Beyond 90 Seconds

AUDIO

Early this evening, Beyond90Seconds.com spoke with British filmmaker Ben Anthony. Anthony is the man who directed and photographed the documentary at the center of the Wayne Bent case, “The End of the World Cult” (later reworked for the National Geographic Channel and given the new title, “Inside a Cult”).

Anthony is in Taos, New Mexico filming Bent’s trial for a follow-up documentary.

To listen to the Beyond90Seconds.com interview with Ben Anthony, please click HERE.

(UPDATE:  Beyond90Seconds.com conducted a follow-up interview with Anthony after the first week of Bent’s trial.)

NM vs. WAYNE BENT / December 8, 2008

KOB-TV Investigative Reporter Jeremy Jojola is providing Beyond90Seconds.com with updates from inside the Taos courtroom where the Wayne Bent trial is beginning today. As I  receive Jojola’s e-mails, I’ll copy and paste them below.  I’ll also include the time the e-mails were sent, and will use Mountain Standard Time so that it matches the local time in Taos.

9:44am MST
Hey Mark:
It’s about 9:40 NM time.  Got here about 15 minutes ago.  Courthouse is packed with jury selection.  Bent is here along with his (son) Jeff.  I haven’t seen any other of his followers here, although I was told they’re around the courthouse somewhere.  I can only see the back of Bent’s head from the courtroom door.  I can’t gauge his health at this point although someone told me he looks pretty healthy.    They’re not allowing media access during jury selection, which you know, is pretty standard.
I was also told jury selection should be over with by noon.  Then there will be a lunch break and then opening statements.

10:13am MST
(As it’s a bit slow during jury selection, I asked Jojola what the weather is like in Taos today.  He and KOB-TV Chief Photographer Bazz McClain made the drive to Taos from Albuquerque early this morning.)
Taos is cloudy today about 40 degrees with no wind.  A little bit gloomy but the sky can be seen towards the west.   Bazz was telling me there may be snow tonight…..I hope the station wont send us off to do some live shot in the snow…you know how it is!!!!

11:18am MST
(*note:  Jojola is also providing updates on the trial via twitter and his blog.)

11:35am MST
(Originally posted at about 11:10am on twitter)
In the Taos courthouse lobby with other media. Jury selection pool is dwindling down a bit.

12:14pm MST
(As we wait to hear from Jeremy Jojola again, I thought I’d share a brief video about Bent’s trial posted on kob.com earlier today.)

12:22pm MST
Jury in Bent trial expected to be selected soon, after lunch hour. Judge to rule on media laptops in courtroom. Fingers crossed.

1:25pm MST
(Jeremy Jojola’s report from Taos for KOB’s noon newscast will appear here shortly.)

1:49pm MST
Mark:

It’s about 1:38.  I have to write this and all future updates outside the courthouse lobby because the judge is not allowing laptops in the courtroom.  This is an obstacle, because laptops have replaced pen and paper in this day of electronic news gathering.  I don’t mind old-school note taking though.

Bent’s female followers are sitting in a row with worried looks on their faces.  They’re all dressed similarly as you’ve seen them on video.  They’re all wearing long dresses, long sleeves.  They’re all wearing their hair down.  They’re sitting quietly, and obviously nervous–a quiet desperation I would say.

I saw Wayne Bent face to face as he stepped through the metal detector.  He looks healthy and slim.  I’ll give you an update right after opening statements.

Hopefully I’ll be able to make my way from the courtroom to the lobby often, without making too much noise, so I can give you updates.

(Due to the judge’s decision, this post’s original headline, “Updates from inside Wayne Bent courtroom“, has been changed.)

2:02pm MST
(Roughly 30-minutes ago, Jeremy Jojola also posted the following update on Twitter.  Note that a jury was selected this morning and opening arguments appear to be getting underway right now.)

Bent trial begins at 2:00 pm. Bent’s female followers sitting in a row in court with worried faces. Judge says no laptops in courtroom.

2:31pm MST
(This just in…)

2:51pm MST
(About 15-minutes ago, Jojola posted the following on Twitter.)

Jury has walked in courtroom. Bent trial now begins

3:48pm MST
Mark:

We just took a recess in court.  Opening arguments were interesting and brief.  Prosecutor Tomas Benavidez said during his opening statement Wayne Bent “betrayed trust” and “abused his authority” by touching and kissing the young girls on the breasts.   Bent’s defense attorney Sarah Montoya said during her opening statements Bent did touch the girls on the chest area, but never touched the girls on “intimate” areas and called the touching a “spritual healing ritual.”    Montoya held up a Barbie doll to the jury to illustrate where she says Bent touched the girls.

The two girls are expected to testify.  Bent is also expected to testify.

Heading back in…..I’ll give you an update again soon.

5:44pm MST
Mark:

First day of the trial ended at around 4:30 New Mexico time.   Depending on the weather, court will resume again tomorrow morning at nine.

Today a state police officer revealed during his testimony that Wayne Bent admitted the girls did climb into bed naked with him.  I’m working on my 6pm/6:30 pieces now.  I’ll give you more detailed stuff after that.

JJ

7:30pm MST

Mark:
Here are some direct quotes taken from courtroom:

“Basically a religious leader in a community betrayed trust and abused his authority.”
-Tomas Benavidez, Prosecutor saying that Bent inappropriately touched two teenage followers.

“He kisses everybody in his church.  He is a very kind, he is a very gentle man.  He is not a criminal.”
-Sarah Montoya, Defense Attorney saying Bent’s encounters with the girls were religious rituals intended to heal the soul

Jeremy

Day 1: Updates on Wayne Bent case from Taos courthouse
Day 2: Reporter’s updates from Wayne Bent trial
Day 3: Reporter’s updates from Wayne Bent trial
Day 4: Reporter’s updates from Wayne Bent trial
Day 5: Reporter’s updates from Wayne Bent trial

COMMENTARY

With years of uploading his religious teachings onto the Web now under his belt, one might suspect that some of what Wayne Bent has published in cyberspace is destined to become a focal point in the State of New Mexico’s criminal case against him.

Arm-chair prosecutors often point to the bits of Bent’s posts concerning “consummations” and “laying naked” as proof of what they is a man guilty of pedophilia.

But less than two hours prior to the start of Bent’s trial, it seems reasonable to consider the possibility that little to none of what Bent had published on his church’s Web site, strongcity.info, will ever be heard by a jury.

It’s one thing to say what seems obvious; that Bent has espoused his religious beliefs on the ‘net for years.

But it is an entirely different matter when it comes to proving it.

Even if a post had a byline stating that it had been written by Wayne Bent (and many posts do), absent an admission by Bent, one would be tasked with gathering evidence to support any claim that Bent had penned the piece.

The pursuit of evidence on computers requires the proper experts, time and money; all perhaps even more scarce in the largely remote 8th Judicial District.

How likely is the State of New Mexico to make such investments as it sets-out to prove its contention that Bent had criminal sexual contact with two teenage girls?  It may appear to be an unpopular question.  But, again, it seems worth considering.

Beyond90Seconds.com has learned that a purported expert in computer forensics recently shared some of his knowledge with the prosecution’s team.  That person’s name, Sam Redman, also appears on the witness list.  Although that’s no guarantee he’ll be called to testify.

I’m told that following his discussions with members of the DA’s Office, Redman was later interviewed by Bent’s attorney.  That’s not surprising as his name appears on the State’s witness list.

Redman’s name may be familiar to regular visitors of this blog as he has often written in the comments sections of posts concerning the Bent case.

While I haven’t confirmed it, word is that back in 1986, Redman was one of two developers of the first caching program for the personal computer. I’m also told that, in 1987,  he also won the PC Magazine award for Technical Excellence for application software.

According to a source, the prosecution in the Bent case wanted Redman to testify about his experience in capturing files that Bent and many of his followers had published, then removed from the Internet.  I’m told that Redman was able to preserve those files with their “cache date stamps”.  That would appear to be important in any attempt to prove who had published and/or written the text on those files.

Beyond90Seconds.com has learned that Redman is also the person who built the Web site that “mirrors” the site Bent had taken down. It’s interesting to note that over the weekend a new tab appeared on that mirror site: Legal.

I’m told Redman had previously shared the new “Legal” page with the prosecution. Clearly, the new page is aimed at nailing Bent.

Should the State’s case reveal itself to be devoid of any pursuit of Bent’s cyber postings, expect the DA’s team to invest considerable energy on what was said in the safe house interviews with the alleged victims. Letters written by the girl known as “Healed” to prosecutors could also become a focal point of the State’s case.

And then, there’s also the expected defense argument about freedom of religion.  But that would be a story for another time…

BEN ANTHONY AND JEREMY JOJOLA SET TO DELIVER SPECIAL COVERAGE TO BEYOND90SECONDS.COM

One year after a sensational documentary first appeared on England’s Channel 4, the controversial figure at the center of “The End of the World Cult” is set to go on trial today in Taos, New Mexico.  Wayne Bent (aka Michael Travesser) was indicted by a grand jury earlier this year on charges of criminal sexual contact with children and contributing to the delinquency of minors.

Two journalists at the trial have agreed to be special contributors to Beyond90Seconds.com.

KOB-TV (NBC/Albuquerque) Investigative Reporter Jeremy Jojola tells Beyond90Seconds.com that he will be attending the trial from start-to-finish.  Jojola has agreed to provide several updates to this blog.  He’ll also be posting on jeremyjojola.com.

(In the interest of full-disclosure, I worked at KOB-TV from 2000-2005.)

Beyond90Seconds.com is also pleased to share that it will be posting audio interviews with British filmmaker Ben Anthony.  Anthony’s documentaries (there are two versions) about Bent and the Lord Our Righteousness Church have played to audiences around the world.  He returned to New Mexico on Saturday to produce a follow-up on his documentary for the National Geographic Channel. Anthony will be speaking to Beyond90Seconds.com via telephone from Taos.

Beyond90Seconds.com also hopes to include interviews with other people at the trial, too.  Please stay tuned.