I knew it would be a short one, but two minutes? That’s the time it took to conduct the open court hearing for polygamous church leader Warren S. Jeffs today. The hearing was delayed about 45 minutes while attorneys met in chambers with 3rd District Judge Terry Christiansen, where they negotiated several things we then [...]

The Utah Supreme Court said in a ruling released today that the FLDS waited too long to challenge state control and reformation of the United Effort Plan Trust. Here is the story, which I am continuing to update. Also, I will update this blog post with reaction throughout the day. Margaret Cooke, UEP Trust advisory [...]

Did the Hildale  City Council vote to “triple” the town’s property tax, as reported by ABC 4 news? Or raise it 237 percent, as reported by Fox 13, adding $550 to the annual property tax bill on an average home? No and no. But that didn’t keep those media outlets or, for that matter, Val [...]

Kirk Torgensen, chief deputy in the Utah Attorney General’s Office, spoke Tuesday at the National Organization For Victim Assistance conference, being held in Salt Lake City. His topic? “Polygamy Victimization.” Former plural wife Carolyn Jessop also spoke. More on her in the next post. But here is a recap of what Torgensen had to say. [...]

Here is the response from fiduciary Bruce R. Wisan to the FLDS’ request for emergency relief. Wisan’s petition was filed late yesterday afternoon with the Utah Supreme Court.

Here is a section of a story I wrote about Amos Guiora and his book “Freedom From Religion: Rights and National Security,” in which he advocates limiting religious speech that government views as inciting listeners to violent behavior. “If Amos Guiora had his way, undercover moles would be planted in Islamic mosques and in polygamous [...]

A spokeswoman has confirmed that Utah Gov. Gary Herbert has received an extradition request from Texas Gov. Rick Perry for FLDS church leader Warren S. Jeffs and is “reviewing it.” Here is the “requistion” document, which asks Utah to turn Jeffs over to the custody of Texas Ranger Nick Hanna so he can be brought [...]

An Arizona Judge Pro Tem knocked down UEP Trust fiduciary Bruce R. Wisan’s “claim of rights” defense, setting his criminal trespass case for trial. But that defeat may be outweighed by victories on other fronts: Judge Paul Julien granted Wisan’s motion to depose FLDS church leader Warren S. Jeffs as part of gathering information for [...]

Here’s what happened Tuesday as we scrambled to cover the Utah Supreme Court decision about Warren Jeffs. The court announces on Monday which decisions, if any, it will release on Tuesday. So we knew Monday a decision was coming. I spent part of the day preparing what we call “boilerplate” —  background that could be [...]

Wonder what defense attorney Wally Bugden thought about the Anderson Cooper show on the Utah Supreme Court ruling? I did. I ask and here is what Bugden said: The notion that the jury instructions were a mere technicality is astounding. The legal pundit said the same thing.  Unbelievable. If the jury received improper instructions, it [...]