| FLDS: Sect leader in Texas Jeffs arraigned on three felony charges | |||
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By Matthew Waller San Angelo Standard-Times | |||
SAN ANGELO, Texas — Warren Jeffs, the leader of the polygamy sanctioning Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, walked into the Tom Green County courthouse for an arraignment with a gray sweater tucked into the chains that surrounded his waist, covering the top of the bright orange jumpsuit. He spoke so softly, presiding Judge Barbara Walther asked to have a microphone moved more closely to him. "I need more time," Jeffs said when asked by the judge whether he had a lawyer or whether he wanted one appointed for him. Walther, the 51st District judge, had explained to Jeffs his right to remain silent and the right to have an attorney for the three charges facing him: sexual assault, aggravated sexual assault and bigamy, all of them first-degree felonies. A first-degree felony is punishable by five to 99 years or life in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. "Do you understand?" Walther asked of Jeffs in the 15-minute arraignment that started at 11 a.m. "Yes," Jeffs said. The arraignment ended with Jeffs still holding onto a paper he was called to sign. In the absence of a lawyer, he did not sign it. The paper outlined the general process that the court has to ensure a speedy trial, and a signature was required only to affirm that Walther had given the paper to him in open court, but she allowed him to leave it unsigned until he had the opportunity to have an attorney examine the paper. Jeffs was brought into the courthouse guarded by Texas Rangers and Tom Green County Sheriff’s deputies. Jerry Strickland, a spokesman for the Texas Attorney General, said Jeffs had been brought to Texas Tuesday night and was being held without bail in the Reagan County Jail in Big Lake, about 70 miles west of San Angelo. Jeffs fought the extradition to Texas, seeking instead to remain in Utah to be retried there on charges of being an accomplice to rape, charges he was convicted of in 2007 but which the Utah Supreme Court overturned earlier this year, saying jury instructions were deficient in the lower court trial. Jeffs had been held at the Utah State Prison after his conviction on two charges of rape as an accomplice for his role in the 2001 marriage of an underage follower — then 14 — to her 19-year-old cousin. In July, the Utah Supreme overturned the 2007 convictions. Prosecutors there have yet to decide whether they’ll retry Jeffs. "I think this is just a step in the process," Strickland said about the arraignment. The next step for Jeffs is the pretrial hearing, scheduled for 9 a.m. Dec. 8. Jeffs is one of 12 FLDS men who have been indicted on charges that include sexual assault of a child and bigamy. Evidence against the men came from a raid on the FLDS Yearning for Zion Ranch in Schleicher County after law enforcement acted on what has now been determined to have been a hoax phone call from a woman claiming she was being abused at the ranch. Strickland said despite the similarities of the charges and the high profile of the defendant, Jeffs’ case will be treated independently of the others. "Each case is handled individually, and this one will be no different," Strickland said. Angela Goodwin, a prosecutor for the Attorney General’s Office, was present at the arraignment, but not Deputy Attorney General Eric Nichols, who will take the lead on the prosecution as he has with other trials resulting from the YFZ Ranch raid, Strickland said. Representatives for the FLDS could not be reached Wednesday. | |||
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gosanangelo.com Originally published December 1, 2010 | |||
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