This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
One of 11 people accused of defrauding the federal food stamp program to benefit a polygamous church is asking that his trial be postponed to next year.
Hyrum Bygnal Dutson's attorney filed a motion Wednesday seeking to delay the trial until at least May 1. The trial for Dutson and his 10 co-defendants is scheduled to begin Oct. 3 in federal court in Salt Lake City.
Any co-defendants wishing to join in Dutson's motion were instructed to file a motion to join by Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Ted Stewart said in a Thursday order. On the other hand, if any defendant, or the government, wishes to oppose the motion to continue, they must do so by Wednesday, Stewart said.
The defendants, all followers of the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, are each charged with two counts of conspiracy. Prosecutors claim they used food stamp benefits to buy merchandise that was given to the FLDS storehouse in Hildale, Utah, or Colorado City, Ariz. In other cases, the benefits were used at an FLDS-run store and converted into cash that was used to buy a truck and other items.
Dutson's attorney, Tyler Todd, is asking for the trial delay due to what he and federal prosecutors have described as an enormous amount of evidence to review. According to Todd's motion, which cites what prosecutors have said in public, the FBI has given defense attorneys 46 terabytes of video, which equates to about 66,000 compact discs; a Blu-ray disc of investigative reports; 24 hard drives at 2 terabytes each; and nearly 50,000 pages of documents.
And there may be more evidence the FBI has not provided, Todd's motion says. Even if it arrives soon, Todd says in his filing that he may not be able to prepare an adequate defense by Oct. 3.
Stewart has scheduled a hearing for Sept. 6 to consider arguments about evidence in the case and whether the indictments should be dismissed. The defendants have claimed they had a First Amendment right to donate their food stamp benefits to the church. Prosecutors have countered that the defendants had no constitutional right to participate in the program and concocted a scheme to make money rather than practice religion.
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