PHOENIX - The mayor of Colorado City, Ariz. repeatedly refused to answer questions in Federal Court in the FLDS civil trial Tuesday.
Attorneys for the U.S. Department of Justice are trying to prove a link between the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints, a polygamist sect of the Mormon Church led by Warren Jeffs, and the city government of Colorado City and Hilldale, Utah.
Jeffs was convicted of having sex with two child brides and was sentenced to life in prison.
Colorado City Mayor Joseph Allred took the stand Tuesday morning as attorneys asked questions about his own wives and the links between the church and the city.
Allred was asked about allegations of statutory rape in the city and "funneling" money from the Colorado City water utility to the FLDS church.
Allred took the Fifth in response to each question.
The DOJ alleges the cities violated the U.S. Constitution, specifically the First Amendment, which calls for the separation of church and state.
Attorneys also argue the police department that both cities shared was a de facto security force for the FLDS church, enforcing the decrees of Warren Jeffs.
The lawsuit also alleges the cities delayed hooking up city utilities to non-members of the church, in violation of the Fair Housing Act.
Attorneys for the cities argue the FLDS church has changed and the cities and church are no longer under Jeffs' control.