SALT LAKE CITY — A leader in the FLDS Church and former acolytes are on witness lists filed in advance of the U.S. Justice Department’s massive lawsuit against the polygamous border towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz.
The lists, filed in U.S. District Court in Phoenix and obtained by FOX 13, show the feds are calling some potentially hostile witnesses to testify in their case that the town governments have acted as de facto agents for Warren Jeffs and discriminated against anyone who isn’t FLDS.
Among the witnesses:
- FBI agents and police officers who were part of the manhunt for Warren Jeffs;
- Lyle Jeffs, the bishop of the FLDS Church and Warren Jeffs’ brother;
- Charlene Jeffs, Lyle Jeffs’ ex-wife;
- A Texas prison mail room employee who will testify about the amount of mail Warren Jeffs gets and how he selects what he reads;
- Ex-Jeffs bodyguard Willie Jessop;
- A number of former Hildale and Colorado City town officials;
- Helaman Barlow, the former Colorado City Town Marshal;
- Washington County Sheriff’s deputy Darrell Cashin;
- A number of ex-FLDS Church members
The U.S. Justice Department claims Lyle Jeffs’ testimony (which may be in person if he can be subpoenaed) would cover “his communications with Warren Jeffs; his role in the FLDS Church; Warren Jeffs’ control over FLDS Church members, including Defendants’ city officials, from 2004 through the present; Defendants’ city officials’ communication with Warren Jeffs while he was a federal fugitive; FLDS Church instructions regarding non-members and membership in the United Order; Warren Jeffs’ dictations and edicts; the Cities’ opposition to the UEP Trust and its subdivision efforts,” among other topics.
See the Justice Department witness list here:
The Justice Department filed an exhibit list where they planned to use a lot of Warren Jeffs’ sermons, writings and dictations as evidence. The feds also planned to use some letters written by city leaders to him.
Jeffs is serving a life sentence in a Texas prison, convicted of child sex assault related to underage “marriages.”
Attorneys for Hildale and Colorado City planned to call a long list of current city officials to refute claims that the governments were discriminating against non-FLDS members. They include:
- Hildale Mayor Phillip Barlow;
- Members of the Hildale City Council;
- Colorado City Mayor Joseph Allred;
- Colorado City town employees;
- Former town prosecutors and attorneys;
See the Hildale/Colorado City witness list here:
