Bride's parents going to trial

PROVO — Parents accused of kidnapping their daughter hours before her wedding will stand trial in July, and during the next seven months the story is likely to gain even greater national attention.

Fourth District Judge James Taylor ruled Thursday that a four-day jury trial for Lemuel and Julia Redd of Monticello will begin July 9. They are both charged with one count of second-degree felony kidnapping.

The Redds are accused of driving their 21-year-old daughter, Julianna, to Colorado on Aug. 4 to stop her marriage to then-fiance Perry Myers. The Redds returned their daughter to Provo the next day, and she and Myers were married Aug. 8.

Kidnapping charges were filed Sept. 28 in Provo's 4th District Court.

"It's not soon enough, but we'll take what we can get," said defense attorney Rhome Zabriskie of the trial date. He said they were prepared for trial but still hope for a resolution.

"A trial in a case like this is a last resort," Zabriskie said. "The ball is in (Julianna's) court."

The story of the "kidnapped bride" has already attracted massive media attention, fueled in part by multiple TV appearances by the newlyweds and an appearance Monday by the Redds on ABC's "Good Morning America."

Perry and Julianna Myers are scheduled to appear on "20/20" in the near future.

On the TV show, the Redds apologized and said they never saw their actions as kidnapping.

"We don't see it as a family feud," Lemuel Redd told the Deseret Morning News Thursday. "It was parents counseling with their daughter."

Julianna Redd Myers testified at a preliminary hearing that the "counseling" took place over nearly 300 miles between Provo and Grand Junction, Colo.

During the drive, Julianna Myers said her parents twisted religious doctrine to tell her she was unworthy and that marrying Perry Myers would be dishonoring her parents.

The Redds told the Deseret Morning News they feel they extended "the olive branch" when they visited Julianna at work in September to apologize. They gave her a basket of cookies and cinnamon rolls.

Yet their statements to Diane Sawyer don't echo that remorse, said Perry Myers' aunt, Debbie Myers.

"If these people were sorry, they wouldn't be lying to the media," Debbie Myers said. "It is sure making it harder for Perry and Julianna to forgive them. (The Redds) need to come to the truth and tell the truth before there can be forgiveness."

A professor at Brigham Young University said she thinks the media attention stems from an interest in Utah stories involving marriage issues, polygamy or captured polygamist leader Warren Jeffs. And although this case doesn't deal with polygamy, it's often hard to squelch the juicy, albeit incorrect, rumors.