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Show . . .v. .v.v, r ... Polygamy Issue Looms h Black mvoim Cam. The divorce trial involving Shirley and Dean Black ended Tuesday with Third District Court Judge Bryant Croft taking -the case under advisement. Shirley Black, who married John Singer in July 1978, six months before he was fatally shot by a law officer's shot gun blast, is the plaintiff in the case and asking for custody of the four younger Black "children whose ages range from 9 to 14. Fifty-two year old Kamas resident Dean Black, Shirley's husband of nearly thirty years, is also requesting custody of the children. The one and a half day trial, that included testimony, by Shirley and Dean Black laced with high emotion of charges and ocunter-charges, seemed to raise two key questions: Should Shirley Black be given custody of her children when .she-knowingly .she-knowingly entered into a poly-' gamous relationship with John Singer, an act which is against Utah law? And, if Dean Black did "persecute" his wife,, as. Mrs. Black testified on the stand, and if he does in fact have a drinking problem, another fact brought out in the trail, should he be given custody of the children? Following the proceedings, Judge Croft sid in Courth that he was "not impressed" with testimony that Dean Black was a heavy drinker. "I don't think he's a drinker in the sense we see in most divorce cases," Judge Croft said. Mrs. Balck also charged Dean Black with physically and mentally abusing her and even, at times, here children, yet Judge Croft commented on that charge, saying, "I'm not persuaded per-suaded she's here in court because of the i physical ; abuse heaped on her by Mr. Black." Shirley Black's attorneys, Robert Stanger and Robert Moody of Salt Lake, called four witnesses to the stand; on of Mrs. Black's three married daughters, a psychologist, psychiatrist, and Shirley Black. Joseph Henroid, representing Dean Black, called Mr. Black to the stand to testify, two character witnesses as well as another married daughter of the Black's. Mrs. Black said Monday morning, moments after taking the stand, that her husband "persecuted" her and the children for practicing religion in the home. "Several times we were trying to have prayer in the bedroom, and he (Dean Black) would come in and curse us," Shirley Black testified. Under direct examination from Mr. Stanger, Mrs. Black said her husband would not participate in any church related activities with the children. "He absolutely refused to go to any church activities with his Children," testified Mrs. Black. When Dean Black took the stand later in the afternoon, he refuted Mrs. Black's testimony, saying he never refused prayer in his home or discouraged his children from attending church activities. "I've never forbidden family prayer," Dean Black said during cross examination by - Robert Stanger. "You're going to church now to make a good appearance in court, aren't you?" Mr. Stanger said to Mr. Black. "No," Black responded. "I kind of enjoy going." Mrs. Black, then, charged her husband of hitting her repeatedly repeated-ly throughout their marriage, including one time when she went partially blind. Mr. Black admitted he slapped her on that occasion, but only because his wife was hysterical, and he wanted to bring her out of it. Dean Black seemed almost nonchalant throughout much of the trial, a sharp contrast to Shirley Black who, at times, was on the brink of tears and cried. "I complain of his vulgar foul mouth and dangerous temper," said Shirley Black. "He struck me many times in my marriage." mar-riage." Then, during cross examination examina-tion from Joseph Henriod, Mrs. Black said she had received a revelation from God twelve years ago, directing her to become the second wife of John Singer. In July of J978, John Singer performed the marriage ceremony himself on his Marion homestead, and Shirley Black moved to Marion in October to live with Mr. Singer and his first wife of fifteen years, Vickie Singer. The moment Mr. Henriod raised the polygamy issue, Shirley Black's attorney, Robert Stanger, objected on the grounds it was not material to the case. But Mr. Henriod maintained that Mrs. Black, as a result of entering into a polygamous poly-gamous relationship and leaving her husband in Kamas, was quilty of "immoral behavior" which would adversely affect her younger children. When pressed by Henriod to describe the marriage ceremony Mrs. Black refused saying, "I decline because it's a very sacred thing." When Mrs. Black left her Kamas home to be with John and Vickie Singer, she took the four younger children with her. The oldest son, 14-year old Brent, eventually left Marion to be with his father. Answering questions from Mr. Henriod, Mrs. Black said she took her children out of public school when she moved to Marion and enrolled them in "High Uinta Academy," a private school established by John Singer. Dean Black's lawyer then questioned the teaching practices practic-es that existed in Marion; what subjects were taught and for how long. Shortly before the lunch break, Shirley Black said she did not tell any member of her , family that she had had a revelation, at the time it occured. And Mrs. Black, still under cross examination, said she had drunk alcohol in the past, primarily on special occasions. Relatives of John Singer were sitting in the courtroom Monday following the proceedings, including in-cluding Vickie Singer, Edel- traub Lawrence, Mr. Singer's sister, and John Singer's brother-in-law, Rheinhold Lawrence. Law-rence. The issue of polygamy was1 again raised as the second session began on Monday. Mr. Henriod asked Shirly Black if she was aware of the LDS PIGS39 turn to pogp 6 1 , - - , s ; j- - .,-'4"' t -r 1 c v f f f . f v.? I ; V t - - s i- y I I II IHII i I"" I -.w ..rao: Shirley Black at Monday's trial. J more trial......... Oontimuod frompogos laws of the land, which path would Shirley Black take? "I'm not sure," answered Dr. Howell. A Provo psychiatrist, Dr. Dorothy Colodny, also testified on Mrs. Black's behalf and said that after examinations, she found Mrs. Black to be a good mother to her children. "Assuming she (Shirley Black) was teaching the principle princ-iple of polygamy in the home, was that a good parenting quality?" Dean Black's attorney . asked Dr. Colodny. Dr. Colodny answered, simply, "Mrs. Black was not irresponsible." And she added that Shirley Black did not .show signs of being a chronic lawbreaker. law-breaker. Testifying for the plaintiff, Mrs. Black, Linda Black Russell, Rus-sell, 27-year-old daughter of the Black's, said her father never participated in church activities with his children. "He never agreed to us praying," Mrs. Russell said. "We had to pray secretly." Mrs. Russell admitted she had never had a "close relationship" with her father. In contrast to Mrs. Russell's testimony, ' another Black daughter, 22-year-old Mitsy Stokes, said Dean Black was a loving father. "He was a very good father' she said. "I felt he always loved me... and accented me for what I Church's attitude towards polygamy. poly-gamy. He then questioned Mrs. Black about her sex life while living in Marion on the Singer homestead. "Did any of your children ever observe you sleeping with Mr. Singer?" asked Mr. Hen-riod. Hen-riod. , "No, they never observed that," Shirley Black answered. Then, Mr. Henriod asked Shirley Black questions pertaining pertain-ing to the way she raised her children after they moved to Marion. "Did you teach the children about care of their hair? What about their dress? Did you tell the girls not to wear levis?" asked Mr. Henrkd. And Mrs. Black responded, "Aman should dress as a man, and a woman should dress as a woman. I gave them their own free agency." : Shirley Black said one of the primary reasons she decided to move to Marion in October was to "get away" from her husband because she was afraid of him. . Dean Black's lawyer asked Mrs. Black if she intended to teach her children about poly-. poly-. gamy. "I will teach them what it 'says in the scriptures," answered answer-ed Shirley Black. "I will teach them about our ancestors. ' ' Mr. Henriod then asked Mrs. Black, "Haven't you, in your recent experience (marrying John Singer) taught them to break the law?" "I taught them to obey the laws of God," she replied firmly. Should custody of the children be giyen to Shirley Black, she said she intends to send them back to public school in Kamas and to integrate them into the LDS Church. Mr. Henriod countered this by saying in his final arguments before Judge Croft that Shirley Black would say anything to get custody of her children. "She will do or say whatever she has to to get her children," Mr. Henriod told the Judge. "She has no respect for the court." Dr. Robert Howell, a Provo Clinical Psychologist, testified he had examined Shirley Black ., for approximately five and a half hours in early March and found Mrs. Black to be a competent mother and mentally sound. Judge Croft asked Dr. Howell that should a conflict arise between the laws of God and the was." The attractive Mrs. Stokes, wearing sun glasses while on the stand, said her father never degraded the Mormon Church. And she added, during cross examination by Robert Moody, that she has seen her father "a little high" once at Christmas time five years ago. "I never saw my dad hit my mom," she told Mr. Moody. Regarding Shirley Black, Mrs. Stokes said, "She was a pretty good mother." When Dean Black took the stand, he said that 90 percent of the arguments which existed between him and his wife pertained to John Singer in one way or another. "For the past twelve years, she's been comparing me to Singer up there," said Mr. Black. When he came home to Kamas in October, Mr. Black said, his wife had simply left; he added he discovered her whereabout where-about from one of his daughters. He described her living with John Singer as a "shack-up job." And Mr. Black said he would take his children to Sunday School and allowed them to get involved in church activities. And should he be granted custody of the children, Dean Black said, "They'll be taught the LDS way." Leon McNeil and Kenneth Bagnell testified Tuesday morning; morn-ing; both said that Mr. Black had a good reputation in the community and a good family man. Mr. Bagnell said Dean Black was extremely honest." When Shirley Black took the stand again , moments before the end of the proceedings, Dean Black's lawyer; tried to convince the judge that Mrs. Black; would break the law of the land if it was inconflict with God's law. "Anything revealed of the Lord could supersede man's law. Is that right?" asked Mr. Henriod. "Yes," answered Shirley Black. In his final arguments before Judge Bryant Croft, Joseph Henriod said Shirley Black would not be a good influence for her children as a result of her being guilty of bigamy, and making the decision to take here children in October to John Singer's residence which Henriod Hen-riod described as "dangerous and immoral." "She selfishly wanted to live with another man," Henriod told the Judge. "When she first had the revelation," Henriod added, "she lived with one (man), but loved another." Judge Croft told the court after final arguments that his decision will be based on the laws of Utah and the constitution constitu-tion of the United States. "God is not a witness in this courtroom," said Judge Croft. And he added, "People can't make decisions for themselves whether they're going to obey the law. Nobody has the constitutional right to disobey the law of the land." |