Warren Jeffs changes attorneys / What's he up to?
 
Reported by: Brent Hunsaker
ABC 4 News
 
Warren Jeffs is set to go to trial in Texas for raping little girls in just over two weeks. The outcome of that trial could decide if he is ever again a free man. And yet, the leader of the largest polygamist group in North America is again changing his legal defense team.

This is the 3rd time Jeffs has fired attorneys since arriving in Texas. So what's he up to? Is he trying to get another delay? It worked once before. A shuffle of attorneys at the beginning of the year got the trial pushed back 5-months..

Who's Out/ Who's In

Fired is Jeff Kearney, a top notch defense attorney out of Fort Worth with 29-years of experience. Hired is Emily Munoz Detoto of Houston.

Check out Detoto's website by clicking here. Her list of recent cases includes a murder, a couple drug charges and several DWI's (Texans prefer Driving While Intoxicated). There is really nothing in her bio that puts her in the same league as Kearney.

Mistakes in Written Motion

In Detoto's first motion filed with the court, she repeatedly misspells the name of the judge assigned the case. She writes Judge Barbara "Walthers", but there is no 's' on the judge's name. It is simply Walther.

Detoto also apparently tried to file her motion in the wrong county. In two places on the legal document, the typed name "Tom Green" County is scribbled out and "Schleicher" is written over it. Judge Walther -- no "s" -- did grant a change of venue to San Angelo in neighboring Tom Green County. But the charges originated in Schleicher County and the case against Warren Jeffs remains a Schleicher County case.

What's more, she's arguing a motion that was already heard last month and rejected.

Who Wrote This?

There is even a question about who wrote the motion. One expert who is familiar with both the case and the writings of Warren Jeffs argues that parts were in fact written by Jeffs. He points to one line in particular: It reads that the FLDS "have been the victims of persecuting zeal of both religious and political bias since the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ as revealed through Joseph Smith Jr."

Perhaps Jeffs is thinking that if Judge Walther -- no "s" -- cannot be swayed by legal arguments, perhaps a little Mormon history will do the trick.

More Changes?

To be fair, Detoto is not Jeffs' only attorney. He still has three others.

And yet, even this close to the beginning of his trial, Jeffs may not be done with the legal shuffling. A source tells me he continues to interview more attorneys from his Schleicher County jail cell.

This is the motion filed by Jeffs' new attorney, Emily Munoz Detoto. (267.4KB)
 
ABC4.com
Originally broadcast July 8, 2011
 
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