Too bad these cops didn't do their job the right way to begin with.


False abuse claim investigated in Texas polygamist raid
CBS 42 Reporter: Keith Elkins


Last Update: 4/18 11:02 pm

The Colorado Springs Police Department has confirmed that they have arrested Rosita Swinton for false reporting to authorities, a misdemeanor charge.

Officials say the Texas Rangers are pursuing Rozita Swinton of Colorado as a �person of interest� regarding telephone calls related to the polygamist compound in Eldorado, Texas.

Colorado Springs police confirmed that on Wednesday they arrested Swinton, 33, at her home.

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The investigation of Swinton is being headed by the Rangers and was disclosed by the Texas Department of Public Safety Friday just after 6 p.m. The fact that Swinton has been arrested suggests that the phone call that initiated the raid may have been a false complaint.

Texas Child Protective Services says it launched a raid on the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints compound earlier in April after receiving an alleged anonymous tip from a 16-year-old girl named "Sarah" who said she was being abused by her 49-year-old husband.

"Two Texas Rangers traveled to Colorado Springs, Colorado, on April 16 and met with officers from the Colorado Springs Police Department to discuss a possible connection between Swinton and telephone calls made regarding activities at the polygamist Yearning For Zion (YFZ) Ranch of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) in Eldorado, Texas," the release issued late Friday said.

"Texas Rangers accompanied the Colorado Springs officers while they executed an evidentiary search warrant at Swinton�s residence for items related to previous false reports to authorities in Colorado. During the search, officers found several items that indicated a possible connection between Swinton and calls regarding the FLDS compounds in Colorado City, Arizona, and Eldorado, Texas."

http://www.keyetv.com/content/news/topnews/story.aspx?content_id=247fdf95-4688-41f5-8b97-66be59f555ff

For the benefit of any law enforcement officers who may frequent this web site, please understand the preceding post does not represent the opinion of TDCAA or prosecutors in general. The poster's identity is anonymous but, based on his previous postings, is likely not a prosecutor or even someone involved in law enforcement.

He probably sees no irony in the rather cowardly way he has stated an unsupported conclusion (i.e., that law enforcement somehow failed in their initial duty to investigate) and left his identity a secret to avoid being mocked and identified publicly as a silly finger-pointer who hates law enforcement for no better reason than it makes him feel better about himself.

For a more appropriate statement from the State about the significance of removing the children, read this link.

My suggestion is that you ignore the post and don't take the provocative bait set before you. Show your respect for law enforcement by allowing them the time and work needed to deal with a complex issue without the distraction of uneducated blogging.

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So many personalities at work in said person's posts.....

So I guess you are saying that it is okay for the police to NOT investigate and gather information PRIOR to getting a search warrant to go into people's homes and take their children??

That is not the way I handle my business -- especially when you know that this is going to be a VERY high profile case with countless lawyers involved and national media attention.

Law enforcement should NOT be used as a tool for people to settle their personal grudges and get back at one another.

It seems here that the police made no attempts to verifiy the legitimacy of this girl's claim before barging in with guns drawn into people's homes and lives.

I do not know anything about the FLDS "church" or their practices (other than what has been reported in the media, and we here all know how accurate they can be!). My beef is with what appears to be shoddy investigating and the taking away of children from their families all because of a cruel lie and a hoax perpetrated by someone hundreds of miles away.

You cannot prosecute a case based upon a foundation of lies. The public will not stand for it.

So, if you ever call 911 and report that someone is kicking your door in, and they're screaming that they are going to kill you, I think the police should first check into your background; making certain that you have never made false reports about such matters in the past. In fact, the responding agency should check with all nearby agencies, say within 1500 miles, to see if any of those departments have ever recieved such reports from you. This shouldn't take more than a few days. If no bogus reports are detected, then the department may respond to your home.

Arguing that this is in some way different will only affirm that your lack of insight is only surpassed in depth by your antagonistic arrogance.

There was no life or death situation happening. There were no exigent circumstances.

So what happens to a case when it turns out the search warrant was based on false information and law enforcement did not exercise due diligence?

RTC, you are right but you are fighting a losing battle with these guys. They are masters at taking what you say and pretending you said something else. Sure, they think it's ok to take a SWAT team and army tank and take 400+ children into custody on the basis of one fake phone call. They've been doing as bad or worse vis-a-vis the "war on drugs and the Constitution" for years. The arrogance of these guys is actually so incredible it's entertaining.
Don Foard
407 Poplar
Levelland, TX 79336

don3330@excite.com (Just so JB doesn't call me a coward)

If you don't like the radio station, turn the channel.

Like I said, it's entertaining.

Local Woman's Fake Call May Have Led to Polygamist Raid

Updated: April 20, 2008 07:52 AM CDT


By Tak Landrock
KRDO TV-13 Colorado

COLORADO SPRINGS - A call from a 16-year old girl, claiming sexual abuse at the Texas Polygamist Compound may have been a prank call from a Colorado Springs woman. 33-year old Rozita Swinton was arrested Wednesday Night by Colorado Springs Police.

According to sources close to the investigation, the F.B.I. began tracing calls from a person named "Sarah" to a Teenage Rescue Mission for girls trying to escape the sect. "Sarah" is the same person who made the call which lead to the raid. Authorities now believe Swinton was behind those fake calls, where 416 children were removed from the compound.

Texas Rangers were in town Wednesday night to interview Swinton, but they have not filed any charges.

"She does have some history with Colorado Springs Police of making prior false calls to police," says Lt. Skip Arms. Court Affidavits have been sealed in her recent arrest, but NEWSCHANNEL 13 has learned that it relates to a false call back in February from a girl named "Jennifer" claiming she was being held hostage in a basement off Candon Drive. Colorado Springs Police spent most of the day searching more than a dozen homes for a person in distress.

Neighbor Travis Ledger tells NEWSCHANNEL 13 that Swinton was quiet, but sometimes would bring up police. "If the cops came by here she'd ask why or this and that." He thinks she may have been calling police for attention. "Maybe she's looking for another reason to call police and stir up more stuff."

Texas Rangers are expected to release more information Friday.

http://www.krdo.com/Global/story.asp?S=8184795

RTC-- Let's just wait to see how DNA testing just might show how these families include grown men having children with teenage girls who are children themselves. Why should it annoy you that law enforcement should actually enforce the laws of our Great State?

Here is why:

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they think it's ok to take a SWAT team and army tank and take 400+ children into custody on the basis of one fake phone call.

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RTC...you have issues.

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There were no exigent circumstances.

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Ongoing, repeated sexual abuse of young victims being unprotected by any adult sounds like exigent circumstances to me.

Stirring the proverbial ant bed can lead to an enjoyable conversation in a friendly social setting where people are chatting face to face. This approach is also used by radio talk-show hosts as a method to open an interesting dialog that encourages listeners to call in and express their opinions. A critical inter-personal element is missing when these tactics are used anonymously in a pure text environment. Rather than seeming interesting to others you may come across as a boor.

I agree with Bob Cole, which was the purpose of my post, but since he's stated what was obvious to me, I guess I'll rise to the bait and go off on RTC's tangent.

As a "line prosecutor" in a county off the Metroplex, I look to this website often for help with my issues, insight into up & coming issues, and simply to make sure I'm up on the current state of affairs. While I'm more of a lurker unless I'm actually in need, I really have no problem with defense minded posters, or those just playing devil's advocate, because I think they give me insight into that thought process.

That being said, I really don't get the idea of joining a prosecutor's association website just to bash law enforcement. We're an open forum b/c we have no reason to hide anything, and those of us who've been prosecuting more than 5 minutes realize that (1) there are bad apples everywhere; (2) sometimes prosecutors and cops make mistakes; and (3) sometimes prosecutors and cops cross the line. Maybe I'm a true believer, but I think that the intentional line crossers are few and far between and get dealt with or weeded out pretty quickly. The rest of us are just trying to do the right thing every day, which may sound corny, but is actually to do justice. Do the bashers really have nothing else to do than to try and create controversy? I guess I just don't get how this is productive for anyone.

To Shannon, etc, maybe to accommodate everyone who uses this forum, we can create a special subsection entitled "Bashing", "Bitching" or "Trash Talk" that can cover bashing prosecutors, cops, defendants, defense attorneys and judges. That way, we can go to that when we're wasting time listening to someone drone on the phone, but when we want to see something useful we can still view the regular forum.

Just a thought.

Does not the "Good Faith" exception cover this? I am not sure that there are exigent circumstances, but I think that there was Good Faith in the execution of the search warrant.

I always read with amusement "the facts" as reported in my own cases. Court is where I get to correct inaccuracies.

Criticism of perceived shortcomings in a pending case in another jurisdiction based only upon media reports seems presumptuous and somewhat disrespectful to those that have no need to justify themselves here or anywhere else on the internet.

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Originally posted by Kathleen:
That being said, I really don't get the idea of joining a prosecutor's association website just to bash law enforcement. .

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It's a cry for help.

The media (and their idiot cousins the blah-gers) can hardly seem to figure out which way to criticize the hard working folks on this one. Jumped too soon one says. Did nothing for years says another. As my favorite Republican President once said, "It is not the critic that counts". I often find irrelevance is accompanied by a commensurate volume and stridency.

God bless all the real heros working late into the night, unsung, unpraised, unappreciated, yet (unlike the hidden and cowardly critics) making the world a better place by toiling under the limelights and critism because children deserve to be protected.

To the hard working folks in West Texas, thanks.