Posted on 04/22/2008 3:40:19 PM PDT by BGHater
Legal experts disagree over impact on future prosecutions
With evidence suggesting the anonymous calls that triggered a massive raid on a West Texas polygamist compound could have been a hoax, legal experts disagree on the effect a fabricated story could have on future criminal prosecutions.
Some lawyers believe any criminal charges of child sexual abuse would face tough legal scrutiny if the calls turn out to be phony, but some law school professors believe the state should prevail.
Calls to a San Angelo crisis center from someone who said she was 16 and had been beaten and raped by her much older husband resulted in Child Protective Services removing more than 400 children from the ranch outside of Eldorado. Authorities have found no trace of the girl.
Texas Rangers have since identified Rozita Swinton, 33, of Colorado Springs as "a person of interest" in the West Texas case after hearing recorded calls she made to a former member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
In those calls, Swinton pretended to be the 16-year-old twin sister of "Sarah," the girl whose distress calls resulted in the raid of the Eldorado compound. In her calls, Swinton pretended to be in the same predicament as Sarah, the subject of unwanted sex with a much older husband.
She made the calls to Flora Jessop, a former FLDS member who now runs Child Protection Project, which helps girls and women escape from the sect. Jessop said the Rangers told her that Swinton had volumes of material related to the sect inside her apartment.
Texas Department of Public Safety officials will only say that they had interviewed Swinton and were evaluating evidence taken from her apartment.
They would not say if they now think the Texas calls were a hoax.
If the calls turn out to be fake, some criminal defense lawyers said they doubt any criminal charges that may be filed in the case would stand up in court.
An anonymous call is not sufficient to grant a search and seizure, Houston lawyer Charles Portz said. "That's not probable cause. What other proof do they have?" he said.
"Are they DNA testing for sexual contact or to see who the parents are?" Portz asked.
Jim Harrington, head of the Texas Civil Rights Project, said it will matter if the original call was legitimate or a hoax.
"The officials have a duty to investigate and make sure that there's a reasonableness and the credibility to that call," he said. "The general rule is that you cannot have a warrant based solely on an anonymous call. There has to be other factors that come into play that demonstrate the reliability of the anonymous call. Otherwise you could imagine the havoc from people filing these false (reports) all the time."
State officials are confusing family law standards governing the interests of children with criminal conduct involving abuse with children, Harrington said. The state is misguided to separate children from mothers instead of removing older men suspected of sexually abusing children, he said.
But some law school professors disagree.
An anonymous call that turns out to be a hoax "is completely after the fact and has no legal relevance," said Sandra Carnahan, who teaches criminal procedure at Houston's South Texas College of Law. "The issue will be whether the (search) warrant is valid on its face."
The judge may have had enough reason to sign a warrant if the anonymous caller, whether legitimate or not, provided ample detail about conditions inside the compound, Carnahan said.
Jack Sampson, a professor in the University of Texas Law School's Children's Rights Clinic, said CPS workers were obligated to investigate the allegations as a civil matter. Whether it turns into a criminal issue is to be decided.
"We don't know who the father is. But we do know that if the father is more than two years older (than the underage mother), that there's been a crime," Sampson said.
CPS spokesman Darrell Azar said it doesn't matter if the original call turns out to be a hoax.
"What matters is what we found there. We found a number of children as young as 13 who were being married and were giving birth to children and who were sexually abused and the judge agreed," Azar said.
"So it doesn't really matter what happens with that situation. Once we get a report, we're obligated — legally and morally — to investigate," he said.
Also Monday, authorities in San Angelo began fingerprinting, photographing and taking DNA samples from the children seized from the Yearning for Zion Ranch.
DNA tests, conducted with cheek swabs, will begin on the parents today.
On Friday, a state judge ordered the children and their parents to undergo the tests so authorities could determine family connections.
Test results should be completed in a little more than a month, said Greg Cunningham, a spokesman for the state's Department of Family and Protective Services.
In a sign of continuing chaos surrounding the case, DFPS on Monday revised the number of children in protective custody from 416 to 437.
"We didn't get a good count. They were moving around, some of them were in different rooms when we were counting," explained Shari Pulliam of DFPS. And some teens said they were adults when they were really minors.
With some playing soccer and kickball on Monday, the children were adjusting to life at their makeshift shelters as well as could be expected, said Cunningham.
But they face another major challenge: In a few days, when all the DNA testing is done, they will be put into foster care. The ones who are 4 and younger have had their mothers with them since they were taken from the ranch. Their mothers will have to remain behind.
gscharrer@express-news.net lsandberg@express-news.net
I have concern for the girl, if she’s real (and I’m inclined to believe she is) and if they DO NOT have her, what happened to her? She is in my prayers.
susie
It’s so hard to imagine living in a group where someone (and I don’t mean the govt) could just decide that your husband did something they didn’t like and you and your kids could be *reassigned* to another husband. Or your kids could just willy nilly be sent to some other commune.
I don’t like the idea of kids being removed from their families period, but it appears that this was being done before the state of TX ever got involved.
It will be interesting to see what all comes out.
Perhaps I’m completely wrong and there was no wrongdoing and these kids will all be sent right back to their families. And I will thank God for that. I just don’t believe that will be the case, however, if it is, I’ll be glad I was wrong.
susie
It’s amazing to me that he’s having contact with them even from jail. Never having been in jail, I’m not sure how that works.
susie
If you're pinging peoples, could you add me? Much grace.
I know from the one boy I brought up that I was more then willing to get on the stand. The parents knew I would do it & so I got William with no strings. I also was lucky enough not to need DYFS giving me any money to support him.
I agree that the state should go after people who make false complaints. Do they not?
susie
If they don’t know who called how can they?
You have a point. I wonder how many of their cases are anonymous calls?
susie
Look at how the women dress - they're into kinky S&M (religious style) stuff - heave on the "M". Long ugly dresses, fake modesty, hair in "uptight" buns.
Yeah, they'll "submit" - and submit and submit. Kinky, creepy adults, but still adults.
But having their innocent young daughters in the sick game? No way. Take the children away from them. Lock 'em up - throw away the key or ship them off to San Francisco...
The search warrant states specifically what can be searched. The judge signs it or not. If signed, whatever is listed on the warrant can be searched.
From what my neighbor tells me most fake callers do not leave a name. However if its done repeatedly they will note it & if you are breaking no laws they overlook the calls if they are always the same. Some people will go to court to get an order to stop DYFS from bothering them all the time. Many people just let them in as they aren’t abusing the children. At this point I really don’t think I would let DYFS in my house without calling my lawyer. I don’t know what they could find but I am taking no chances anymore.
Two of the men from the compound were visiting Jeffs in prison when the raid took place.
I agree with you.
That's true. In the case down the street from us, it even involved incest and the kids were still angry about being taken away from their home. It was their home and their mother, wrong as it was.
That being said, I would have greater respect for the Texas authorities if they would apply their strong arm tactics more consistently. Yet I doubt they would send the lawmen and social workers into the low income neighborhoods of Houston, Dallas, and the other cities of Texas and apply the same standard to the teenaged unwed mothers and the adult men who sired their children. However, "picking on" blacks and Hispanics in the underclass is taboo, but members of an unpopular and isolated cult are apparently fair game.
THAT is worth a bump, ping, repeat, and a silent prayer.
Between FR and Fox someone should just pass out blindfolds and cigarettes.
(Wait a sec...Mormons don't smoke)
Police in Colorado Springs have arrested a woman for investigation of making a false report to authorities that may be connected to the Fundamentalist LDS Church’s raid on the YFZ Ranch in Texas.
The woman allegedly has a history of making calls while pretending to be a young girl.
Rozita Swinton, 33, was arrested on a warrant charging her with false reporting to authorities, a misdemeanor, the Colorado Springs Police Department confirmed in a brief statement issued late Thursday. Swinton was arrested at her home on Wednesday in connection with an incident that occurred in Colorado Springs in February, police said.
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695271689,00.html
Google: Rozita Swinton & Obama
After the El Paso County Democratic caucuses and convention, she was named one of the 360 delegates to the state convention at the World Arena on May 17, chosen to support Barack Obama.
http://www.gazette.com/articles/swinton_35513___article.html/father_abused.html
Is it the same person?
That is a week old, and there has been no connection proven to the Texas case.
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