Jury selection to begin this week in polygamy-related trial
 
By Mark Shaffer
The Arizona Republic - Flagstaff Bureau
 
When Flagstaff attorney Bruce Griffin reads the Arizona Constitution, he says two things jump off the pages of the document.

"There they are right next to one another: an anti-polygamy statute and a freedom of religion statute," Griffin said.

He says both will factor into the cases of the eight men he is defending on sexual misconduct charges stemming from their "spiritual" marriages to underage brides. The men from Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah, are being tried separately in Mohave County Superior Court in Kingman. Jury selection in the first trial, of 39-year-old Kelly Fischer, is set for Wednesday. That case and the others are in jeopardy because female witnesses have been reluctant to testify.

"These are important cases to be brought before the bar of justice now," Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard said. "Even if the prosecutions are not successful, these people have to be held accountable, and it sends a message that anyone abused doesn't have to take it."

The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which is not affiliated with the mainstream Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, teaches that its members are required to practice polygamy to reach the highest of three levels of heaven in the afterlife. Authorities say fugitive Warren Jeffs, the sect's leader, arranged for the men's spiritual marriages.

Griffin said that Mohave County prosecutors are going to have a difficult time proving their case because "the state doesn't know where they (the crimes) occurred." To win its case, the state must prove the crimes occurred in Arizona, not Utah. Smith said the case will hinge on three factors: witnesses appearing for the trial, and whether birth certificates and marriage licenses are allowed to be presented as evidence.
 
azcentral.com
Originally published July 3, 2006
 
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