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Charges dismissed against man nearly seven years after Indian burial mound
desecration
Posted by MJLABurt to NDN AIM
By Associated Press, 11/20/2002 11:45
http://www.boston.com/dailynews/324/nation/Charges_dismissed_against_man_P.shtml
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) Almost seven years after a couple was charged with
robbing a prehistoric Indian burial mound, the wife was put on probation and
the case against her husband was dropped.
Jeanne and James Redd were charged after a tip from hikers led a sheriff's
deputy to where the couple and several children were digging near prehistoric
Indian ruins in southeastern Utah in January 1996.
According to later testimony, the spot was recognized as a mound where the
ancient Southwestern Indians traditionally buried their dead along with
prized artifacts, such as pottery.
Three times, confusion over state laws led district judges to dismiss charges
that were reinstated by higher state courts.
On Monday, Jeanne Redd, 44, pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of
attempted corpse abuse. She received no fine or jail time. The felony charge
of corpse abuse against James Redd, 52, was dropped.
Prosecutor Joanne Slotnik said she was pleased with Monday's outcome. ''We
wanted a criminal conviction, and we got a criminal conviction,'' Slotnik
said.
Slotnik said the case against James Redd, a physician, was dismissed because
his wife was believed to be ''the one most interested in these sorts of
relics.''
The Redds face a $250,000 lawsuit alleging they destroyed a prehistoric grave
site listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Jeanne Redd has
contended that the spot is private land.
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