FLDS men seek to consolidate motion to suppress evidence
 
By Ben Winslow
Deseret News
 
ELDORADO, Texas — Lawyers for members of the Fundamentalist LDS Church facing criminal charges are gearing up for an all-in-one attack on the evidence seized from the Utah-based polygamous sect's YFZ Ranch.

In court documents filed here earlier this month, attorneys for the 12 men ask the judge to consolidate their motion to suppress evidence into one challenge. They argue that all of the men will be raising similar issues (with some exceptions) and each agrees to be bound by the judge's decision.

"That such consolidated motion and hearing will result in substantial savings of judicial resources and will serve the interests of both justice and these defendants," Kent Schaffer, an attorney for Wendell Loy Nielsen, wrote.

A judge has set a May hearing on motions to suppress evidence. Lehi Barlow Jeffs' attorney has filed to have any statements filed by his client tossed. Leroy Johnson Steed's attorney filed papers demanding any tapes made by law enforcement during last year's raid and other evidence that hasn't been handed over.

A dozen men, including FLDS leader Warren Jeffs, face a variety of criminal charges connected to underage marriages ranging from sexual assault and bigamy to performing a marriage ceremony prohibited by law. An examination of the individual case files shows a number of motions typical to a criminal case have already been filed, the defendants have all pleaded not guilty, and the Texas Attorney General's Office has offered no plea deals to any of the men.

Law enforcement and child welfare workers responded to the YFZ Ranch last year on a report of a pregnant, 16-year-old girl trapped in an abusive, polygamous marriage. The call is believed to be a hoax, but once there, authorities said they claim to have found other signs of abuse which prompted a judge to order the removal of all of the children.

The 439 children were ultimately returned when a pair of Texas courts ruled the state acted improperly and the children were not at immediate risk of abuse. Only one child remains under court oversight in what was once the nation's largest custody case — a 14-year-old girl believed to have been married at 12 to Warren Jeffs.

Child Protective Services is seeking to take the girl out of foster care and place her with a relative, a move her mother supports.

"It is in (the girl's) best interests for the court to have as much information about her potential success in the proposed placement as possible," Barbara Jessop's attorney, Valerie J. Malara wrote in a motion to increase visits and overnight stays with the relative.

A May hearing has been scheduled on that matter.

E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com
 
DeseretNews.com
Originally published Tuesday, March 31, 2009
 
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