3 Navajo tribal members told to stay in jail

SALT LAKE CITY — Three Navajo tribe members charged with a vicious beating and sexual assault were ordered Monday to remain in custody because they pose a danger to the community.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Brooke Wells said that based on the information she has, all three defendants — Michael Whitehorse, 20, Cynthia Bitsuie, 40 and Johnson Joe, 42 — were complicit in beating their victim "severely and seriously."

A teenager also believed to be involved in the crime has not yet been charged, said prosecutor Trina Higgins.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys say extreme intoxication contributed to the beating and assault of the 40-year-old victim. One defense attorney estimated that the five people involved had access to as many as 66 beers on Dec. 2, when the assault took place.

Higgins said the victim ran into Joe, an acquaintance, at a gas station and the pair then met up with Bitsuie, Bitsuie's son Whitehorse, and an underage girl and decided to go drinking. The five then drove to a remote part of Montezuma Creek, which is part of the Navajo Nation, and "drank quite a bit of alcohol." She said the victim eventually became upset that Bitsuie was allowing her children to drink so Joe, Bitsuie, Whitehorse and the 17-year-old left her alone, only to return five minutes later.

When they did return, Higgins said they proceeded to punch and kick the victim before sexually assaulting her. She said the woman was held down while the beating "continued for some time." At one point, Bitsuie repeatedly urged her son to rape the victim, Higgins said. But a rape never occurred before the victim was again abandoned, without car keys or a jacket.

The woman was later able to start her car with a screwdriver and drove herself immediately to a hospital.

Higgins said the victim lives on the Arizona side of the reservation, but she runs her errands in Montezuma Creek and had already seen Bitsuie since the alleged assault. She said the woman was so shook up that she immediately called 911 upon seeing her.

Scott Williams, defense attorney for Joe, said his client does not present a flight risk and that he had a wife and children to support. He said his client has reliable employment as an oil rigger. Attorneys for Bitsuie and Whitehorse both said their clients did not have a history of alcohol abuse and were seeking employment.

Wells said she could not justify releasing the defendants because of the severity of the allegations.

"These are extraordinarily serious charges against you," Wells said. "These pictures and medical reports show a woman who was severely beaten and injured. … Each of you constitutes a danger to the community."

e-mail: emorgan@desnews.com