By Elise Christenson
According to Juab County Prosecutor David Leavitt, Linda Kunz-Green is a victim. Kunz-Green, however, disagrees.
Married to polygamist Tom Green since 1986, Kunz-Green is at the forefront of a legal battle between Leavitt and her husband.
'I don''t feel Tom victimized me,' she said. 'I want Leavitt to leave us alone.'
Leavitt is currently pursuing a child rape lawsuit against Green. He said Green committed a felony by having sexual intercourse with Kunz-Green when she was 13.
However, Kunz-Green said she feels more victimized by Leavitt than by her own husband.
Hours after a 4th District Court hearing Friday to determine jurisdiction in Leavitt''s case against Green, Kunz-Green turned the tables on Leavitt, filing a lawsuit against him.
Although she maintains that she is not a victim, Kunz-Green filed a victim''s rights lawsuit to prevent further prosecution of Green.
'This is our modest attempt to stop David Leavitt''s uncontrolled behavior. It''s not for the state to create a victim,' said Grant Morrison, Kunz-Green''s lawyer.
Kunz-Green''s lawsuit asserts that if she is indeed a victim, she should be treated as such, Morrison said.
'The state ought not to create a victim and then destroy the victim they''ve created,' he said.
Green married Kunz-Green, the first of five wives, in 1986 when he was 37 and she was 13.
In 2000, after seeing Green broadcast his lifestyle on several national talk shows, Leavitt charged Green with raping Kunz-Green.
The couple''s first son was born in 1986, proving Green had sex with Linda-Kunz while she was 13, Leavitt said.
John Bucher, Green''s attorney, said the child rape statute is too broad and should not apply to couples that are married.
Kunz-Green agreed. She said she, her parents and Green all consented to the marriage, so a crime was never committed.
'My son has a mother and a father that love each other,' she said. 'This isn''t something wrong.'
Morrison said Leavitt will have 20 days to respond to the lawsuit. Once he responds, a hearing date will be set.
In the meantime, Bucher is trying to halt the proceedings on different grounds.
Bucher said Leavitt does not have jurisdiction because the couple''s betrothal took place in Las Vegas, and the sexual intercourse took place in Mexico.
However, with conflicting testimonies from witnesses, proving the intercourse occurred in Mexico has not been easy.
Carolyn LeBaron testified the couple stayed at her home in Baja, Mexico, immediately following their marriage.
She said she wrote of the visit in a diary, but when asked to produce the entry, she said it was in Mexico and it would be too hard to find.
John Llewellyn, a former polygamist writing a book about Green''s prosecution, testified to a different story.
He said while interviewing Green for the book, Green admitted the child was conceived in Wyoming, but he said Green later changed his mind.
'Tom Green said he''d forgotten and Linda reminded him that the child was conceived in Mexico,' he said.
Llewellyn said he is skeptical that the marriage took place in Mexico.
'It''s interesting that all of the people present at the wedding are either dead or inaccessible,' he said.
Leavitt said he should have jurisdiction no matter where the crime took place.
'Green was conspiring in Utah, and he furthered the crime in Utah,' he said.
Green is currently serving five years in prison on four counts of bigamy and one count of criminal non-support of his family.
The next jurisdiction hearing for the child rape charges will be held June 4.
Green faces five years to life for those charges, which Kunz-Green said she will fight.
'We are a family,' she said. 'It''s hard for me to see Tom in shackles just because we built a family together.'