I think a suit against the CPS, if filed, will fail, and I would frankly be surprised to see such a suit filed because of the intense scrutiny which would be placed upon the internal workings of the flds sect.
I tend to agree that the FLDS doesn’t want the scrutiny that they will receive if they take this to a civil jury for damages. However that said if and when any criminal charges are brought and trials held then they will get tons of internal exposure so at that time another trial in the civil courts may not produce that much additional exposure.
I would guess the plantiff lawyers are lined up trying to get them into a civil actions so they can get their 40% or so cut of any awards. Also I agree I don’t think you’ll find a Texas jury that will agree in the required number to award any large sums. I know it’s not unaminous but don’t know the number that needs to agree in order to find for the plaintiff.
Some have speculated it will be in the Federal courts that this action will occur so as to take it out of the state court system. If that occurs then it would still have to be moved out of state to get it away from a Texas jury.
Time will tell as we are far from this event being over.
In addition to the scrutiny which would come from criminal cases, if any, there is also the matter of the custody cases which are still ongoing. So I guess whether the flds sues or not, they are going to get looked at. In Texas courts, the verdict has to be 10-2 on all issues for a judgment to result. In Federal Court, which would be far more likely, suit would be filed in the Western District of Texas. The western district has divisions in Austin, San Antonio, Del Rio, El Paso, and Midland. Offhand, I don’t know which of those covers San Angelo. The State would like to have it in Austin, I bet, and oddly enough, if I were the plaintiff, Austin would be my choice as well, if you even get a choice. In federal court, you’re probably looking at a six person jury.