Prosecutor: Dugard wants no contact with kidnap suspects, says they want to control her

Prosecutor: Dugard nixes contact with suspects

PLACERVILLE, Calif. — The Northern California couple charged with kidnapping and raping Jaycee Dugard is trying to control her through lawyers and the news media and should be barred by a court order from trying to contact her or her children, prosecutors said Thursday.

El Dorado County District Attorney Vern Pierson filed court papers opposing efforts by attorneys for Phillip and Nancy Garrido to get in touch with Dugard and seeking an order prohibiting future contact.

Dugard has “emphatically stated to our office that she does not want any contact with the defendants or their attorneys,” Pierson said in the documents. “The people ask this court to protect Ms. Doe and to, once and for all, put an end to the defendant’s manipulation.”

The papers referred to Dugard as “Jane Doe” because she was 11 when she was kidnapped and sexually assaulted.

Dugard surfaced last year after being held prisoner for 18 years in the Garridos’ back yard. She has been staying in a secret location.

In the court filing, Pierson said Dugard and the two daughters she had by Phillip Garrido when she was 14 and 17 had been instructed by the Garridos to run to the hidden backyard if anyone ever came to the door.

He also described a plan that Phillip Garrido allegedly hatched to stay in contact with Dugard if he was ever arrested. Dugard told prosecutors Garrido instructed her to request an attorney who could communicate directly with his “without law enforcement knowledge,” the papers state.

Since Garrido’s arrest, he has tried repeatedly to put the plan into action, Pierson said.

On the day he was arrested and Dugard’s identity was revealed, Garrido advised her to get a lawyer. The next month, Garrido sent a letter to a Sacramento television station stating he wanted to reach Dugard “by attorney mail only.”

In January, Garrido’s lawyer wrote Dugard saying, “Mr. Garrido has asked me to convey that he does not harbor any ill will toward (Ms. Doe) or the children and loves them very much.”

Dugard interpreted the “ill will” remark to mean she was not following the plan and that the letter was another way of manipulating her, the papers state.

Pierson submitted the motion for a protective order in response to papers filed last week by defense lawyers for Phillip and Nancy Garridos that seek to force prosecutors to tell them where Dugard is living and if she has a lawyer.

The attorneys said they want to speak with Dugard or her legal representative while preparing defenses for the Garridos, who have pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The suspects also are requesting permission to visit each other in jail, where they are being held on $30 million and $20 million bail, respectively.