Polygamy Trial Final Arguments Today
 
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Tri-State News Network
 
KINGMAN, AZ - Attorneys in Kingman will present closing arguments this morning in the trial of a Colorado City man charged with alleged sex offenses involving an underage wife assigned to him through the polygamy-practicing Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Kelly Fischer, 38, is the first of eight similarly- charged Colorado City polygamists to stand trial in Mohave County Superior Court. He is charged with sexual misconduct with a minor and conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor, offenses punishable by up to two years in prison.

County attorney Matt Smith told jurors that Fischer was already legally married when he took 16-year-old Jenny Steed as a "celestial bride" about six years ago. He introduced birth certificates and hospital records in an effort to demonstrate that the church-sanctioned union led to sexual relations and that Fischer was the father of the child Steed bore on August 13, 2001.

That Fischer was not legally married to Steed and that they had sexual intercourse before she turned 18 is the core of the state's case. Fischer attorney Bruce Griffen's principal point of defense is that the state is unable to prove where conception took place, leaving open the questions of jurisdiction and venue - that is, where the alleged crimes occurred and where they might be prosecuted.

Smith countered that witness testimony and evidence indicated that Fischer and Steed lived in a Colorado City residence at 220 Oak Street, just a few blocks from the Utah border at the time of conception.

Judge Conn rejected the motion for directed verdict of acquittal. He said the state's case does not appear to be particularly strong, but that a reasonable juror still might be persuaded to convict Fischer.

Griffen rested his case without calling a single witness, confident that he'll be able to convince the jury that the state didn't meet its burden of proof.
 
Tri-State News Network
Originally published July 7, 2006
 
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