The $110 million lawsuit filed by a former underage "wife" in the polygamous Kingston clan is moving along now that a judge has permitted a number of people named in the suit to be served with court papers by "alternative means," according to one lawyer.
Mary Ann Kingston filed a civil lawsuit in 2003 against the Kingston family, including many individuals and business entities she claims are owned by the family. The lawsuit names 242 people, as well as 96 businesses that Mary Ann Kingston alleges are owned by the Latter-day Church of Christ, which is often referred to as the Order.
The organization has no connection with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Mary Ann Kingston alleges that she was sexually and physically abused, and her lawyers contend the individuals named in the lawsuit either directly contributed to the court-documented abuse or knew what was happening and did not help her.
Third District Judge William Barrett in April ordered attorneys for both sides to move the case along and to display more civility toward one another.
William Mark, one of Mary Ann Kingston's lawyers, said the case was more challenging than most. He said a constable, Silvan Warnick, and his deputies were running into problems serving court documents on uncooperative members of the Kingston group.
Warnick said in a sworn affidavit filed in 3rd District Court that in 23 years of such work, he has never had this much trouble serving people with court documents.
"I personally have spent at least 25-30 hours attempting to serve process in the Kingston cases," Warnick's affidavit said, referring to Mary Ann Kingston's case and another related action. "I estimate my office has spent more than 350-400 hours on serving process and attempting to serve process."
Some individuals have been served in person.
But Warnick and deputies in affidavits describe people doing such things as refusing to state their names, lying about their identities, hiding in homes or businesses, claiming not to know someone or phone numbers, and one man even speeding away in his car, which for a time was in reverse.
Warnick also states his belief that the organization canceled a religious meeting and a social gathering to avoid receiving court papers.
But Mark said the process serving now is complete and those who received or had a chance to learn of the court documents will have a chance to respond.
"We filed a motion with the court to serve defendants by alternative means," which included such things as running ads in the Deseret Morning News and Salt Lake Tribune, and posting notice at key places, Mark said.
"The court allowed service by publication. It also required us to mail certified copies of the summons and complaint to the defendants for whom we had addresses. The court also allowed physical posting of a notice concerning the lawsuit at the East Side Market (1234 S. 1100 East) and the Order's church. The church's address is listed as an office at 1899 West Parkway Blvd."
Carl Kingston, one of the attorneys for certain individuals named in the case, was unavailable for comment Wednesday. William Mark said the next phase will be a time period for defendants to answer allegations in the complaint and submit any motions to have it dismissed.
No hearing date has been set yet.
"We anticipate the court will want to hear any of those motions to dismiss in one hearing," he said. "After we get through motions to dismiss, we'll enter the discovery phase, and we'll be conducting discovery for approximately a year."
Meanwhile, some individuals named in the lawsuit have filed civil actions of their own. They claim certain comments made by Mary Ann Kingston and her lawyers to the media defamed them and invaded their privacy.
Mary Ann Kingston, the daughter of Daniel Kingston and his second wife, Susan Nelson, alleges in her lawsuit that she was "groomed from childhood to become a very young and illegal polygamist wife."
She said she was rushed into an unwanted illegal marriage at age 16 to her uncle, David Kingston, who was 33 at the time and had 14 other wives, according to her suit.
After Mary Ann Kingston fled the relationship, her father took her to a clan-owned ranch and whipped her with a belt 28 times until she was unconscious, the suit said.
She escaped and called 911. Her father pleaded guilty to a reduced charge and was sentenced to jail. Her uncle was convicted of incest and unlawful sexual conduct and was sentenced to prison.
E-mail: lindat@desnews.com