Warren Jeffs appeared briefly Tuesday before Utah District Judge Terry Christiansen and declined to waive his right to contest a Texas extradition warrant. The judge scheduled hearing for Monday, November 15, 2010 at which time the court will set about determining if Jeffs is indeed the same man wanted in Texas.
Jeffs was indicted in 2008 by a Schleicher County grand jury on charges of Sexual Assault of a Child, Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child (younger than 14), and Bigamy.
Hearings are slated in San Angelo for Tuesday, September 28, 2010 before 51st District Judge Barbara Walther in the cases of Frederick Merril Jessop and Wendell Loy Nielsen.
Documents filed by prosecutor Eric Nichols indicate that the State is asking the judge to order the trials moved to any of the other counties in her district. Those include Irion, Sterling, Tom Green and Coke Counties.
The State’s motion reviews the number of persons called in order to empanel a jury for three previous YFZ trials held within the county and problems encountered in seating a jury in the most recent Abram Harker Jeffs trial.
The motion goes on to say that there is likely “citizen fatigue” in Schleicher County and states that the judge may, at her discretion, move the trial to another county.
Texas District Attorneys honor Nichols
Wednesday, 29 September 2010 16:45
Assistant Attorney General Eric Nichols, lead prosecutor in a number of criminal cases resulting from the 2008 YFZ Ranch raid, was honored by Texas District Attorneys last week at a conference on South Padre Island.
Nichols, who has successfully prosecuted four YFZ Ranch defendants in the past year, and negotiated the plea bargains to two others, was presented with the Lone Star Prosecutor Award.
All of the defendants are members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and are loyal followers of the sect’s prophet, Warren Steed Jeffs. Each of them were found guilty of sexual assault of a child by 51st District Judge Barbara Walther and sentenced to time in the state prison system.
A Schleicher County grand jury investigating alleged wrongdoing connected with the YFZ Ranch will continue meeting. The jury’s six-month term, initially set to expire at the end of September, has been extended.
While jury deliberations are secret, it is known that some of the people called to testify before the jury are individuals with financial or business ties to the YFZ Ranch and/or companies operating from there.
A hearing scheduled for Wednesday, October 6th, concerning a change of venue in the upcoming bigamy trial of Wendell Nielsen was suddenly called off Tuesday. The Success has learned that the delay came at the request of Nielsen’s attorney. There was no word at press time if the hearing has been rescheduled.
Nielsen is set to go to trial on October 25th on three counts of bigamy. A jury pool of four hundred individuals was called for the trial of Frederick Merril Jessop, originally slated for Tuesday, October 12th, but that trial was also put off after it was learned that Jessop was hospitalized in St. George, Utah. It is unknown if the jury pool, originally called for the Jessop trial will be held over and used in the Nielsen trial, if and when it is held.
The trial of Keith William Dutson Jr. 25, of the YFZ Ranch, appears to be headed 21 miles south to the Sutton County Courthouse in Sonora. 51st District Judge Barbara Walther served notice on Tuesday, October 12, 2010, that she wants to move the trial out of Schleicher County. Section 31.01 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedures empowers the judge to move the trial “on her on motion” to any county within her district or in any adjoining district.
Sutton County is located in the 112th Judicial District of Texas.
A hearing on the motion is planned for October 22, 2010 in Judge Walther’s San Angelo courtroom. At that time she is expected to hear arguments from attorneys for both sides.
Warren Jeffs appeared briefly Tuesday before Utah District Judge Terry Christiansen and declined to waive his right to contest a Texas extradition warrant. The judge scheduled hearing for Monday, November 15, 2010 at which time the court will set about determining if Jeffs is indeed the same man wanted in Texas.
Assistant Attorney General Eric Nichols, lead prosecutor in a number of criminal cases resulting from the 2008 YFZ Ranch raid, was honored by Texas District Attorneys last week at a conference on South Padre Island.
The trial of Keith William Dutson Jr. 25, of the YFZ Ranch, appears to be headed 21 miles south to the Sutton County Courthouse in Sonora. 51st District Judge Barbara Walther served notice on Tuesday, October 12, 2010, that she wants to move the trial out of Schleicher County. Section 31.01 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedures empowers the judge to move the trial “on her on motion” to any county within her district or in any adjoining district.