Federal prosecutors say they have struck a deal with Fundamentalist LDS Church leader Warren Jeffs over documents, letters and other evidence seized when he was arrested.
That deal voids any claims Jeffs has that the documents are privileged communications between the polygamist leader and his followers, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Utah said in a motion asking a federal judge to dismiss the evidence-dispute case in Nevada.
Jeffs’ lawyers maintain the documents are protected under his First Amendment right to freedom of religion. Richard Wright, Jeffs’ Nevada attorney, was out of town and did not return a call seeking comment Wednesday.
In court documents filed in federal court in Las Vegas, the U.S. Attorney’s Office revealed that a deal was made with Jeffs in the days following his arrest.
“The United States would provide Mr. Jeffs’ counsel with copies of all documents and imaged computer files seized from the Escalade so that Mr. Jeffs and his counsel could designate which items they believed to be privileged,” assistant U.S. Attorney Jared Bennett wrote, adding that Jeffs agreed to it. […]
After getting the driver’s [Warren Jeffs] consent to search, the trooper found envelopes addressed to “President Jeffs” and two yellow envelopes containing cash, debit cards and tools. FBI agents arrived on the scene and spoke to “John Findley,” who admitted he was Warren Jeffs.
A search warrant for the Escalade was filed days later.
“The FBI inventory found numerous items, including hundreds of documents, computers, cash, debit cards, several electronic devices, wigs, and masks,” Schwarz wrote.
A few days after Jeffs’ arrest, Wright filed an emergency motion in federal court seeking to have the papers either returned to the FLDS leader or sealed. The U.S. Attorney’s Office claims a deal was made to let Jeffs’ attorneys review the seized evidence. Federal authorities have organized a special “taint team” of lawyers to look at the documents and computer files and settle any disputes over what is privileged. […]
This is a summary extract from the full article as it appeared on Deseret News, Jan 25, 2007 Full Article [Cached]
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