![]() ![]() His co-accused, James Oler, was found guilty of having five wives.īlackmore is asking for a stay of the proceedings and an exemption from prosecution based on his religious beliefs. Related: Winston Blackmore’s appeal of polygamy charge underwayīlackmore, a leader in the small community, was found guilty earlier this year of one count of polygamy after the court heard he had married 24 women, including three who were 15 years old at the time. ![]() The statement followed an RCMP investigation in Bountiful, B.C., where the court has heard residents follow the tenants of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a sect that condones plural or “celestial” marriage. Blackmore, can rely on,” Suffredine said. “His statement, that this is the law and this is what we will enforce and this is what we won’t enforce … is a clear statement that everyone in British Columbia, including Mr. Supreme Court in Cranbrook on Wednesday, arguing that a provincial attorney general in the early 1990s issued a statement that said charging an individual with polygamy would breach their charter rights. Winston Blackmore’s attorney, Blaire Suffredine, was in B.C. ![]() The investigation and attempted prosecution of Blackmore and Oler dragged on for years due to uncertainty about Canada’s polygamy laws.Īfter a constitutional reference question was sent to the British Columbia Supreme Court, the court ruled in 2011 that laws banning polygamy were valid and did not violate religious freedoms guaranteed in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.The lawyer for a British Columbia man found guilty of marrying two dozen women says his client believed he could not be prosecuted for polygamy. Blackmore confirmed that all of his marriages were celestial marriages in accordance with FLDS rules and practices.” “He spoke openly about his practice of polygamy,” Donegan said. Blackmore even made two corrections to a detailed list of his alleged wives, she said. Donegan disagreed with assertions by Blackmore and his lawyer that the records should be given little or no weight, saying she found them reliable.ĭonegan said Winston Blackmore’s adherence to the practices and beliefs of the religious group were never in dispute, nothing that he did not deny his marriages to police in 2009. Much of the evidence in the trial came from marriage and personal records seized by law enforcement at a church compound in Texas in 2008. “There was nothing contrived or rehearsed in her answers. “She was a careful witness,” Donegan said. Justice Sheri Ann Donegan praised Jane Blackmore as a highly credible and reliable witness. The mainstream Mormon church renounced polygamy in the late 19th century and disputes any connection to the fundamentalist group’s form of Mormonism.Īt the 12-day trial earlier this year, witnesses included mainstream Mormon experts, law enforcement officials who worked on the investigation and Jane Blackmore, a former wife of Winston Blackmore who left the Canadian community in 2003. The two will be sentenced at future hearings.Īuthorities have said Jeffs still leads the sect from a Texas prison, where he is serving a life sentence for sexually assaulting underage girls he considered brides. Under Canadian law, the maximum penalty they will each face is five year in prison. This is what we expected.”īlackmore and Oler were prosecuted as part of an investigation first launched in the early 1990s by the provincial government. “Twenty-seven years and tens of millions of dollars later, all we’ve proved is something we’ve never denied. “I’m guilty of living my religion and that’s all I’m saying today because I’ve never denied that,” Blackmore told reporters after the verdict. His lawyer Blair Suffredine has already said Blackmore would challenge the constitutionality of Canada’s polygamy laws if his client was found guilty. Winston Blackmore, 60, and James Oler, 53, were found guilty by British Columbia Supreme Court Justice Sheri Ann Donegan, who said the evidence was clear that Blackmore was married to 25 women at the same time and that Oler was married to five women in the tiny community of Bountiful.īlackmore, 60, never denied having the wives as part of his religious beliefs that call for “celestial” marriages. Digital Replica Edition Home Page Close MenuĬRANBROOK, British Columbia - Two former leaders of an isolated polygamous community in Canada were convicted Monday of practicing polygamy after a decades-long legal fight, setting up another potential court battle over the constitutionality of Canada’s polygamy laws. ![]()
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