James Oler

The attorney general of British Columbia said Thursday he will not appeal a court ruling that quashed prosecutions of two polygamous leaders.

Michael de Jong said he will, however, ask the province’s supreme court to settle a conflict between the criminal code and the country’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms on polygamy.

Section 293 of the criminal code makes polygamy illegal; the charter allows full exercise of religious beliefs.

Source/Full Story: Salt Lake Tribune
Technorati Tags: FLDS, Winston Blackmore, James Oler

The Globe and Mail

Madam Justice Sunni Stromberg-Stein found that the former attorney-general of B.C. had unfairly gone “special prosecutor shopping” when he ignored the advice of two prosecutors and kept searching until one was found who wanted to press charges.

By doing so, Judge Stromberg-Stein said, the attorney-general “upset the critical balance that … should be kept between political interference and accountability.”

Source: NYTimes.com

A judge dismissed polygamy charges on Wednesday against two leaders of a fundamentalist Mormon sect based in Bountiful, British Columbia. In January, after an extensive police investigation, Winston K. Blackmore, was charged with being married simultaneously to 19 women and James M. Oler was charged with being married to two women. But Justice Sunni S. Stromberg-Stein of the Supreme Court of British Columbia ruled that the province’s attorney general did not have the authority to appoint a third special prosecutor after two other special prosecutors had recommended not charging the men. Mr. Blackmore’s group is associated with the Yearning For Zion ranch in Eldorado, Tex., where the authorities seized 468 children in a raid in 2008.

Technorati Tags: polygamy

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

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

Lawyers for two B.C. men charged with having multiple wives are planning for a jury trial — if they can’t have the case tossed out before then.

The lawyers for accused polygamists Winston Blackmore and James Oler have two applications before the courts to stay the proceedings before the precedent-setting case even goes to trial.

And Joe Arvay, Blackmore’s lawyer, also has a constitutional challenge up his sleeve for the preliminary hearing if the first applications don’t work.

Both accused are religious leaders from the tiny community of Bountiful, in southeast B.C., where they belong to the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Blackmore is alleged to have 19 wives, Oler three.

Their sect believes that a man has to have at least three wives to get to heaven.

Documents filed by Arvay with B.C. Supreme Court says Crown disclosures allege about 25 per cent of the 1,500 residents of Bountiful live in a polygamous relationship.

On Friday, Arvay told the court he has two applications that may prevent the trial from going forward.

"Part of it goes to the claim that there’s the perception of interference by the attorney general in this prosecution," Arvay said, referring to B.C. Attorney General Wally Oppal’s push for criminal charges in the case.

The documents show that several of the province’s best legal minds, dating as far back as 1992, recommend against attempting to prosecute Bountiful leaders because they felt the polygamy law was unconstitutional.

Source/Full Story: CTV.ca

Source: The Canadian Press

Lawyers involved in the case of two men accused of practising polygamy in a small B.C. community may be looking for a change of venue if the controversial case goes to trial.

Winston Blackmore and James Oler, religious community leaders in Bountiful, B.C., attended the 10-minute hearing and the case was put off until Feb. 18.

Linda Mueller, a spokeswoman for the B.C. government, says there was a brief discussion about changing the location of a trial, which would currently be heard in the small town of Creston, about 700 kilometres southeast of Vancouver.

Blackmore is accused of having up to 20 wives and Oler two wives.

Bountiful has about 1,000 residents and has been the subject of several investigations involving allegations of polygamy, sexual abuse and trafficking of teenage brides across the Canada-U.S. border to sister communities in the United States.

The 52-year-old Blackmore and Oler, 44, are the leaders of two rival factions of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Bountiful.

Technorati Tags: Winston Blackmore, James Oler, FLDS