Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints....

Despite my own general disinterest in sex as a subject of conversation, I know that those of you who are much younger than I are still fascinated by the subject. And I still do most vehemently retain my personal abhorrence of men who take advantage of children sexually, so..... I would be remiss if I didn't report the latest in the trial of six members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints who are presently on trial here in Kingman. Their leader, Warren Jeffs has been ‘on the lamb' for over a year with a reward on his head from the FBI on down. [One might wonder that if they can't find him then what chance does the government have of finding Bin Laden?] Actually, there is little doubt that Jeffs is located in their new enclave in Texas but after the experience with the freaks at Waco I suspect that the government is ‘skered' to go there - what would Rush say! In case you don't know, the FLDS is a segment of the old Mormon church which refused to renounce polygamy in the late 1800's when the main church relented to federal government demands and abolished the practice. They located in remote parts of the state of Utah and Arizona to continue their outlawed religion. They got away with it until finally the states of Utah and Arizona got their act together and started enforcing their child molestation laws in a joint venture. You can read much more, including the very interesting history of the cult at http://tinyurl.com/m469b . I'm sure it is very frustrating to local law enforcement that there is a part of Arizona's Mohave county (where I live) which requires one to drive up into Nevada and then east to the north rim of the Grand Canyon in order to get to the twin towns of Colorado City, Az and Hildale, UT located across from one another on the state line between Arizona and Utah. This is, of course, because of the Grand Canyon, there is no road between Colorado City and the rest of Arizona. Religion on short leash in FLDS trials By Jeff Pope Miner Staff Writer [KingmanDailyMiner.com] KINGMAN – The history and practices of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints will be part of the trials of six men from Colorado City. In doing so, Superior Court Judge Steven Conn said on Tuesday he would keep the lawyers on a short leash as to the scope of the polygamist sect's culture that would be allowed. The information must be relevant to the charges against the defendants, he said. The defense's motion to include the relevant cultural information about the church is intrinsic to the charges, Conn said. However, he added that religious beliefs would not be a defense against the allegations. "If we attempt to present this case as if the FLDS has no involvement in it and that the defendants are not motivated by what may very well be very strongly-held sincere religious beliefs, then this case is going to be presented no differently than a child-molest case," he said. "I believe that much of the church teachings are not going to be relevant in this case." Kelly Fischer, Donald R. Barlow, Vergel B. Jessop, Dale E. Barlow and Terry D. Barlow are all charged with sexual conduct with a minor and conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor. Rodney H. Holm is charged with three counts of sexual conduct with a minor. The state based its charges on the birth certificates of the children that resulted from the alleged sexual acts. The mothers listed on the documents would have had to be under 18 years old when the pregnancies occurred, Chief County Attorney Matt Smith said. Defense attorney Bruce Griffen filed eight motions to either dismiss the case on various legal grounds or allow the defense to argue that the charges persecute his clients' religious freedoms. "We seek this information to educate the jury. We included some authorities in our motion that certainly made clear that from a due process perspective we ought to be able to define our case, present what we think the appropriate information is that is essential to the jury's understanding of the issues," he said. By allowing the background to be introduced, Smith said he could present evidence that the women of the FLDS culture do not have much education to be able to think for themselves and the influence that the fugitive leader of the church, Warren Jeffs, has on the community. "I think on the one level… there's a pretty strong argument that could be made that what the defense is seeking to introduce is not relevant," he said. "The only issue is: did these defendants engage in sexual intercourse with young women that they were not married to that were under the age of 18 and did it happen in Mohave County?" Conn also struck down motions claiming the state's anti-polygamy clause and sexual conduct with a minor statute are laws targeted directly at religion. Griffen argued that the First Amendment's free exercise clause implies actions are protected as well as beliefs. According to FLDS church beliefs, polygamy is required and sanctioned by God. The sect broke away from the mainstream Mormon Church after it abandoned multiple marriages in 1890. "It is difficult to accept at this point that because of the way the world was more than 100 years ago and the fear that our forefathers had and our federal government had about where this population would land if we didn't outlaw polygamy, that we are still governed by that antiquated reasoning today," Griffen said. "The anti-polygamy clause is simply bad law." In denying the motion on the grounds that invalidating the clause now would not affect prior actions, Conn also doubted he had the authority to nullify a provision of the state Constitution. In the other motions, Griffen argued the state does not specify the dates that the alleged acts took place. Conn dismissed defense motions that the charges were duplicitous, vague and too broad and included a defective time frame. Conn also denied the change of venue motion but said Griffen could file it again if finding an impartial jury becomes a problem. In January, Judge James Chavez also denied the same motions against Randolph J. Barlow and David R. Bateman. Chavez said he would rule what evidence would be admissible closer to the trial date of Bateman scheduled for May 30. He is charged with sexual conduct with a minor and conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor. Randolph Barlow is charged with two counts of sexual assault, but the charges do not specify the victim was a minor.