From Deseret News archives:
Majority of Utahns say removal of FLDS children was justified
In a Texas courtroom Wednesday, attorneys for the Fundamentalist LDS Church and some of its leaders reached an agreement with prosecutors over evidence that continues to be seized at the church's YFZ Ranch.
During a two-hour hearing, the attorneys agreed to sift through the evidence with the assistance of a "special master" — or unbiased third party — to determine what information collected at the ranch is pertinent to the case involving alleged sexual abuse and neglect of children.
"Anything that is seized will be sealed and separated," said Gerald Goldstein, attorney for the church and Lyle Jeffs, the brother of jailed FLDS president Warren Jeffs.
He had argued that there may be private material in seized computers and other records that could be subject to an attorney-client privilege. He also said other sacred things may have been taken that would not be of benefit to any investigation involving sexual and physical abuse.
"There's no reason to further intrude on these people's sacred books," Goldstein argued, referring to search warrant instructions authorizing authorities to seize all kinds of documents, books, computers and electronic storage devices.
"We ought to be able to (separate) those things that are sacred, have someone look at it and see if it has to do with sex abuse," he said.
Goldstein — joined by nine other attorneys in the Tom Green County Courthouse to the state's three attorneys — also complained to Judge Barbara Walther that authorities who have raided the ranch haven't told anyone what evidence they're finding.
It was Walther who authorized agents to search the ranch. She signed the first search warrant April 3, then authorized a second, more expansive search warrant April 6. She also authorized a civil action, ordering officers to remove all children from the church's ranch.
Most Utahns agreed with that decision, and nearly half of Utahns believe local law enforcement does not do enough to prosecute crime in polygamist communities, according to a poll conducted Tuesday and Wednesday by Dan Jones & Associates.
In a statewide poll of 314 people, 31 percent of Utahns said authorities were definitely justified in removing the children and another 31 percent believed the actions were probably justified; 13 percent of those polled believed the actions were probably not justified and 6 percent said they were definitely not justified. The poll has a 5.7 percent margin of error.
