| Federal grand jury investigates FLDS They say Texas, Arizona authorities blocking efforts to find origins of YFZ raid | |
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By Ben Winslow Deseret News | |
A federal grand jury has apparently been convened to investigate the Fundamentalist LDS Church in the aftermath of the raid on the Utah-based polygamous church's Texas ranch. Lawyers for FLDS leader Warren Jeffs are accusing Texas and Arizona authorities of blocking their efforts to ferret out the origins of the raid on the YFZ Ranch. In a court filing made public in Kingman, Ariz., on Thursday, Jeffs' criminal defense attorneys complain that Texas law enforcement officials forbade any inquiry into the apparent hoax call that sparked the raid, where hundreds of children were taken into state protective custody. Excerpts of interview transcripts filed with their complaint also revealed the apparent federal grand jury probe. "This is all part of what has become a pattern of obstruction on the part of Texas law enforcement authorities," attorneys Richard Wright and Michael Piccarreta wrote. "The state of Texas simply would not allow any questions showing that the Texas law enforcement authorities now know that their search warrant affidavits were full of lies." Jeffs' attorneys are seeking to prevent evidence taken from last year's raid from being used in his upcoming trial in Arizona, where the 53-year-old is accused of performing underage marriages. He was convicted in Utah of rape as an accomplice for performing an underage marriage. Jeffs' defense team questioned Schleicher County (Texas) Sheriff David Doran, one of his deputies and Texas Ranger Brooks Long. But when the attorneys started asking about Rozita Swinton, the woman suspected of making the phony phone calls, interview transcripts showed that Texas authorities objected. "I can't comment on that simply because I would be violating federal law in reference to that particular question," Long said in the interview. "And what, why is that, because," Piccarreta wondered. "Because I'm on the 6(e) list," Long replied, referring to federal rules of criminal procedure on grand jury secrecy. "A grand jury list," Piccarreta said. "Yes." "And all right, so in terms of those calls and whether or not they relate to Rozita Swinton, that's something that you don't feel that you can disclose." "It's not me personally, it's just, I would be violating federal law if I commented on that at this time." Assistant Texas Attorney General Eric Nichols also halted many of the questions, citing an ongoing investigation by the state. "Frankly, I'm a little hard-pressed to understand why that issue is even before the Arizona court because as I understand it, the Arizona prosecutors have said that they do not intend to use evidence taken from the ranch as part of their pending cases against Mr. Jeffs in Mohave County," Nichols told Piccarreta and Wright in the interview transcripts. "But that being said, Arizona prosecutors have asked us if we would, as a matter of interstate cooperation, present these witnesses to address the issues of these two Texas search warrants." Doran and Brooks were also prevented from answering any questions about confidential informants and potential witnesses, including ex-FLDS members who have had contact with law enforcement in the past. "It is as if the Texas authorities believe that the Rozita Swinton problem would simply go away if ignored," Wright and Piccarreta said in their filing, asking a judge to strike Arizona's objection to their motion to suppress or order Doran and Long to answer their questions. In a filing last year defending the search, Mohave County Attorney Matt Smith said law enforcement acted on information they had at the time. Swinton, 34, is considered a "person of interest" in the calls that launched the raid. Someone claiming to be a pregnant, abused 16-year-old girl named "Sarah" called family crisis shelters and an anti-polygamy activist, prompting law enforcement and child welfare authorities to go to the ranch. "Sarah" was never found, but authorities in Colorado arrested Swinton in connection with a hoax call there. Law enforcement affidavits say phone numbers linked to Swinton also match those used by "Sarah." The Texas Attorney General's Office has said its investigation into Swinton is "ongoing." Swinton herself has been undergoing mental health treatment, putting a halt to a pair of criminal cases pending against her in Colorado. A series of search warrants were executed on the YFZ Ranch, including a federal search warrant on April 8. Federal authorities have kept quiet about their case and refused to say Thursday if a grand jury had been convened. "We have no comment," said Kathy Colvin, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Texas. A dozen men, including Jeffs, have been indicted by a Schleicher County grand jury on charges ranging from sexual assault of a child and bigamy to performing a marriage ceremony prohibited by law and failure to report child abuse. A hearing on suppressing evidence from the Eldorado raid is scheduled in Texas in May. E-MAIL: bwinslow@desnews.com | |
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DeseretNews.com Originally published Thursday, Feb. 20, 2009 | |
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