Douglas County - "Charges against Ms. Swinton in Douglas County were not dropped and there is a pending Probation Revocation hearing set for January 27."I have a tendency not to like David Foley, as he is on the "other side," but that's superficial. He grand stands a bit, but he hasn't been wrong yet. The money says whatever Douglas County does, will be inconsequential. You have to figure if they just let it slide, not giving Rozita any jail time, it becomes someone else's problem, namely, El Paso county. The time is set for 1:30 pm.
The Gazette - "As part of the plea, authorities in Douglas County have also agreed to drop charges stemming from a similar false reporting incident in 2005, (DDA Frederick Stein) said."Mr. Stein also characterized the verdict as "fair." What's he going to do, say he was taken out back, had his arm ripped off and he was beaten nearly to death with it? It's one of those "Too Heavy, Too Light" questions.
"Swinton was barely audible in the courtroom as she said a few words during the 30-minute hearing to indicate that she knew she was waiving her right to a trial."Her attorney had the audacity to suggest that she did a good thing:
" 'I believe the phone call in Texas resulted in the prosecution of some people who were sexually assaulting young women,' Foley said. 'If anyone felt that Ms. Swinton was involved in that, that’s a good thing.' "He's portraying his client as a heroine, and daring anyone to sentence her to anything, and perhaps reminding Texas that he may know something.
"Foley said the case took longer than most misdemeanor cases because of his client’s medical issues. She was evaluated by doctors in advance of the plea and prosecutors had their own experts review those reports.And she is to stay in Colorado:
Foley described his client as 'a real sweetheart' who has held a job with an insurance company for the last 10 years. He said she declined comment on the case."
"(Rozita) is not allowed to leave Colorado without the court’s permission."An attempted murder, that's one way of looking at it, attempted murders actually, over about 500-600 people at YFZ, had it ended similarly to Waco. A real sweetheart alright.
"Jerry Strickland, spokesman for the Texas Attorney General, told the Houston Chronicle today that the state's inquiry 'into Rozita Swinton and other aspects of this case is ongoing.'Oh, I believe David Foley, as he has not lied to me yet. How long does it take, JERRY? It's been almost TWO YEARS.
Swinton, of Colorado Springs, was considered a 'person of interest' in connection with calls to a hot line alleging abuse at the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints' ranch in West Texas."
"Swinton was also sentenced to 45 days in jail but given credit for time served, so she faces no further jail time."She didn't show for trial, Foley entered her plea (apparently) and she won't be showing up in jail.
"The judge also limited her to one landline telephone and one cell phone and ordered her to give both numbers to the district attorney's office."I wonder if she will continue to be able to use a computer, to access the internet? According to her "MySpace" pages, she was on yesterday.
Deputy District Attorney Frederick Stein, El Paso County Colorado - "Ms Swinton entered a guilty plea which was just completed 10 minutes ago. She plead guilty to a charge of false reporting to authorities and received a 2 year deferred sentence with several conditions."This is also being reported by KRDO:
COLORADO SPRINGS - "35-year-old Rozita Swinton avoided trial by pleading guilty on a charge of false reporting (today).I have contacted Douglas County to see how this affects her deferred sentencing agreement there. It may be that in delaying Rozita's trial as long as it has been delayed, that Douglas County no longer cares. I'm not sure how those sorts of things work, but hypothetically if her "deferred sentencing" in Douglas County stated "Don't Get Into Trouble" for 4 years, and those 4 years were up, she could then become convicted in El Paso County, and keep her Douglas County deferred sentencing agreement intact. The story errs in assigning the date of "April 2009" to the raid, which occurred in April of 2008.
Swinton made multiple fake calls to police in Colorado and Texas. She was accused of making a phone call to police in February of 2008, claiming she was a girl named Jennifer and was hurt and trapped in a basement. Police went door-to-door searching homes for hours, looking for the girl. The call turned out to be a hoax.
The judge deferred sentencing for 2 years, but he is still requiring her to serve 45 days in jail.
Police turned their focus to Swinton, when Texas Rangers traced a call to her, following the raid of a polygamist compound in April of 2009. In that case, a girl named Sarah told a social worker she was trying to escape the religious sect. Swinton has not been charged in that case."
KKTV - The attorney for Rozita Swinton entered the plea on her behalf (this) morning to false reporting charges. In February 2008, Swinton started calling Colorado Springs police, telling them she was a 16-year-old girl trapped in a basement. The calls triggered a massive and frantic search in the northeast side of the city. Swinton allegedly also made calls to TESSA, a local group that helps domestic violence victims.Also it would seem that she did not even show up.
- Swinton was handed a 24-month deferred sentence. She received 45 days jail time but the judge gave her credit for time previously served in treatment.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) -- "(David Foley), attorney for (Rozita Swinton) says Texas authorities don't believe she had any 'criminal involvement' in telephone calls that triggered a raid on a Texas polygamist group.It appears that we were just waiting for the Dirty Deal in Texas to be done.
Rozita Swinton of Colorado Springs was once considered a 'person of interest' in connection with calls to a hot line alleging abuse at the polygamist compound in Texas.
(According to her attorney), she won't face charges in that case. A spokesman for the Texas attorney general didn't immediately return a call.
In an unrelated case, Swinton pleaded guilty in Colorado Springs today to misdemeanor false reporting. The judge ordered her to get medical treatment but did not specify her condition."
| CaseNumber | AppearanceDate | DefLastName | DefFirstName | Division |
| C021 2009M 007121 | 1/13/2010 | Donovan | William | B |
| C021 2009M 007122 | 1/13/2010 | Donovan | William | B |
| C021 2007T 014782 | 1/13/2010 | Hill | Jeremy | B |
| C021 2009T 010055 | 1/13/2010 | Hill | Jeremey | B |
| C021 2009M 005177 | 1/13/2010 | Hill | Jermey | B |
| C021 2009M 005956 | 1/13/2010 | Medina | Loretta | B |
| C021 2009M 003671 | 1/13/2010 | Waller | Travis | B |
| C021 2008M 002726 | 1/13/2010 | Swinton | Rozita | C |
Frederick Stein/El Paso County District Attorney's office - "The pre-trial readiness date has been moved to Jan 11th at 9:00 am at the request of the defense and the prosecution. The trial date on Jan 13th remains the same." 4:14 MST.I really don't think they want anyone showing up. Who knows, maybe they'll move it back now, at the last second. It's not on the "Call off" list for El Paso county and wasn't the last time either.
CallOffs for Monday November 16, 2009As you can see here, after several conversations with El Paso county, there are now some misdemeanors that do show up as "Call offs." If a case is set for trial, as it must periodically be, to retain eligibility for prosecution, it is either tried, or called off and reset for prosecution at a later date. This must be done with the concurrence of the defense.
CaseNumber AppearanceDate DefLastName DefFirstName Division D021 2009CR 004154 11/16/2009 Contreras-portillo Facundo 02 D021 2009CR 003542 11/16/2009 Espinoza Richard 02 D021 2009CR 000453 11/16/2009 Cisneros Jeff 09 D021 2008CR 005196 11/16/2009 Dixon Patrick 09 D021 2009CR 000318 11/16/2009 Graff Brett 09 D021 2008CR 005072 11/16/2009 Mitchell James 09 D021 2009CR 000784 11/16/2009 Nelson Warren 09 D021 2009CR 000899 11/16/2009 Battle Michael 10 D021 2009CR 001792 11/16/2009 Brown Shenequa 10 D021 2009CR 000438 11/16/2009 Dingman Bryan 10 D021 2008CR 002519 11/16/2009 Tullis Wayne 10 D021 2009CR 001338 11/16/2009 Vaughn Scott 10 D021 2009CR 001438 11/16/2009 Willson Becky 10 D021 2009CR 001802 11/16/2009 Yeagley Donald 10 D021 2009CR 001470 11/16/2009 Framel John 15 D021 2009CR 002165 11/16/2009 Ghostbird Annjeanette 15 D021 2009CR 000910 11/16/2009 Griffin Christopher 15 D021 2009CR 001020 11/16/2009 Griffin Christopher 15 D021 2008CR 003998 11/16/2009 Delgado Thomas 16 D021 2009CR 001706 11/16/2009 Erickson David 16 D 2009CR 002663 11/16/2009 Nelson Jonathon 16 D021 2009CR 001663 11/16/2009 Nelson Jonathon 16 D021 2009CR 003114 11/16/2009 Barkley Terrance 19 D021 2009CR 001602 11/16/2009 Chisenhall Betty 19 D021 2009CR 002077 11/16/2009 Maron Astra 19 D021 2009CR 002052 11/16/2009 Nixon Demetrius 19 C021 2009M 006938 11/16/2009 Campbell Derick A C021 2009M 006940 11/16/2009 Edwards Jason A C021 2009M 006946 11/16/2009 Helms Charles A C021 2009M 006948 11/16/2009 Jenkins Blaine A C021 2009M 006950 11/16/2009 Martinez Georgia A C021 2009M 006956 11/16/2009 Newell Byron A C021 2009M 003433 11/16/2009 Syndes Oui A C021 2009M 004284 11/16/2009 Aripez Joshua B C021 2009T 007545 11/16/2009 Franco Samantha B C 2009T 009670 11/16/2009 Gossett Leigh B C021 2009T 008830 11/16/2009 Jackson William B C021 2009T 008168 11/16/2009 Jackson William B C021 2009T 005701 11/16/2009 Jackson William B C021 2009T 003445 11/16/2009 Ord Donald B C021 2009M 004509 11/16/2009 Music Sharri D C021 2009T 012789 11/16/2009 Alvarado-villareal Luis E C021 2009T 008769 11/16/2009 Batton Jamie E C021 2008M 003493 11/16/2009 Dockery Edward E C021 2009M 005606 11/16/2009 Ebert Chad E C021 2009M 002132 11/16/2009 Howell Jason E C021 2009T 008725 11/16/2009 Mccormick Kirk E C021 2009T 012740 11/16/2009 Mcdaniel John E C021 2009M 004320 11/16/2009 Smith Dillon E C021 2009T 006245 11/16/2009 Sylvester Sherri E C021 2008M 009851 11/16/2009 Thomas Kelvin E C021 2008M 008283 11/16/2009 Wicks Sidney E
"Mr. Stein,This is his reply:
I have several questions with regard to the Rozita Swinton case, that continues to be delayed. From where I stand this seems to be the oldest misdemeanor case in El Paso county, at this time.
Are you aware of the recently concluded CSPD IA investigation regarding Lt. Magdalena Santos and her well known (around CSPD) association with the defendant?
Are you aware of a statement made by Becky Hoerth, Rozita's former roommate in which she states that Lt. Magdalena Santos (980D) and Lt, Jane Anderson have interfered in a case or cases involving Rozita before, in her favor? This 50 page statement appears to have been generated in the first half of 2008, probably in April.
Are you aware of Rozita being used as "voice talent" for CSPD/CBI (and possibly FBI) internet sex sting operations that drew in suspects from across the Western United States? CSPD in conjunction with a task force was using phone contacts with leads picked up on the internet in which adults successfully portrayed themselves as little girls, to lure in predator suspects.
All of this looks terribly suspicious in view of the fact that the defendant sparked the largest child custody case in US history last year and in view of the fact that her attorney, former El Paso county prosecutor David Foley rather loudly stated he had "surprises" regarding the case in April of last year, a week after Rozita's arrest.
Can you let me know what is going on with this case and when it will next be on the court's calender?
Hugh McBryde
Modern Pharisee Blogspot."
"Mr. McBride [sic],I of course, told you it would be delayed, again.
The next court dates for Rozita Swinton’s case are Jan 6, 2010 for pre-trial readiness and Jan 13, 2010 for JT. Because this is a open case which is currently being prosecuted by the 4th Judicial District Attorney’s Office, I am unable to answer any further questions about this case.
Frederick Stein
Senior Deputy District Attorney
4th Judicial District Attorney's Office
719-520-6191
frederickstein@elpasoco.com "
CallOffs for Tuesday November 10, 2009If you go there, go to this page, it will be under "View Cases For Tomorrow" until sometime this morning, then it will revert to "View Today's Cases." "Called Off" does not mean "it will never happen," at least TECHNICALLY it doesn't mean that. It means IN THEORY it is being rescheduled.
CaseNumber AppearanceDate DefLastName DefFirstName Division D021 2009CR 003517 11/10/2009 Windle Emily 07 D021 2009CR 000857 11/10/2009 Rodriguez Jesus 09 D021 2008CR 005179 11/10/2009 Rodriguez Jesus 09 D021 2009CR 003056 11/10/2009 Allen-turner James 18 D021 2009CR 003389 11/10/2009 Tian-velasquez Pablo 18 C021 2008M 002726 11/10/2009 Swinton Rozita C
The San Antonio Express-News - "Texas Rangers accompanied Colorado Springs police officers last week when they searched Swinton's apartment, where they found items indicating a possible connection between Swinton and calls regarding the Eldorado compound. Swinton, who works for an insurance office, is free on $10,000 bond. Her attorney, David Foley of Colorado Springs, said he could not discuss the allegations.Not only did someone probably pay cash for Rozita's bond (I checked) but David Foley is ALREADY saying the case will be delayed (has it ever been) and publicly trumpeting in the press that they should "stay tuned" because he thought "people would be surprised."
'There's a lot more to this than the public is getting. I think people would be surprised. Stay tuned,' Foley said.
Her initial court appearance is set for May 1, but Foley said he expects the case will be rescheduled."
The San Angelo Standard-Times -I have included a trial schedule update to show how Rozita's trial coincides with that of the FLDS defendants. As you can see, Rozita has a pre-trial conference scheduled two days after it should be known, at the latest, how Walther will rule on inclusion of the YFZ evidence. Rozita's trial is sandwiched in between Raymond's and Allan's.
Following is the schedule for trials:
* Raymond Merril Jessop, Oct. 26, sexual abuse of a child.
* Allan Eugene Keate, Dec. 7, sexual abuse of a child.
* Michael Emack, Jan. 25, 2010, sexual abuse of a child.
* Merrill Leroy Jessop, March 8, 2010, sexual abuse of a child and bigamy.
* Lehi Barlow Jeffs, April 26, 2010, sexual abuse of a child and bigamy.
* Abram Harker Jeffs, June 7, 2010, sexual abuse of a child and bigamy.
* Keith William Dutson, July 26, 2010, sexual abuse of a child.
* Wendell Loy Nielson, Sept. 7, 2010, three counts of bigamy.
* Frederick Merril Jessop, Oct. 11, 2010, conducting an unlawful marriage ceremony involving a minor.
* Leroy Johnson Steed, Dec. 6, 2010, first-degree felony sexual assault of a child, second-degree felony bigamy, third-degree felony bigamy and third-degree felony tampering with physical evidence.
"If Allen (Steed) plea bargains, (Warren Jeffs') rape conviction ceases to be wet concrete and sets. If Warren is snugly in jail on felony rape for a while, panic eases for the prosecutions in other venues because he won't be going anywhere. Avoidance is less necessary for Texas with regard to Rozita, and they may choose to dismiss her 'minor' misdemeanor case as Utah and Arizona already have, without much investigation, Rozita then can say she didn't violate her probation with the call to YFZ in April of 2008 and she doesn't have her deferred sentencing deal processed, and goes free. So expect David Foley to try to delay things again. It's his specialty in Colorado Law."Allen legally flipped off the prosecution this year, just like he did a year ago, but this time upped the ante, chosing to go for outright dismissal of the case based on the statute of limitations.
The Deseret News - "During a hearing in a Colorado Springs court (today), court records show the trial for Rozita Swinton, 34, on a charge unrelated to the Texas raid was vacated and rescheduled to begin Aug. 31. Swinton is charged with a misdemeanor count of false reporting, accusing her of pretending to be a sexually abused teenage girl in Colorado Springs who was chained in a basement."Last week I spoke of the predictive mechanism I use for determining when it is that Rozita's trial will be scheduled and why. I may be wrong about the motives of her attorney and those behind the scenes, but isn't it odd that it serves as a perfect predictor of what will happen.
"If an agreement can't be reached then you will go into Court and your representatives will put forward their cases. No evidence is given but your representative will summarise your position and explain what you are seeking. If either side has made a 'Without Prejudice' offer then these will be shown to the Judge.The phrase, "Without Prejudice" is explained this way:
The Judge will have read all of the documents already filed and after hearing your representatives will indicate what he or she would order if this were a final hearing. There is no order made but this does mean that you will both hear what may well happen if this went to a final hearing."
Wikipedia - "In many common law jurisdictions such as the United States, the U.K., Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore, the term 'without prejudice' is also used in the course of negotiations to indicate that a particular conversation or letter is not to be tendered as evidence in court; it can be considered a form of privilege. This usage flows from the primary meaning: concessions and representations made for purpose of settlement are simply being mooted for that purpose, and are not meant to actually concede those points in litigation."Essentially, Judge Beacham is asking both sides in the Steed case to tell him how far they might go. I've heard a judge ask what the status of the jury was before, in a deadlocked deliberation. He was trying to get a feel for there being any possibility of a verdict.
The Deseret News - "During a hearing in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Friday, a judge scheduled a May 19 jury trial for Rozita Swinton on a misdemeanor charge of making a false report. She is accused of calling authorities in February 2008, pretending to be a 13-year-old girl drugged, chained in a basement and being sexually abused.First and most important fact to note is that this, is probably a predictor of what is going on in Arizona. Oh no, I would never imply special knowledge or back channel communication. Nooooo...not me. The fact that a trial date is set in May is an indicator that certain premiminary actions against Warren Jeffs will be finished with by April. Judge Conn has indicated he wants things done before trial, not after, so this month makes sense. There has been no activity on the filing front in Arizona, as I mentioned yesterday, for three weeks.
According to court documents, the call triggered a door-to-door search until a mental health counselor told police it was Swinton, 34, who suffers from a multiple personality disorder. She has pleaded not guilty by reason of mental impairment."
"Swinton's case has been delayed repeatedly since last year after she became a focus of the phone calls that led child welfare workers and law enforcement to the gates of the YFZ Ranch. She has been dubbed a 'person of interest' in the investigation. Child Protective Services caseworkers and law enforcement responded to a series of phone calls from someone claiming to be 'Sarah,' a pregnant, 16-year-old trapped in an abusive, polygamous marriage to an older man."Now we're getting somewhere on the press front as they "notice" the foot dragging of her Criminal Lawyer, who mentions here that his firm's exclusive interest is criminal practice.
"Swinton's criminal cases in Colorado were put on hold while she underwent inpatient mental health evaluation. A court docket from Castle Rock, Colo., obtained by the Deseret News last week said Swinton was placed at a psychiatric hospital in Missouri. The last entry on the court docket said doctors had indicated her discharge date was 'unknown'."Well, I can tell you she was in Burley Idaho over the Thanksgiving day weekend, I can all tell you that there is a Federal psychiatric facility in Springfield Missouri, because that is where Elizabeth Smart's kidnapper Brian Mitchell was sent. Has Rozita been debriefed already by the Feds? Did the Deseret News ask that question?
"The El Paso County District Attorney's Office could not say if her status had changed, prompting the judge to set a trial date. Swinton's attorney, David Foley, did not return a call seeking comment on Friday."It's a wild stretch I know, but did my little dust up about her blogging and traveling to Idaho have anything to do with it? Maybe. I'd love to think so but it probably was just vaguely coincidental.
