Posted on 07/27/2011 7:37:20 AM PDT by MizSterious
SAN ANGELO, Texas -- A jury has been selected, but the trial of polygamist religious sect leader Warren Jeffs won't have opening statements without at least one more hearing.
And, a Utah woman whose testimony was central in a previous case against Jeffs is saying his case in Texas will be shocking.
Jeffs' defense has filed a motion to suppress evidence. They argue that the evidence seized during a raid on the Yearning for Zion ranch in Eldorado, Texas, was not properly obtained. However, the same judge previously allowed evidence from the raid to be used in the trials of seven other men who were prosecuted on bigamy and child abuse charges.
A hearing on the motion is expected Wednesday afternoon.
Jeffs' attorneys also say they will file for a change of venue out of San Angelo, Texas, but have yet to do so.
The jury of 10 women and two men were seated Tuesday night out of nearly 300 people. These people are pulled from a region that until just a few years ago had never heard of the polygamist sect.
(Excerpt) Read more at ksl.com ...
Warren Jeffs trial pinglist—if you want on or off, please freepmail me.
I have to be out of town most of the day, but will post more later this evening.
The jury of 10 women and two men
________________________________________
Hes toast...
but then again if he looked like the young Brad Pitt...
Elissa Wall...
Last year, the Utah Supreme Court reversed Warren Jeffs' 2007 conviction of rape as an accomplice for his role in the marriage of Elissa Wall, then 14 years old, to her 19-year-old cousin Allen Steed.
On July 26, 2011, Laurie Allen, the producer of the documentary film Banking on Heaven spoke live with In Session. In Session is covering the Warren Jeffs trial during their programming which airs each weekday from 9:00 am until 3:00 pm. Jeffs faces two sexual abuse charges stemming from the revelation he had married two child brides. The film Banking on Heaven interviews several escapees from the polygamist group including Warren Jeffs sister, Elaine Jeffs. Laurie Allen also spoke with Dr. Drew Pinsky on his program that aired on Monday, July 25, 2011.
Laurie Allen spoke about how she escaped from the Lebaron polygamous sect when she lived in Central America. She was sixteen-years-old at the time. Allen described her escape as follows, Well, I actually jumped out the second-story window on to a flat bed truckload of pigs. One of my uncles had kidnapped me, and we were living in Central America. He was kind of like Jeffs . He was an outlaw, and you know, running from the law. And so, it was quite an ordeal escaping From Central America when I was 16 and not knowing where I had a single relative on the outside.
(Excerpt--see more at link)
SAN ANGELO, Texas The third day of the Warren Jeffs trial proved to be a short one the court convened at 1 p.m. and recessed in less than three and a half hours.
The court heard suppression of evidence arguments put forward by the defense. Some exhibits for the hearing, which began at 1 p.m. Wednesday before 51st District Judge Barbara Walther in the Tom Green Courthouse, had been sealed pending jury selection.
A jury was chosen but not sworn in Tuesday evening, the second day of the trial. Jeffs, leader of the polygamist Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, faces first- and second-degree felony charges related to allegations that he participated in multiple marriages with underage girls while he was in Texas in 2005 and 2006.
(snip)
Walther has previously denied motions to suppress evidence in FLDS member criminal trials. Evidence from a 2009 suppression hearing, which lasted several days, has been offered in the present hearing.
(Excerpts--entire story at this this link)
What is Jeff’s last name?
AUSTIN A convicted member of the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints continues to serve prison time while an appeals court weighs his challenge to a search warrant crucial to the case.
When the Third Court of Appeals in Austin rules on the legal arguments by Michael Emack it could impact the case of Warren Jeffs and other FLDS members charged in Schleicher County, legal experts say.
But a decision may not come soon.
"It's not unusual for a court to scratch its head for six months, 10 months," said Richard Segura, an Austin criminal defense attorney and lecturer in the University of Texas School of Law criminal defense clinic. "Every case is different."
(Snip)
Emack's attorneys argued the initial call that led to a Child Protective Services investigation was a hoax and that the ensuing "illegal search and interrogation of the young girls" tainted a later search warrant.
"Based upon a mentally unstable tipster's false calls to a shelter hotline, Texas Law Enforcement and Child Protective Services launched a raid on the YFZ Ranch community, in what was described as one of the 'most massive' law enforcement undertakings of its kind in the history of the United States," the defense attorneys wrote in a legal brief.
(Excerpt--entire story here)
Editors Note: CNNs Gary Tuchman explores the latest developments in the saga of polygamist Warren Jeffs, the jailed leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in Part 2 of a special report on Wednesdays AC 360 and for CNN Presents, airing Sunday, July 31, at 8 p.m. ET.
El Dorado, Texas (CNN) Fundamentalist Mormon leader Warren Jeffs has been held in a tiny jail in this west Texas town for roughly three years. According to his jailers, he has spent his time doing one thing above all else: talking on the phone..
Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran told CNN that in one month, Jeffs has spent roughly $3,000 on phone cards.
And while Jeffs was recently held in another Texas jail roughly 50 miles away, he spent close to $10,000 in phone cards in three months.
Reagan County Sheriff James Garner, who oversees that jail, told CNN that no inmate there has ever spent that much money on phone cards.
(Excerpt--more at link)
What a phone bill! The story goes on to say his followers keep him in phone cards. No doubt while their kids go hungry, and that's even on the taxpayers' dime, since most of them are milking the system for all they can get.
SAN ANGELO, Texas A judge on Wednesday dealt a blow to the defense of polygamist religious leader Warren Jeffs, refusing to suppress evidence police seized during a 2008 raid on his sect's West Texas compound.
District Judge Barbara Walther's decision means a small mountain of documents including marriage and birth records can be presented to the jury during Jeffs' trial.
It also means opening statements in the case are set for Thursday morning, after one more suppression hearing.
(Excerpt--read the rest here)
Judge Walther rocks!
Good!
Warren Jeffs' latest attorney, Deric Walpole...
I can't link it because the Eldorado Success is a subscription service - but I did read that Jeffs did not want any attorney that had represented a murderer.
Representing a rapist must be just dandy.
Until it isn't - which I predict will be some time next week when Warren fires him. I almost feel sorry for him.
Warren Jeffs: In His Own Words
http://phrecords.wordpress.com/
Hat tip to: http://texasflds.wordpress.com/
"FLDS Leader Warren Jeffs has spent the past 40 minutes explaining to District Judge Barbara Walther that he has fired all of his attorneys and wants to represent himself. During his statement to the court this morning, Jeffs said each one of the attorneys he has hired has been through training by myself. The court is in a short recess we'll have live update at noon."
Just...wow. Lotsa nerve! GF39, please post more updates if you find them—I have to leave in a minute to go to the dentist.
Pinging everyone to post #17—WJ just can’t seem to help himself, he’s gotta do the wrong thing every time!
He doesn't seem to understand that Texas is a whole different ball game. I lived in Texas...the slogan "Don't Mess With Texas" didn't just spring up out of thin air!!!
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