Town marshals on hot seats
 Hildale pair face Phoenix judge; Jeffs hearing also today
 
By Ben Winslow
Deseret Morning News
 
The Hildale/Colorado City town marshal and one of his deputies will face an administrative judge today over their loyalties to Fundamentalist LDS Church leader Warren Jeffs.

Marshal Fred Barlow and his deputy, Preston J. Barlow, are accused of refusing to answer investigators' repeated questions about the FLDS leader. The marshal also once wrote a letter to Jeffs, pledging his loyalty to the FLDS leader, who was a fugitive at the time.

"Dear Uncle Warren," the letter begins, and pledges the loyalty of all of the officers in the Hildale/Colorado City Town Marshal's Office.

"I love you and acknowledge you as my priesthood head," Barlow wrote. "And I know that you have the right to rule in all aspects of my live (sic). I yearn to hear from you."

According to the Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board, Fred Barlow is accused of:
  • Seeking and acknowledging previous directions on the operation of the Colorado City police office from a federal fugitive, on or about October 2005.

  • Failing to answer certain questions related to his duties as a police officer when commanded by subpoena to appear in a deposition in February 2006.

  • Failing to answer questions from the Arizona Attorney General's Office in March 2006. Preston Barlow is also accused of refusing to answer the attorney general's questions.
An attorney for the two marshals did not return a phone call seeking comment on Monday.

This morning's administrative review hearing in Phoenix could lead to both men losing their badges in Arizona and Utah.

"She'll come back with what we call findings of fact and conclusion of law," Arizona POST compliance manager Robert Forry said Monday. "We'll take it back to the board. The board makes a decision anywhere from no action to a suspension and a revocation."

That decision would likely come in September. The Utah Peace Officer Standards and Training Council has said it would wait for Arizona authorities before proceeding with their case. The two states have worked closely together on their investigations into the police officers in the polygamous border towns.

Following Utah's lead, the Arizona POST board last week stripped deputy marshal Mica Barlow of his certification. Barlow refused to testify before a federal grand jury in Arizona investigating Jeffs' whereabouts and served jail time for contempt of court.

"We based it on that and the fact that Utah had revoked him," Forry said. Jeffs, 51, was on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list until his capture last year. He was indicted by a federal grand jury in Utah on a single charge of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.

In Arizona, Jeffs was recently indicted by a Mohave County grand jury on incest and sexual misconduct with a minor charges. He is accused of arranging child bride marriages there.

Jeffs is facing a September trial in St. George's 5th District Court on charges of rape as an accomplice, accusing him of performing a marriage between a 14-year-old girl and her 19-year-old cousin. A hearing is scheduled in St. George this morning, where defense attorneys are expected to ask a pre-trial hearing on Friday be closed to the public and news media.

Meanwhile, the court record indicates Washington County prosecutors filed papers under seal addressing motions to limit statements from Jeffs, addressing criminal responsibility for the conduct of another and allowing evidence and argument to support theories of non-consent.

E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com
 
deseretnews.com
Originally published Tuesday, July 17, 2007
 
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