Two members of Bountiful will be in Cranbrook Supreme Court to face polygamy charges on Tuesday as their trial gets underway in front of Justice Sheri Ann Donegan.
Winston Blackmore and James Oler were charged with polygamy in August 2014 after a special prosecutor reviewed evidence and approved the charges.
On the indictment, Blackmore’s polygamy charge lists 24 women that he allegedly married, while Oler’s indictment lists four women that he allegedly married.
The indictment also notes that the alleged polygamy occurred between 1990 and 2014 for Blackmore, and 1993 to 2009 for Oler.
The two are followers of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the community of Bountiful, a small religious colony south of Creston.
Both held senior positions in the church leadership until a fractious split in 2004 when a new religious leader — Warren Jeffs — succeeded his father Rulon Jeffs as leader and prophet of the organization.
A power struggle between Blackmore and Jeffs ensued that split the Bountiful community; Blackmore, who was the FLDS bishop in the community before Rulon died, was excommunicated after Warren took over.
Oler was installed as the Bountiful bishop but was also eventually excommunicated around 2011.
Last week, Blackmore applied to have the two trials separated into separate proceedings, however, that was denied by Justice Donegan on Thursday.
The polygamy trial is separate proceedings from what occurred last November, when Oler, along with Brandon James Blackmore and Emily Ruth Gail Blackmore faced removal of a child from Canada charges.
Those charges stemmed from the removal of underage girls from Bountiful who were taken across the U.S. border and married to men in polygamous communities in the States.
Brandon James Blackmore and Emily Ruth Gail Blackmore were found guilty and are awaiting sentencing while Oler was acquitted, however, the acquittal is being appealed by crown counsel.
Polygamy has never been tried in a Canadian court; Winston Blackmore has had previous charges quashed with allegations of prosecutor shopping in 2009.
However, the issue was part of a constitutional reference case to test the argument that any prosecution of polygamy is an infringement on the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
In his decision, Mr. Justice Robert Bauman ruled that there is harm in prosecuting minors between ages 12-17 who entered in polygamous marriages, however, polygamy as defined in Section 293 of the Criminal Code is not unconstitutional.
