Christian or Biblical Polygamy

Attorneys for a southern Utah polygamous church are asking a judge to reverse the sale of cows from a church farm by a court-appointed accountant.

Papers filed in 3rd District Court on Friday say the sale of 565 heifers from Harker Farms in Beryl decimates the value of the farm — a key asset in settlement negotiations over the United Effort Plan trust.

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Sect attorneys say fiduciary Bruce Wisan should have disclosed plans to sell the cows during negotiations. Wisan sold the cows for $360,000 on June 2. The sale was disclosed in a June 15 court filing — the same day the Utah attorney general’s office submitted a settlement proposal to the court that includes a mechanism for returning the farm to the FLDS.

FLDS lawyers also contend Wisan sold the young, non-milking cows below market rates. The lawyers place the value of the livestock at $537,840.

Source/Full Story: Standard-Examiner

Wow, such absolutes.  Is anyone still listening to these windbags?

Flora Jessop and Kathy Nicholson know firsthand what it’s like growing up in a polygamist family. The two women escaped a sect compound in Colorado City, Ariz., as teenagers but say they will forever carry the scars of a traumatic childhood with them.

At what was termed a “friends and survivors” picnic Saturday, Jessop and Nicholson joined K. Dee Ignatin, executive director of Americans Against Abuses of Polygamy (AAAP), at Glenmore Park. The event was held to invite the public to discuss polygamy with women who have experienced it firsthand. Jessop has written a book on her life with the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the same sect that owns the now-famous YFZ Ranch in Schleicher County.

The FLDS, which believes polygamy brings glorification in heaven, is a breakaway sect of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which renounced polygamy more than a century ago.

Ignatin said Americans should not be fooled by what she says is the media’s incorrectly favorable portrayal of the polygamist lifestyle. The women’s tour was prompted in part by featured treatment of the YFZ Ranch group on the Oprah Winfrey Show.

“It’s true of the Taliban and it’s true of the FLDS,” Ignatin said. “Every instance of polygamy in any culture always forces women and children into poverty, restricts women’s choices, travel, and education, leads to the molestation of both boys and girls, and results in child brides.”

Source/Full Story: gosanangelo.com

The lawyer for accused polygamist Winston Blackmore is in B.C. Supreme Court Monday, arguing that the charge against him should be dismissed because of an abuse of process.

Mr. Blackmore, the self-styled “Bishop of Bountiful,” is accused of having multiple wives.

His lawyer, Joe Arvay, said yesterday that, if the application to stay the charge is rejected, he will argue that the government should pay for Blackmore’s legal fees to defend himself.

Blackmore was refused legal aid and has written in his blog that he feels the taxpayer should pick up the tab for his legal bills because he is fighting a constitutional battle for religious freedom.

James Oler, Blackmore’s bitter rival, is also facing one count of polygamy.

Mr. Oler’s charge likely will be dismissed if Mr. Blackmore’s court challenge succeeds.

Source/Full Story: theprovince.com

Lawyers for jailed evangelist Tony Alamo have asked a federal judge to order prosecutors to provide Alamo’s defense with details of the crimes he is accused of committing.

Alamo’s defense team filed several motions yesterday in U.S. District Court at Texarkana. The 74-year-old Alamo faces a July 13 trial on a 10-count indictment accusing him of taking young girls across state lines for sex.

The motions asked the court to order the government to produce a bill of particulars that includes specific dates and places where the supposed crimes occurred, and names of people involved.

The defense said it wants to know which state lines were crossed, the exact manner in which Alamo is accused of breaking the law and specific dates and times instead of ranges of months. The U.S. attorney’s office could not be reached for comment.

Source/Full Story: KTHV

A court-appointed fiduciary of a polygamous church trust has pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor trespassing and other charges related to his management operations.

Bruce R. Wisan was charged in Mocassin, Ariz. in April with six combined misdemeanor counts of solicitation, facilitation and criminal trespassing. They involve allegations that he encouraged a trust employee to enter homes in Colorado City, Ariz., last summer without the permission of residents.

The homes are held in the United Effort Plan Trust, an arm of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

The Utah courts took control of the trust in 2005 and named Wisan its manager.

Source/Full Story: signonsandiego.com

Two B.C. men charged with polygamy — or at least their lawyers — will be back in provincial court on June 25 to set a date for their preliminary hearing.

But before that preliminary hearing goes ahead, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Sunni Stromberg-Stein will hear an application that the charges against Winston Blackmore and James Oler be stayed either because the prosecution is unfair or, alternately, that they be stayed unless the government pays for their defense since this is a constitutional test case.

The lawyers were in B.C. Supreme Court briefly Tuesday to set the rules for the four-day hearing that opens June 29. During that hearing, Blackmore’s lawyer Joe Arvay raised the possibility that former attorney-general Wally Oppal may be called as a witness as might special prosecutor Terry Robertson.

Source/Full Story: vancouversun.com

The Utah attorney general’s office has filed a settlement proposal to end the dispute over a $114 million property trust once run by polygamous church leader Warren Jeffs.

As outlined in a letter of intent, the proposal returns control of most of the trust holdings to the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

An arm of the church, the United Effort Plan Trust holds most of the land and homes in Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., the twin towns where most church members live, and a church enclave in Bountiful, British Columbia.

The Utah courts seized the communal trust in 2005 after allegations of mismanagement by Jeffs. Under the oversight of a court-appointed fiduciary, the communal religious trust has been converted into a secular entity.

Settlement talks — between the attorneys general of Utah and Arizona, the FLDS and a court-appointed fiduciary — began last November when a trio of church members filed a lawsuit to stop the sale of land in Arizona that was set aside for a temple.

The letter filed in 3rd District Court late Monday seeks to accommodate the needs of both current and former church members who have contributed assets to the trust. The letter is only a framework for a settlement that must ultimately approved by 3rd District Judge Denise Lindberg.

Anyone with an interest in the UEP has until June 30 to submit comments on the proposal to the court.

Source/Full Story: Dallas Morning News

Flora Jessop is roaming the West Texas highways this week, going from book signing to book signing, and trying to keep a story of a fundamentalist breakaway group from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its Texas compound alive in the public’s consciousness.

"It’s not so much to promote the book as an excuse to talk to Texas people and explain what happened when the raid occurred," said Jessop, who grew up in an Arizona town controlled by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints but ran away as twice as a teenager because of sexual abuse and molestation.

She was in Lubbock Friday for a signing event at Barnes and Noble of her book, "Church of Lies," an autobiographical look at her family life, her decision to leave,and her efforts to bring other women away from the FLDS.

Last weekend, she was in Dallas. Since then, the stops have included Abilene and Midland, and from Lubbock the road leads to Amarillo and Denton.

Source/Full Story: lubbockonline.com

The federal government is going after two of the women connected to accused polygamist Winston Blackmore for child benefits it alleges they were not entitled to receive, according to documents filed in Tax Court of Canada.

It is demanding sisters Zelpha Chatwin and Marsha Chatwin repay Canada child tax benefits and B.C. family bonus payments.

The two women are among 19 who were allegedly in a polygamous relationship with Blackmore, who was charged with polygamy in January.

The government has asked Zelpha Chatwin to repay about $24,000 that was allegedly paid out over three years earlier this decade.

She received $6,611.66 from July of 2001 to June of 2002 on the basis that she was married or living common law, had eligible children and family income of $31,608.

But after reassessing Blackmore’s finances, the family income included rose to $309,003, which in effect disqualified her from receiving the child tax benefits and family bonus payments, the government stated.

She claimed the family income was $40,653 in the next year. But the government calculated the family income at $568,404, which once again disqualified her from receiving benefits.

Similarly, the government sought repayment from her sister Marsha Chatwin based on a recalculation of Blackmore’s income.

Source/Full Story: Product Design and Development

In a motion filed Tuesday, the lawyer representing Tony Alamo Christian Ministries requests a hearing to examine evidence in a civil suit accusing the Arkansas Department of Human Services of harassment and civil rights violations.
The motion comes just a week after U.S. District Judge Harry Barnes of the Western District of Arkansas issued an order that essentially halted proceedings in the case until the court decides if the church has standing in federal court.

Source/Full Story: texarkanagazette.com

A former child bride who was the state’s star witness in the criminal case against Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints leader Warren Jeffs is offering to settle a multi-million dollar lawsuit against the polygamous sect’s real estate holdings arm.

Elissa Wall sued over her forced marriage at age 14 to her 19-year-old cousin. She named the FLDS Church, its leader, Warren Jeffs, and the United Effort Plan (UEP) Trust as defendants. The proposed settlement was filed in Salt Lake City’s 3rd District Court last week in the ongoing litigation over the UEP Trust, which controls property in the FLDS communities of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz.

In the settlement, Wall asks for about $308,000 in compensation and a monetary judgment to be awarded in mediation or a damages-only trial. She also wants some undeveloped trust land as well as the properties that her family lives on.

"(Elissa Wall) will personally receive no further compensation, but will execute on her remaining judgment to facilitate the UEP Trust’s goal of conveying the homes built on UEP Trust land to Trust Participants," her attorney, Roger Hoole, wrote in a copy of the settlement obtained by KSL NewsRadio.

Source/Full Story: ksl.com

A court-appointed fiduciary has reversed a decision to reject a check for past-due housing fees from a southern Utah polygamous church.

Bruce Wisan initially rejected the Monday payment of $192,600 made "under protest" by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Source/Full Story: KIFI

A court-appointed accountant has rejected a payment from a polygamous church sect whose trust was taken over by the courts because of alleged mismanagement by their former leader, Warren Jeffs.

"The payment was made under protest. I don’t think we can accept it," accountant Bruce Wisan said Monday.

The $192,600 in delinquent fees is half of what is owed by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints for six months of occupancy fees on homes in Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz.

The homes in the twin towns and a church enclave in Bountiful, British Columbia, are held in the $114 million United Effort Plan Trust. The Utah courts took control of the UEP in 2005 after the allegations of mismanagement by Jeffs.

Jeffs is now serving a prison sentence on a 2007 conviction of accomplice to rape for his role in an arranged marriage involving a then-14-year-old follower in Utah. He is awaiting trial on criminal charges in Arizona and Texas also related to underage marriages.

The FLDS has been negotiating a settlement with the attorneys general of Utah and Arizona and with Wisan, who oversees the trust, to regain control of the UEP’s church land.

Third District Judge Denise Lindberg ordered the FLDS to pay the fees last fall. She imposed the Monday deadline last week and said if the FLDS failed to pay, she would consider allowing church land to be sold.

"As a peaceful people, we believe that settlement is the best way to resolve differences," FLDS spokesman Willie Jessop said in a statement.

He acknowledged the payment was made under protest.

All residents of trust homes are required by the court to pay a $100 monthly occupancy fee to Wisan. The FLDS paid the fees for two months last year, but claim that Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff brokered a deal with Wisan in February to forgive the fees during settlement talks and only collect the proceeds of milk sales from a church dairy in Beryl.

According to the FLDS, Wisan chose to collect some $100,000 in milk money instead of more than $40,000 in monthly occupancy fees. But Wisan denies making such a deal.

Shurtleff was traveling Monday and unavailable for comment.

Shurtleff’s spokesman, Paul Murphy, said by paying "under protest" the FLDS is preserving their right to challenge in court whether the payment should have ever been made. An assistant attorney general will ask the judge for direction on Tuesday, he said.

The other half of the $385,200 total fees is due June 15 — the same day the parties are to submit a settlement proposal to the judge.

In 2005, the states of Utah and Arizona sought control of the trust, contending that Jeffs, the church’s leader, had used its communal assets for his own benefit.

The FLDS follow the early teachings of Joseph Smith Jr., founder of the mainstream Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, including the practice of polygamy, which is believed to bring glorification in heaven. The mainstream Mormon church abandoned the practice in 1890 as a condition of Utah’s statehood.

Source/Full Story: zimbio.com

Judge Denise Lindberg of 3^rd District Court told representatives of the FLDS today: pay up, or else. The ultimatum was given over the required monthly payments that everyone in the twin towns of Hildale, Utah and Colorado City, Arizona were supposed to be making to the United Effort Plan Trust. The UEP trust owns just about everything in the towns, but is in the red by 2.5 million dollars. It needs cash to pay the bills.

So last year the judge, would took control of the trust away from FLDS prophet Warren Jeffs four years ago, authorized a monthly payment – something similar to the dues of a homeowner’s association.

For two months, Judge Lindberg said, the FLDS paid. Each family paid their leaders, and their leaders made a lump sum payment to the Utah Attorney General’s office. Then the FLDS payments stopped. Now they’re 6 months behind. They owe more than $385,000.

In a status conference Wednesday on a possible settlement with the FLDS, the judge told their representatives they’ve got until Monday to pay half of the outstanding amount with the rest due by June 15^th. “I absolutely demand… this is an order of the court,” she said. “Those payments need to be made forthwith. There will be no withholding of payments. Period.”

Source/Full Story:   ABC 4.com

The proposal also includes setting aside undeveloped lots in town for former members with legitimate beneficiary claims who were either excommunicated or voluntarily left the church.

On other issues — access to parks, use of a cemetery and payment of $2.6 million in outstanding bills — the parties were "very, very close" to an agreement, Shurtleff said.

Richards said he believes the current proposal raises constitutional and trust law problems. He also questioned whether it meets standards set when the court altered the UEP to allow for only secular management of its assets.

The FLDS believe the change is at odds with a core tenet of their religion — the Holy United Order — which calls for the sharing of assets for the benefit of those who adhere to church teachings.

The sect rejected Wisan’s oversight of the trust and stayed away from court hearings for about three years. They changed course last fall when it appeared land set aside for an FLDS temple might be sold. They countersued to stop the sale, triggering settlement talks.

Richards has asked the judge to lift a stay on the sale of the land so that trust debts can be paid. The judge did not rule on the issue Wednesday but did order the FLDS to pay six months of occupancy fees, totalling about $385,000.

Lindberg said half the fees are due Monday and the balance must be paid by June 15.

Sect spokesman Willie Jessop said the FLDS do not object to the fees, but thought the payments would be part of the settlement, not in addition to a settlement. He said the FLDS don’t like the idea that some of the funds may be used by Wisan in pending eviction actions against church members.

Source/Full Story: Chron.com