FLDS challenge Texas search warrants
A pair of search warrants served on the Fundamentalist LDS Church's YFZ Ranch should be tossed because they were based on lies to a judge, lawyers for 10 FLDS men facing criminal charges claim.
In a phone book-sized motion to suppress filed in an Eldorado, Texas, court and made public Wednesday, the attorneys launch a full-scale attack on two law enforcement search warrants executed during last year's raid on the Utah-based polygamous sect's sprawling Texas compound.
"In short, it is clear that the authorities used a hoax phone call as an excuse for staging a massively intrusive raid upon a disfavored religious group," wrote Gerald Goldstein, an attorney for YFZ Ranch leader Frederick Merril Jessop. "Under the guise of looking for a man they knew was not there and a child that did not exist, the Texas authorities conducted a general search to see what they could find."
What law enforcement and child welfare workers found on the ranch led to the removal of 439 children over allegations of child sex abuse and criminal indictments against a dozen FLDS men — including sect leader Warren Jeffs — connected to underage marriages.
The case fell apart and the children were ultimately returned, however, when a pair of Texas courts ruled the state acted improperly and the children were not at immediate risk of abuse.
The highly anticipated court filing attacks the warrants on a series of fronts, including misapplications of Texas law and misstatements by law enforcement. The filings accuse Texas Rangers of deceiving Judge Barbara Walther about the origins of the raid when she approved the search warrants.
The raid on the ranch was prompted by a series of phone calls to a San Angelo, Texas, family crisis hotline by someone claiming to be a 16-year-old pregnant girl named "Sarah Barlow" who was being abused by her polygamous husband, whom Goldstein claims "Sarah" never named in any of the calls.
"In actual fact, after the caller refused to give her alleged husband's first name, it was the New Bridge operator, Jessica Carroll, who fed the caller the name 'Dale Barlow,' based upon a newspaper article Ms. Carroll located by Googling the name Barlow and FLDS," he wrote, adding that law enforcement knew the girl had never been treated at a hospital like she claimed, and Dale Evans Barlow, who was on probation for a sex offense, was living in Colorado City, Ariz., at the time they raided the ranch.
The phone call is believed to be a hoax carried out by a Colorado woman named Rozita Swinton, who is facing criminal charges accusing her of similar phony calls to authorities.
Recent comments
I've been following this since day one. My chief concern is that if...
Mike in VA | May 4, 2009 at 6:18 a.m.
Good its about time that the FLDS fights back. I am not part of the...
x | April 16, 2009 at 9:28 a.m.
well i have met some FLDS people. very nice, peacefull, differant....
Anonymous | April 15, 2009 at 9:17 p.m.
- NFL: Week 12 recap 12:50 a.m.
- '12 Days' bill would top $87K 12:35 a.m.
- Study finds autism therapy works 12:35 a.m.
- Boy shot following traffic stop 12:35 a.m.
- Sports on the air 12:24 a.m.
- Herbert builds his team of rivals 12:21 a.m.
- Corroon a step closer to governor 12:21 a.m.
- Monday on TV 12:18 a.m.
- Editorial: East, West and religion 12:17 a.m.
- A deficit commission? 12:17 a.m.
- Hall mouths off about hate of Utah
- BYU is champion of the state
- Cougars beat Utes in overtime
- Credit Coug defense for win
- Marriage definitions vary widely
- Field goals, penalties doomed Utes
- Cougar defense rose to occasion
- Banged up Jazz get best of Blazers
- Jones' joy for life remembered
- Fantasy is reality for BYU professor
- Hall mouths off about hate of Utah
869 - Cougars beat Utes in overtime
473 - Max Hall issues apology
145 - BYU is champion of the state
137 - Man trapped in Nutty Putty cave dies
117 - Cave to be sealed with body inside
116 - Rivalry Week is highly profane
90 - Hall's legacy measured today
79 - Hall's pain reflects self-betrayal
68 - Utes fall to Seattle U. at home
65
I wanted to tell them not to go. I dropped subtle hints. "My money is on...
When I was a kid, I worshipped my grandpa. He was undoubtedly my hero....
I find it interesting that many of the same people who say that we can't...
None of these teams is going to be easy. They all have fine football...
Max, no apology was necessary, but the apology was polically correct. If...
Very good piece of writing, Amy. You summarized what many of us have been...
How is a top 25 finish make Utah a top twenty team? I think what the poster...
90% of the BYU & Utah fans have class, and Hall knows it. If you don't...
This might be my favorite article I've ever read from the Deseret News. Kudos.
Thank you for not giving up and don't give up now brother and sister...
Dr. Lois Lee's work with children who are victims of child sexual...
Look at the preview for Pixar's "Up". The whole move is summarized in...


