Legal events flowing from the YFZ Ranch raid continue to unfold. I'll list some here and give links to sources of more detailed information:
The raid conducted by Texas CPS officials was controversial from the first. Now, Texas officials are mounting a public legal defense of their actions in raiding the Ranch.
There will be a one-hour hearing today, Oct. 1, before 51st District Judge Barbara Walther. During that hearing the Texas Attorney General's office will set forth arguments in defense of the raid. These arguments are outlined in a document filed with the court on 9/18/08.
Lyle Jeffs, Merril Jessop and the FLDS Church filed motions challenging the raid on the grounds that it violated member's religious rights and "literally allowed the search of an entire neighborhood."
The state maintains that neither Jeffs nor Jessop have any legal standing in the case because no charges have been filed against them and they have never shown proof that they lived at the ranch in the first place.
(As I understand it, their convenient absence at the time of the raid may have helped them to evade charges, but in return it also denies them legal standing to sue the state for its actions. Lawyers out there: correct me if I have that wrong.)
Because the FLDS Church does not own the ranch, it also has no legal standing, according the the state's reasoning.
Additionally, according to press reports, constitutional protections against unreasonable search and siezure are granted to individual persons only, not group entities such as a church.
Referring to the hoax phone call that touched off the raid, Texas Attorney General Stephen R. Lupton offered the following:
Arguing why the search warrants were valid, Texas authorities said they based it on phone calls to a crisis shelter hotline by a 16-year-old girl named "Sarah," who said she was pregnant, being abused and could not leave the YFZ Ranch.
"Such a description of the premises to be searched for the rescue of a claimed victim and for evidence of a crime — a gated ranch and the structures and vehicles located on it — passes constitutional muster," Lupton wrote.
Beyond that, Lupton said Texas Rangers had probable cause to believe ranch residents could be hiding her, or preventing her from leaving.
"The second affidavit included facts above and beyond the first affidavit and was based on observations made by law enforcement and government officials during the execution of the first search warrant," Lupton wrote. "Such observations established probable cause to believe that victims, suspects, and evidence of crimes of sexual assault and bigamy could be located in temples, temple annexes, places of worship, vaults, safes, lockboxes and locked drawers."
Lupton laid out a long list of young women who were questioned by either Texas Rangers or Child Protective Services caseworkers. One spoke of a 16-year-old girl who was married, had a baby and was currently pregnant. When asked how old she was, one looked at a man who responded: "You are 18," an answer the girl parroted.
Unfortunately, I have not yet found a link to the full 51-page document filed by the Attorney General's Office. But you can read more about this turn of events here, hereand here.
(Brooke Adams of the Salt Lake Tribune and Ben Winslow of the Deseret News have been covering these issues extensively.)
On 9/24/08, the Texas Grand Jury indicted 3 more FLDS men on sexual assault charges:
Abram Harker Jeffs, 37- sexual assault and bigamy
Lehi Barlow Jeffs, 29- sexual assault and bigamy
Keith William Dutson Jr., 23- sexual assault
The men surrendered on Monday, September 29th and posted bond. The two Jeffs men posted bonds of $110,000 and Dutson posted a $100,000 bond.
Afterward, they were released. They are all accused of having sex with girls under 17. The indictments come from evidence siezed at the ranch- the same evidence that Lyle Jeffs, Merril Jessop and the FLDS Church are trying to get suppressed as unconstitutional.
Read about the indictments and surrender here and here.
Here is a quick roundup of those indicted thus far:
• FLDS leader Warren Jeffs, 52, indicted on sexual assault and bigamy.
• Raymond Merril Jessop, 36, charged with sexual assault and bigamy.
• Allan Eugene Keate, 56, indicted on a sexual assault charge.
• Merril Leroy Jessop, 33, indicted on sexual assault and bigamy.
• Michael Emack, 57, charged with sexual assault and bigamy.
• FLDS community physician Lloyd Hammond Barlow, 38, charged with three misdemeanor counts of failure to report child abuse. (This list is provided in the Deseret News story linked above, by Ben Winslow) Merril Jessop is acknowleged by everyone involved in the case as the acting leader of the FLDS while Warren Jeffs is incarcerated. However, acknowledged though he may be, he has also been invisible. He was never seen at the ranch during or after the raid, and nobody seems to know- or be willing to state- his whereabouts. That doesn't keep his family from being involved in legal proceedings, however: Child welfare officials plan to ask a Texas judge to keep a 14-year-old FLDS girl in custody because her parents continue to be uncooperative. The unnamed girl was allegedly given to Warren Jeffs as a bride at age 12. She is the only FLDS child remaining in state custody. (I believe it is worth noting that her parents gave her to 50-year-old who was at that time a fugitive from the law. They found this union appropriate for a 12-year-old.) According to press reports there have been a number of weird twists and turns in this custody case. At one point Barbara Jessop (Merril Jessops plural wife and the child's mother) tried to 'trade' one of her other daughters for the one held in protective custody. (Why she felt custody was more appropriate for one child than the other is not explained. Neither is her apparent belief- which I infer from this action- that her daughters are simply interchangeable pieces of a family puzzle. Or perhaps the bride of Warren Jeffs must be rescued at all costs?) Barbara Jessop is alleged to have made several unsupervised, late-night calls to this daughter which violated the court's supervised visits ruling. The Jessop family also filmed a dramatic video of the girl being taken into custody. Read the whole story here. Meanwhile, the girl's husband, Warren Jeffs, was once again taken to a hospital from his jail cell in Kingman, Arizona. It appears the sect leader and self-proclaimed prophet is once again fasting and spending so much time prostrated in prayer that his knees have become ulcerated. Officials are attempting to limit his prayer time by fastening him to his bunk with "soft restraints." Read about it here. Lastly, I have noticed that many readers come here after searching for photos of FLDS bishop Merril Jessop. The reason I haven't posted a lot of photos on this case here is that it's not clear to me which are in the public domain and which aren't. But for those of you looking for photos, here are some links: I'll try to post the next FLDS update a little sooner next time.
Merril Jessop, the girl's father and bishop of the Yearning For Zion Ranch in Eldorado, remains in hiding, and Barbara Jessop, her mother, has circumvented visitation rules on several occasions, a newly filed court document says.
I am one of the physicians who was able to examine the children from the ranch. I also am trying to get in touch with Dr. Barlow to see if I can't offer my professional, spiritual and emotional support.
Posted by: Stephen Smith | April 05, 2009 at 12:53 PM