PROVO, Utah, May 18 — A man who has five wives and 29 children was found guilty of bigamy late Friday in the country’s first major polygamy case in nearly five decades.
TOM GREEN, 52, was convicted on four counts of bigamy and once count of criminal failure to pay child support. He faces up to 25 years in prison and $25,000 in fines.
A jury of five women and three men deliberated for about three hours before deciding on what has been considered a test case for polygamy. Both sides have said the case could open the door to future prosecutions.
Although Utah banned plural marriage in its Constitution in order to become a state, it has no specific anti-polyamy law on the books.
Prosecutors combined the state’s bigamy law and its definition of common-law marriage in prosecuting Green, who lives with his five wives and 25 of his children on a barren patch of the Utah desert.
As spectators in the courtroom strained to hear the jury’s verdict, some of Green’s family members could be heard crying.
“There was a lot of sensational evidence and a lot of pressure on the jury,” said John Bucher, Green’s attorney
Green faces 25 years in prison and $25,000 in fines. His lawyer vowed to appeal.
The ruling will likely have the effect of driving other polygamists - estimated at 30,000 throughout the West - further underground, Bucher said.
Want to learn more?
http://www.msnbc.com/news/572816.asp
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"I can't believe this. I got a midterm tomorrow, and I'm being chased by Guido the killer pimp."
TOM GREEN, 52, was convicted on four counts of bigamy and once count of criminal failure to pay child support. He faces up to 25 years in prison and $25,000 in fines.
A jury of five women and three men deliberated for about three hours before deciding on what has been considered a test case for polygamy. Both sides have said the case could open the door to future prosecutions.
Although Utah banned plural marriage in its Constitution in order to become a state, it has no specific anti-polyamy law on the books.
Prosecutors combined the state’s bigamy law and its definition of common-law marriage in prosecuting Green, who lives with his five wives and 25 of his children on a barren patch of the Utah desert.
As spectators in the courtroom strained to hear the jury’s verdict, some of Green’s family members could be heard crying.
“There was a lot of sensational evidence and a lot of pressure on the jury,” said John Bucher, Green’s attorney
Green faces 25 years in prison and $25,000 in fines. His lawyer vowed to appeal.
The ruling will likely have the effect of driving other polygamists - estimated at 30,000 throughout the West - further underground, Bucher said.
Want to learn more?
http://www.msnbc.com/news/572816.asp
------------------
"I can't believe this. I got a midterm tomorrow, and I'm being chased by Guido the killer pimp."