| Lawyers seek to suppress case evidence | |
|
By Patrice St. Germain patrices@thespectrum.com | |
HURRICANE - A new motion to suppress evidence will be heard on what was to have been the first day of Warren Steed Jeffs' trial. The court now has four motions to hear in the case against Jeffs, the self-proclaimed prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which has more than 6,000 followers. Three of those motions will be heard in 5th District Court on Tuesday. The newest, a motion to suppress evidence collected during Jeffs' arrest, will be heard on April 23. No new trial date has been set. The motion filed Monday afternoon asks the court to suppress all physical evidence seized as well as all statements Jeffs made following a traffic stop that resulted in his arrest. Jeffs' attorneys also claim the traffic stop was unlawful. The trooper who made the stop said he did so because the vehicle failed to display a registration or license plate. Trooper Kevin Honea, spokesman for the Nevada Highway Patrol, said he hadn't heard of the motion filed in Utah but said it was expected and that he was not worried. "We are confident in the probable cause that initiated the original traffic stop," Honea said. "We had every reason to stop (the vehicle) and initiate the search." Washington County Attorney Brock Belnap said his office was busy preparing responses to the motions that will be heard on Tuesday. Jeffs' attorneys, Walter Bugden and Tara Isaacson, Salt Lake City, filed three motions on March 6, including a change of venue motion, a motion to quash his being held for trial and a motion declaring a Utah code as "unconstitutionally vague." Bugden said he was looking forward to arguing the motions in court. Jeffs faces two felony charges of rape as an accomplice in Washington County and charges of sexual conduct with a minor and one charge of conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor in Mohave County, Ariz. While Bugden and Isaacson are busy with his trial in Utah, Jeffs' Las Vegas attorney Richard Wright is fighting to gain access to documents and other items - including laptop computers - seized following Jeffs' arrest. Wright's argument is that the information on the laptops is sacred and confidential because it includes matters of church doctrine and private communications between Jeffs and his followers. Tuesday's motion states that the FBI impounded the vehicle Jeffs was riding in when arrested and its contents, which includes certain religious documents. It also states that the FBI apparently provided copies of some of the seized religious documents to the prosecutors, who intend to introduce them at trial. The matter to return items seized during the arrest is in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas. A hearing on the return of the documentation was scheduled for March 26 but Wright asked for that date to be continued. So far, no new date has been set. | |
|
TheSpectrum.com Originally published March 21, 2007 | |
| Back | |
| For more information email: | |
