FLDS leader's lawyers to question anti-polygamy activist
In papers filed last week in a Kingman, Ariz., court, Jeffs' attorneys said they have scheduled a Nov. 24 interview with Flora Jessop in Phoenix. Jeffs' criminal defense team has asked her to bring copies of "any recordings of any phone calls between yourself and Rozita Swinton," the woman suspected of making the hoax call that launched the raid.
The FLDS leader's attorneys also seek phone call recordings between Jessop and Arizona and Texas law enforcement and child welfare officials.
Jessop told the Deseret News earlier this year she received numerous calls from Swinton, who claimed to be an abused, pregnant teenager trapped in a marriage to an older man on the YFZ Ranch. Jessop said she went to law enforcement when she began to believe the calls were a hoax.
Swinton, 33, is considered a "person of interest" by Texas authorities. The Deseret News reported last month that she is undergoing in-patient mental health treatment as part of a pair of unrelated false reporting cases in Colorado.
Law enforcement seized hundreds of thousands of pieces of evidence when serving search warrants on the YFZ Ranch. Some of that evidence details allegations of underage marriages within the FLDS Church. Jeffs' lawyers have filed court papers seeking to keep any evidence seized in the Texas raid out of his upcoming trial on sexual misconduct charges. The FLDS leader is accused of performing underage marriages in the Arizona cases.
A dozen people, including Jeffs, have so far been indicted by a Schleicher County, Texas, grand jury on charges ranging from sexual assault of a child to bigamy to failure to report child abuse.
In addition to Jessop, Jeffs' attorneys are also seeking to question Texas authorities about the raid and Arizona law enforcement's level of involvement in it.
E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com
Recent comments
Everyone should read "Escape" by Carolyn Jessop to understand why...
menagainstpolygamy | Nov. 29, 2008 at 1:46 p.m.
Cochise ,
Excuse me while I sound doubtful. There have been evidence...
Andrea | Nov. 19, 2008 at 5:57 p.m.
I am a Texan and was involved in the legal defense of the FLDS...
Cochise | Nov. 19, 2008 at 1:28 p.m.
- Hockey HOF class gets its rings 3:03 p.m.
- Phelps to test old suits at World Cup 3:03 p.m.
- Flyers get QB back for semifinal tilt 3:02 p.m.
- Former DPS head pleads guilty 2:46 p.m.
- Hasan's lawyer to meet with him 2:45 p.m.
- Hatch empathizes with Muslims 2:42 p.m.
- Two arrested in $3 robbery 2:41 p.m.
- Dow hits highest level in a year 2:33 p.m.
- 2 more in GOP may challenge Bennett 2:31 p.m.
- Life sentences for juveniles examined 2:20 p.m.
- TCU showdown has big implications
- Seniors helped BYU regroup
- Hope for single moms
- Lambert surprisingly tops news
- Bystanders framed for child porn
- Korver and Miles to be evaluated
- TCU 4th in AP poll; U. 16th, Y. 22nd
- Utah Jazz Extra: Whose hot/not
- Newhouse Hotel, an explosive end
- TCU moves into 4th place in BCS
- Gay advocates trek to LDS office
246 - House passes health care bill
212 - Lobo suspended
176 - Cougars crush hapless Cowboys
153 - TCU showdown has big implications
145 - Utah Jazz fall apart against Kings
130 - Thousands protest health bill
107 - Provo company innovating engines
106 - RSL rallies to advance
103 - TCU 4th in AP poll; U. 16th, Y. 22nd
103
Why do so many people live so close to refineries in Utah and elsewhere?
NASA's Stardust probe continues to bring new knowledge about the nature...
All lawyer/legal tactics aside, there are only three ultimate possibilities:...
"I read they do like people w/ accounting degrees and/or people of the LDS...
God was only aiming for one of us. The rest of us have minor bumps bruises,...
Welcome sir ! You're extremely important to all of us ! Thank you for your...
Welcome to the Salt Lake City Field Office Mr. McTighe. Maybe we'll get some...
Interesting article, but don't understand the danger of non carbon receipts....
The "progressives" and "liberals" who think that the Constitution has no...
Soon we will see if CJ is as good as you think he is?? I'm not sure he would...
That's kind of the point. Most people don't mind Bingham or Alta saying they...
JD you and your school SS are nothing but losers! your season is over!!!!!!...

