Prosecution Rests in Polygamy Case

Prosecutors rested their bigamy case against an avowed polygamist Wednesday after focusing on such matters as toothbrushes and welfare.

Prosecutors presented a photograph of the Green family bathroom--complete with 19 toothbrushes in their holders--in an attempt to show that he, his five wives and 25 children all live together in polygamy.

Green, 52, is charged with one count of criminal nonpayment of child support and four counts of bigamy in what is thought to be Utah’s first polygamy case in nearly 50 years. If convicted, he faces up to 25 years in prison and $25,000 in fines.

To make its bigamy case, the state had to show that Green--who prosecutors have declared is legally married to his first wife, Linda Kunz, 28, under Utah’s version of common law--cohabited with other women as man and wife.

Green says that, although he is practicing polygamy according to his religion, he is not a bigamist because he is not married in the state’s eyes.

Juab County Atty. David Leavitt gave Green’s second wife, Shirley, a laser pointer and projected an aerial photograph of the family compound in Utah’s barren West Desert.

He asked her to point out the family’s two shared bathrooms, including the one with all the toothbrushes, and then Green’s own trailer several yards away. Other questions focused on how often Green eats with his family or spends time away on business.

Leavitt also tried to show that Green, who sells magazines for a living, cannot afford to support his family. The state says Green is liable for more than $54,000 in back child support for a five-year period.

Green, who claims he tried to pay the child support but was prevented by bureaucratic red tape, says his children get better care and support than those born to unwed mothers.

But Leavitt said the family required more than $46,000 in welfare, food stamps and other public assistance to get through a single year, plus thousands more for a baby born with a brain disorder.

When wife Shirley Beagley, 31, entered the courtroom, she held her 4-year-old daughter Melanie, who suffers from a debilitating disease called lissencephaly, also called “smooth brain.”

“Those disorders required a lot of medical treatment, a lot of hospital stays, a lot of medical care . . . they cost a lot of money,” Leavitt said. “Shirley, without that government help, your child would die.”