Attorneys in Colorado City polygamist trial make opening statements
 
By Jim Seckler
Mohave Daily News
 
KINGMAN - Opening arguments began Thursday in the trial of the first of eight Colorado City polygamists charged with sexual misconduct with underage girls.

Kelly Fischer, 38, is charged with one count of sexual conduct with a minor and one count of conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor.

Fischer and seven codefendants belong to a polygamist sect of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Colorado City near the Utah border.

The eight married Colorado City men are charged with having sexual relations with underage girls despite having other wives.

Dale Evans Barlow, 47; Randy Joseph Barlow, 32; Terry Darger Barlow, 23; Donald Robert Barlow, 48; Vergel Bryce Jessop, 45; Rodney Holm, 38; and David Romaine Bateman, 48, are also being charged with having sexual conduct with underage girls.

The girls were between 15 and 17 years old when the alleged crimes took place. All the girls became pregnant at those ages. Arizona law states it is illegal to marry more than one person and illegal to have sex with a juvenile under 18 years old.

Mohave County Attorney Matt Smith told the five-women, four-men jury that Fischer impregnated a girl who was 16 years at the time. The conspiracy charge states that Fischer also entered into an agreement with the victim's mother to marry the girl.

The girl and her mother moved into Fischer's Colorado City home in 1997 or 1998 when the girl was about 13. A month after she turned 17, the victim gave birth to a baby girl. The birth certificate lists the victim as the mother and Fischer as the father, Smith said.

The infant was born Aug. 13, 2001. The victim's birth date is July 12, 1984.

Smith also said the victim will not be at the trial because Gary Engels, the Mohave County Attorney Office's special investigator and sheriff deputies searched in vain for the victim or her mother after visits to Fischer's home.

"So what we're left with is a girl who is 16 at the time she is pregnant," Smith said.

Fischer's attorney Bruce Griffen asked the jury to consider the motives of two state witnesses, both former FLDS church members who still live in Colorado City.

"These two witnesses have a big ax to grind with the church," Griffen said.

Griffen added that polygamy is not on trial, only his client is on trial and is innocent until proven guilty.

Griffen said other than the birth certificate, there is no victim who will come forth, no eye witnesses, no DNA testing. Griffen also skewed the Arizona Attorney General's Office for dumping the case off to the Mohave County Attorney Office at the last minute.

Griffen also said the birth certificate does not tell when or where the sexual act occurred and said any conspiracy was just speculation.

"If there is no proof of where or who then you must find him not guilty," Griffen said.

Smith called his first witness, Richard Holm, who was excommunicated by Warren Jeffs, FLDS's prophet. Jeffs, 49, is also charged with sexual conduct with a minor and conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor.

Earlier this year, the FBI placed Jeffs, who remains at large despite recent sightings in Colorado City and Utah, on its Ten Most Wanted list.

Holm, who had three wives, gave his account of his life growing up in Colorado City, even spending time on the town council from 1985 to 2004.

Holm said a girl and usually her father meets with the church's prophet and in a short time, sometimes within hours, is married to an older, married man who she barely knows.

Refusal of the marriage leads to losing one's standing in the church, being shunned by the community or removal from the community.

Holm said a girl is taught obedience to the prophet and to be homemakers and mothers. Most children quit school by the eight grade.

The community is also taught to fear the outside world, especially law enforcement, Holm said.
 
MohaveDailyNews.com
Originally published Thursday, July 6, 2006
 
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