Celebrity News
‘Sister Wives’ stars may face federal charges
TLC
[HMG Celebrity News] – Just two weeks into the run of their TLC show, ‘Sister Wives’ its stars, Kody Brown and his four wives are facing dipping ratings and a federal investigation into whether their multiple marriage could put Kody in jail.
Bigamy is a felony in Utah, where Kody lives with his four wives Mari, Janelle, Christine and Robyn. The Utah County Attorney, Jeff Buhman just received the results of an investigation and must now decide if Kody should face prosecution.
But the Browns have a strong card to play — they just hired legal expert Jonathan Turley. A professor of law at George Washington University, Turley has extensive knowledge of the relevant laws and is a regular face on MSNBC’s political shows.
Despite being a felony Utah courts rarely pursue such cases unless what’s called ‘Collateral crimes’ like child abuse or welfare fraud have also occurred — which is not the case here. And that gives Mr. Turley good vibes;
“I remain hopeful that prosecutors will use their discretion and not pursue criminal charges,” Turley said. “This is a TV program; There is no evidence of child abuse or any other crime, and there is no cause to move it from TV Guide to the criminal docket.”
But Utah’s legal bosses are in a no-win position — If they don’t prosecute it could be seen as an endorsement of polygamy, which their own laws call a felony. But if they do prosecute Mr. Brown for multiple marriage [in a state where dozens of such marriages exist] they could be accused of ‘selective prosecution’ — which is illegal.
If Kody gets convicted he faces 3-5 years in federal jail. Mr. Turley says he plans to get prosecutors to just drop the case, but if his clients are prosecuted, he’s ready to fight it. And hard.
TMZ says it could take months for the Utah DA’s office to make a decision. Meantime, TLC gets superb, free PR.
What’s your view on this — Would you put the Browns in a court?
Yeah, put em all in jail. It is a written law that they should abide by. Personally, their show makes me sick. I feel sorry for the women.
I have watched the first episode of the show, and it just makes me sick. I dont believe in polygamy nor do I believe that it should be aired for the world to see. I think that by the decision they have made to air the show, they are all asking for an investigation and to be prosecuted.
I feel that the reason the state of Utah doesnt press charges on ALL of the polygamists is because most of the attorneys and judges are polygamists themselves. This is just sick. Do these women not have any love for themselves?
Yes throw his butt in jail. If you do the crime then you should do the time. It was stupid of them to “come out” on a television show. I feel so bad for the children, their being brainwashed into thinking men are suppose to have more than one wife, it just makes me sick.
I don’t know that I feel sorry for the women, at one point you would think common sense would kick in. I would think they would look around and see how he gets to sleep with multiple partners and they just have him, and aren’t allowed to seek companionship outside of the plural marriage.
Maybe in some ways they too are brainwashed, even though they choose this lifestyle. What I don’t get is why the second wife who was LDS converted to FLDS.
Melissa G.
I believe he’s only legally married to one of the women. If that’s the case, then the government doesn’t have any legal standing to prosecute. As far as “cohabitation” goes, the government doesn’t have the constitutional authority to dictate who can live in your house. Also, as long as all active participants are of age and consenting, the government has no legal standing to prosecute sexual conduct. We have a right to live our lives as we see fit. At least those kids aren’t having to grow up in a single-parent home. Living in a broken home, in my opinion, is far more detrimental to a child.
While the hipocracy of the pologamy thing is certainely not for me, it is a choice they have made. How is that any worse than all the married cheating and having “love babies”. Atleast he is taking ownership of and care of all of his children. I am disgusted that the courts will waste their time on this while there are so many real crooks who hurt people that never see a court room.
I TOTALLY AGREE WITH YOU!!!
What is the difference between what they are doing and what anybody else is doing as far as living with anyone you choose. My “husband” and i have being living together for over 10 years, and he never got a divorce from his prior wife,no body bothers us, in fact, the Carter name is his name and i use it forevery thing except legal paperwork.
OMG, really? These laws were designed specifically to weed out child abuse and or people marrying multiple people withOUT them knowing about each other. If you watch the show, you can see that these people SPECIFICALLY enjoy the closeness of having multple people to fill the roll. How many mothers WISH they could take a day away from being “mom” to go pursue their own desires for a day??!?! I’m amazed at the INTOLERANCE of people in this country now. We allow MANY religions, and ways of life and GAY life and people that are into everything from wearing bunny suits(Fuzzies?) and those into cutting each other to enjoy sex. Yet these people DO have a successful home, with many children, with alot of laughing and playing. They ARE healthy. When and where do we the people REFUSE to allow the government to dictate to us as to what is right and what is wrong??? When no one is hurt, and no property is stolen and NO VICTIM comes forward, there is NO CRIME. So get the government OUT of the home, and OUR lives! I am NOT a bigamist nor do I believe in it! BUT I do know that once the government is ALLOWED into our homes to “investigate” we the citizens, it will be IMPOSSIBLE to get them OUT! We need to draw the line, and OUR homes and families should be OFF LIMITS!
H.