Attorneys voice opposition to depositions in Jeffs case
 
By JIM SECKLER
Mohave Daily News
 
KINGMAN - Two Kingman attorneys have filed motions in opposition to depositions requested by Warren Jeffs' attorney.

Jeffs' attorney, Mike Piccarreta, recently filed motions to interview Sam Brower and Dr. Dan Fischer in the Mohave County case against his client. Brower and Fischer were previously interviewed but refused to answer certain questions.

Piccarreta argued that Brower and Fischer are withholding evidence related to Jeffs' case. The defense attorney claims that the two have waged a personal vendetta against Jeffs and the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Fischer and Brower have refused to answer questions about communications with a Utah law firm and its clients, Piccarreta said.

Billy Sipe Jr., who is representing Fischer, said that his client previously consented to a recorded interview and testified of his and Diversity Foundation's support for former FLDS members. The attorney also denies that his client falsely accused Jeffs. Questions Fischer refused to answer also would violate attorney-client privilege, Sipe argued.

Lee Novak also filed a motion in opposition to deposing Brower, a private investigator from Utah, and Fischer. The Kingman attorney argued that there is no merit to Jeffs' claims. Novak represents the Utah law firm of Hoole & King and its clients, former members of the FLDS church and alleged victims of child abuse. Brower was hired to investigate the claims of child abuse and Fischer, a Utah dentist who has financially supported former FLDS members.

Superior Court Judge Steven Conn also recently ordered Rebecca Musser to be deposed by Piccarreta for an interview Sept. 30 in Las Vegas. Musser is a witness for the prosecution against Jeffs in his Arizona charges and has testified against Jeffs at his previous trial in Utah. She was also present during the search by Texas officers at the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints compound in Texas. Piccarreta wants her to answer questions related to the April 2008 raid at the FLDS compound in Eldorado, Texas.

Jeffs, 53, is charged in Mohave County with four counts of sexual conduct with a minor in two 2007 cases involving two underage girls, which allegedly took place in 2002 and 2003.

Jeffs is also charged with felony sexual assault of a child under 17 and aggravated sexual assault in Schleicher County, Texas. He was convicted in 2007 in Utah on two counts of rape as an accomplice and was sentenced in November 2007 to 10 years in a Utah prison.
 
MohaveDailyNews.com
Originally published Wednesday, September 23, 2009
 
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