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	Legal Battle Brewing over Jeffs' 'Sacred' FLDS Papers By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News [Utah] September 20, 2006 http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,650192123,00.html "Sacred" papers the FBI seized when it arrested polygamist leader Warren Jeffs could be a "motherlode" of information about the secretive labyrinth of business interests involving the Fundamentalist LDS Church, its leaders and the $110 million United Effort Plan Trust. The man appointed by the courts to oversee the UEP Trust wants to see just what the FBI seized when agents arrested Jeffs during a traffic stop outside Las Vegas last month. "An unnamed source told us that the information contained at the arrest with Warren Jeffs is the 'motherlode,"' court-appointed special fiduciary Bruce Wisan told the Deseret Morning News on Tuesday. Wisan's lawyers filed a series of motions late Monday in Salt Lake City's 3rd District Court and in federal court in Las Vegas, asking for court orders to see the papers and laptop computers. "The Fiduciary believes that this information is likely to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence that may assist the Fiduciary in his efforts to investigate, preserve, trace inventory and recover Trust property," lawyer Michael Stanger wrote in a motion filed in 3rd District Court and obtained by the Deseret Morning News. A judge authorized a subpoena to be served on the FBI in Nevada, requiring them to produce the documents. The FBI's office in Las Vegas did not return calls Tuesday seeking comment. Lawyers for Wisan managed to get a look at papers seized when FBI agents arrested Warren Jeffs' younger brother, Seth, during a traffic stop in Colorado last year. Seth Jeffs pleaded guilty in Denver's federal court earlier this year to a single charge of harboring a fugitive. He admitted to carrying cash, cell phones, credit cards and church papers to help keep his brother on the run. "Seth Jeffs was just a snapshot. There was information on donations, there was some information about some businesses," Wisan told the Deseret Morning News. "This ... could be valuable." 'Sacred' communication One of Jeffs' lawyers has filed an emergency motion in Las Vegas' federal court, demanding the FBI return the papers because they are protected by his right to freedom of religion. "These records include confidential religious writings and teachings of the FLDS, as well as privileged communications with FLDS members," Richard Wright wrote, adding that papers, computers and recording devices seized are protected under clergy-communicant privilege. A hearing scheduled last week in federal court on the emergency motion was abruptly cancelled, but authorities refuse to say why. "No comment," said Melodie Rydalch, the spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney Office in Utah. Wright has not returned calls seeking comment. In a new twist, Wisan's lawyers want to block return of the papers to Jeffs, claiming the FLDS leader has already been ordered by Utah's courts to give up any papers dealing with the UEP Trust. "We certainly don't want the documents going back to Warren or his attorney before we have a chance to see it," lawyer Jeffrey L. Shields said Tuesday. In 2005, a Utah judge took control of the UEP Trust, which controls homes, businesses and property within the polygamous enclaves of Hildale, Utah; Colorado City, Ariz.; and Bountiful, British Columbia in Canada. The Utah Attorney General's Office alleged that Warren Jeffs and other top FLDS leaders had been fleecing the trust. The judge froze the assets and placed Wisan in charge. Since then, Wisan has been pushing to have property taxes paid and recover UEP assets that have either been siphoned or disappeared from the polygamous communities. Criminal cases continue Jeffs, 50, remains in the Purgatory Jail without bail on charges of rape as an accomplice, a first-degree felony. The FLDS leader is accused of forcing a teenage girl into a polygamous marriage and threatening her salvation when she objected to leaving. If convicted, he faces up to life in prison. "He just reads," Washington County Sheriff Kirk Smith said of Jeffs, who is being kept in isolation. "I know he's had some phone visits with people." Jeffs, who had been one of the FBI's Ten Most Wanted fugitives, recently retained high-profile criminal defense lawyers Wally Bugden and Tara Isaacson to represent him. Jeffs is scheduled to appear in St. George's 5th District Court for a brief hearing on Sept. 27. In Mohave County, Ariz., Jeffs is facing charges of sexual conduct with a minor and conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor. Prosecutors there have decided to wait for now to pursue charges. E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com
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