Judge considers suppressing evidence in Warren Jeffs case
 
By Brent Hunsaker
ABC 4 News
Warren Jeffs

On Wednesday, Utah's case against polygamist prophet Warren Jeffs centered on an event in Nevada. Nevada State Trooper Ed Dutchover was the only witness of the day. He recounted in detail his part in the arrest of Warren Jeffs.

On the evening of August 28th of last year, Trooper Dutchover flipped on his lights and pulled over to the side of I-15 a new, red Cadillac Escalade. The reason for the traffic stop? He said the temporary registration displayed on the rear of the Escalade was partially hidden.

But the trooper said he became immediately suspicious that there might be something else wrong. Dutchover said the driver's hand was shaking as he reached out to give him his driver's license. Then he discovered that the driver was not the owner of the high-priced SUV. The driver had a Utah license, but the car was registered in Colorado to a man whose address was in Iowa. What's more, the trooper says he got conflicting stories from the driver and his passengers about where they'd been and where they were going. He asked permission to search the vehicle, and he testified the driver said, "Yes." The driver also signed a consent form.

Trooper Dutchover admits he and other officers who joined him in the search thought they might find illegal drugs. What they found instead was a strange cache of items that would be very useful to someone hiding from the law. There were several pre-paid cell phones, walkie-talkies, credit and gift cards, laptop computers, wigs, a variety of sunglasses and lots of cash; all of it in $100 bills.

Eventually they realized that one of the passengers was Warren Jeffs who, at the time, was a fugitive on the FBI's "Ten Most Wanted" list. Jeffs was taken to FBI offices in downtown Las Vegas also with his brother, Isaac Jeffs (who drove the Escalade) and one of Warren's wives, Naomi.

Defense attorneys for Jeffs attacked the traffic stop saying it was made on the flimsiest of pretenses and amounted to unlawful search and seizure. 5th District Court Judge James Shumate says he will need more information on Nevada and Federal law before making a ruling on the motion to suppress. He's given attorneys for both sides 11 days to have fresh briefs on his desk.

Even so, before concluding Wednesday's hearing, Judge Shumate wondered out loud if all of the legal paperwork was really necessary. He was skeptical that any of the evidence taken from the Escalade would be relevant to the Utah case. Jeffs is charged in Washington County with being an accomplice to rape for the forced marriage of an underage girl to her adult cousin.

When asked about the judge's observation, afterwards County Attorney Brook Belnap would say only that the judge doesn't know all of what was in that Escalade.
 
ABC4.com
Originally broadcast June 13, 2007
 
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