Traffic stop of Jeffs was illegal, his lawyers say
 
By Ben Winslow
Deseret Morning News
 
In the latest attack on the state's case against their client, Fundamentalist LDS Church leader Warren Jeffs' lawyers said the traffic stop that led to his arrest was illegal.

"The traffic stop in the instant case ran afoul of the Fourth Amendment because no reasonable suspicion of a traffic violation can be articulated," defense attorney Walter Bugden Jr. wrote in papers filed Thursday in St. George's 5th District Court. "A valid temporary registration permit was prominently displayed on the rear of the vehicle. As such, the detention of the defendant was illegal."

A Nevada Highway Patrol trooper said he could not properly see the temporary tag on the 2007 Cadillac Escalade on Aug. 28, 2006. He pulled over the SUV outside Las Vegas and saw Jeffs, his wife and one of his brothers inside.

Jeffs and his brother gave conflicting stories, the trooper said, which raised his suspicions.

After the trooper began searching the vehicle, back-up troopers suspected it was Jeffs, who was on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list. The FBI eventually responded and identified the FLDS leader.

In court papers obtained by the Deseret Morning News, Bugden said the FBI seized "religious documents" that have found their way into the hands of Washington County prosecutors. However, Bugden argues the evidence should be tossed out because the traffic stop itself was illegal.

"Upon observing the validity of the tag, the justification for stopping the vehicle was satisfied and the occupants should have been free to go," he wrote.

Jeffs' interview with FBI agents is also under scrutiny. Federal agents questioned the FLDS leader at about 4 a.m. on Aug. 29.

"The voluntariness of this interrogation is also dubious given the violation of the defendant's Fourth Amendment rights," Bugden wrote.

Defense attorneys have been trying to suppress the computers, documents, writings and other items the FBI seized and later returned to the FLDS leader. They filed papers in federal court earlier this week, claiming Jeffs' right to freedom of religion has been jeopardized.

Jeffs, 51, has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Salt Lake City on a single charge of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution stemming from his time as a fugitive. He is slated to go on trial in St. George next month on charges of rape as an accomplice. Jeffs is accused of performing a child-bride marriage.

E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com
 
deseretnews.com
Originally published Saturday, March 17, 2007
 
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