| Utah Supreme Court orders polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs to Texas for trial | |
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Edward Lane Wichita Falls Law Enforcement Examiner | |
In a decision issued Tuesday, the Utah Supreme Court ruled that FLDS polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs can be extradited to Texas to stand trial for aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault and bigamy charges. The nation's headlines were dominated by the story of Warren Jeffs arrest in 2008 by Texas law enforcement authorities after they raided the sect's Yearning for Zion Ranch in Eldorado, Texas. More than 400 children were taken into custody by Child Protective Services officials during the raid. Texas Rangers gathered evidence during the surprise raid which will be used against America's most famous polygamist in his trial. Charges are based on an alleged celestial marriage between Jeffs and a 12-year old girl, and a baby that Jeffs allegedly fathered with another underage girl. Jeffs, 54, was allegedly acting under his authority as ecclesiastical leader of the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints. While Texas officials are eager in getting Jeffs back to the Lone Star State to face justice, they are not going to rush the procedure unreasonably. Although a plane is reportedly standing by to whisk the poster boy for polygamists out of Utah and into Texas, a blizzard which blanketed Utah Tuesday evening will delay travel plans. Law enforcement officials in both Texas and Utah estimated the top polygamist will probably not be transported to Texas until after the Thanksgiving holiday. Although this decision was not unexpected, it certainly ended a long winning streak which had raised the hopes of Jeffs' followers that he might walk out of the Utah prison a free man. Jeffs has been receiving free room and board courtesy of Utah taxpayers in prison for four years following his arrest on accomplice-to-rape charges related to his presiding over a marriage between an unwilling 14-year old girl and her 19-year old cousin. Jeffs legal winning streak began earlier this year when the Utah Supreme Court reversed his convictions based on errors in the jury instructions at his trial. He received yet another legal victory when Arizona officials dismissed charges against him in that state. Which would appear to leave Texas as the last state which stands between the FLDS polygamist and freedom. Utah officials have publicly admitted there would be grave problems with re-trying the Utah cases after all these years have passed. The Texas charges are more serious than those for which he was convicted in the Beehive State. He was charged with only being an accomplice in Utah which probably contributed to his shorter sentence of four years. In Texas, he is charged with being the main actor and is facing a possible 99-year sentence if he is convicted of the most serious charge. Several of his FLDS members have already been sentenced to prison by Texas juries. The longest sentence has been 75 years and the shortest one six years in Texas. Not a single FLDS member has received probation or been found not guilty in Texas. Wichita Falls has a lot of connections to the case. Several Wichita Falls CPS workers were involved in rescuing children from the Yearning For Zion Ranch/Compound. Also, several Texas Rangers from Wichita Fallls participated in the search of the polygamist headquarters. Wichita Falls attorney Richard Sutherland was generous enough to represent one of the children pro bono. No date has yet been set for the trial which will no doubt serve as a magnet for the national news media once again. For Jeffs, the possiblilites are about as extreme as they can get in the legal system......anywhere from not guilty all the way to 99 years in the Texas prison system. | |
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Examiner.com Originally published November 24th, 2010 | |
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