, and how you could and could not act. He reveals that they would even receive death threats that God would strike them down if anyone didn't follow the prophet's decrease. But although the crimes against young girls and women were exposed after his conviction, the history of the FLDS, quote, "lost boys" stayed underground. In the book, Brent Jeffs opens up about his molestation, starting at the age of 5, at the hands of his own uncle, a ritual that he would later come to finds out was performed on many boys in the church. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Watch the FOX News Hannity interview of Brent Jeffs on May 21, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Negotiations underway again over FLDS trust | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
The Associated Press ABC 4 News Originally published May 22, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Lawyers and leaders of a southern Utah polygamous church have resumed settlement talks in a lengthy battle over a land trust. The United Effort Plan trust holds most of the land and homes in Hildale, Utah and Colorado City, Ariz., the twin border towns controlled by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The FLDS believe communal living is a religious principal and formed the trust to share church members' assets. The Utah courts seized the trust in 2005 after state attorneys argued that church president Warren Jeffs had mismanaged its assets. Three days of settlement talks in April ended with no deal. Talks resumed Friday. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Negotiations on polygamous trust hit a final snag | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Jennifer Dobner The Associated Press Deseret News Originally published Friday, May 22, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| State attorneys, a court appointed fiduciary and leaders of a southern Utah polygamous church failed to wrap up a settlement Friday in a long battle over a land trust seized after allegations of mismanagement. After 10 hours of talks at the Utah Capitol, negotiators quit for the day, saying they were unable to resolve a final issue on the United Effort Plan Trust. Confidentiality rules prohibit anyone from disclosing specifics. "It's a significant issue, and we seem to be quite a ways apart," said Bruce Wisan, the court-appointed accountant who has managed the trust since 2005. "I thought we were close, and then it changed." Three days of settlement talks in April, involving leaders of the Fundamentalist LDS Church, Wisan, the attorneys general of Utah and Arizona also ended without a deal. The UEP Trust holds most of the land and homes in Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., the twin border towns long controlled by the FLDS. Church members consider communal living a religious principle and formed the trust in the 1940s to benefit all who kept the tenets of the church. The Utah courts seized the trust after state attorneys argued that church president Warren Jeffs and other church leaders had mismanaged its assets by, among other things, failing to respond to civil lawsuits from 2004 that left it vulnerable to liquidation. The parties are scheduled to appear in 3rd District Court next week to update Judge Denise Lindberg on the progress toward a settlement. "From the trust's perspective, we think the deal that had been put on the table was very generous," said Wisan. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Negotiations on polygamous hit a final snag | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
The Associated Press ABC 4 News Originally published May 22, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - State attorneys, a court-appointed fiduciary and leaders of a southern Utah polygamous church wrapped up 12 hours at the negotiating table Friday with split opinions about resolving a dispute over control of a land trust. Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff said the sides were "close," while fiduciary Bruce Wisan said there was still an unresolved issue and the sides were "quite a ways apart." At stake is the United Effort Plan Trust, which holds most of the land and homes in Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., twin border towns long controlled by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Church members consider communal living a religious principle and formed the trust in the 1940s to benefit all who kept the tenets of the church. The Utah courts seized the trust after state attorneys argued that church president Warren Jeffs and other church leaders had mismanaged its assets by, among other things, failing to respond to civil lawsuits from 2004 that left it vulnerable to liquidation. The parties are scheduled to appear in 3rd District Court next week to update Judge Denise Lindberg on the progress toward a settlement. Confidentiality rules prohibit anyone from disclosing specifics. "I think all sides have come a long way," Shurtleff said. "We're still trying to get everybody to agree so we can all go together to the judge." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| B.C. men charged with polygamy plead not guilty | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun Originally published May 22, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| VANCOUVER -- Winston Blackmore and James Oler — the two B.C. men charged with a single count each of practicing polygamy — both pleaded not guilty and elected trial by judge and jury. Both men are fundamentalist Mormon leaders from Bountiful who believe that a man needs multiply wives to enter the highest realm of heaven. Their beliefs diverged from the mainstream Mormon church in 1890 when the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints renounced the practice of polygamy. The next stage is a preliminary inquiry in Cranbrook. A date has yet to be set, but special prosecutor Terry Robertson expects it will be in late fall and could take up to 20 days. However, the whole process could still be derailed by Blackmore’s unusual application to the B.C. Supreme Court that will be heard June 29 and 30. Justice Sunni Stromberg-Stein has been asked to either: stay the criminal charge because of what Blackmore’s lawyer Joe Arvay says has been an abuse of process; or stay the charge unless the provincial government agrees to pay the legal costs for Blackmore’s team of lawyers at the same rate that Robertson and his team are being paid. For the first part, Arvay will argue that Attorney General Wally Oppal interfered because he went against the recommendations of his ministry staff, legal opinions given by two retired and respected judges more than a decade ago, and more recent opinions given by two special prosecutors. But what’s unusual is the second option. Arvay is asking that Blackmore get government funding without having to make any financial disclosures. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Accused B.C. polygamists opt for jury trial | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lawyer for Winston Blackmore also asks for government to pay legal costs | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Terri Theodore The Canadian Press The Globe and Mail - Toronto, Ontario Originally published Friday, May. 22, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Vancouver — Lawyers for two B.C. men charged with having multiple wives are planning for a jury trial – if they can't have the case tossed out before then. The lawyers for accused polygamists Winston Blackmore and James Oler have two applications before the courts to stay the proceedings before the precedent-setting case even goes to trial. And Joe Arvay, Mr. Blackmore's lawyer, also has a constitutional challenge up his sleeve for the preliminary hearing if the first applications don't work. Both accused are religious leaders from the tiny community of Bountiful, in southeast B.C., where they belong to the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Mr. Blackmore is alleged to have 19 wives, Mr. Oler three. Their sect believes that a man has to have at least three wives to get to heaven. Documents filed by Mr. Arvay with B.C. Supreme Court says Crown disclosures allege about 25 per cent of the 1,500 residents of Bountiful live in a polygamous relationship. On Friday, Mr. Arvay told the court he has two applications that may prevent the trial from going forward. "Part of it goes to the claim that there's the perception of interference by the attorney general in this prosecution," Mr. Arvay said, referring to B.C. Attorney General Wally Oppal's push for criminal charges in the case. The documents show that several of the province's best legal minds, dating as far back as 1992, recommend against attempting to prosecute Bountiful leaders because they felt the polygamy law was unconstitutional. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 'Lost Boy' tells of his life in FLDS Church | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Emiley Morgan Deseret News Originally published Sunday, May 24, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Lost Boy" by Brent W. Jeffs, Broadway Books, 235 pages, $25 He looks like any other 20-something you'd pass on the street. Short, dark hair, striped button-down shirt, sunglasses, jeans. He comes from a large family, but that's not uncommon in Utah. That is, until you realize just how big his family is. Brent Jeffs, grandson of polygamist Rulon Jeffs and nephew of Warren Jeffs, grew up in the Fundamentalist LDS Church and has a new book on his experience, titled "Lost Boy." The book chronicles his childhood within the FLDS Church and the struggles he faced after leaving it. Spurred to action by the deaths of two of his brothers, who fell victim to drug and alcohol abuse after leaving the FLDS Church, Jeffs said he committed his life to reaching out to others who have defected from — and been abused by — the FLDS Church. "When my brother told me what happened to him and then he passed away, that's when it was like a volcano," Jeffs said. "I just said ... I'm going to go put 110 percent into this thing and go all the way with this, and I am blown away that I am here now in this point in my life, that it has gone this far." Because his history is graphic with accounts of sexual abuse, Jeffs said his family initially reacted with hesitation and fear, even though his parents and all but two siblings have left the FLDS Church. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Polygamists seek trial by judge and jury | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Frank Luba The Vancouver Province Originally published May 24, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Accused polygamists Winston Blackmore and James Oler did not put in an appearance in provincial court Friday in Vancouver as their lawyers elected to have the two leaders of the Bountiful Mormon community tried before a judge and jury. Oler is the current bishop of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, while Blackmore is the former bishop of the breakaway Mormon group. Both men are charged with having multiple wives, but their defence is that the Canadian Constitution guarantees freedom of religion and polygamy is part of that religion. The next step in the legal proceedings takes place June 25 in Vancouver Provincial Court to fix a date for a preliminary inquiry that will take place in Cranbrook. Blackmore's current lawyer, Joseph Arvay, had asked for an adjournment in the proceeding because he will be in B.C. Supreme Court on June 29 asking that the charges be stayed because of an abuse of process. If the action does proceed, Arvay will be asking for a stay unless the Crown agrees to pay legal fees to the same extent as special prosecutor Terrence Robertson is being paid.
fluba@theprovince.com | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Agreement would give Colorado City property control to FLDS | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By JIM SECKLER Mohave Daily News Originally published Monday, May 25, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| KINGMAN - A proposed agreement with the Utah Attorney General's Office and a polygamist church in Colorado City could force non-church members out of their homes. The settlement proposed by Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the United Effort Plan Trust would create a housing panel consisting of five to seven members. Two of the members would be appointed by the FLDS church, two members by the UEP, and one to three would be independent members. The panel would make decisions on the distribution of residential property in Colorado City and Hildale. The panel would consider length of possession of the property, payment of property taxes, improvements to the property and current possession. Those entitled to claim residential property would be adults who have occupied a residence on UEP property since 2002, and all adults who submitted claims to a fiduciary board and who have occupied a home or done work on an unfinished home on UEP property since 1998. The agreement also includes other properties, including Canadian property. Flora Jessop, a former member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said the agreement would allow the FLDS essentially to build a fence around Colorado City and Hildale and create a compound similar to the FLDS compound in Eldorado, Texas. She said Shurtleff is legally responsible to protect all UEP beneficiaries and, with the agreement, would deny protection to half the beneficiaries who are no longer faithful to the FLDS. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Apostates" fear a resurgence of FLDS tyranny | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Reported by: Brent Hunsaker ABC 4 News Originally broadcast May 26, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) - Not everyone who lives in Colorado City and Hildale – the twin towns straddling the Utah-Arizona border – are loyal to the now jailed polygamous prophet, Warren Jeffs. There are a few residents who the FLDS consider "apostates". Some of these apostates resisted Jeffs’ demands that they abandon their homes, their wives and children. He told them to leave and "repent from afar" and they defied him. Others left, but returned in the last few years after a Utah judge took control of the land and homes away from Jeffs. They believe that in returning, they have reclaimed their piece of a town that they and their parents and grandparents helped build. But now the apostates say all that has been accomplished is now in jeopardy. Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff is leading a complicated negotiation with the FLDS and other parties about taking control from the court and returning it to the people of the polygamist towns. It is an admiral goal. It is inevitable. But it could also put total control back in the hands of the FLDS and Jeffs. The apostates fear a return to the tyranny of the FLDS majority. Jeffs loyalists already run the town governments and police force. If they also regain control of the very land (all of it is owned in common under the umbrella of the United Effort Plan trust), the apostates say they could very well be run out of town. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Former FLDS members concerned over AG's dealings with 'Jeffs loyalists' | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By John Hollenhorst KSL 5 TV Originally broadcast May 26, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SALT LAKE CITY -- Attorney General Mark Shurtleff waded into a group of protesters Tuesday. They accused him of making a secret deal with Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints followers of polygamist Warren Jeffs. The protesters are mainly ex-members of that church. Shurtleff convinced some, but not all, that he's representing their interests, too. This is another illustration of how the Warren Jeffs regime led to shattered lives, broken families and divided communities. The protesters feared the attorney general's dealings with Jeffs' lieutenants would force them from their homes. Former FLDS member Patrick Pipkin said, "We all helped build this community, Hildale and Colorado City." Those who showed up are mostly people kicked out of the FLDS by Warren Jeffs or who lost faith and bailed out. Former FLDS member April Dutson said, "We actually moved in the night, without anyone knowing, because of the distress." "FLDS came and took my home away from me and threw me out," said former FLDS member Cora Witt. Many built their homes and feel entitled to them. "They built that community as much as the FLDS did," said former FLDS member Margaret Cooke. "They put their heart and soul into it. I put my heart and soul into it." Jeffs is now behind bars and FLDS property is under court control. With court approval, some former followers moved back into homes they originally built. In recent months, Jeffs' loyal followers have turned militant to pressure the court. The unified FLDS front has shaken up the scattered former followers. Dutson said, "Right now we are afraid that we will be asked to leave our home once again, or that they will take control of our lives." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Video Courtesy of KSL.com | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Judge gets first look at land trust settlement | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
The Associated Press KIFI - Idaho Falls, Idaho Originally published May 27, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - The parties in a 4-year battle for control of a polygamous church's land trust are meeting with a judge to discuss the details of a settlement proposal. The United Effort Plan Trust holds land and homes in Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz. - towns dominated by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The state took control of the trust in 2005 after allegations of mismanagement. Attorneys for the FLDS, the attorneys general of Utah and Arizona and a court-appointed fiduciary have spent 40 hours negotiating a settlement. The parties were scheduled to meet with a 3rd District Court judge Wednesday. The details of the settlement proposal are unclear, but issues include the distribution of property, access to parks and cemeteries and the payment of management fees. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Judge gets update on settlement talks, orders fees | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
The Associated Press Houston Chronicle Originally published May 27, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SALT LAKE CITY — Despite some 40 hours at the negotiating table, a battle for control of a southern Utah polygamous church's land trust may be getting more contentious rather than closer to a settlement. Parties wrangling over the United Effort Plan Trust met in person and over the phone for a progress report with a 3rd District judge. A recording of the meeting obtained by The Associated Press shows the parties divided. On one side are Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff and the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, whose members donated their property in the border towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., to form the trust in the 1940s. The trust is worth about $114 million. On the other side is the Arizona attorney general's office and Bruce Wisan, a certified public accountant appointed by the court to manage the trust in 2005 after allegations of mismanagement by church leader Warren Jeffs. Jeffs is now serving a prison sentence on a 2007 conviction of accomplice to rape for his role in an arranged marriage involving a then 14-year-old follower. He is awaiting trial on criminal charges in Arizona and Texas also related to underage marriages. The church has an expansive ranch near the West Texas town of Eldorado. "We were able to hammer what we're just calling a letter of intent, which I see somewhat as a framework for compromise," Shurtleff told Judge Denise Lindberg on Wednesday. "We are not there yet, but I believe both sides have come a long, long way — further than I thought would be possible." But that's not Arizona's take. "From our perspective, there has been no agreement reached that we would sign off on," said Bill Richards, an assistant attorney general for Arizona. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Judge orders FLDS to pay up | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Reported by: Brent Hunsaker ABC 4 News Originally broadcast May 27, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) - Judge Denise Lindberg of 3rd District Court told representatives of the FLDS today: pay up, or else. The ultimatum was given over the required monthly payments that everyone in the twin towns of Hildale, Utah and Colorado City, Arizona were supposed to be making to the United Effort Plan Trust. The UEP trust owns just about everything in the towns, but is in the red by 2.5 million dollars. It needs cash to pay the bills. So last year the judge, who took control of the trust away from FLDS prophet Warren Jeffs four years ago, authorized a monthly payment – something similar to the dues of a homeowner’s association. For two months, Judge Lindberg said, the FLDS paid. Each family paid their leaders, and their leaders made a lump sum payment to the Utah Attorney General’s office. Then the FLDS payments stopped. Now they’re 6 months behind. They owe more than $385,000. In a status conference Wednesday on a possible settlement with the FLDS, the judge told their representatives they’ve got until Monday to pay half of the outstanding amount with the rest due by June 15th. "I absolutely demand... this is an order of the court," she said. "Those payments need to be made forthwith. There will be no withholding of payments. Period." Judge Lindberg was also unhappy with settlement negotiations. She was told by some attorneys representing the interests of non-FLDS people living in the towns that they were being kept in the dark. In fact, that was the reason for a protest yesterday on the steps of the state capitol. Non-believers people complained a deal with the FLDS could subject them to "religious tyranny." Many remember not all that long ago, people were kicked out of their homes on the whims of Warren Jeffs. They don’t want that to happen again. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Attorney General's office responds to Warren Jeffs' appeal | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Ben Winslow KSL NewsRadio Originally broadcast May 28, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SALT LAKE CITY -- The Utah Attorney General's Office is asking the state's highest court to uphold the conviction of polygamist leader Warren Jeffs. Responding to an appeal of Jeffs' rape as an accomplice conviction, the Utah Attorney General's Office argues that the Fundamentalist LDS Church leader forced an unwilling 14-year-old girl into an illegal marriage with her cousin. "And as a consequence of that, she was forced into a non-consensual sexual relationship with her cousin," assistant Utah Attorney General Laura Dupaix told KSL NewsRadio. "We think that's rape." Jeffs' lawyers appealed his conviction last year, making a wide range of arguments including flawed jury instructions, the terms of sentencing, and an unconstitutionally vague definition of "enticement" in Utah's rape law. They also argue in essence that Jeffs, as a leader of the FLDS Church, was merely performing a marriage ceremony, not facilitating a rape. Dupaix disputes that claim. "Any other minister of any other religion marries consenting adults," she said. "They don't force 14-year-old girls into a non-consensual marriage, an illegal marriage, and therefore an illegal and non-consensual and sexual relationship," she said. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Juror omission results in new murder trial | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Linda Thomson Deseret News Originally published Thursday, May 28, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Parley Jeffs Dutson, who was convicted by a jury last year of sexually assaulting and killing his girlfriend, should get a new trial, according to the judge who presided over the original trial. Third District Judge Royal Hansen on Thursday granted Dutson a new trial primarily because a female juror failed to disclose she had been a rape victim years earlier. Hansen concluded in a 14-page ruling that this omission created a violation of Dutson's constitutional right to a fair trial with an impartial jury. "The juror was unable to apply the law due to her actual bias, or at the very least, bias should be inferred under the circumstances," the judge wrote. Dutson, 20, was charged with murder and aggravated sexual assault, both first-degree felonies, in connection with the shooting death of his girlfriend, Kara Hopkins, 15, at a party in 2007. A jury convicted him of both counts after a four-day trial in July 2008. Dutson's attorneys wanted the conviction set aside after learning a female juror did not reveal during jury selection that she had been raped when she was a teenager. The matter emerged during jury deliberation. The woman later told the court she had not reported the rape because she simply did not think of it during jury selection and did not see herself as a victim. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Book signing to be held this Saturday | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Local News In Brief The Spectrum Originally published May 29, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hurricane - Jason Williams will have a book signing for his book, "Zero Chance" from 9 a.m. to noon, Saturday at the Main Street Cafe, 138 S Main St. The book talks about Williams growing up in a polygamist lifestyle in Hildale and his attempts to maintain connections with his wife and children after being instructed by his church leaders to have nothing to do with them. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Vent | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
The Spectrum Originally published May 30, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| I'm confused, the article of our attorney general talking about the Fundamentalist church. Is he the attorney general for the state of Utah, or is he the attorney for the illegal polygamist community? I am very much confused. Aren't you? | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FLDS 'Lost Boy' to appear live on Ch. 12 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
KPNX 12 News - Phoenix, Arizona Originally published June 1, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Brent Jeffs, author of "Lost Boy," will appear live today on 12 News to tell his story of growing up as a boy in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Jeffs was born into the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in 1983. His grandfather Rulon was the church's prophet at the time and lived next door in a compound in the mountains surrounding Salt Lake City. His uncle Warren was principle of the FLDS private school during those early years. Brent Jeffs has written a book about his experiences within the FLDS and life after his family left the church, a family that at one time included three wives and nearly two dozen children. "Lost Boy" details Brent Jeff's accounts of sexual abuse at the hand of Warren Jeffs who would one day become a self- proclaimed prophet of the FLDS. The book also explains the trauma for families ousted from the church, many of them young male members who would have competed for wives in the polygamist sect. Many of those so-called "lost boys" turned to drugs and other habits to fight the demons of the past. Tune in to Ch. 12 today at 4:30pm to hear Jeffs illuminate on his experience. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Watch the June 1, 2009 12 News interview of Brent Jeffs | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FLDS pay $192,000 bill under protest; accountant won't accept it | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Ben Winslow KSL NewsRadio Originally published June 1, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| HILDALE -- The Fundamentalist LDS Church paid a $192,600 bill to the Utah Attorney General's Office, but said it was doing so under protest. Because of that, the accountant appointed by the courts to oversee the polygamous sect's real-estate holdings arm refused to accept it. "My attorneys would not accept it under protest," Bruce Wisan, the court-appointed special fiduciary of the United Effort Plan (UEP) Trust told KSL NewsRadio late Monday. "That's a legal term, I think it has to do with the right of them to go back and make a claim against the funds." The southern Utah-based polygamous sect said it paid the bill after a judge in Salt Lake City's 3rd District Court ordered it to or she would lift the stay on massive litigation over the UEP Trust. In 2005, Third District Court Judge Denise Lindberg took control of the UEP over allegations that FLDS leaders had mismanaged it, including defaulting on civil litigation. She appointed a special fiduciary to manage the trust, which controls homes and property in the border towns of Hildale, Utah and Colorado City, Ariz. In a statement Monday, FLDS spokesman Willie Jessop claimed the fiduciary was getting paid twice - first from occupancy fees from those living on UEP property and by selling milk produced at an FLDS-run dairy. "Although we believe the agreement regarding the milk sale revenue satisfied the occupancy fee requirement, the FLDS have tendered the $192,600 to the Attorney General under protest, because the Court stated that if we do not make that payment the stay of litigation will be lifted and all the work that has been done to settle this case will be lost," Jessop wrote. Wisan disputed that claim. "I vociferously disagree with that," he said. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FLDS church tries to pay $192K in past-due fees | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Jennifer Dobner The Associated Press FOX 11 - Tucson, Arizona Originally published Tuesday, June 2, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- A court-appointed accountant has rejected a $192,600 payment of past-due occupancy fees made under protest Monday by a southern-Utah polygamous church. "The payment was made under protest. I don't think we can accept it," Bruce Wisan said. The sum is half of what is owed by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints for six months of occupancy fees on homes in Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz. The homes in the twin towns and a church enclave in Bountiful, British Columbia, are held in the $114 million United Effort Plan Trust. The Utah courts took control of the UEP in 2005 after allegations of mismanagement. The FLDS have been negotiating a settlement with the attorneys general of Utah and Arizona and with Wisan, who oversees the trust, to regain control of the UEP's church land. Third District Judge Denise Lindberg ordered the FLDS to pay the fees last fall. She imposed the Monday deadline last week and said if the FLDS failed to pay, she would consider allowing church land to be sold. "As a peaceful people, we believe that settlement is the best way to resolve differences," FLDS spokesman Willie Jessop said in a statement. He acknowledged the payment was made under protest. All residents of trust homes - whether occupied by FLDS or non-FLDS - are required by the court to pay a $100 monthly occupancy fee to Wisan. The FLDS paid the fees for two months last year, but claim that in February, Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff brokered a deal with Wisan to forgive the fees during settlement talks and only collect the proceeds of milk sales from a church dairy in Beryl. According to the FLDS, Wisan chose to collect some $100,000 in milk money instead of over $40,000 in monthly occupancy fees. But Wisan denies making such a deal. "Mark Shurtleff never contacted me and said 'choose between the milk money and the monthly assessments,'" Wisan said. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| B.C. attorney general officially loses seat to independent after judicial recount | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Dirk Meissner The Canadian Press - VICTORIA, B.C. Originally published June 2, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| VICTORIA, B.C. — Defeated B.C. Attorney General Wally Oppal says he still has a hunger for justice-reform work, but no longer an appetite for politics after a judicial recount knocked him out of the B.C. legislature by 32 votes. Oppal said Tuesday he sees himself involved in criminal law reform or other justice-related work in the near future. Running for politics again likely isn't in the cards, said the former judge. "I was an accidental politician," Oppal said. "When I was on the (B.C.) Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal, this was the furthest thing from my mind, but the premier called me and I got interested." Oppal easily won in 2005, but just before last month's election he voluntarily switched ridings after consulting with Premier Gordon Campbell. Elections BC said a judicial recount found Oppal lost the suburban Vancouver riding of Delta South by 32 votes to Independent Vicki Huntington, a former municipal councillor with deep Conservative roots. "In retrospect, when you look back at it, you can say that maybe I shouldn't have done that, but having said that, really, you have to sort of look at the decision at the time that it was made," said Oppal. "It was, I thought, the right thing to do at that time." Oppal's decision allowed Campbell's Liberals to run former police chief Kash Heed in Oppal's former Vancouver-Fraserview riding. Heed won and is being touted for a cabinet post. Campbell said Oppal's loss is a disappointment, but he wasn't second-guessing the decision to allow him to run in the volatile Delta South riding where residents were upset with local issues. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Today's featured event: Go inside the FLDS compound with Brent Jeffs | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Susan Froyd Things to Do Westword - Denver, CO Originally published June 3, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Brent Jeffs lived the insider's life behind the closed gates of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, the LDS splinter denomination once led by his polygamist uncle, Warren Jeffs, and dogged by controversy and rumors of sexual abuse. But it wasn't pretty: From his vantage point, the younger Jeffs witnessed brainwashing, bullying and repeated molestation by his uncle that ended only after his family was excommunicated from the FLDS for the infraction of maintaining contact with relatives in the outside world. His story of that nightmare and his ensuing redemption is detailed in a new memoir, Lost Boy, written with Maia Szalavitz, that brings to light what lies beyond the veneer of communal life and chaste women in pioneer garb we’ve all seen in the media.
Jeffs will discuss and sign the book tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the Tattered Cover Highlands Ranch, 9315 Dorchester Street. For information go to www.tatteredcover.com or call 303-470-7050. See book cover | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Court-appointed CPA to accept FLDS housing payment | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Jennifer Dobner The Associated Press Deseret News Originally published Friday, June 5, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A court-appointed fiduciary has reversed a decision to reject a check for past-due housing fees from a southern Utah polygamous church. Bruce Wisan initially rejected the Monday payment of $192,600 made "under protest" by the Fundamentalist LDS Church. The fees are half of what's owed in occupancy fees on homes in Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz. The homes are held in the church's United Effort Plan Trust, which was established in 1942. The Utah courts seized the trust in 2005 after allegations of mismanagement by FLDS leader Warren Jeffs, who was then on the run from criminal charges but was later caught, tried and convicted by a Utah jury on an accomplice to rape charge for his role in the marriage of an underage follower to her cousin. The courts put the trust under Wisan's control. Wisan said he feared accepting the housing payment would have left him vulnerable to a lawsuit. FLDS attorneys have since sent a letter to the Utah Attorney General's Office stating that they don't intend to sue, but made the payment under protest to preserve their right to raise the issue in court. Residents of trust properties are required by the court to pay a monthly $100 occupancy fee. The fees are to pay for management of the trust, which holds about $114 million in property but is cash poor and owes more than $2.6 million to Wisan and others. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FLDS check accepted in trust dispute | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Ben Winslow KSL NewsRadio Originally published June 5, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
SALT LAKE CITY -- The Utah Attorney General's Office has accepted a check from the Fundamentalist LDS Church for past-due fees in the ongoing legal feud over the polygamous church's real estate holdings arm. A spokesman for the attorney general's office said in a message to KSL NewsRadio on Friday that they accepted the $192,000 check and gave it to the court-appointed special fiduciary overseeing the United Effort Plan Trust. Fiduciary Bruce Wisan initially rejected the check because it was made "under protest" by the FLDS Church. Wisan said it was a legal term that reserved the right to further litigation. Attorney general's spokesman Paul Murphy said it has since been worked out. The FLDS Church, ex-members, Wisan and the Utah and Arizona attorneys general have been involved in negotiations to settle the legal war over the UEP Trust, which controls homes, businesses and property in the border towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz. In 2005, the UEP Trust was taken over by a judge in Salt Lake City's 3rd District Court over allegations of mismanagement.
E-mail: bwinslow@ksl.com | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| News wins 18 awards in AP contest | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Deseret News Originally published Friday, June 5, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Deseret News has won 18 awards in the 2009 Utah-Idaho-Spokane Associated Press Association contest. The News' awards include eight first-place honors and a sweep by Deseret News photographers Mike Terry, Tom Smart and Laura Seitz in the portfolio photo division. The contest is sponsored by The Associated Press. Smart also received the Best of Show for his "Electrocution Rescue" photo. Ben Winslow, Brian West, Pat Reavy and the News staff captured top honors in the beat-reporting division for their coverage of the raid on the FLDS Church compound in Texas last year. Michael Brandy and Kristin Murphy took first and second in the feature photo category, and Brandy finished third in the general-news photo division. Seitz won first in the portrait-photo division, and Jeffrey D. Allred finished second in the picture-story/photo-essay category. Terry won the sports-photo division, and Allred was third. In spot-news photography, Smart was first and Terry was third. Dennis Romboy and Lucinda Dillon Kinkead took top honors in the series/special projects competition for their "Secret Shame" series, while Lois Collins and Elaine Jarvik were third for their "Gray Area" series. Doug Robinson was third in the feature-story category, and Lee Benson placed third in personal columns. The Deseret News competed in division 3 of the contest, for newspapers with a circulation greater than 50,000. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Former FLDS member to describe polygamy, abuse | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Brian Bethel Abilene Reporter - Abilene, Texas Originally published Monday, June 8, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Growing up in a polygamist household, said Flora Jessop, was "chaos and pain and abuse." When the children get to the point where they want to leave or have to leave, they have reached the point where they are willing to damn themselves for eternity," she said. "You're taught that you go to hell if you leave the group." But eventually, Jessop, who will speak Wednesday in Abilene at Hastings Books, Music & Video and is a former member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, did leave the sect's Colorado City, Ariz., location. She escaped in 1986, long before Warren Jeffs -- the group's most recent president, prophet, seer and revelator -- came to power in 2002. But the group is the same one that made Texas headlines when its Yearning For Zion Ranch outside of Eldorado was raided in April 2008. The FLDS, which believes polygamy brings glorification in heaven, is a breakaway sect of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which renounced polygamy more than a century ago, according to The Associated Press. Speaking via telephone from her Arizona home, Jessop said her entire childhood was spent in training to be servile. "As a female, you are trained to be a good wife -- to know how to cook, to know how to sew, to know how to take care of babies," she said. "I was raising my brothers and sisters from the time I was eight years old. Everything in your life is geared toward becoming a mother." That is also the time her father began sexually abusing her, she said, something she recalls being common. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Blackmore takes battle to tax court | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Proceedings may impact effort to have taxpayers foot bill for defence against polygamy charge | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Robert Matas The Globe and Mail - Toronto, Ontario Originally published Tuesday, Jun. 09, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Vancouver — Winston Blackmore, who has indicated he may ask for public financing to fight a controversial polygamy charge against him, earned just under $2-million over five years earlier this decade, federal lawyers allege in documents filed in the Tax Court of Canada. Mr. Blackmore reported taxable income of $116,445, the documents show. However, the federal tax department says Mr. Blackmore received employment income, benefits and payments as a shareholder of a company named J.R. Blackmore totalling $1.84 million in the years 2000 to 2004. The company's business included construction, logging, farming and the manufacturing and sale of lumber posts. The proceedings in tax court may have an impact on Mr. Blackmore's efforts to have the taxpayer pay for his defence against the criminal charge of polygamy, David Everett, one of the federal counsel involved in the tax case, said yesterday in an interview. But it's too soon in the legal process to know what will happen, he added. "It's the early stages in litigation," Mr. Everett said. The federal tax lawyers and Mr. Blackmore's legal counsel are setting dates to exchange documents and conduct preliminary questioning of witnesses. It could be more than a year before the tax case comes before a judge in court, he said. David Davies, Mr. Blackmore's lawyer, said he was not at liberty to comment on the case without instructions from Mr. Blackmore. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Groups urging Perry to veto bill that would increase CPS' power | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By AMAN BATHEJA Fort Worth Star Telegram - Fort Worth, TX Originally published Tue, Jun. 09, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A coalition of conservative and libertarian groups is urging Gov. Rick Perry to veto a bill that would make it easier for Child Protective Services to remove children from a home while investigating possible abuse. Groups including the Republican Liberty Caucus of Texas, the Texas Home School Foundation and the Free Market Foundation have called on supporters to contact Perry’s office and request that he veto Senate Bill 1440. At issue is an amendment addressing instances when a parent refuses to let a CPS worker inside to investigate an abuse or neglect allegation. If the bill became law, a judge would be able to grant CPS a court order similar to a criminal search warrant, allowing a CPS worker to immediately enter the home and, if necessary, remove the child and secure medical and mental-health records as part of an investigation. It would be done without notifying the parent in advance. "It seems like we’re throwing the Fourth Amendment under the bus," said Tim Lambert, president of the Texas Home School Coalition. "It completely undermines parental rights." Diana Martinez with the Texas Association for the Protection of Children said the bill would not erode parental rights. Currently, judges handle such situations differently statewide, she said. The bill would make sure all judges followed the same procedure, she said. "It’s very similar to the search warrant procedure that we have in criminal context," Martinez said. "You still have to present enough evidence to a judge for the judge to issue the order." Lambert and other critics say CPS workers would abuse the new power and be able to remove children from homes and pry into family records based on little evidence. Critics also worry about how much CPS may rely on anonymous tips to secure court orders. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Child bride offers to settle suit against polygamous church's land trust | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Ben Winslow KSL NewsRadio Originally published June 9, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SALT LAKE CITY -- A former child bride who was the state's star witness in the criminal case against Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints leader Warren Jeffs is offering to settle a multi-million dollar lawsuit against the polygamous sect's real estate holdings arm. Elissa Wall sued over her forced marriage at age 14 to her 19-year-old cousin. She named the FLDS Church, its leader, Warren Jeffs, and the United Effort Plan (UEP) Trust as defendants. The proposed settlement was filed in Salt Lake City's 3rd District Court last week in the ongoing litigation over the UEP Trust, which controls property in the FLDS communities of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz. In the settlement, Wall asks for about $308,000 in compensation and a monetary judgment to be awarded in mediation or a damages-only trial. She also wants some undeveloped trust land as well as the properties that her family lives on. "(Elissa Wall) will personally receive no further compensation, but will execute on her remaining judgment to facilitate the UEP Trust's goal of conveying the homes built on UEP Trust land to Trust Participants," her attorney, Roger Hoole, wrote in a copy of the settlement obtained by KSL NewsRadio. Wall is apparently seeking to exert some influence on subdividing the land currently held by the trust, which was originally based upon the early-Mormon concept of a "United Order," where everything was placed in a common pot and doled out according to just wants and needs. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Attorney Montford charged with public intoxication | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Tony Plohetski The Blotter Austin American-Statesman Originally published Tuesday, June 9, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prominent Austin lawyer Mindy Montford, who made an unsuccessful bid last year for Travis County district attorney, was arrested and charged with public intoxication in downtown Austin early Saturday. Austin police arrested Montford, 38, at 2:15 a.m. Saturday in the 600 block of San Jacinto Street, said Roger Wade, spokesman for the Travis County sheriff’s office. She was released at 7:40 a.m. Attorney Pat McNelis, who is law partners with Montford, at right, and is representing her, said Montford had been with friends from high school to hear a band at a downtown club. As they were leaving, McNelis said, the driver of a car in which Montford was a passenger struck a pipe in an alley and was pulled over moments later. McNelis said Montford got out of the car at that time to "advise her friend of his rights." He said an officer ordered Montford back into the car, where she sat for about 20 minutes. He said the officer then came back to the car and arrested her, as well as another passenger, on public intoxication charges. He said no further investigation was done before the arrests. "Mindy complied with the officers when they instructed her back to the car," McNelis said. He said his client "absolutely denies" the charge. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Untangling Blackmore's unconventional family | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Documents provide an early glimpse into relationships in the polygamous community of Bountiful | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Robert Matas The Globe and Mail - Toronto, Ontario Originally published Wednesday, Jun. 10, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Vancouver — Winston Blackmore's common-law wife Zelpha Chatwin had a daughter named Doris on Sept. 13, 1995. About 10 weeks later, his common-law wife Marsha Chatwin had a daughter named Darla. Mr. Blackmore also had children with the women six months apart in 1997 and 6½ months apart in 2001. Over the years, Zelpha Chatwin had five children with Mr. Blackmore; Marsha Chatwin, her sister, also had five. The unconventional family relationships were set out as "assumptions" in a case in the Tax Court of Canada that is slowly moving through the judicial system, with deadlines being set this month for exchanging documents and the start of pretrial interviews with witnesses. The documents provide an early glimpse into relationships in the polygamous community of Bountiful that will likely be central in the historic criminal case against Mr. Blackmore. Mr. Blackmore was charged in January with practising a form of polygamy with 19 women between May 1, 2005, and Dec. 8, 2006, in contravention of the Criminal Code. He is the former leader of a religious community in southeastern B.C. that encourages polygamy as an article of faith, and he has been reported to have more than 100 children. His trial will be the first time a Canadian has been charged with polygamy since the adoption of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which protects freedom of religion. In tax court, Mr. Blackmore is appealing a reassessment by the federal government. The tax department alleges that Mr. Blackmore, as a shareholder and employee of J.R. Blackmore & Sons Ltd., earned about $1.84-million in taxable benefits over five years earlier this decade. He reported taxable income of $116,445 for that period, the documents show. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Former child bride offers to settle trust lawsuit | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
The Associated Press Deseret News Originally published Wednesday, June 10, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The key witness in the 2007 criminal trial of polygamous church leader Warren Jeffs is offering to settle the multimillion-dollar lawsuit she filed against a communal church trust. The proposal filed in 3rd District Court by attorneys for Elissa Wall seeks $308,375 in cash, 21 acres of undeveloped land and two developed lots from the United Effort Plan Trust. The trust is an arm of the Fundamentalist LDS Church and holds the land and homes in Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz. A former FLDS member, Wall filed her lawsuit in 2005, seeking compensation for her 2001 marriage, which was arranged by church leaders when she was just 14. In the lawsuit, Wall sought unspecified damages, including $1 million to establish a fund for those who want to leave the FLDS Church. Wall's sexual relationship with her 19-year-old husband was the basis for the charges filed against Jeffs. A jury convicted Jeffs of two counts of first-degree felony rape as an accomplice in 2007. Allegations of mismanagement of the UEP by Jeffs and other church leaders were grounds for the Utah courts to seize the $114 million property trust in 2005. A court-appointed accountant countersued Wall in March saying the trust was not responsible for her forced marriage. All trust litigation is on hold as UEP attorneys, the FLDS and the attorneys general of Utah and Arizona negotiate a settlement for control of the trust. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Group studying new religions gathers in Salt Lake | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Carole Mikita KSL TV Channel 5 Originally broadcast June 12, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SALT LAKE CITY -- A small international conference is taking place in Salt Lake City. For 22 years, scholars who are fascinated with new religions have gathered to study them. They have met in the U.S. only five times, twice in Salt Lake. Even though The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints isn't new, it generates a lot of interest. The Center for Study on New Religions (CESNUR) was created in 1988 to look at faiths in southern Europe, mostly Christian, outside Catholicism. The small group represents many countries. The members rejected terms like "cult" or "sect." The center's founder, Massimo Introvigne, said, "We also wanted to study the largest religions which were comparatively new in Europe, including Mormonism." In Salt Lake City, group members will be discussing what they call Mormon topics, including politician Mitt Romney, the book "Twilight," and the TV series "Big Love." Romney's campaign for president fascinated Europeans because of his LDS faith. Italians are huge fans of "Twilight" and are all abuzz about author Stephenie Meyer, a Latter-day Saint. Deseret Book did not sell the book and news stories in Italy reported censorship. With recent news about polygamy, the FLDS church and Texas, the HBO series "Big Love" became very popular. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FLDS woman keeping focus on events | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Walt Nett | A-J LOCAL NEWS EDITOR The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal Originally published Saturday, June 13, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Flora Jessop is roaming the West Texas highways this week, going from book signing to book signing, and trying to keep a story of a fundamentalist breakaway group from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its Texas compound alive in the public's consciousness. "It's not so much to promote the book as an excuse to talk to Texas people and explain what happened when the raid occurred," said Jessop, who grew up in an Arizona town controlled by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints but ran away as twice as a teenager because of sexual abuse and molestation. She was in Lubbock Friday for a signing event at Barnes and Noble of her book, "Church of Lies," an autobiographical look at her family life, her decision to leave,and her efforts to bring other women away from the FLDS. Last weekend, she was in Dallas. Since then, the stops have included Abilene and Midland, and from Lubbock the road leads to Amarillo and Denton. The raid was the arrival in early April 2008 of Texas Rangers, Child Protective Services and other law enforcement officers at the YFZ Ranch, a compound built by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. More than 450 children were taken into state custody. In late May, the Texas Supreme Court ruled there was no reason for seizing the children and ordered them returned to their parents. Jessop said she's felt very welcomed in her public appearances so far. "It seems like people are really thankful to hear the truth," she said in an interview before the book signing. "Everybody has expressed to me that they feel like the media just quit. A lot of people didn't know the children had been sent back." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Jeffs' lawyer reaches plea deal in intoxication case | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Deseret News Originally published Saturday, June 13, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ST. GEORGE (AP) — An attorney for polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs has agreed to a plea deal on a misdemeanor intoxication charge. Walter "Wally" Bugden was arrested Feb. 7 by Ivins police and booked into jail. He was charged with class C misdemeanor intoxication. Court records show Bugden pleaded no contest to the charge as part of a plea in abeyance on April 16 in Washington County Justice Court. The records show he also paid a fee of $182. Bugden, 58, represented Jeffs, head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, in a 2007 criminal trial. A St. George jury convicted Jeffs on two first-degree felony counts of rape as an accomplice for his role in the marriage of an underage girl. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FLDS warped lives, "Lost Boy" recounts | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Compassion is urged toward the Mormon fundamentalist sect. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Electa Draper The Denver Post Originally published June 14, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Brent Jeffs was one tired-out ex-Mormon fundamentalist last week in Denver, but still a man on a mission. Back-to-back book-signings and 17-hour days in Salt Lake City, Phoenix and Denver for Jeff's recently released memoir, "Lost Boy," alternately wound him up or wore him down to feeling like "a zombie," he said. Jeffs juggles a day job with Ultradent dental products with a personal quest. Brent, the 26-year-old nephew of Warren Jeffs, the convicted felon and former prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, is determined to make known the extent of what he describes as his Uncle Warren's evil. At the same time, Brent advocates for fair treatment of remaining members of the sect, which has several outposts in Colorado. Brent wants people to know that forced underage marriages were not the only horrors under Warren Jeffs. Brent years ago filed a civil lawsuit against Warren Jeffs in which he alleged that his uncle had raped him several times when he was in kindergarten and first grade. Warren Jeffs used church tenets to satisfy his own perverse sexual appetites and to control every aspect of members' lives, Brent claims. As prophet — the title the sect gave its leader — he banned almost all music and all literature except the Book of Mormon and the Bible. He even banned dogs and, most infamously, ejected many young boys from FLDS families. With Warren Jeffs now in the Utah State Prison after conviction on two counts of being an accomplice to rape, the sect's towns, such as Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah, are coming back to a semblance of normal life, Brent said. "Things are much more mellow there now," Brent said. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Deadline today for resolving FLDS Church land fight | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Jennifer Dobner The Associated Press Deseret News Originally published Sunday, June 14, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Despite some 40 hours of negotiations, it's unlikely a full settlement can be reached today in a dispute over a land trust once run by polygamous church leader Warren Jeffs, said Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff. The $114 million communal property trust is an arm of the Fundamentalist LDS Church. It holds most of the land and homes in Hildale, Utah; Colorado City, Ariz.; and a church enclave in Bountiful, British Columbia. The Utah courts took control of the UEP in 2005 after allegations of mismanagement by Jeffs, who was then on the run from criminal charges in Utah and Arizona. A proposed settlement is due today to a 3rd District Judge Denise Lindberg, who ultimately will decide whether any proposal is fair. In November, Lindberg placed a stay on all trust litigation and management activity pending the outcome of efforts to reach a "global" settlement that satisfied all parties. On Friday, Shurtleff said his office and attorneys for the FLDS Church were close to a deal that would return control of the trust and most of its holdings back to the church. He said his office expects to submit that proposal to Lindberg today, even though neither the attorney general of Arizona nor court-appointed fiduciary Bruce Wisan had agreed to the proposal. "They won't accept it," Shurtleff said Friday after participating in a panel discussion about polygamy and the law during a conference sponsored by the Center for Studies on New Religions in Salt Lake City. Shurtleff said he didn't know whether Wisan and Arizona would submit their own proposals or simply object to the proposal his office submits to the court. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Deal is proposed in UEP trust fight | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Jennifer Dobner The Associated Press Deseret News Originally published Monday, June 15, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Utah State Attorney General's Office has filed a settlement proposal to end the dispute over a $114 million property trust once run by polygamous church leader Warren Jeffs. As outlined in a letter of intent, the proposal returns control of most of the trust holdings to the Fundamentalist LDS Church. An arm of the church, the United Effort Plan Trust holds most of the land and homes in Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., the twin towns where most church members live, and a church enclave in Bountiful, British Columbia. The Utah courts seized the communal trust in 2005 after allegations of mismanagement by Jeffs. Under the oversight of a court-appointed fiduciary, the communal religious trust has been converted into a secular entity. The letter filed in 3rd District Court late Monday seeks to accommodate the needs of both current and former church members who have contributed assets to the trust. The letter is only a framework for a settlement that must ultimately approved by 3rd District Judge Denise Lindberg. Anyone with an interest in the UEP has until June 30 to submit comments on the proposal to the court. A central issue of settlement talks was the distribution of homes and undeveloped land held by the trust and whether the twin towns should be subdivided. Currently the land is held in large blocks of communal property which often hold multiple homes. The letter of intent proposes dividing undeveloped land south of the twin towns, with 60 acres going to the FLDS. Another portion of the land would be subdivided into 50 lots to be distributed to former church members who could prove a legitimate claim to trust assets. Existing residential properties would also be divided under a plan that would allow for both individual property deeds and the retention of larger, communal swaths of land. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| AG's office files proposal to end litigation over polygamous trust land | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Ben Winslow KSL NewsRadio Originally broadcast June 15, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SALT LAKE CITY -- The Utah Attorney General's Office has filed a proposal to end massive litigation over the real estate arm of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The proposal calls for a lot of land in the border towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., to be returned to the polygamous sect. In a letter of intent and a proposal obtained by KSL NewsRadio on Monday, the Utah Attorney General's Office said it would like to see a pair of farms returned to the FLDS. Some land on the outskirts of town would be handed over to non-FLDS members. "FLDS will complete the survey and division expeditiously," the letter said. The attorney general's proposal also calls for the town cemetery and a park to be returned to the FLDS. Ex-members and non-members can have "reasonable access to visit graves, but conduct and dress to be in compliance with FLDS standards." A library would also be built in town, but anything visible from outside would have to meet "FLDS standards as determined by the Bishop." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Utah Seeks Settlement With Polygamous Sect | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By DAN FROSCH The New York Times Originally published June 16, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Utah attorney general’s office has proposed a settlement to end a four-year dispute over $100 million worth of land in Utah, Arizona and Canada once held by a polygamous sect and its leader, Warren S. Jeffs. Under the settlement proposal, filed in a state district court in Salt Lake City on Monday, most of the estimated 1,000 acres would be returned by the state to the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or F.L.D.S. Most of the land sits in Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., small twin communities settled by the sect in the 1920s. A smaller parcel lies in Bountiful, British Columbia. The F.L.D.S. broke away from the mainstream Mormon Church after it rejected polygamy in 1890. The sect views Hildale and Colorado City as among the few places where it can practice its beliefs. Through its trust, the F.L.D.S. controlled the land there and in Bountiful until 2005, when the trust was seized by the Utah courts on grounds of mismanagement. The judicial decision ordering the seizure noted that rather than defend the trust against two lawsuits seeking damages for alleged sexual abuse by Mr. Jeffs and his wrongful ouster of some young men from the sect, the trustees had simply declined to administer it. A court-appointed fiduciary, Bruce R. Wisan, has managed the trust ever since, and the F.L.D.S. has been fighting to regain control of it. Mr. Jeffs, meanwhile, is imprisoned on a 2007 conviction for rape as an accomplice, in a case involving the marriage of an under-age girl. Jerrold S. Jensen, an assistant Utah attorney general, said Tuesday that the state felt it was appropriate to return control of the trust because the sect’s current leaders had agreed to take responsibility for it and the residents of the three communities. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Court-appointed trust manager pleads not guilty | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By JENNIFER DOBNER The Associated Press El Paso Times Originally published June 16, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SALT LAKE CITY — A court-appointed fiduciary of a polygamous church trust has pleaded not guilty to Arizona misdemeanor trespassing and other charges related to his management operations. Bruce R. Wisan was charged in Moccassin, Ariz., in April with six combined misdemeanor counts of solicitation, facilitation and criminal trespassing, stemming from allegations that he encouraged a trust employee to enter two homes in Colorado City, Ariz., last summer without the permission of residents. A judge convicted the employee, Issac Wyler, on two counts trespassing in March. A jail term was suspended and Wyler is serving two years probation. The homes are held in the United Effort Plan Trust, an arm of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The trust also holds most of the homes in Hildale, Utah, just across the border, and some property in Bountiful, British Columbia. The Utah courts took control of the trust after allegations of mismanagement by church leader Warren Jeffs in 2005 and named Wisan its manager. On June 2, Wisan entered not guilty pleas to each of the class 1 counts. Each charge carries a possible penalty of up to six months in jail. A pretrial conference is scheduled for July 24 in the Moccasin Consolidated Court. Wisan was to appear before the same judge who handled Wyler's case. But last month a judge reassigned the case after a defense attorney argued Wisan could not get a fair trial because he is at odds with the FLDS over management of the trust. The prosecutor who filed the charges is contracted by Colorado City. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| B.C. men's polygamy hearing set for June 25 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Vancouver Sun Originally published June 16, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Two B.C. men charged with polygamy — or at least their lawyers — will be back in provincial court on June 25 to set a date for their preliminary hearing. But before that preliminary hearing goes ahead, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Sunni Stromberg-Stein will hear an application that the charges against Winston Blackmore and James Oler be stayed either because the prosecution is unfair or, alternately, that they be stayed unless the government pays for their defense since this is a constitutional test case. The lawyers were in B.C. Supreme Court briefly Tuesday to set the rules for the four-day hearing that opens June 29. During that hearing, Blackmore’s lawyer Joe Arvay raised the possibility that former attorney-general Wally Oppal may be called as a witness as might special prosecutor Terry Robertson. All of which raises a series of complex legal arguments. A whole series of other complex arguments are likely to be made if the lawyers are asked to prove that neither Blackmore nor Oler can afford their own lawyers since the usual definition of household income doesn’t really envision several wives — 19 listed on Blackmore’s indictment and three on Oler’s. In fact, that issue of household income and even what constitutes a religious congregation is being argued in yet another court. On June 25, Blackmore’s tax lawyer will be in Federal Court. That case is at its preliminary stages with no date yet set for a trial. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| BC polygamist leader 'sees no sin' in taking tax money | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Suzanne Fournier, Canwest News Sevice National Post - Toronto, Ontario Originally published Tuesday, June 16, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| VANCOUVER -- It's called "bleeding the beast" -- a term used by avowed polygamists to describe taking money from government. And few appear to be more adept at sucking up public dollars than millionaire polygamist and self-styled "Bishop of Bountiful" Winston Blackmore, whose 22 wives and 119 children all draw taxpayers' funds while pursuing their openly polygamous and illegal lifestyle in Bountiful, located in southern B.C. Blackmore wants B.C. taxpayers to foot his hefty legal bills to defend himself on charges of practising polygamy with 19 women, in contravention of Canada's Criminal Code -- and he wants to do it without opening his books to scrutiny. Mr. Blackmore's lawyer, Joe Arvay, will ask B.C. Supreme Court on June 29 to dismiss the charges against his client. But if the case proceeds, Mr. Arvay will argue that the government should pay the freight. Mr. Blackmore also is being pursued in a tax court case that provides a fascinating glimpse of the alleged financial finaglings of the modern fundamentalist. According to federal officials, Mr. Blackmore does not declare to Revenue Canada all of the massive benefits he reaps from logging, business dealings and land. Nor does he foot all -- or even most -- of the huge bills for caring for his many wives and children. All unemployed wives with children are instructed to seek the child-tax benefit, or even welfare, based on a single, low-income mother's rate or on the relatively tiny income Mr. Blackmore declares. Money earned by wives with well-paid jobs as midwives or teachers isn't counted as part of the total family income, leaving other wives free to reap financial benefits, such as paying sister-wives to look after their kids. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Accused polygamist's lawyer wants Oppal to testify | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By IAN BAILEY The Globe and Mail - Toronto, Ontario Originally published Wednesday, Jun. 17, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Winston Blackmore's lawyer is hoping to call former B.C. attorney-general Wally Oppal to testify during legal proceedings against the man accused of polygamy. Joe Arvay raised the option during a hearing yesterday in B.C. Supreme Court, and repeated it in an interview. He said he plans to bring an application to ask special prosecutor Terry Robertson to disclose whether he had any conversations with Mr. Oppal, as attorney-general, before or after he was named as a special prosecutor. The Vancouver lawyer was retained in June, 2008 to assess the possibility of charges against individuals in Bountiful, located in southeastern B.C. In court, Mr. Robertson declined comment. Discussion on the application has been adjourned to June 29, but if successful, Mr. Arvay will seek the testimony of Mr. Oppal on any such communications. Mr. Oppal, as Liberal candidate in Delta South, was defeated in the provincial election last month. Mr. Arvay declined to be more specific about his interest in Mr. Oppal's testimony. Mr. Blackmore and James Oler are both community leaders in Bountiful where polygamy is promoted as an article of faith. The two men were charged in January with violating the section of the Criminal Code that bans polygamy, reportedly the first case along these lines since the adoption of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Mr. Blackmore, who has indicated he may ask for public financing to fight the polygamy charge against him, is also facing proceedings in tax court. He reported taxable income of $116,445 over five years earlier this decade, but federal lawyers allege in documents filed in the Tax Court of Canada that he earned just under $2-million. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Library district to meet in Dolan Springs | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By JIM SECKLER Mohave Daily News Originally published Sunday, June 21, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| KINGMAN - The Bullhead City library expansion project will be discussed Monday at the Mohave County Library District meeting. Meeting on a quarterly basis, the library district citizen advisory committee will meet at 10 a.m. at the library in Dolan Springs at 16140 Pierce Ferry Road. The next meeting will be held Aug. 24 at the Kingman branch library. Also to be discussed Monday is the Colorado City library project and the 2009-10 fiscal year budget for the county library system. The Bullhead City library expansion project, which would turn the existing 8,669-square-foot library branch into a 32,000-square-foot facility, is expected to take about two years to complete. In February, the county supervisors awarded a $757,269 contract to Will Bruder & Partners LLC of Phoenix. The firm recently unveiled plans for the project, which would expand toward Hancock Road and would triple the size of the library. Once the design plans are completed, the county would then go out for bids to construct the project. The Bullhead City library design plans are expected to take a year to complete. The expansion project would take another year to construct, Library Director Bob Shupe said. The project could expand the library to include a computer room, separate children and teen sections, and a community meeting room. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ex-sect member wants long sentences for FLDS men | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Gary Scharrer San Antonio Express-News Originally published June 22, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| AUSTIN — A woman who fled the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints after years of sexual abuse is hopeful — but not that optimistic — that men from the Eldorado compound will get convicted and receive long sentences after they go on trial later this year. Flora Jessop will be in San Antonio today talking about child abuse inside the secretive society that she doesn't think gets enough attention from the outside world. She also is promoting her new book, "Church of Lies," co-written by Paul T. Brown. The book chronicles Jessop's life inside the FLDS, the sexual abuse against her that began when she was 8 and the impact of such abuse on children. She also discusses her rescue efforts of children still inside the group and difficulties trying to protect those children. "I am hoping against hope that Texas will, upon prosecuting these guys, give them longer sentences that we have seen in Arizona and Utah — 13 days, 45 days and nine months, which is the longest sentence we have seen for one of these guys that has molested children," she said. "Will Texas have the guts to give them more?" A raid at the Eldorado-based community near San Angelo in April 2008 resulted in 439 children being temporarily removed from the compound. An investigation by Child Protective Services resulted in charges against 12 men for their roles in performing underage marriages. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Murder re-trial postponed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Michael R. McFall Deseret News Originally published Tuesday, June 23, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| WEST JORDAN — Parley Jeffs Dutson's new attorney isn't ready to defend him, so the previously convicted man will have to wait several months before he can be tried for murder a second time. Dutson was convicted last year for sexually assaulting and killing his girlfriend, both first-degree felonies, while he was high at a party. But the court overturned his conviction after it was discovered that a juror had been raped when she was a teenager and did not disclose the crime during the jury vetting. Judge Royal I. Hansen determined that her history compromised the integrity of the jury's decision, so Dutson must be tried again. Since then, Dutson's defense attorney, Brian Gardner, has taken a job out of state, said Dutson's new attorney, Steven Howard. Howard was assigned to the case last week and said he hasn't had a chance to comb through the four large boxes detailing the case's history and evidence. Hansen set a trial date of Oct. 19-23. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 'Church of Lies' details woman’s life in FLDS | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Tim Sampson The Daily Times - Kerrville, Texas Originally published June 24, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| When Flora Jessop was 16, she was forced to marry her own cousin. She was forced to do it because a "prophet" told her to. Jessop spent the first 16 years of her life as a prisoner to a fundamentalist sect of the Church of Latter Day Saints — a cult that practices an extreme version of the Mormon faith. The church alienates its followers from the outside world, practices polygamy and strips women of virtually all autonomy, she said. She chronicled her experience in the memoir "Church of Lies." She will be at Hastings on Main Street today from 1 to 3 p.m. for a book signing and discussion. Jessop was lucky to escape from the isolated religious compound where she was raised in Arizona. It was only by the permission of her husband — and cousin — that she was permitted to leave. Although men are free to leave, woman are held against their will. "If women and girls leave, they are hunted down," she said. "They are the prize. You need women and girls to continue and make the next generation." Marriages are all arranged by a single male leader, or a group of male leaders, who are viewed as prophets. She said girls are forced into marriage as young as 8. Like all members of the church, Jessop was born into it. The church doesn’t take outsiders. The cult eliminates all access to the outside world. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Utah withholding payment in polygamy trust dispute | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Jennifer Dobner The Associated Press Deseret News Originally published Thursday, June 25, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Utah Attorney General's Office is withholding $192,000 in payments from a court-appointed accountant in charge of a land trust once controlled by jailed polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs. Members of Jeffs' Fundamentalist LDS Church asked Utah to delay transferring the money after learning the accountant, Bruce Wisan, sold 565 head of cattle from a church farm. Members of the church were court-ordered to pay occupancy fees on homes in Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz. The homes are held in the United Effort Plan Trust, an arm of the FLDS Church. The Utah courts seized the land trust — and put Wisan, a non-FLDS accountant, in control — in 2005 after allegations of mismanagement against Jeffs. The farm and its assets are part of ongoing settlement negotiations surrounding how to divvy up the land contained in the trust, among other issues. The settlement would return most trust assets to the church. As part of the settlement talks, a judge ordered the FLDS to pay Wisan $385,000 for six months of delinquent housing occupancy fees. The FLDS made the final payment of about $192,000 on what they owed on June 15, the same day the Utah Attorney General's Office filed a settlement proposal with a court to end the dispute over the $114 million property trust. The sale of the cows also was disclosed in a court filing June 15, although the FLDS learned of the sale June 16. The FLDS believe the sale of the cattle violates a court order issued after the sides agreed to negotiate, which halted trust litigation and limited trust management activity. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Law Enforcement Stomp on Rumors of a Polygamist Group Moving into Fort Hall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Tammy Scardino KPVI News 6 - Pocatello, Idaho Originally broadcast June 25, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| We want to put some rumors to rest. In the past week, law enforcement has been getting calls and emails about the possibility that a polygamist group has moved to the area. According to law enforcement authorities who've looked into these allegations, they are not. Authorities say they're simply a religious group that want to live in a commune-type setting to save money. They come from Utah, where a custody battle that affects one of the couples is currently in progress. They've only been living in Fort Hall for about a week. Lawyers representing the parent are advising her to not comment at this point in time. The lawyers claim the ex-husband is slandering the group and harassing them to gain custody of his son amid a six-year battle in court. Responding to rumors that the group or a member of the group threatened to harm President Barack Obama, law enforcement has searched the home and have not found any sort of weapons or indication they're out to hurt anyone. A news conference to clear all of this up further is to take place in Salt Lake City within the next two weeks. That is when the family is supposed to make a public statement. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Two B.C. men's preliminary hearing for polygamy charges set | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Daphne Bramham, Vancouver Sun Times Colonist - Victoria, British Columbia Originally published June 25, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| CRANBROOK - The preliminary hearing for two B.C. men charged with polygamy has been set for four weeks beginning April 19, 2010 in Cranbrook provincial court. Winston Blackmore, 52, and James Oler, 44, are fundamentalist Mormon leaders from Bountiful, who believe that a man needs multiply wives to enter the highest realm of heaven. Their beliefs diverged from mainstream Mormons after 1890 when the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints renounced the earthly practise of polygamy. There are 19 women listed on Blackmore’s indictment and three on Oler’s. However, the lawyers for the two men will be in B.C. Supreme Court next week for a four-day hearing into an application brought by Blackmore’s lawyer Joe Arvay. Arvay is asking that the charge against his client be stayed either because the criminal charge is unfair and politically motivated since former attorney-general Wally Oppal rejected the recommendation of his ministry that charges not be laid and the recommendation of two special prosecutors who said that the polygamy law should be referred to the B.C. Court of Appeal to determine its constitutionality. If Justice Sunni Stromberg-Stein doesn’t agree with that argument, Arvay will argue that the charges be stayed unless the government picks up the legal defense costs since this is a constitutional test case. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Blackmore asking to have charge dropped | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Lena Sin The Province - Vancouver, BC Originally published June 26, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
The lawyer for accused polygamist Winston Blackmore will be in B.C. Supreme Court Monday, arguing that the charge should be dismissed because of an abuse of process. Blackmore, the self-styled "Bishop of Bountiful," is accused of having multiple wives. His lawyer, Joe Arvay, said yesterday that, if the application to stay the charge is rejected, he will argue that the government should pay for Blackmore's legal fees to defend himself. Blackmore was refused legal aid and has written in his blog that he feels the taxpayer should pick up the tab for his legal bills because he is fighting a constitutional battle for religious freedom. James Oler, Blackmore's bitter rival, is also facing one count of polygamy. Oler's charge will likely be dismissed if Blackmore's court challenge succeeds. The two men are leaders of the Bountiful Mormon community near Creston in southeastern B.C. The community is part of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and is disavowed by the mainstream Mormon church, which rejects polygamy. In 2002, the Bountiful community split bitterly into followers of Blackmore, who claims about 700 adherents, and those of Oler, who has about 500 followers who are also loyal to jailed U.S. polygamist Warren Jeffs, convicted last year of sex-exploitation charges. If the criminal case against the pair goes ahead, a preliminary hearing is scheduled to start April 19, 2010, in Cranbrook Provincial Court. Blackmore is also being pursued by the Tax Court of Canada for allegedly failing to declare all of his income.
lsin@theprovince.com | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bountiful members owe over $2 million in taxes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Another 20 to 30 appeal cases from the polygamous community are pending in federal Tax Court | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun Originally published Friday, June 26, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Members of Bountiful's polygamous community have bilked Canadians out of more than $2 million in unpaid taxes, tax credits as well as unpaid penalties and fines, according to Canada Revenue Agency. It all tracks directly to Winston Blackmore, spiritual leader for about half of the 1,500 fundamentalist Mormons living in southeastern British Columbia. Blackmore is also president of J.R. Blackmore & Sons Ltd. (JRB), whose shareholders and directors include him and his brothers Richard Guy, Richard and Kevin. The gross negligence penalties assessed the company, Blackmore and his brothers total just under $1.5 million. In addition, the government says they owe another half a million dollars in tax arrears and interest. As a result of the company audit, another 20 to 30 appeal cases from Bountiful are pending in federal Tax Court. Some are held in abeyance pending Winston Blackmore's appeal, in which he argues that Bountiful residents should be taxed as a "congregation," not as individuals or corporate entities. Canada Revenue Agency disagrees. "At all material times, the appellant [JRB] operated for the primary benefit of Winston; the business activities in the community of Bountiful operated at the direction of Winston and for the primary benefit of Winston," it says in reply to Blackmore's appeal. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Polygamist leaders in Canada face 2010 hearing | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Ben Winslow KSL NewsRadio Originally published June 25, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
CRESTON, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- A judge in Canada has set a hearing next year for two men facing criminal charges of practicing polygamy. Court records show that during an appearance in a provincial court in Creston, British Columbia, on Thursday, a judge scheduled a preliminary hearing beginning April 19, 2010 for Winston Blackmore and James Oler. The hearing could last as long as a month. Oler, 44, is a bishop in the Utah-based Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Blackmore, 52, was a high ranking leader in the same church until he was excommunicated by FLDS leader Warren Jeffs back in 2002. The FLDS have a colony in the town of Bountiful, British Columbia. It split when Blackmore was excommunicated, with some following Blackmore and others remaining with Oler. Both men are charged with practicing polygamy. Blackmore is accused of having 19 wives, Oler is accused of having three. Lawyers for the two men are seeking to have the charges tossed. The Vancouver Sun newspaper reported Thursday that a hearing will be held in British Columbia's Supreme Court next week on Blackmore's application to have the charges stayed because the polygamy charge is either unfair and politically motivated or unconstitutional.
E-mail: bwinslow@ksl.com | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Author takes aim at polygamy | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Tim Sampson The Daily Times - Kerrville, Texas Originally published June 27, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| When Flora Jessop came to Kerrville on Thursday night to talk about her experiences growing up in a polygamist cult in Arizona, she had a warning: Texas could be next. Jessop, who spent her childhood in the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints and was forced to marry her own cousin at 16, escaped from the extremist sect and has become a champion of the fight against the fundamentalist church. She authored the book, "Church of Lies," detailing her experiences and was at Hastings on Thursday night for a book signing. Between describing horrific episodes of abuse from her own childhood in Colorado City, Ariz., the fundamentalist compound where she was raised, Jessop railed against governments in Utah and Arizona that have not done enough to shut down these cults, in her opinion. "It’s been allowed to go on, because it enjoys the shield of mainstream Mormonism," she said. She said the political influence Mormons wield in those states and the fact that Mormon scripture still allows polygamy, gives credence to cults where women and children are held prisoner, raped, abused and neglected. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 'Prosecutor shopping' voids polygamy charges: Defence | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun Originally published June 29, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| VANCOUVER — The two B.C. men charged with polygamy should have their charges stayed because the province's attorney general had no right to go shopping for a prosecutor willing to lay the charges, their lawyer argued Monday. Winston Blackmore, 52, and James Oler, 44, were charged in January with one count each of practising polygamy, which is an offence under the federal Criminal Code. There are 19 women named on Blackmore's indictment and three on Oler's. Their preliminary hearing is set for next April in provincial court in Cranbrook, B.C. The case is widely regarded as a constitutional test case. Both of Blackmore and Oler are fundamentalist Mormons who believe that multiple wives are needed to enter the highest realm of heaven. Because of that, Blackmore has long argued that the constitutional guarantee of religious freedom protects the practice of polygamy. But on Monday, Blackmore's lawyer Bruce Elwood argued in B.C. Supreme Court that the court has no jurisdiction because the prosecution is being pursued without lawful authority. Elwood argued that former attorney general Wally Oppal had no right to go shopping for a special prosecutor who would agree with him that the men ought to be charged. Special prosecutor Terry Robertson, who is scheduled to respond to Elwood's arguments Tuesday, was the third prosecutor appointed under the provincial Crown Counsel Act. Two previous appointees — Richard Peck and Leonard Doust — recommended that rather than laying charges, the constitutionality of the anti-polygamy law ought to be referred to the B.C. Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada. Oppal, a former Court of Appeal justice, disagreed and appointed Robertson within weeks of Doust's report in 2008. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bountiful polygamist wants charges tossed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Andy Ivens The Vancouver Province Originally published June 29, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A B.C. Supreme Court judge was asked on Monday to throw out polygamy charges against two men from Bountiful, B.C., because prosecuting them would be unfair. Winston Blackmore and James Oler, the current and former head of a polygamous Mormon sect, were charged after special prosecutor Terry Robertson decided there was a likelihood of a conviction. Robertson is the third special prosecutor in the matter. The first two — eminent lawyers Richard Peck and Leonard Doust — recommended the case be referred to B.C. Court of Appeal to settle the constitutional challenge to the polygamy law, Section 293 of the Criminal Code of Canada. That prompted an accusation on Monday by Blackmore’s lawyer Bruce Elwood of "special prosecutor shopping" on the part of former B.C. attorney-general Wally Oppal, who took a public stance in favour of prosecuting Blackmore and Oler. The attorney-general doesn’t have that power, Elwood told Justice Sunni Stromberg-Stein. "The process followed in this case makes a mockery of [an attorney general’s] independence," said Elwood. "The only decision the attorney-general would accept [from a special prosecutor] was to approve the charges. "It is a misuse of the special prosecutor mechanism." Elwood added the decision to prosecute the accused, rather than refer the constitutional question to an appellate court, "is manifestly unfair." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Forcing B.C. polygamous sect leaders to challenge law is unfair, lawyers argue | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By JAMES KELLER The Canadian Press Metro Canda - Edmonton, Alberta Originally published June 29, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| VANCOUVER, B.C. - Forcing the two leaders of a controversial polygamous community in British Columbia to stand trial in a case that will inevitably test Canada's ban on multiple marriage would be an unfair burden on the men, their lawyers argued in court on Monday. Winston Blackmore, 52, and James Oler, 44, are the leaders of separate factions of the polygamous community of Bountiful, in southeastern B.C. The pair were arrested in January and each charged with one count of practising polygamy. Blackmore, who has admitted to multiple marriages, is accused of having 19 wives and Oler three. Both men are asking a B.C. Supreme Court judge to either throw out the polygamy charges against them, or at least force the provincial government to pay their legal bills. Bruce Elwood, who represents Blackmore, told the court that it would be wrong to force the men to endure a lengthy and expensive trial under a law that repeated legal opinions have suggested may violate the charter right to religious freedom. "The prosecution would effectively compel the accused to participate as a test litigate," said Elwood. "It is a controversial and complex issue, one that is woven with some history and religious significance. ... This case cries out for a reference case, wherein the individual accused won't bear the stigma, the delay and the expense of determining the fundamental core issue of constitutionality." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| B.C. court told polygamy case is political abuse | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Allan Dowd Reuters Canada Originally published Mon Jun 29, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) - Improper political interference led to polygamy charges being filed against two members of a breakaway sect of the Mormon Church, defense lawyers told a Canadian court on Monday. The court was asked to not proceed with charges against the members of U.S.-based Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS), which has been reported for years to be practicing plural marriages in a rural town in the province of British Columbia on Canada's Pacific coast. The case, if allowed to proceed, will be the first major test of Canada's more than century-old polygamy law, which some civil rights lawyers have warned may violate constitutional protections of religious freedom. Defense lawyers said British Columbia's attorney general abused the system by appointing a new special prosecutor after one appointed in 2007 declined to file charges because the case was likely not winnable. The new prosecutor did file charges. "(The 2007 decision) should have been the end of the matter," said Bruce Elwood, an attorney for Winston Blackmore, one of two prominent members of the FLDS arrested in January. The province decided to use a special prosecutor to avoid a possible conflict of interest because its own internal criminal prosecutors had warned in the 1990s that the law was likely unconstitutional. "The special prosecutor was intended to avoid any risk, real or perceived, of political interference," Elwood told a judge in Vancouver. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Woman says FLDS leaders banned laughter | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Angela Shaffer Special to the Standard-Times San Angelo Standard-Times Originally published June 29, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Flora Jessop and Kathy Nicholson know firsthand what it’s like growing up in a polygamist family. The two women escaped a sect compound in Colorado City, Ariz., as teenagers but say they will forever carry the scars of a traumatic childhood with them. At what was termed a "friends and survivors" picnic Saturday, Jessop and Nicholson joined K. Dee Ignatin, executive director of Americans Against Abuses of Polygamy (AAAP), at Glenmore Park. The event was held to invite the public to discuss polygamy with women who have experienced it firsthand. Jessop has written a book on her life with the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the same sect that owns the now-famous YFZ Ranch in Schleicher County. The FLDS, which believes polygamy brings glorification in heaven, is a breakaway sect of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which renounced polygamy more than a century ago. Ignatin said Americans should not be fooled by what she says is the media’s incorrectly favorable portrayal of the polygamist lifestyle. The women’s tour was prompted in part by featured treatment of the YFZ Ranch group on the Oprah Winfrey Show. "It’s true of the Taliban and it’s true of the FLDS," Ignatin said. "Every instance of polygamy in any culture always forces women and children into poverty, restricts women’s choices, travel, and education, leads to the molestation of both boys and girls, and results in child brides." Ignatin said she sees no difference between a burqa — the body-covering garment worn by Muslim women in Afghanistan — and a prairie dress, the trademark garb of the FLDS women. She said she hopes that through AAAP — the organization’s Web site is tripleap.org — she will be able to bring awareness, influence action and help to expose what she says is governmental corruption at both the state and federal level. Complaints and evidence have pointed to abuse of children in the sect, but "no one has done anything about it," Ignatin said. "We’re basically telling those children that, yeah, we know you’re being abused, but we don’t care. Go back and endure." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 'Prosecutor-shopping' alleged in polygamy case | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun Originally published June 30, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The first legal skirmish in the battle over the right of two B.C. men to practise polygamy got underway Monday with accusations of abuse of process, political interference and unfairness levelled at former attorney-general Wally Oppal. Defence lawyers say their clients -- Winston Blackmore, 52, and James Oler, 44 -- should have their charges stayed because the attorney-general had no right to go shopping for a prosecutor willing to take them to court. Special prosecutor Terry Robertson fired back that it's fully within the rights of the attorney-general, whose responsibility it is to ensure that the public interest is best served. He also suggested that the defendants' application to either have the charges quashed or their legal fees paid is nothing more than a delaying tactic in a case that won't even go to a preliminary hearing until April 2010 -- 15 months after the men were arrested. Robertson was the second special prosecutor the government appointed and the third outside counsel hired by the attorney-general's office to review material gathered by RCMP in an investigation into the fundamentalist Mormon community of Bountiful in southeastern British Columbia that spanned 2005 and 2006. "If appointing two special prosecutors is within the attorney-general's discretion, what about five?" Blackmore's lawyer Bruce Elwood asked, noting that the point of special prosecutors is to take the decision-making out of the political realm. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FLDS want judge to revoke sale of cows | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
The Associated Press Deseret News Originally published Tuesday, June 30, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Attorneys for a southern Utah polygamous church are asking a judge to reverse the sale of cows from a church farm by a court-appointed accountant. Papers filed in 3rd District Court on Friday say the sale of 565 heifers from Harker Farms in Beryl decimates the value of the farm — a key asset in settlement negotiations over the United Effort Plan trust. Once controlled by jailed church leader Warren Jeffs, the UEP is an arm of the Fundamentalist LDS Church. The UEP was seized by the Utah courts in 2005 after allegations of mismanagement. The FLDS are now negotiating to regain most trust assets. Sect attorneys say fiduciary Bruce Wisan should have disclosed plans to sell the cows during negotiations. Wisan sold the cows for $360,000 on June 2. The sale was disclosed in a June 15 court filing — the same day the Utah Attorney General's Office submitted a settlement proposal to the court that includes a mechanism for returning the farm to the FLDS. FLDS lawyers also contend Wisan sold the young, non-milking cows below market rates. The lawyers place the value of the livestock at $537,840. FLDS attorneys believe the sale violates an order setting financial limits for the sale of assets without court approval. They now want the court to freeze nearly $400,000 in fees paid to Wisan since June 1. Attorneys for Wisan say the sale does not violate court orders. They contend the sale benefits the farm because a portion of proceeds paid off farm debts. They also say the sale contract allows the FLDS to repurchase the cows. The cows were sold to Jonathan and Hyrum Harker, whose father left the FLDS Church years ago. The brothers have been running the farm for Wisan for more than a year. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Accused polygamist's 25 brides included four who were 15: Affidavit | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun The StarPhoenix - Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Originally published June 30, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| VANCOUVER — Four of the 25 wives of fundamentalist Mormon leader Winston Blackmore of Bountiful, B.C., were just 15 when they were bound to him in spiritual marriages, says an affidavit filed Tuesday in his polygamy case. Another two were 16 and three were 17, says the document, which depicts a complicated family tree. The details were compiled by Const. Shelley Livingstone, one of the officers involved in the RCMP investigation into the polygamous community that began in 2004. In all, it says, Blackmore has fathered 101 children with his host of wives. The affidavit was filed in B.C. Supreme Court, where Blackmore's application for a stay on charges of practising polygamy is currently being heard. The document alleges that among the 15-year-old brides was Lorraine Johnson, who married Blackmore, now 52, when he was 41. The first of her four children was born a year later, it says. Johnson is one of 16 Americans who came to Canada with and without visas to marry Blackmore, according to the court document. She was legally married in December 2005 to her "sister-wife" Shelina Palmer in a civil ceremony, it said. At the time, it was unclear whether that was a love-match made legal in defiance of the community's beliefs or whether it was a marriage of convenience aimed at ensuring Johnson was not deported for living illegally in Canada. Both Johnson and Palmer married Blackmore in 1998. Like Johnson, Palmer was only 15, the court document alleges. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minister can overrule prosecutors in polygamy case, Crown argues | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Sam Cooper The Province The Windsor Star - Ontario, Canada Originally published June, 30 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| VANCOUVER — Winston Blackmore, the fundamentalist Mormon leader charged with polygamy, watched in B.C. Supreme Court on Tuesday as a judge asked how many times former provincial attorney-general Wally Oppal should be able to seek a new prosecutor before getting his way on the filing of charges. On Monday, Blackmore's lawyer Bruce Elwood had asked for the case against Blackmore to be quashed, arguing that Oppal had overstepped his authority. Elwood said Oppal went "shopping" for a third prosecutor to lay charges after special prosecutor Richard Peck decided against it for constitutional reasons. A second lawyer upheld Peck's view. Oppal then appointed a third prosecutor who charged Blackmore. "The first decision was not satisfactory to Oppal, the review was not what he wanted, so then he goes to No. 3 and gets what he wants," Justice Sunni Stromberg-Stein said to Crown counsel Terry Robertson. "How many times is he permitted to do that?" "The answer is as many times as he wants," said Crown counsel Robertson. "If he sought 10 opinions . . . the point comes when he might be committing political hara-kiri." Robertson argued the prosecutorial discretion for an attorney-general trumps the powers of a special prosecutor as mandated by federal statute. On Monday, Elwood had said special prosecutors have the final word under a provincial law enacted to avoid political interference in sensitive cases. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lawyer slams Oppal on polygamy case | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Then-attorney-general had no business comparison-shopping for a special prosecutor, Blackmore's team says | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Robert Matas The Globe and Mail - Toronto, Ontario Originally published Tuesday, Jun. 30, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| B.C. attorney-general Wally Oppal overstepped his authority by charging polygamist Winston Blackmore after a special prosecutor had decided against pursuing the case, the province's Supreme Court was told. Mr. Oppal went "shopping" for a special prosecutor who would proceed with a criminal charge of polygamy, Mr. Blackmore's lawyer, Bruce Elwood, said yesterday in submissions asking the court to dismiss the matter on a procedural issue before the trial on polygamy begins next April. Richard Peck was appointed as a special prosecutor after Mr. Oppal disagreed with government lawyers who questioned the constitutionality of the law on polygamy. Mr. Peck concluded that the government should test whether the law was constitutional. Mr. Oppal did not agree and asked lawyer Len Doust to review Mr. Peck's decision. After Mr. Doust offered the same advice, Mr. Oppal appointed Terry Robertson to take a fresh look at the same case, Mr. Elwood said. The decision of a special prosecutor is supposed to be the final word, Mr. Elwood said. The legislature created the position of special prosecutor in the early 1990s to assure the public that high-profile decisions involving politicians, police or others would be independent of political influence, he said. A special prosecutor has authority to make a final decision to avoid any risk, real or perceived, of interference in politically sensitive cases, he said. The need to assure the public that the decision was free of influence from either side was paramount, he said. "The Attorney-General has simply created the illusion of independence by appointing lawyer upon lawyer to do the charge assessment until he got the answer he wanted," the lawyer told the court. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Oppal had power to overrule previous prosecutors in polygamy case, Crown argues | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Sam Cooper The Vancouver Province Originally published June 30, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Winston Blackmore, the Bountiful commune leader charged with polygamy, watched on Tuesday in B.C. Supreme Court as a judge asked how many times former Attorney-General Wally Oppal should be able to seek new prosecutor decisions before getting his way. On Monday, Blackmore's lawyer Bruce Elwood had asked for the charges against Blackmore to be quashed, arguing that Oppal had overstepped his authority. Elwood said Oppal went "shopping" for a third prosecutor to lay charges after special prosecutor Richard Peck had decided against it for constitutional reasons. A second lawyer upheld Peck's view and finally a third prosecutor was appointed, who charged Blackmore. "The first decision was not satisfactory to Oppal, the review was not what he wanted, so then he goes to No. 3 and gets what he wants," Justice Sunni Stromberg-Stein said to Crown counsel Terry Robertson. "How many times is he permitted to do that?" "The answer is as many times as he wants," said Crown counsel Robertson. "If he sought 10 opinions...the point comes when he might be committing political hari-kari." Robertson argued the prosecutorial discretion for an Attorney-General trumps the powers of a special prosecutor as mandated by federal statute. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Accused B.C. polygamists want charges dropped | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun Originally published June 30, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Two B.C. men charged with polygamy say their clients should have their charges stayed because the attorney general had no right to go shopping for a prosecutor willing to lay the charges. That’s what the lawyers for Winston Blackmore, 52, and James Oler, 44, argued Monday in B.C. Supreme Court. But special prosecutor Terry Robertson argued that former attorney general Wally Oppal not only had the right, but also the responsibility to ensure that the public interest is best served. Robertson, who will continue his arguments Tuesday, was the second special prosecutor appointed by Oppal and the third outside counsel hired by the attorney general to review material gathered by RCMP during more than two years of investigation into the fundamentalist Mormon community of Bountiful in southeastern British Columbia. Both Blackmore and Oler are fundamentalist Mormons who believe that polygamy is a basic tenet of their religion. Because of that, Blackmore has long argued that the constitutional guarantee of religious freedom protects the practise of polygamy. It was Robertson who recommended that one count of polygamy be laid against Blackmore and one against Oler. The men were arrested in January. Nineteen women are named on Blackmore’s indictment and three on Oler’s. (The preliminary hearing is set for next April in provincial court in Cranbrook unless Justice Sunni Stromberg-Stein orders the stay in this case, which is widely regarded as a constitutional test case.) Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Canadian polygamous leader wants charges dropped | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By JEREMY HAINSWORTH The Associated Press Taiwan News - Taiwan Originally published June 30, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A polygamous community in western Canada has asked a court to dismiss polygamy charges it faces or order the government to pay legal costs. Lawyer Bruce Elwood told a British Columbia Supreme Court judge Monday the government went "prosecutor shopping" in order to lay charges. In January, authorities arrested Winston Blackmore, 52, and James Oler, 44, who lead rival polygamous factions in Bountiful, a town in southeastern British Columbia. Blackmore is charged with marrying 20 women and Oler is accused of marrying two women. Elwood told the court that former provincial attorney general Wally Oppal rejected two independent special prosecutors recommendations that charges not be filed. Charges were filed after a third prosecutor agreed with Oppal. The charges carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison. Blackmore, who has about 400 followers in Bountiful, once ran the Canadian arm of the Utah-based Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but was ejected in 2003 by that group's leader, Warren Jeffs. Oler is the bishop of Bountiful's FLDS community loyal to Jeffs. FLDS members practice polygamy in arranged marriages, a tradition tied to the early theology of the Mormon church. Mormons renounced polygamy in 1890 as a condition of Utah's statehood. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Police: Polygamist has 25 wives, 101 kids | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
UPI NewsTrack TopNews United Press International Originally published July 1, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| VANCOUVER, British Columbia, July 1 (UPI) -- A British Columbia man living in a polygamist sect has 25 wives and 101 children to brides as young as 15, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police allege. Winston Blackmore, 52, is charged with one count of practicing polygamy as a member of the Bountiful sect, which has about 1,000 members, CTV News reported. In an affidavit filed with the provincial Supreme Court, the RCMP alleges since 1976, Blackmore had nine child brides, four of whom were 15, the report said. Tuesday in Vancouver, he told reporters "that's wrong" as documents were being filed for a pre-trial hearing. The RCMP named four of the brides who allegedly had their first children by Blackmore before they turned 18. Federal law was changed in 2008 to raise the age of marital consent to 16 from 14, the report said. His lawyers have said his defense will be the ban on polygamy violates Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Preliminary hearings are scheduled for April, but Blackmore's lawyers are trying to have the case thrown out on procedural issues, CTV said. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Court-appointed CPA rejects settlement proposal | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
The Associated Press KTNV Action News 13 - Las Vegas Originally published July 1, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A court-appointed accountant says he can't back a settlement proposal that gives the majority of a property trust's assets back to a polygamous church run by Warren Jeffs. Court papers filed Tuesday by attorneys for Bruce Wisan say the proposal violates a court order that requires the United Effort Plan Trust to benefit individuals, not the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The trust is an arm of the FLDS church. It holds most of the land and homes in Hildale, Utah and Colorado City, Ariz., and was founded on a religious principal that calls for the communal sharing of assets. The Utah courts seized the trust in 2005 -- and named Wisan its fiduciary -- after allegations of mismanagement. The FLDS sued to regain control of the trust last year. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Utah polygamous church trust manager rejects deal | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By JENNIFER DOBNER The Associated Press Dallas Morning News Originally published July 1, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A court-appointed accountant will not back a settlement proposal that gives the majority of a property trust's assets back to a polygamous church run by Warren Jeffs. Court papers filed late Tuesday by attorneys for Bruce Wisan say the proposal violates a court order that requires the United Effort Plan Trust to benefit individuals, not the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The order also requires the trust to be religiously neutral in providing for beneficiaries. "The present proposal would be objectionable because it is so one-sided. Under the proposal, nearly every category of assets is to be transferred 100 percent directly to the FLDS church," attorneys Jeff and Zach Shields wrote. The trust is an arm of the FLDS church. Valued at more than $110 million, the trust holds most of the land and homes in Hildale, Utah and Colorado City, Ariz., and was founded in 1942 on a religious principal that calls for the communal sharing of assets for those who adhere to church teachings. The Utah courts seized the trust in 2005 — and named Wisan its fiduciary — after allegations of mismanagement. Under Wisan's management the trust became a secular entity. The church sued to regain control of the trust last year and settlement talks were initiated in November between the FLDS, Wisan and the attorneys general of Utah and Arizona. A draft settlement proposal was submitted to 3rd District Court Judge Denise Lindberg on June 15 by the Utah attorney general's office. It's unclear what Lindberg will do next, but ultimately only she can decide whether a settlement is fair. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Division over FLDS land grows wider | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Ben Winslow KSL NewsRadio Originally published July 1, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SALT LAKE CITY -- The division over land controlled by the real estate holdings arm of a southern Utah-based polygamous church appears to be growing wider. In new court documents filed late Tuesday in Salt Lake City's 3rd District Court and obtained by KSL NewsRadio, members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints appear to support the Utah Attorney General's proposed settlement to end the legal war over the United Effort Plan Trust. But the Arizona Attorney General and the court-appointed special fiduciary for the trust vehemently oppose it. "The Utah Attorney General has come to recognize that the property held in the reformed trust is the manifestation of a group of religious believers the FLDS Church's practice of the law of consecration which cannot and should not be governed by a state act or ostensibly guided solely by secular principles," FLDS attorney Kenneth Okazaki wrote in court papers. In their filing, the FLDS support an idea pushed by the Utah Attorney General's Office to carve out an area in Colorado City, Ariz., for non-FLDS members to live. "Some have complained that the property set aside for such claims is not checkerboarded throughout the community," Okazaki wrote. "This was done because all lots within Hildale and Colorado City have previously been allocated by the FLDS bishops, and many contain improvements, although they do not yet have residences constructed on them." The attorney general's proposal also calls for the town cemetery to be returned to the FLDS with non-members having access to visit graves if they behave in a manner consistent with FLDS standards for conduct and dress. A Colorado City park would also be administered by an FLDS bishop. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Polygamist had 9 child brides and 101 children, RCMP say | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Robert Matas The Globe and Mail - Toronto, Ontario Originally published Wednesday, Jul. 01, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Polygamist Winston Blackmore married Lorraine Johnson when she was 15 years old. Ms. Johnson had a baby boy two weeks before her 17th birthday. She was one of Mr. Blackmore's four 15-year-old brides, police say in an affidavit in B.C. Supreme Court released yesterday. He also married two 16-year-olds and three 17-year-olds. Four of the young girls had their first baby before turning 18. The child brides were identified for the first time in an affidavit for a pretrial hearing in B.C. Supreme Court. Mr. Blackmore, 52, has been charged with being in a polygamous relationship with 19 women. His legal team is in court this week in a bid to have the charge dismissed on a procedural issue before the preliminary hearing begins next April. The court proceedings continue tomorrow. The nine girls under 18 were among 25 wives that Mr. Blackmore has had since 1976, police say. His wives had 101 children. The list of wives and children, drafted Sept. 27, 2005, was part of an affidavit by RCMP Constable Shelley Livingstone. The police interviewed the women as part of an investigation into sexual exploitation and polygamy in Bountiful, a community of about 1,000 in southeastern B.C. Mr. Blackmore was the bishop of Bountiful until 2002, when he was replaced in an internal battle over leadership. "The first interview was Janelle Fischer, and each person interviewed freely went to get another of Winston Blackmore's wives to attend the clinic to speak to us when her interview finished," Constable Livingstone states in the affidavit. Mr. Blackmore came to the clinic and she showed him the list compiled by the police, Constable Livingstone said. "At that point in time, through information from a number of sources, we had compiled a list of individuals thought to be wives and his children. He reviewed our information and provided clarification and information." Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| One charge of polygamy seems inadequate | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Fundamentalist Mormon leader Winston Blackmore married nine women who were under age 18 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun Originally published Thursday, July 02, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nine child brides. Yes, nine of fundamentalist Mormon leader Winston Blackmore's 25 wives were under 18 when they were married. Four were only 15, according to the RCMP. Two were 16. Three were 17. A list compiled by Const. Shelley Livingstone in 2005 names the wives, provides their birthdates and that of 101 children. The information is the result of interviews done in Bountiful that the women and Blackmore consented to during the RCMP's two-year investigation. The list was filed in B.C. Supreme Court where Blackmore and James Oler have made pretrial applications to have the one count of polygamy against each of them stayed. In court this week, their lawyers alleged that former B.C. attorney-general Wally Oppal abused his power and went "prosecutor shopping" until he found someone willing to recommend the charges against them. But reading the list, it's easy to see why Oppal was so determined. Blackmore was 41 in 1998 when he married 15-year-old Lorraine Johnson. The first of Johnson's four children was born a year later. He married 15-year-old Shalina Palmer that year, too. The first of her four children was born in 2000; the second conceived only days before her 18th birthday. (Johnson and Palmer -- two "sister-wives" -- eventually married each other in a 2005 civil ceremony. Johnson, like 15 of Blackmore's other wives, is an American who had come to Canada without a visa. Palmer is Canadian.) Christina Gallup Blackmore was 15 when she became Blackmore's first "celestial" or plural wife in 1981. It "wasn't long after when they had sexual relations," says Livingstone's note, although her first of 12 children wasn't born until she was 17. Blackmore was a decade older than her. Her sister Mary Ann was 16 when she became Blackmore's third bride in 1983. Another sister, Susan, was also 16 and had a child a year later. She became Blackmore's sixth wife in 1991, the same year that Blackmore married 15-year-old Harmony Quinton. The first of her five children was born when she was 18. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Polygamy case judge wonders about A-G's motives in case | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Sam Cooper The Vancouver Province Originally published July 2, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Winston Blackmore, the Bountiful commune leader charged with polygamy, watched in B.C. Supreme Court as a judge wondered aloud how many times an attorney-general can change prosecutors before getting his way. Blackmore's lawyer, Bruce Elwood, had asked earlier for the charges against Blackmore to be quashed, arguing that former attorney-general Wally Oppal had overstepped his authority. Elwood said Oppal went "shopping" for a third prosecutor to lay charges after special prosecutor Richard Peck had decided against it for constitutional reasons. A second lawyer backed Peck's view. Finally a third prosecutor was appointed; he charged Blackmore. "The first decision was not satisfactory to Oppal, the review was not what he wanted, so then he goes to No. 3 and gets what he wants," Justice Sunni Stromberg-Stein told Crown counsel Terry Robertson on Tuesday. "How many times is he permitted to do that?" Robertson replied: "The answer is as many times as he wants." Final discretion rests with the attorney-general, he said, but noted that all politicians are ultimately answerable to the electorate if they overstep their privileges. "If he sought 10 opinions ... the point comes when he might be committing political hara-kari," the prosecutor said. He argued that an attorney-general's discretion, mandated by federal statute, trumps the powers of a special prosecutor. Elwood had told the court Monday that Oppal "has simply created an illusion of independence by appointing lawyer upon lawyer to do the charge assessment until he got the answer he wanted." Robertson, the third prosecutor appointed in the Blackmore case, rejected Elwood's argument. Read more | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Judge balks at defence request to quash polygamy charges | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
By Sam Cooper The Vancouver Province Originally published July 2, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Defence efforts to get polygamy charges against Winston Blackmore quashed before a trial were questioned by a judge in B.C. Supreme Court Thursday. Blackmore's lawyer, Bruce Elwood, had asked Justice Sunni Stromberg-Stein to throw out or stay charges on Blackmore, arguing former attorney-general Wally Oppal abused his authority by "shopping" for prosecutors until finding one willing to put polygamy charges on Blackmore. "I have no ability to quash a jurisdictional issue," Stromberg-Stein told Elwood at the beginning of proceedings. "The whole argument makes no sense." The judge asked Elwood to return to court later in the afternoon with an argument clarifying where her authority lies that would allow her to quash the charges out of hand. Outside court, Crown counsel Terry Robertson said Stromberg-Stein "seems to think that she doesn't have jurisdictional authority because she's not a trial court... She threw out a curveball." Robertson and Elwood continued to argue over the final powers of the attorney-general versus the mandate of a special prosecutor.
E-mail: scooper@theprovince.com | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Safety Net Committee is having its First Annual Safety Net Clinical Training Conference on Monday, August 17, 2009. This program is to train service providers on how to be culturally sensitive when working with polygamous family systems. Read the flyer. Read the registration form. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Non-FLDS members living in Hildale and Colorado City expressed their concerns over the UEP settlement fiasco at the Utah State Capitol on May 26, 2009. They protested the possibility of being kicked out of their homes if the FLDS is allowed to take back complete control of the UEP Trust. They created a flyer to voice their fears regarding the current UEP negotiations taking place. Read it here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| HOPE was emailed a document on May 20, 2009 which appears to be a "Settlement and Plan of Distribution" for the UEP Trust. It looks like this is a proposal from the FLDS on how they think the UEP debacle should be handled. HOPE can't attest to its authenticity, but we have it posted here for your interest. Read it here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In late December, 2007, an attorney representing The Salt Lake Tribune newspaper sent a certified letter to The HOPE Organization threatening to sue HOPE unless we removed EVERY Salt Lake Tribune newspaper article from our non-profit educational web site. Many months later, we had one of their own reporters contact us asking for information on the situation in Texas and he seemed surprised when we refused to share information with him because his company tried to sue us. He said that he was not aware of the lawsuit threat. Because of this reporter not knowing what his own employer was doing, perhaps others are also not aware of the actions of The Salt Lake Tribune. So we decided to put the link back up regarding this situation. Read about this lawsuit instigated by The Salt Lake Tribune P.S. - The Salt Lake Tribune reporter who instigated this lawsuit was still calling HOPE in July 2008 (7 months later) asking us to put her in contact with people for her to interview for her "stories". Amazing! | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| FLDS documentary 3 years in the making - Banking on Heaven | |
| Watch the Banking on Heaven trailer | |
| 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 Elissa Wall Objection to Settlement Proposal regarding the UEP Trust filed June 30, 2009 | |
| Read the "Lost Boys'" Objection to the Settlement Proposals Submitted by the Utah Attorney General and the FLDS Church regarding the UEP Trust filed June 30, 2009 | |
| Read the Objection of Jonathan and Hyrum Harker to the Settlement Proposal and Letter of Intent Submitted by the Utah Attorney General and the FLDS Church regarding the UEP Trust filed June 30, 2009 | |
| Read the Response and Objection of the Office of the Arizona Attorney General to Settlement Proposal Submissions regarding the UEP Trust filed June 30, 2009 | |
| Read the Special Fiduciary Bruce R. Wisan's Consolidated Response to Settlement Proposals regarding the UEP Trust filed June 30, 2009 | |
| Read the Exhibits to the Special Fiduciary Bruce R. Wisan's Consolidated Response to Settlement Proposals regarding the UEP Trust filed June 30, 2009 | |
| Read the Comments of FLDS on Settlement Proposals regarding the UEP Trust filed June 30, 2009 | |
| Read the FLDS Memorandum in Support of Motion for Order to Show Cause regarding the UEP Trust filed June 26, 2009 | |
| Read the Declaration of Mary Harker regarding the UEP Trust filed June 26, 2009 | |
| Read the Declaration of Nathan Jessop regarding the UEP Trust filed June 26, 2009 | |
| Read the Harker's list of Questions for Mark Shurtleff regarding the UEP Trust sent June 23, 2009 | |
| Read a list of Winston Blackmore's wives and children compiled by RCMP Constable Shelley Livingstone | |
| Read the Written Submissions of Winston Kaye Blackmore filed with the Supreme Court of British Columbia, Canada June 22, 2009 | |
| Read the FLDS response to Utah Attorney General's UEP proposal filed June 15, 2009 | |
| Read the Utah Attorney General's proposed UEP settlement filed June 15, 2009 | |
| Read the Utah Attorney General's UEP settlement letter of intent filed June 15, 2009 | |
| Read Elissa Wall's UEP Settlement Proposal Limited to the MJ Action filed June 2, 2009 | |
| Read the Teresa Jeffs Order For Attorney Ad Litem To Return File To Client filed May 28, 2009 | |
| Read the Teresa Jeffs Order On Motion For Protective Order filed May 28, 2009 | |
| Read the Email communications between Natalie Malonis and Teresa Jeffs regarding her case file - last dated May 26, 2009 | |
| Read the State of Utah vs Warren Steed Jeffs Brief of Appellee filed with the Utah Supreme Court in May 2009 | |
| Read the May 19, 2009 Affidavit of Sam Brower in response to the Subpoena and Notice of Deposition brought by Barbara Jessop (RE Merrianne Jessop's CPS case) scheduled for June 22, 2009 in San Angelo, Texas | |
| Read Carolyn Jessop's Petition for Child Support from Merril Jessop filed in Schleicher County, Texas May 13, 2009 | |
| Read the May 8, 2009 Notice of Application filed by Winston Blackmore in the Supreme Court of British Columbia | |
| Read the Teresa Jeffs Motion for Clarification and Motion for Ruling on Obligations of Attorney Ad Litem filed with the Schleicher County Court April 27, 2009 | |
| Read the November 9, 2008 "Borrower" YFZ Land, LLC and "Lender" John C. Wayman Deed of Trust filed in Schleicher County, Texas April 21, 2009 | |
| Read the Teresa Jeffs Amended Joint Supplemental Motion For Protective Order filed April 13, 2009 | |
| Read about the new FLDS Trust created December 31, 2008 in Eldorado, Texas in the Declaration of Trust of Texan Heritage filed in Schleicher County, Texas April 23, 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 | |
| Read the April 13, 2009 Motion to Suppress the evidence against 10 men charged at the YFZ Ranch (this one is specific to Frederick Merril Jessop) filed with the Schleicher County Court | |
| Read the April 13, 2009 Motion to Suppress the evidence against 10 men charged at the YFZ Ranch (this one is specific to Raymond Merril Jessop) filed with the Schleicher County Court | |
| Read the Teresa Jeffs Amended Joint Supplemental Motion For Protective Order filed April 13, 2009 | |
| 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 | |
| Read the names of the Officers and Directors of the YFZ Land LLC company dated January 22, 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 | |
|
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. | |
|
Watch a video of Willie Jessop taken during his deposition January 26, 2009 | |
|
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 | |
|
Watch a video of Merril Jessop taken during his deposition January 23, 2009 | |
|
Watch more of the video of Merril Jessop taken during his deposition January 23, 2009 | |
|
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 | |
|
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 | |
| Read the January 6, 2009 Canadian Indictments for practicing polygamy filed against Winston Blackmore and James Oler | |
| Read a later draft of the Declaration of Trust of the United Order Trust of Texas | |
| Read a draft of the Declaration of Trust of the United Order Trust of Texas | |
| Read the December 26, 2008 press release by Willie Jessop regarding the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services Eldorado Investigation Report | |
| Read the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services Cover letter for the Eldorado Investigation Report released December 22, 2008 | |
| Read the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services Eldorado Investigation Report released December 22, 2008 | |
| Read the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services Petitioner's Designation of Expert Witnesses regarding the "best interest recommendation" for Warren and Annette Jeffs' children, dated December 18, 2008 | |
| Read the November 13, 2008 Letter from the Texas DFPS to the Children's Advocacy Center regarding their letter sent to Governor Rick Perry | |
| Read the Texas indictment against Fredrick Merril Jessop for marrying off his 12-year-old daughter to Warren Jeffs filed November 12, 2008 | |
| Read the Texas indictment against Wendell Loy Nielsen for the first count of bigamy filed November 12, 2008 | |
| Read the Texas indictment against Wendell Loy Nielsen for the second count of bigamy filed November 12, 2008 | |
| Read the Texas indictment against Wendell Loy Nielsen for the third count of bigamy filed November 12, 2008 | |
| Read Willie Jessop's Affidavit for a Temporary Restraining Order and Preliminary Injunction against the UEP Trust dated November 2, 2008 | |
| Read the Letter from the Children's Advocacy Center to Governor Rick Perry dated October 23, 2008 | |
| Read Willie Jessop's Deposition regarding the UEP Trust dated September 22, 2008 | |
|
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 Texas search warrant for DNA samples of 52-year-old Allan Eugene Keate accused of taking a 15-year-old girl as his child bride released August 20, 2008 | |
| Read the Arizona Court of Appeals decision on the Kelly Fishcer child bride conviction filed August 6, 2008 | |
| Read the Sampson Merril Jessop, Merrianne Jessop and Benjamin Merril Jessop - Texas Case 2833 Motion for Conservatorship and Further Orders filed August 5, 2008 | |
| Read the Statement of Dan Fischer dated August 1, 2008 | |
| Read the Texas grand jury indictments for the 6 men from the YFZ ranch accused of sexual assault and child abuse released July 29, 2008 | |
| Read the Texas Department of Public Safety's Press Release and mug shots of the 6 YFZ men wanted for sexual assault of little girls dated July 28, 2008 | |
| See photos from The New York Times Photo Gallery taken of women and children removed from the YFZ Ranch and published by the New York Times July 27, 2008 | |
| Read the UEP - Motion for Approval of Payment of Special Fiduciary's Fees and Costs dated July 25, 2008 | |
| Read the UEP - Current Bill of Attorneys' Fees - Exhibit A1 dated July 25, 2008 | |
| Read the UEP - Current Bill of Attorneys' Fees - Continued to Exhibit A2 dated July 25, 2008 | |
| Read the UEP - Current Bill of Attorneys' Fees - Continued to Exhibit A3 dated July 25, 2008 | |
| Read the UEP - Current Bill of Attorneys' Fees - Continued to Exhibit A4 dated July 25, 2008 | |
| Read the UEP - Current Bill of Attorneys' Fees - Continued to Exhibits B-F dated July 25, 2008 | |
| Read the Texas Court Order to Stay Discovery and for Issuance of Discovery Control Plan Order for Teresa Jeffs' case filed July 25, 2008 | |
| See photos from the San Angelo Standard-Times Photo Gallery taken during the July 24, 2008 US Senate hearing on "Crimes Associated with Polygamy: The Need for a Coordinated State and Federal Response" | |
| Read the Testimony of Sara Hammon submitted to the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on "Crimes Associated with Polygamy: The Need for a Coordinated State and Federal Response" held July 24, 2008 | |
| Read the Testimony of Harry Reid given at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on "Crimes Associated with Polygamy: The Need for a Coordinated State and Federal Response" held July 24, 2008 | |
| Read the Testimony of Gregory A. Brower given at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on "Crimes Associated with Polygamy: The Need for a Coordinated State and Federal Response" held July 24, 2008 | |
| Read the Testimony of Brett Tolman given at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on "Crimes Associated with Polygamy: The Need for a Coordinated State and Federal Response" held July 24, 2008 | |
| Read the Testimony of Terry Goddard given at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on "Crimes Associated with Polygamy: The Need for a Coordinated State and Federal Response" held July 24, 2008 | |
| Read the Testimony of Greg Abbott given at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on "Crimes Associated with Polygamy: The Need for a Coordinated State and Federal Response" held July 24, 2008 | |
| Read the Testimony of Steve Singular given at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on "Crimes Associated with Polygamy: The Need for a Coordinated State and Federal Response" held July 24, 2008 | |
| Read the Testimony of Dan Fischer given at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on "Crimes Associated with Polygamy: The Need for a Coordinated State and Federal Response" held July 24, 2008 | |
| Read part 1 of the Testimony of Carolyn Jessop given at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on "Crimes Associated with Polygamy: The Need for a Coordinated State and Federal Response" held July 24, 2008 | |
| Read part 2 of the Testimony of Carolyn Jessop given at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on "Crimes Associated with Polygamy: The Need for a Coordinated State and Federal Response" held July 24, 2008 | |
| Read the Senate Judiciary Committee announcement for the "Crimes Associated with Polygamy: The Need for a Coordinated State and Federal Response" hearing scheduled for July 24, 2008 | |
| Read the U.S. Senate bill 3313 to establish a Federal Polygamy Task Force introduced July 23, 2008 | |
| Read the Texas Grand Jury Indictment charging Warren Steed Jeffs with Sexual Assault (a First Degree Felony) filed July 22, 2008 | |
| Read the July 27, 2006 dictation by Warren Jeffs regarding performing 3 underage marriages of his daughter, Wendell Nielsen's daughter and Merril Jessop's daughter filed in Texas court July 18, 2008 | |
| Read the CASA Report on Teressa Jeffs filed in Texas court July 18, 2008 | |
| See the Marriage Record of Raymond Merril Jessop and Teresa Jeffs performed July 22, 2005 | |
| See the "Cozy" photos of Teresa Jeffs and Raymond Jessop filed in Texas court July 18, 2008 | |
| See the "Happy to be Married" photos of Teresa Jeffs and Raymond Jessop filed in Texas court July 18, 2008 | |
| Read the Excerpts from Teressa Jeffs' diary discussing marrying Raymond Jessop filed in Texas court July 18, 2008 | |
| Read the Continuing excerpts from Teressa Jeffs' diary discussing marrying Raymond Jessop filed in Texas court July 18, 2008 | |
| See the "Sweetheart" cards of Teressa Jeffs and Raymond Jessop filed in Texas court July 18, 2008 | |
| See photos from The New York Times Photo Gallery of FLDS sect members on the YFZ Ranch taken by photographer Stefanie Sinclair during a visit she made to the ranch July 17 and 18, 2008 | |
| Read the Letter by Attorney Peter Stirba regarding the possible eviction of FLDS members living in Hildale and Colorado City dated July 15, 2008 | |
| Read the Letter to Pay Past-Due UEP Monthly Assessment or Face Eviction dated June 26, 2008 | |
| Read the Court motion by Teresa Jeffs to recuse Judge Barbara Walther dated June 24, 2008 | |
| Read the Teresa Jeffs v Willie Jessop Temporary Restraining Order issued June 20, 2008 | |
| Read the Teresa Jeffs v Willie Jessop Application for Ex Parte Restraining Order filed by her AAL and GAL June 20, 2008 | |
| Read the Letter written by Teresa Jeffs to Judge Barbara Walther dated June 19, 2008 | |
| Read the Texas Court Order Modifying Prior Orders regarding no contact between Teressa Jeffs and Raymond Jessop or Warren Jeffs dated June 3, 2008 | |
| Read the Texas Court Emergency Ex Parte Motion regarding Teressa Jeffs dated June 2, 2008 | |
| Read the Affidavit for Search Warrant for Warren Jeffs in the Texas Child Bride cases dated May 29, 2008 | |
| Read the Texas Supreme Court Majority opinion on custody of YFZ children filed May 29, 2008 | |
| Read the Texas Supreme Court Minority opinion on custody of YFZ children filed May 29, 2008 | |
| Read a Letter by Dan Fischer sent to FLDS parents | |
| Listen to the KXAN Channel 36, Austin, Texas interview with Louisa Jessop after the birth of her baby while in CPS custody on May 11, 2008 | |
| Read the Letter written by Willie Jessop to President Bush dated May 10, 2008 | |
| Read the Texas Order Assigning a Special Prosecutor for the YFZ Case signed May 5, 2008 | |
| Read the Bishop's Record of Families at the YFZ Ranch released May 1, 2008 | |
| Read the Letter from Mark Shurtleff and Terry Goddard to Senator Harry Reid written April 30, 2008 | |
| Read the Letter written by Willie Jessop to Governor Perry dated April 26, 2008 | |
| Watch the CBS Early Show video where the YFZ Ranch men speak out from April 26, 2008 | |
| See photos from The Deseret News Photo Gallery related to the April 2008 raid of the YFZ Ranch in Eldorado, Texas and published by The Deseret Morning News on April 25, 2008 | |
| Read the Texas Motion Regarding Issuance of the Search and Arrest Warrant on the YFZ Ranch filed April 24, 2008 | |
| Read the Judge's Order on Placement of the YFZ Children signed April 22, 2008 | |
| Read the Cultural Awareness Guide for the YFZ Children dated April 22, 2008 | |
| Read the Texas Order of DNA Testing to Determine Parantage of the YFZ Children dated April 18, 2008 | |
| Watch the video of ABC News Law & Justice interview of Sara Hammon recorded April 17, 2008 | |
| Listen to the April 16, 2008 Good Morning America interview with 3 ladies at the YFZ Ranch in Eldorado, Texas | |
| The Eldorado Success newspaper is posting the Legal Notices to parents whose children were removed from the FLDS Ranch in Eldorado, Texas between April 4-7, 2008. Read the Legal Notices | |
| See photos from The Deseret News Photo Gallery taken during the April 18, 2008 custody hearing regarding the children removed during the raid of the YFZ Ranch in Eldorado, Texas | |
| Read the Texas Court order removing cell phones from YFZ members filed April 13, 2008 | |
| Read a document released on April 11, 2008 listing the Property Seized during the raid on the YFZ Ranch in Eldorado, Texas | |
| Read the FLDS Mothers' letter to Texas Governor Rick Perry dated April 11, 2008 | |
| See photos from The Deseret News Photo Gallery taken during the April 2008 raid of the YFZ Ranch in Eldorado, Texas and published by The Deseret Morning News on April 10, 2008 | |
| Read the Texas Affidavit for Search Arrest Warrant (for CPS to go into the YFZ Ranch and look for the underage victim) released on April 9, 2008 | |
| Read a list released on April 8, 2008 with the Names of some of the children removed by CPS from the YFZ Ranch in Eldorado, Texas | |
| See photos from the KSL 5 TV Photo Gallery taken by photographer Mike Terry, with The Deseret Morning News, during the April 2008 raid of the YFZ Ranch in Eldorado, Texas and published by KSL 5 TV on April 8, 2008 | |
| See photos from The Deseret News Photo Gallery taken during the April 2008 raid of the YFZ Ranch in Eldorado, Texas and published by The Deseret Morning News on April 7, 2008 | |
| Read the Schleicher County, Texas Search Warrant and other Court documents (regarding the YFZ Ranch in Eldorado, Texas) dated April 6, 2008 | |
| Read the Texas Affidavit in Support of Original Petition for Protection of a Child in an Emergency made by Lynn McFadden on April 6, 2008 | |
| FAA announces no flying over the YFZ Ranch in Eldorado, Texas on April 4, 2008 See the Federal Aviation Administation's NOTAM | |
| Read the Texas Order of Investigation of Child Abuse dated April 3, 2008 | |
| Read the Texas Affidavit in Support of Petition in Aid of Investigation made by Ruby Gutierrez on April 3, 2008 | |
| Read the Affidavit of Jessica Carroll of the New Bridge Family Shelter in San Angelo, Texas made on April 2, 2008 | |
| Read the Affidavit of Alisa Thomas of the New Bridge Family Shelter in San Angelo, Texas made on April 2, 2008 | |
| 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 Eldorado Success Newspaper announcing another FLDS compound in Texas published on November 29, 2007 | |
| See photos from The Deseret News Photo Gallery taken at the Sentencing of Warren Steed Jeffs November 20, 2007 in St. George, Utah | |
| 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" | |
| Read the April 23, 2007 Competency Evaluation by Dr. Kockler unsealed by the court on November 6, 2007 - Warren had tried to commit suicide by hanging himself. | |
| Watch the Announcement of the Guilty Verdict of Warren Steed Jeffs by the court on September 25, 2007 | |
| See photos from the Reuters Photo Gallery taken during the "Rape as an Accomplice" trial of Warren Steed Jeffs and published on September 25, 2007 | |
| See photos from The Spectrum Photo Gallery taken at the announcement of the "Guilty on Two Counts of Rape as an Accomplice Verdict" of Warren Steed Jeffs September 25, 2007 in St. George | |
| See photos from The Deseret News Photo Gallery taken at the announcement of the "Guilty on Two Counts of Rape as an Accomplice Verdict" of Warren Steed Jeffs September 25, 2007 in St. George | |
| See photos of the loot they found in the Red Caddy when the Nevada Highway Patrol captured Warren. | |
| See the Los Angeles Time's Photo Gallery from stories published May 2006 | |
| See the Photo Gallery from Alta Academy 1988 to 1996 | |
| See the Photo Gallery of the compound in Pringle, South Dakota | |
| See the FBI's "Top Ten Most Wanted Fugitive" poster for Warren Steed Jeffs | |
| Read the "America's Most Wanted" data sheet on Warren Steed Jeffs | |
| See the Mohave County WANTED POSTER for Warren Jeffs | |
| View more photos of the community being built at the YFZ Ranch in Eldorado, Texas | |
| Visit The Eldorado Success newspaper's web site and hear actual recordings of Warren Jeffs speaking to his followers. You'll hear Warren's racist sermons and hear how he preaches to the women to prepare themselves for "marriage" and how the children should be taught to become "obedient" and "submissive." Its POWERFUL stuff! | |
| 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 email: | |
| "Religion" is no excuse for committing child abuse | |
| Copyright © 2004-2009 The HOPE Organization | |
| Site Map | |