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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Mohave County, Ariz. prosecutors are considering postponing or dismissing cases against eight residents of a polygamous community who are charged with sex offenses involving marriages to underage girls because they're having problems finding witnesses.
"So far, we haven't been able to serve the victims in either case," County Attorney Matt Smith said. "We've not had any luck serving people. They are running, they are hiding, they are changing houses, they are not answering the door."
Smith said Mohave County sheriff's deputies were able to serve only one of four subpoenas on potential witnesses during a search of homes in Colorado City, Ariz., on May 25.
Colorado City, along with Hildale, Utah, is home to the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, whose followers practice plural marriage as a tenet of faith and believe it necessary to earn heavenly exaltation. The FLDS and other fundamentalist Mormons have their roots in the mainstream Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which abandoned polygamy in 1890 and now excommunicates those who embrace it.
The first trial -- of Kelly Fischer, 39 -- is scheduled to begin July 5 in Mohave County Superior Court in Kingman, Ariz., with one for Dale Evans Barlow, 48, to follow on July 11.
But Smith said he's not sure "whether or not we have any witnesses available."
The other men charged are: Rodney H. Holm, 39; Donald R. Barlow, 49; Vergel Bryce Jessop, 46; Terry D. Barlow, 24; Randolph J. Barlow, 33; and David R. Bateman, 49.
The men were indicted by a Mohave County grand jury last July based on testimony provided by former FLDS member Richard Holm, Mohave County investigator Gary Engels and Candi Shapley, who at age 16 was "spiritually" married to defendant Randolph J. Barlow.
The men, who have entered not guilty pleas, face two charges: one count of sexual conduct with a minor and one count of conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor.
In Arizona, polygamy is prohibited in the state constitution, but is not a crime. It is, however, a class 6 felony to engage in sexual activity with anyone under the age of 18 unless that person is a legal spouse. Those felonies carry a maximum sentence of two years in prison or probation.
The grand jury indicted FLDS leader Warren S. Jeffs on the same two charges for his role in performing at least one of the marriages. Jeffs also faces a rape-as-an-accomplice charge in Utah for conducting an underage marriage. He is a fugitive and has been on the FBI's "Ten Most Wanted" list since May 6.
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Information from: The Salt Lake Tribune, http://www.sltrib.com
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
