Depositions scheduled for FLDS officials
 
By Paul A. Anthony
San Angelo Standard-Times
 
A top leader of the YFZ Ranch and the most public defender of the polygamous sect housed there will testify under oath in Schleicher County beginning today.

Lawyer Natalie Malonis, the lightning-rod attorney for imprisoned sect leader Warren Jeffs' now 17-year-old daughter, will take sworn depositions from:
  • Merril Jessop, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints elder who has managed the ranch since Jeffs was imprisoned in 2006.

  • Willie Jessop, a sect member who has served as its spokesman since a state raid in April.
The depositions - scheduled for today and Monday - are designed to get a better idea of the FLDS' financial situation in Texas, Malonis said.

"I think there are things that can be done to support this family," said Malonis, a Denton family law attorney, mentioning the possibility of a court-ordered trust fund for the girl as she is set to turn 18 in July. "It doesn't hurt to have options."

Court documents allege the girl was 15 when Jeffs ordered her to marry one of Merril Jessop's sons, who was 34 at the time. Jessop and the son, Raymond Jessop, have been indicted by a Schleicher County grand jury on charges related to underage marriage, which the state alleges was prevalent at the sect's YFZ Ranch.

Willie Jessop, who is not closely related to Merril Jessop's family, has been accused by Malonis throughout the case of attempting to intimidate the girl into being uncooperative with Malonis and authorities. Those allegations led to a restraining order being issued at Malonis' request against the girl's mother, Annette Jeffs, that ordered her to keep her daughter away from Jessop.

The case has been one of the most explosive of the many to arise out of the joint raid between the state's Child Protective Services agency and the Texas Rangers - thanks in large part to FLDS efforts to remove Malonis, who was appointed by 51st District Judge Barbara Walther at the case's outset.

Malonis subpoenaed the men at a criminal pretrial hearing Jan. 12 in Eldorado, and Walther ruled in a last-minute hearing Wednesday that the depositions could go on as scheduled.

In initial responses filed by Merril Jessop's criminal attorney, Amy Hennington of San Angelo, she argues neither man is a party to the case and the depositions constitute harassment. In further filings requesting a delay of the depositions until February, Hennington said she would not be available today or Monday.

In her motion to compel the men's testimony, Malonis said attorneys for the mother, Annette Jeffs, had listed them as potential witnesses in a trial scheduled for March.

"Once somebody told us they had us as a witness, we were more than happy to comply," Hennington said. "Then it was just my issue."

Hennington, though not Willie Jessop's attorney, said she will appear on behalf of his Utah attorneys.

The case has mystified observers and lawyers on all sides, who note the girl's age and question whether CPS truly intends to take the matter to trial just four months before the state would be required to release her.

"I can't imagine the state would be asking to take her into custody," Malonis said. "I really don't know what they want. My goal is a little bit different."

CPS spokesman Patrick Crimmins declined to comment on the state's thinking in the case beyond what has been filed in court. Because the girl has not been taken into temporary custody, CPS has not been required to file public notice of its intentions.

Malonis has been the focus of virulent criticism from the sect's supporters for her refusal to give up the girl's case despite the girl's own letters to Walther and interviews to the media saying she wanted a new attorney. The effort to remove her, and her ultimately successful bid to remain, created some of the most tense and bizarre moments of the sprawling child-custody case.

The state removed 439 children from the ranch during the raid that began April 3. All but 13 have since been returned to the unrestricted custody of their parents despite a CPS report that alleges 274 children were victims of abuse or neglect at the ranch. One - a 14-year-old girl court documents allege was married to Jeffs at age 12 - remains in state custody, with a trial date set for September to determine custody.

The sect, based along the Utah-Arizona border, has been financed largely from the United Effort Plan trust, which has been taken over by a Utah court and placed in the hands of a caretaker after allegations that FLDS leaders siphoned money for such possible uses as building the YFZ Ranch.

The alleged role of the trust in the ranch's construction is the focus of multiple investigations. It's something on which Malonis said she will focus to determine whether the sect attempted to set up a similar trust in Texas and whether a court should order an individual trust set up for the girl's use after she turns 18.

"It's not so much giving her protection as a minor," Malonis said, "as giving her opportunities as she approaches adulthood."

Malonis said Walther will make herself available by phone to rule during the depositions - particularly to compel testimony if the men plead the Fifth Amendment, which does not protect against self-incrimination in a civil case.
 
gosanangelo.com
Originally published Friday, January 23, 2009
 
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