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John Hollenhorst and Randall Jeppesen reportingLawyers for the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) polygamous sect were in court all day filing motions to try to stop a search of the compound.
Attorneys for the FLDS have given up on trying to stop that search. From their point of view, it looks like the barn doors got open and the horses got out, and now there's not a lot they can do to stop them.
They petitioned more than four days ago to the court to stop the search on the FLDS compound, but they didn't get a hearing on that until today.
Since then, state authorities have issued a second search warrant. A federal warrant is also being executed; presumably that federal warrant is based on evidence found earlier, perhaps over the weekend. There is, however, speculation it may have to do with moving minors across state lines.
Today lawyers for the FLDS church and several of its members came to court with little expectation of stopping the raid. Instead they're trying to limit government prying into the inner workings of the church.
Searchers have seized hundreds of boxes of documents and computer records. FLDS attorneys asserted some of that material is protected by attorney-client privilege and some of it is sacred writings that have no importance to law enforcement. The attorneys said agents shouldn't be allowed to rummage around in that material and go on a treasure hunt.
State attorneys agreed to a compromise. They're going to appoint a special master to work with the lawyers on sorting through those church records and decide what is protected, what isn't, which elements of those records would be pertinent to the investigation and what ultimately can be used in court.
So the effort to stop the search is over, and the search continues.
Meanwhile, one of the big court battles that has been postponed is the question of whether the original search warrant was valid or unconstitutionally broad and vague. If the leaders were able to prevail on that issue, it could be significant because that conceivably might invalidate some of the evidence that's been seized. However, that's a fight that is being saved for another day in court.
There are also questions that remain as to why Dale Barlow, the man accused of abusing the 16-year-old girl who made the call to authorities, has not been arrested yet. Law enforcement officers have spoken with Barlow in Colorado City, and the judge seemed exasperated that he hasn't been arrested. She said, "My warrant is no good in Arizona?"
The rumors circulating around the FLDS community are that law enforcement officials may have named the wrong man in that arrest warrant, and that possibly the complaining girl who made the phone calls may not be the person they think she was.
It's becoming quite clear that Texas authorities may be having some trouble sorting out the basic facts leading up to the raid.
E-mail: hollenhorst@ksl.com
E-mail: rjeppesen@ksl.com
