Jury selection begins in polygamy trial
 
By 3TV and azfamily.com staff
KTVK Channel 3 - Phoenix
 
Jury selection began in Kingman for the first of eight men accused of having sex with minors in Colorado City.

On Wednesday, the trial started for the first defendant, 39-year-old Kelly Fischer.

Each of the eight men will be tried separately.

Prosecutors say the case hinges on two factors, female witnesses testifying and whether or not birth or marriage certificates will be submitted as evidence.

So far, the women are reluctant to testify. In fact, they're reportedly hiding.

"It's very frustrating, especially because nobody will talk to you," said Mojave County prosecutor Matthew Smith. "So you say OK, so the victim maybe doesn't want to cooperate or her family members. But then you ordinarily think, OK, I can go talk to the neighbor and they'll tell me that they both at least live in the same house. You can't get that. Nobody will open their doors, nobody will cooperate."

Prosecutors say another challenge is proving the crimes happened in Arizona and not Utah.

In May, search warrants were served on four of the defendants' homes in order to get DNA samples from the men and their families to link them to the alleged crimes.

In Fischer's case, they were unsuccessful.
 
azfamily.com
Originally broadcast July 6, 2006
 
Back