This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The marshals in Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., are under scrutiny again after they arrested two men at an old zoo.
It remains to be seen if the misdemeanor trespassing charges against the pair will stick. But it has long been alleged the marshals do the bidding of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, though lawyers for the marshals and the towns have said the marshals are entitled to their faith and there's no pattern of discrimination against non-believers.
The marshals will be a point of contention on Jan. 19 when the towns, collectively known as Short Creek, are defendants in a civil trial in which the U.S. Department of Justice alleges civil rights abuses. Lawyers are arguing over what evidence will be admitted at that trial.
Lawyers for Short Creek want the judge to ban, or at least limit, discussion of polygamy, saying the topic is irrelevant and would prejudice the jury. One of the lawyers' arguments is that not everyone in Short Creek is a polygamist.
And in a new filing, the defense lawyers tell the judge: "...current officers will testify that they do not practice polygamy because it would violate their oaths of office and could lead to decertification proceedings from" police regulators in Utah and Arizona.
Short Creek lawyers also want to prohibit the Justice Department from providing the jury with dictations, sermons and correspondence from imprisoned FLDS President Warren Jeffs. The lawyers argue, like they do on the topic of polygamy, those Jeffs documents are irrelevant and will prejudice the jury.
"His dictations, sermons, and correspondence provide an interesting – yet irrelevant – view into his thoughts and daily activities," the lawyers write in a new filing. "Almost all of it is nonsensical and rambling."
It will be up to the judge on whether polygamy and Jeffs are relevant.
Twitter: @natecarlisle