| Not-guilty pleas entered for Jeffs He should have lawyer in week, he says | |
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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, had not-guilty pleas entered on his behalf by the state Wednesday as he stood silently in a Tom Green County courtroom. Jeffs stood alone at the defense table. Almost a month into his extradition to Texas and less than a month from his trial date, Jeffs has not found an attorney. Jeffs said he should have an attorney within a week. "You told me that in November," 51st District Judge Barbara Walther said. Jeffs was extradited to Texas Nov. 30. His first pretrial happened the next day on Dec. 1. Walther said that if Jeffs did not have an attorney soon, the court would appoint him one. "You do not need an attorney appointed, is that correct?" Walther said. "Yes," Jeffs replied. Jeffs said he had finished interviewing potential attorneys and hadn’t chosen one because of "circumstance beyond my control," because of his being in prison. "The court, in the interest of justice, will appoint one for you," if Jeffs can’t get counsel, Walther said. Even without counsel, the state, represented by Eric Nichols, said it was prepared to hear Jeffs’ pleas with regard to his charges. Jeffs is charged with aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault and bigamy. "We are prepared to proceed with the arraignment," Nichols said. Nichols said he spoke with Richard Wright, a Nevada attorney who has been helping Jeffs with legal counsel, but who cannot represent Jeffs in Texas. On Dec. 15, Walther asked Wright if his temporary admission to the bar had gone through, and Wright said it had not. It is unclear whether Wright ever filed an application. Wright was unavailable for questioning about the application after the hearing, and staff at his office in Nevada and at the Texas Board of Law Examiners said they could not release any information about whether the application had been filed. Nichols said Wright had told them Jeffs was informed on the arraignment process. Walther told Jeffs he could enter a plea of guilty or not guilty, and if he gave no response, the court would enter a plea of not guilty for him. Jeffs said nothing on all three charges, and Walther entered pleas of not guilty. His next court date is Jan. 5. The first trial, on the charge of aggravated sexual assault, is scheduled for Jan. 24. The trial on the charge of sexual assault is scheduled for Feb. 21, and the charge of felony bigamy is scheduled for March 14. All three charges are first-degree felonies, punishable by five to 99 years or life in prison and up to a $10,000 fine. Twelve men, including Jeffs, were indicted based on evidenced obtained from a state raid in 2008 on the FLDS Yearning for Zion Ranch. The raid was prompted by a phone call from a woman claiming she was suffering sexual abuse on the ranch. The call turned out to be a hoax. Along with boxes and boxes of evidence, law enforcement personnel took more than 400 children from the ranch, but an appellate court had them returned to their families. Jeffs is the eighth of the 12 to undergo prosecution. Sentences for those prosecuted have been from six to 75 years in prison, and the charges have principally been sexual assault of a child, but also bigamy. Several members of the FLDS were present at Wednesday’s hearing, and all of them stood when Jeffs entered the room in his jail attire. An FLDS spokesman declined to comment. | |
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gosanangelo.com Originally published December 29, 2010 | |
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