Scheduling Conflict my, um, "Steed....."

Now what is David Foley going to do?

Allen Steed just moved in back of Rozita again. No, I'm crazy folks, of course they're not connected.

Brooke Adams Tweets - "A hearing in the Allen Steed case has been reset from Thursday to Jan. 29 @ 1:30 p.m. due to a scheduling conflict."

I'm nuts of course, and have been told so many times by "expert" no name "lawyers" on the "other side."

Let's humor me again as it is so amusing to watch me be crazy.

The case against Allen is in DEEP trouble, and so now we have a, um, uh, "scheduling conflict." Yeah, a scheduling conflict, yeah, that's the ticket.

Everyone DOESN'T want to know what Rozita might say on the stand in a trial, so that doesn't matter, so when her "oldest misdemeanor case in El Paso County (all of Colorado?)" got delayed until the MIDDLE of January, guess where the trial that isn't linked in any way to hers, or Warren Jeffs got delayed on the calender.

Yes, that would be after Rozita's, in January. But they're not connected.

They're not connected because no one doesn't want Rozita to testify and maybe start a ball rolling that just might blow up the YFZ evidence.

They're not connected because it won't matter if the charge ORIGINATING from YFZ blows up and then Allen gets acquitted or his charge laid aside for reporting reasons and suddenly there won't be much reason to hold Warren because the law says you can can an accomplice to a crime that didn't even happen/wasn't even planned/wasn't even imagined by anybody.

They're not connected.

So it's not at all amusing to watch all the contestants stand at the door saying;

"No, you first!"

"By all means you go first..."

"Oh but I insist..."

"Ladies first!"

For anybody who hasn't been keeping up, Allen Steed (and other figures) have been stepping aside for Rozita to go first for getting close to what? Almost two years now? Every time one delays, the other delays until after their delay, and so on.

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I pledge to be a servant to our President?

Servant?

How to deal with Hollywood.

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Carolyn Jessop clearly has something to hide, and it's in her Tax Returns

Carolyn Jessop won't cooperate.

In a new motion posted today (and filed Wednesday) on the Mohave county site:

"The parties then agreed that the completion of Ms. Jessop's interview would occur on November 6, 2009, over the telephone. On November 4, 2009, the completion of Ms. Jessop's telephonic interview was re-scheduled for November 24, 2009, at the State's request. Ms. Jessop promised to disclose her tax returns showing the financial benefits she received from the publication of her book in advance of the completion of her interview. However, on November 20, 2009, the State advised defense counsel that Carolyn had called off the completion of her interview."

The summation of all of this is that Carolyn opened the door to her tax returns, pleading she could not explain herself without them. Since she has testified previously that they are an integral part of her explanations, she cannot now refuse to discuss or show them.

The bottom line? Carolyn can indeed stonewall forever as has been pointed out by anti FLDS pundits, but what hasn't been said? The state will have to strike her from the witness list, if she doesn't pony up. Natalie Malonis' letter? Balderdash.

The Thanksgiving Day weekend? Very busy indeed.

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The Plot Thickens in Arizona

Matt Smith has made two (a) motions that he may actually win in the Arizona case against Warren Jeffs*:

This is one of those points about which I know so little of what has already transpired combined with my less than amateur ability with the law, that I can't really call the outcome. Calling it like a ball game though I'd say that all Matt Smith has won so far is a "wait until Texas rules" play with Judge Conn, something he now no longer claims. That's good. Make it look like your idea Matt since you wouldn't win a protest of the evidentiary hearing anyway. This also now makes it look like Matt's earlier disclaimers regarding use of YFZ evidence, were smoke. Only Judge Conn can stop the evidentiary hearing in Arizona as both the defense and now the prosecution have no objections.

What Matt might win is twin motions denying Jeffs further access to Ms. Elissa "Redacted" Wall and her income from her book and movie deals and Carolyn Jessop and her tax returns. You have to figure that if Michael Piccarreta is on a winning streak, getting what he wants, that at some point he will knowingly overreach what is rightfully the province of the defense, and ask for something he'd like to have, but really shouldn't have. He wouldn't be doing his job, if he didn't.

There is a bit of absurd comedy in all of this. Elissa's name continues to be "redacted" from motions as she is a "victim," yet the names of her published works (of fiction?) continue to be used in conjunction with her "whited out" name, making it completely transparent. Arizona might as well paste over her name with clear Scotch Tape.

Then there is this crowing and self aggrandizing "elbowing" her way into the spotlight of Natalie Malonis as the representative of Carolyn Jessop. I'm linking to it only to document her grandstanding. I by no means encourage you to click on the link, unless of course you don't believe me. I in fact debated with myself for quite a while before I resolved post the link, not wanting to contribute any site traffic numbers or publicity to the blog where this letter appears:

"November 16, 2009


Mr. Matthew J. Smith
Mohave County Attorney
315 N. 4th Street
PO Box 7000
Kingman, Arizona 86402

Via Facsimile 928-753-2669

RE: Arizona v. Warren Jeffs, CR-2007-743

Dear Mr. Smith:

In connection with the above-referenced case, I am writing on behalf of Carolyn Jessop as a designated witness for the State of Arizona. As you’re aware, I represented Carolyn in her Texas child support case against Merril Jessop. On behalf of my clients in whose cases Sam Brower was engaged, I also participated with Lee Novak and Roger and Greg Hoole in preparing a response to the Defense’s motion to depose Mr. Brower. I will soon be submitting my pro hac vice application in Arizona so that I may appear in December for oral argument on the issue on behalf of clients, such as Carolyn, whose confidentiality could be compromised if Mr. Brower’s deposition is allowed to proceed.

Carolyn has requested that I contact you and communicate her intent to withdraw from voluntarily participating as a witness for the State in its case against Warren Jeffs. Although Carolyn was initially willing to provide testimony for the State, such willingness and cooperation with the State has been transformed into an unreasonable and unnecessary burden. As lead attorney for the prosecution, it appears that you are doing little or nothing to shield your witnesses from harassment and unreasonable exposure by Mr. Jeffs’ attorneys. Per your request, Carolyn has voluntarily made herself available on two occasions for more than four hours of interviews by Mr. Piccarretta; she has produced sensitive and private documents relating to her financial dealings; and she is now being asked to submit to a third interview for Mr. Piccarretta’s continued fishing expedition. Mr. Piccarretta’s right to interview witnesses is not unlimited, but there has been no apparent gesture on your part to place any outer limits on Mr. Piccarretta’s continued access to witnesses. Additionally, as far as Carolyn is aware, you did not request or secure any type of protective order or non-disclosure agreement in connection with her financial data disclosed to Mr. Piccarretta. She feels that you have failed to take reasonable actions to protect her privacy interests and to shield her from unreasonable exposure by the defense.

Carolyn is also testifying for the State in criminal proceedings in Texas. Based on your conduct and apparent open-door policy with Mr. Piccarretta, Carolyn is concerned that her Texas grand jury testimony may be requested by you and supplied to Mr. Piccarretta or other FLDS attorneys or supporters, thus exposing her to even greater harassment, ridicule and scorn (If you’re not aware, Carolyn endures a constant barrage of public invective from those who wish to hide the FLDS practices). It seems as though even Judge Conn has taken note of your passivity in the face of an onslaught from the defense – noting in a recent order that the State had not filed any type of response to Mr. Piccarretta’s motions for depositions of non-party, non-witnesses, although several responses were filed by various other attorneys on behalf of those whose depositions were unreasonably sought. This type of habitual lack of response and seeming acquiescence and exaggerated courtesy extended to defense attorneys portrays you as unwilling to protect and defend Ms. Jessop, and perhaps other witnesses as well.

Having carefully evaluated the circumstances and potential for negative exposure and unwelcome consequences to Ms. Jessop, she has made the decision that she no longer wishes to participate as the State’s witness in this proceeding, although she remains supportive of the State’s efforts to bring justice to Warren Jeffs. Naturally, Ms. Jessop is aware that the State could subpoena her and order her to appear and give testimony, contrary to her expressed desire and intent, and she hopes that the State would not place her in that position.

Carolyn has requested that any further communications on this or related issues be made through me; she does not care to be coaxed into changing her decision and is concerned that would be the result if she were to communicate with you directly. In view of Carolyn’s decision to withdraw her voluntary participation, she also withdraws her agreement to give any further interviews to Mr. Piccarretta or make any further voluntary disclosures or production of documents. Please communicate this information to Mr. Piccarretta, as necessary.

Please know that Carolyn remains very appreciative of the stance you have taken in bringing the first indictments against Warren Jeffs and being the frontrunner in bringing justice to this group. Unfortunately, as circumstances have evolved, it has become too onerous for Carolyn to remain involved to the same extent on a voluntary basis. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or need for further discussion.

Kind regards,

Natalie E. Malonis"

I continue to maintain that Natalie has nothing but idiots for clients, the clearest evidence of which is, Natalie is their lawyer. I have been the target of one of Nat's self important missives. It was only worrisome because Ms. Malonis has the ability to file motions, and has access to the court and has proved to be a loose cannon in the past.

* (see post immediately above)

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It's on, in Arizona

The next stage in the evidence fight will not be an appeal in Texas (though that may certainly come soon) but a straight ahead assault in Arizona:

"In previous proceedings before this Court, counsel fo Mr. Jeffs expressed misgivings about the ability to obtain a full and fair hearing concerning the Texas raid in the Texas courts. Those misgivings have now been borne out as the Texas judge who authorized the issuance fo the warrant, District Judge Barbara Walther, has, not surprisingly, now affirmed herself and affirmed the validity of the search conducted under the warrant."

Read the request for evidentiary hearing. Warren Jeffs' attorney Michael Piccarreta goes on to say:

"Notably, the district court's order does not contain any factual findings about the false information set forth in the affidavits in support of the warrant, i.e. that the purported caller did not exist and her alleged abuser was not there and had not been in Texas in decades."

He further states that Texas relied on the affirmation of Brooks Long that he sincerely believed the caller existed, as that caller described them self This argument, he claims is circular because it's self evident on the basis of the affidavit, that the affiant believes what they are saying.

Piccarreta cannot resist applause lines and goes for them frequently. This one I really like:

"An investigator of the level of Barney Fife would have recognized the call as a hoax if he had spent an hour or two of proper investigation."

Warren's attorneys also go after Elissa Wall in a separate motion and the absolutely surreal action of the court to redact the motion, removing the name of a published author, because she was a minor at the time, gives the head quite a spin.

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Allen Steed Still on the Calender

Just a reminder, a week after Thanksgiving:

03:00 PM 1-HR ORAL ARGUMENTS S27 071501596 State Felony
STATE OF UTAH ATTY: BELNAP, BROCK R
FILTER, BRIAN G
VS.
STEED, ALLEN GLADE ATTY: BRADSHAW, JIM C
OTN: 19095116 DOB: 05/12/1981
F1 - RAPE - 04/14/01

At some point there will be a ruling on the time frame of the alleged crime.

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Do I Look Like Mrs. Obama To You?

This is getting out of control, and I think I like it.

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Keate Trial to stay put

In a move pretty much telegraphed earlier by a "grant," Allen Keate's trial will not me moving:

The Salt Lake Tribune - "51st District Judge Barbara Walther denied a state request to move the trial of Allan Eugene Keate from Schleicher County to Tom Green County.

Keate is the second member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and resident of the Yearning for Zion Ranch to go to criminal trial as an outcome of the state's historic raid on the ranch in April 2008.

Keate's attorney opposed the motion."

You don't approve funding to provide for Schleicher county trial staff, when you're going to move the trial.

The San Angelo Standard-Times - "The Tom Green County Commissioners Court (Tuesday) morning (November 17th) approved funds to ease the stress of staffing legal proceedings in those cases.

Specifically, the Commissioners Court met <> to approve a grant that pays for a part-time court administrator to help the 51st District Court in cases brought against several men associated with the FLDS Yearning for Zion Ranch outside of Eldorado.

Money for the grant comes from the County Essential Services out of the Texas governor’s office.

'It’s fully funded,' Nathan Cradduck, the county auditor, said. 'There is no match required.'

The grant is a continuation of a grant that expired in August 2009, Cradduck said.

The money for the position will extend the grant to August 2010. The grant is for about $37,000."

This gives us clear insight into how Barbara Walther decides things. It's not in court in front of the attorneys in the presence of their arguments. It's behind closed doors without the persuasion of arguments.

Why?

Because how could you grant the money to do the business of the court in Schleicher county, until you knew you were going to do business there? Clearly there was no chance the trial would move, no matter how persuasive the argument.

The outcome doesn't bother me at all, if Allen Keate wants to be tried in Schleicher county, it's great that it worked out that way. My point is that Walther's decisions have nothing to do with facts or arguments. They have only to do with what she wants.

This makes me wonder if the state is starting to worry about the way things are being done. I'd want my convictions to stick, if I were your normal everyday prosecutor.

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Allen Steed has had enough of Elissa Wall

"I, Allen Steed, being first duly sworn upon oath, depose and say that I have read the foregoing Cross-claim and that the statements contained therein are true and correct of my own personal knowledge, except as to matters stated on information and belief, and as to such maters, I believe them to be true. Dated this 6th day of November 2009."

This apparently occurred about two weeks ago.

Brooke Adams has the PDF at her blog.

I guess the FLDS will sue. Eventually.

Bruce Wisan of course, has counterclaimed against both of them.

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New filing in Jeffs case

It can be found at Mohave county court's site:

Motion to determine Nature, Scope and Extent of proposed Expert Testimony. An excerpt:

"These disputed factual matters have nothing to do with any of the factual allegations in the two pending prosecutions and are, in fact, more akin to the type of 'he said, she said' allegations that permeate divorce court, or afternoon daytime talk shows."

In another portion, Jeffs' attorneys squarely acknowledge the Polygamy issue and at the same time suggest where experts might be found:

"The basic teachings of the FLDS are essentially the same as the basic teachings of the 'mainstream' LDS, with the exception that the LDS no longer follows its founders' belief in the practice of polygamy. However, the basic teachings are the same and come from the Book of Mormon and the Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith. None of the State's proposed witnesses have any special training or expertise in the LDS or the FLDS or the history of these religions and differences between them."

There is this all too true observation as well:

"This proposed expert testimony will not assist the jury because claims of subjugation of women (are) hardly unique to the FLDS. It is and has been a tenet of fundamentalist religions everywhere including the teaching of the Old Testament, the Koran, the current teachings of the Fundamentalist Baptists, and the 'mainstream' Mormon Church."

The motion concludes that the case is either "about religion or not about religion." If it is about religion, it seems to be the defendant's opinion, through his attorneys, that he is then protected by the First Amendment, and cites the few available and recent cases before Supreme Courts in Montana and Minnesota.

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And now, Texas doesn't think it can get another Jury in Eldorado

The residents are whining, and so is the state.

Apparently, only one jury can be mined from Schleicher county.

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Age and El Paso County Misdemeanor Prosecutions

I have made the claim that El Paso County is pursuing very few if any older cases than that of Rozita Swinton.

In recent months I can recall no cases where there were any 2008M classified cases on the "Call off" list of the 4th Judicial District.

Traffic cases are designated "T" and criminal cases are designated "CR" preceded by the year of the charge being filed. Traffic and criminal cases do not count.

CallOffs for Monday November 16, 2009

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

As 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.

The above highlighted cases in red bold type, confirm the existence of misdemeanor cases as El Paso county contends, from 2008. Sometimes you wonder if you stirred the pot a little and if it affected what is being listed at the 4th Judicial districts site, nevertheless, there they are.

Rozita's case is C021 2008M 002726. As I understand the case numbers, they are assigned sequentially. The last 6 digits are the case number, which makes provision for about a million cases in El Paso county. I'm sure they don't reach that number.

Rozita's case is 2726, meaning there were 2725 cases before her. I assume most to be traffic tickets and other citations. Since it is assumed that she was charged in 2008 at the beginning of March or end of February 2008 for her hi-jinks in Colorado Springs, it means there are roughly 1000-1500 cases a month that are processed. The remaining cases showing up in the 7 day call off list for the 4th Judicial district are numbered 3493, 8283 & 9851. 3493 was charged, I would assume, approximately 2-4 weeks Rozita's was charged.

This still leaves her as the "oldest misdemeanor case" being "pursued" in El Paso county by all available evidence. This is not to say tomorrow another case might show up and blow her out of the saddle as reigning procrastinated prosecution, but she's firmly in the lead.

El Paso county for it's part blusters that it has "many" misdemeanor cases from 2008 that it is still pursuing, but mumbled in process of that declaration the word "traffic." Those would be 2008T cases, not 2008M. All the 2008M or prior cases called off for the next 7 days, appeared on TODAY's "call off" list.

(Case shown in bold green is the newest numerical prosecution, 12789. This would mean through about 10 months around 1300 or so cases are started in El Paso county's 4th Judicial district. It is a traffic violation.)

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Dear Schleicher County, Shirley Emmons & Norma Torres, Tired of Trials? Already? Here's what to do:

Be careful what you wish for:

The San Angelo Standard-Times - "Anybody who did not serve on the jury in the first case involving an FLDS member that wrapped up last week is eligible to sit on a jury for the remaining cases. There are still 11 other cases involving church members from the Yearning for Zion Ranch.

'The only way they’re out of the mix for the other trials is if they’ve served,' (Schleicher County’s Elections Administrator Brenda) Mayfield said.

Some Eldorado residents have already had enough of the trial.

'I think it’s a mess,' Shirley Emmons said. 'It’s going to make our taxes go up for all that trial.'

Others say that the trials' ubiquitous presence is too strong.

'It’s going to be very hard for our community here,' Norma Torres said. 'That’s just what’s on everybody’s mind. That’s all you hear is them talking about that and having all these state troopers. Everybody knows what’s going on. Overwhelming is what it is.'

51st District Judge Barbara Walther, who decides where the trials will be held, was out of the office Friday and not available for comment."

Wanna stop it? First, let me rant a little. You brought this on yourselves. You peered voyeuristically over the YFZ fence, your Newspaper railed at them, and you listened to the Flora Jessops of the world. Now you have these trials. I hate to be rude, but DEAL WITH IT.

Here's how: Whoever you are, in the Keate trial, vote for acquittal. It is your right. Two "Not Guilty" verdicts in a row or two hung juries in a row and I'll bet the trials go away.

Otherwise, I don't want to hear about it. Your taxes are going to go up, your time will be wasted and you stand a good chance of having all the guilty verdicts reversed on appeal. That took brains didn't it?

I hate to be so hard on you but when you're at the bottom of a hole, as all of us are sometimes, the first thing to stop doing? STOP DIGGING! Call it off, use your rights. It's called Jury Nullification.

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Oh please

Didn't we win that war?

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"True Believers..."

Found at the Wasatch Intercept.

" 'All lies and jest, still the man hears what he wants to hear and he disregards the rest' - The Boxer, Paul Simon."

An apt lead in:

"What I see in play is some kind of morbid curiosity. For some reason, that eludes me, some people in this country are eager, desperate even, to believe lurid tales of organized abuse rings, masquerading under the guise of religion, holding children hostage as sex slaves today, right here within the boarders of the good 'ol USA.

This is by no means an intellectual exercise for this group of 'true believers', they believe it with their hearts, and any skeptic will quickly be accused of being either a child abuser or a child abuse enabler.

This 'true believer' phenomenon certainly did not begin with this particular group. In the 1980's, a book called 'Michelle Remembers' was released. In it's aftermath, a large number of apparently unconnected individuals, across both North America and Europe, began coming forward with accounts 'recovered memories' of satanic ritual abuse. Evangelical Christian traveling speakers Bob Larson and Jerry Johnston were drawing huge audiences, then Geraldo Rivera fanned the flames even more with a primetime special, treating it all as real. But was there any evidence?"

Remind you at all of the fanatical types surrounding YFZ with stories of horrible events?

"When I actually start publicizing this blog, so that people will actually start reading it, hopefully I can get some insightful comments as to why they so passionately want to believe. Could it just be that some have a pathological need for a scapegoat to hate, or that they find some personal validation in believing the worst of those who seem strange or different from themselves, or could it go even deeper than that? For now, I remain perplexed."

Oops, too late.

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Subtle. Believe it or not.

I love this one:

At "Calvinist Cartoons."

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Walther Juggernaut Rolls On, Keate trial on December 7th.

One of the most complex series of prosecutions in US History continues with Allen Keate being tried on Pearl Harbor Day this year.

The San Angelo Standard-Times - "Authorities decided Thursday afternoon to hold the jury trial in Eldorado, according to district clerk administrators.

District Clerk Peggy Williams said she plans to send out 300 notices today. Jurors will be pulled from voter registration rolls and driver’s license records.

Allen Keate will be tried Dec. 7 on a charge of sexual abuse of a child, a second-degree felony that carries a punishment of two to 20 years in prison and a fine up to $10,000."

Meanwhile back in Colorado, an open and shut prosecution of a misdemeanor continues to confound the DA's office, and they refuse to comment on even the most elementary aspects of the case, such as whether or not there are any older misdemeanors they are still pursuing. Allen's case, like Raymond's, will be assembled, brought to trial and finished before El Paso County can get around to prosecuting a simple prank phone call that tied of almost all of CSPD for the duration about two years ago.

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The Tribune Finally Owns Up

As if we didn't know already. The Salt Lake Tribune has alternately sat on stories or not investigated them from the beginning. They're not the only ones. From about fall of last year, if you hadn't caught on to what was being said between the lines, you weren't reading. Now they just say it:

The Salt Lake Tribune - "We continue to have reservations about the raid on the FLDS Yearning for Zion Ranch in Texas in April 2008 that gave rise to this and other prosecutions. The appeal of the Jessop conviction may bring rulings by higher courts in Texas on whether the evidence from that raid, which was based on a bogus phone tip about a young woman in distress, was tainted by the false foundation for the state's searches and the breadth of the resulting seizures.

Procedural questions aside, however, we believe that justice was served by this prosecution, the conviction and the sentence."

And we, those of us who were outraged by this business, do not. You cannot in this country, separate the procedural from justice, and even relegating it to the bin of "procedural" shows a sort of snooty bias that causes me to grind my teeth a bit.

The bill of Rights is largely concerned with procedure. Our 4th Amendment is in fact nothing, if it is not about procedure.

"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

By failing to do anything but step back, and NOT editorialize on the issue, and then in the final analysis issue a weak "We continue to have reservations," The Salt Lake Tribune openly declares that when it comes to personal freedom, they opt to subordinate it to what they evaluate as creepy:

"The whole notion of pressing young women into polygamous sexual unions with much older men is abhorrent, and any state which respects the rights of the young, the vulnerable and the brainwashed should prosecute it."

Thanks at least, for telling us that. The fact that no member of the community came forward to testify against Raymond, his "wife" included, who is an adult now, is of no importance to the Tribune. Their claim of abuse only holds legal, but not real water. Had their been real abuse, one of the women of YFZ would have broken ranks, but no one did. Not even to this day. Isn't Janet, Raymond's wife, able to say if she feels abused now? If in fact it is a date on a calender that makes a girl a helpless victim of sexual violence, doesn't the passing of another date on the calender make her capable of saying she wasn't?

Furthermore, if polygamy was the issue, as the Tribune clearly seems to think it is, along with the age of the polygamists involved, why was it that Texas didn't charge the FLDS with bigamy? Certainly there was probable cause to enter the Ranch and claim bigamy. All that evidence could have been collected and we'd be sitting right here, right now, with the same verdict.

And I'd have been reluctantly supportive of that verdict, because I too believe Raymond broke the law.

But we would have had a test case eventually going before the US Supreme Court on the issue of polygamy, and every State, Utah, Arizona and Texas is too cowardly to set that confrontation up. Instead they concocted a premise of abusive teaching and atmosphere and went into YFZ in a procedural way forbidden by our Constitution. That should be more important to the editorial board of the Tribune, but it's not.

You would think that a Free Press would have some allegiance to the idea of rights.

"In our view, there is no question that this is a crime of sexual violence which cannot be justified or explained away by reliance on the constitutional rights of religious freedom."

I guess the 1st Amendment only pertains to them.

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I just realized...

Tomorrow, is

Friday the 13th. Welcome to the twilight zone, paraskevidekatriaphobics.

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Raymond to serve at least 5 years.

The sentencing phase is over.

Raymond got a 10 year sentence, no parole, he must serve 5 years. ABC 4.

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