Posted on 05/24/2008 6:09:05 AM PDT by Flo Nightengale
The San Angelo judge accused of abusing her discretion by a higher court fought back on Friday, overruling objections that cited the appellate decision during a lengthy and contentious child-custody hearing that will continue next week.
51st District Judge Barbara Walther indirectly rejected assertions by the Third Court of Appeals that she should not have allowed the state to maintain custody of more than 450 children belonging to members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Attorneys for the state's Child Protective Services agency and an attorney for the infant in Friday's hearing did the same.
"I tried to narrow the scope and keep things moving along (in April), and the complaint was I didn't let enough evidence in," Walther said of the en masse custody hearing in which she granted the state temporary custody of the children. "We're going to have a full-blown adversarial hearing. If it takes two or three days, so be it."
The comments came amid testimony and evidence that raised eyebrows in the small courtroom and will continue to be when testimony resumes Tuesday morning. Most shocking was the state's release of a picture from summer 2007 showing imprisoned sect leader Warren Jeffs, now 52, deeply kissing a then-12-year-old girl, the aunt of the infant born May 12 whose custody was the subject of the hearing.
Rulon Daniel Jessop, the girl's brother and the infant's father, said he sees nothing wrong with his children being in the same house with underage "sister wives" of much older men. "It seemed a little wild to me," Jessop testified, "but you see a lot more wild things driving down the streets of the city at night. I do not consider a girl kissing a man sexual abuse."
Jessop identified the girl, who is listed in FLDS bishop's records as being born July 3, 1994, and is shown in pictures dated July 27, 2006, as his sister.
Jessop's attorney, Pat Matassarin, dismissed the photos.
"For one thing, the guy who did it is in jail," she said, referring to Jeffs and adding that the actions of a family member should not be used to remove his child.
In what is believed to be the first confirmation of a long-held belief by sect observers, Louisa Bradshaw, the infant's mother, testified that Jeffs lived in a home on the YFZ Ranch, northeast of Eldorado in Schleicher County. He has since been imprisoned, convicted of arranging marriages between a 14-year-old girl and her 19-year-old cousin.
The revelation came during two hours of tense, inconsistent, often confusing testimony by Bradshaw. She frequently told CPS attorneys she does not know or could not remember answers to simple questions such as what room in her dormitory-style house on the YFZ Ranch was next to hers, or who attended her wedding ceremony.
Asked later whether she believes a grown man kissing a girl on the mouth is appropriate, Bradshaw replied: "Everyone has their free agency."
CPS attorneys and local attorney Randol Stout, representing the infant, hammered Bradshaw and Jessop over the photos - particularly as they relate to Jessop's father, ranch leader Merrill Jessop, and his many wives and dozens of children, at least 45 of whom were named in court as siblings or half-siblings of Rulon Daniel Jessop.
Attorneys for the parents objected to the questions, citing the appellate court decision, which said CPS must show immediate physical danger to a child it is seeking to remove.
"I do believe emotional damage is outside the scope of this hearing," Matassarin said.
Stout responded that the appellate ruling was under appeal.
"As far as I can tell, (the ruling) hasn't changed the Family Code," he said. "Emotional well-being is one of the terms" allowed in making such a decision.
Walther - a former court master who heard solely family law cases before being elected to the bench - agreed with a slow shake of her head.
"I believe it's in the statute," she said.
What a mess!!!
What does she mean by that?
Ping
It means someone got caught with thier hand in the cookie jar and now they are in CYA mode.
It sort of sounds like—”You wanted hearings? I’ll give you hearings!” If her intent is that each individual child/group of siblings is going to have hearings lasting 2-3 days, this could last forever, which sort of shows why the hearings were conducted as they were in the beginning. Rock, meet hard place.
Doe anyone know how to post the pics next to the article? I’m impaired that way. They’re pretty disturbing.
That’s how I read it too. How will she do this though? They all have to be heard by sometime in June huh? I kind of chuckled..it read like “you want evidence...I’ll show you evidence” Next week should be interesting.
There’s kissing, and then there’s kissing. An older man can kiss a child on the forehead or the cheek, and that’s kissing.
What I see in those photos... that’s child abuse.
This is a cult based on child abuse. It’s hard to determine which parents are unfit, but certainly many, many are.
The state should keep the kids until they sort this out.
| Wife | Date | Age | Husband* |
| Emma Hale Fanny Alger Lucinda Morgan Harris Louisa Beaman Zina Huntington Jacobs Presendia Huntington Buell Agnes Coolbrith Sylvia Sessions Lyon Mary Rollins Lightner Patty Bartlett Sessions Marinda Johnson Hyde Elizabeth Davis Durfee Sarah Kingsley Cleveland Delcena Johnson Eliza R. Snow Sarah Ann Whitney Martha McBride Knight Ruth Vose Sayers Flora Ann Woodworth Emily Dow Partridge Eliza Maria Partridge Almera Johnson Lucy Walker Sarah Lawrence Maria Lawrence Helen Mar Kimball Hanna Ells Elvira Cowles Holmes Rhoda Richards Desdemona Fullmer Olive Frost Melissa Lott Nancy Winchester Fanny Young |
Jan 1827 1833 1838 Apr 1841 Oct 1841 Dec 1841 Jan 1842 Feb 1842 Feb 1842 Mar 1842 Apr 1842 Jun 1842 Jun 1842 Jul 1842 Jun 1842 Jul 1842 Aug 1842 Feb 1843 Spring 1843 Mar 1843 Mar 1843 Apr 1843 May 1843 May 1843 May 1843 May 1843 Mid 1843 Jun 1843 Jun 1843 Jul 1843 Mid 1843 Sep 1843 1843 Nov 1843 |
22 16 37 26 20 31 33 23 23 47 27 50 53 37 38 17 37 33 16 19 22 30 17 17 19 14 29 29 58 32 27 19 14 56 |
NONE NONE George W. Harris NONE Henry Jacobs Norman Buell NONE Windsor Lyon Adam Lightner David Sessions Orson Hyde Jabez Durfee John Cleveland NONE NONE NONE NONE Edward Sayers NONE NONE NONE NONE NONE NONE NONE NONE NONE Jonathan Holmes NONE NONE NONE NONE NONE NONE |
| * Living Husband at the time of Marriage to Joseph Smith |
References |
Thugs wearing body armor and carrying machine guns tear 450 children/infants from their mothers, all without any proof of harm or abuse having been inflicted upon the kids and this judge along with raving MSM show-ponies like Nancy Grace continue to make utterly unsupported claims. And now, this typically out-of-control judge ignores the rulings of a higher court. When a scene like this can be prompted by a phony phone call from a known scam artist, we have a nation in real trouble. The state has become all powerful and the rights of citizens are totally ignored. Scary.
If that was my 12 year old daughter Jeffs wouldn’t be in prison right now, I would.
Those photos are really disturbing.
What do you think about this picture?
Nope I'd put you up for a good citizen reward!!!
I disagree.
Warren Jeffs is in jail. He will no longer be a threat to the community. Nevertheless, I don’t see how that justifies taking 450 kids away from all their families. The parents have no parental rights. They are not allowed contact. No accomdations are made to ensure the kids are not exposed to anything the parents find objectionable (i.e. public schools, religion, etc).
The government will probably have mercy only on those parents that publicly renounce their religion.
She's sending the attorney's for the perverts a message, don't screw with the court! You will be here a very, very, very, long time.
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