Update: Punishment phase for FLDS member begins with testimony
By Matthew Waller a>
Posted December 16, 2009 at 10:26 a.m. , updated December 16, 2009 at 1:16 p.m.SAN ANGELO, Texas — Jurors have begun hearing testimony for the punishment phase of the trial of Allan Keate, a member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints found guilty of sexual assault of a child.
The prosecution brought in Rebecca Musser, a former FLDS member, to testify as to her life in a FLDS community.
Musser said she was “placed” with Rulon Jeffs, who was prophet of the FLDS community at the time.
The FLDS practice polygamy by arranging “spiritual” or “celestial” marriages that are non-legal.
Musser said she was 19 years old and Jeffs was 84 at the time she was placed. She said she was Jeffs’ 19th wife.
Lead prosecutor Eric Nichols projected a picture for the jury that showed dozens of women clothed in white, and near the center was a man in a black jacket.
“These are all his wives at the time of the wedding photo,” Musser said.
Nichols then brought stacks of manila folders to Musser and had her verify the types of documents contained in them: personal records, priesthood records, marriage records, etc.
Musser also explained the phrase “house in hiding,” which would later appear on pictures revealed to the jury.
“We were taught that God would sweep the wicked off the face of the earth, and those a part of that group would come against (the FLDS), so they would need to hide their way of life,” Musser said.
Later the jury stepped out while lead defense attorney Randy Wilson handed written objections to each piece of evidence that the prosecution sought to admit. Fifty-first District Court Judge Barbara Walther admitted almost all pieces of evidence.
Nichols brought in an investigator with the Texas Attorney General’s office, Sgt. Wesley Hensley, to comment on the contents of the evidence shown to Musser. He read off marriage records and personal records to show that Keate had multiple non-legal wives and children by them, and that he had taken a wife previously “sealed” to another man.
This is a breaking news story. More developments will be reported as information becomes available.
Patrick Dove/Standard-Times Allen Eugene Keate is lead to the
Schleicher County Law Enforcement Center on Dec. 15, 2009,
after being found guilty of child sexual assault.
