In a sweeping indictment of the raid on a secretive polygamist compound in Texas, Aspen attorney Gerry Goldstein is accusing law enforcement there of reckless disregard and unlawful taking of DNA, and he is demanding a review of their actions.
At the crux of the 39-page motion Goldstein filed Thursday in the Texas 51st Judicial District Court on behalf of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is a revelation that the man authorities were looking for, Dale Evans Barlow, was in Arizona at the time of the April 3 raid. Texas Rangers searched the polygamist sect’s Yearning For Zion Ranch near Eldorado, Texas, for a week after receiving reports from a woman claiming to be a 16-year-old named Sarah Jessop, who alleged that Barlow was sexually abusing her. However, police now suspect the reports were a prank engineered by a woman in Colorado Springs with a history of false reporting.
“Those officers could have and should have exercised greater diligence in verifying and determining the true whereabouts of a known convicted felon serving a probated sentence in another state. At the very least, alleging that Dale Barlow was located on the YFZ Ranch — without checking with the Arizona Probation Office these officers knew to be supervising him — constituted a reckless disregard for either standard law enforcement protocol or common sense,” reads Goldstein’s request for a hearing to investigate the issuance of the search-and-arrest warrants.
“Moreover, prior to executing the initial warrant, (Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran) was advised that Dale Barlow was in Arizona and not on the premises sought to be searched. In fact, prior to entering the premises Sheriff Doran actually spoke to Dale Barlow in Arizona by cell phone, confirming his driver license number and the fact that he was in Arizona.”
Barlow advised the sheriff that he did not know Sarah Jessop, that he had not been to Texas in more than 20 years, and that he had never been to Yearning For Zion Ranch, according to the filing. Thus, Goldstein argues, law enforcement had been advised and had verified that the only person suspected of posing an immediate risk to children was not located at the polygamist compound.
Excerpt--the rest at source: Aspen Daily News Online
It should not be a surprise the caller made mistakes.
It seems most people have a surname from a short list. Many are Jessop, Barlow, Jeffs, etc.
Plus they lie about their names, ages, and relationships.
In view of that, an informant could easily make detail mistakes, yet get the overall list of problems quite correct.