http://gosanangelo.com/news/2009/jan/23/breaking-news-sect-leaders-fifth-pleadings-to-be/
Excerpt
Even after eight hours in a Schleicher County courtroom, the deposition of YFZ Ranch leader Merril Jessop may not be over.
Attorneys for the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Later-Day Saints elder and his alleged teenage daughter-in-law will argue in court Monday over whether Jessop should be able to plead Fifth Amendment protection to a series of questions regarding the polygamous sect's financial structure.
"There are quite a few (answers) that are in controversy," said Natalie Malonis, the Denton attorney representing a 17-year-old daughter of FLDS leader Warren Jeffs. "He answered some of it. I hope that on Monday when we have our hearing, (the judge) will compel answers."
51st District Judge Barbara Walther set the hearing, Malonis said, after compelling testimony in a 30-minute telephone proceeding on some efforts by Jessop to plead the Fifth, which protects witnesses from being forced to give answers under oath that could incriminate them.
The sect's own documents describe the girl as having been married to Jessop's 36-year-old son. Jessop, 72, has been indicted by a Schleicher County grand jury on charges of orchestrating an illegal marriage ceremony involving a different underage girl.
Malonis said she has not contested all of Jessop's Fifth Amendment pleadings, but that she asked Walther to compel testimony on questions of the sect's finances.
"He may be the only person who can answer that information," she said.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Depositions scheduled for FLDS officials
http://gosanangelo.com/news/2009/jan/22/breaking-news-depositions-scheduled-for-flds/
Excerpt
Lawyer Natalie Malonis, the lightning-rod attorney for imprisoned sect leader Warren Jeffs' now-17-year-old daughter, has subpoenaed:
* Merril Jessop, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints elder believed to have run the ranch since Jeffs was imprisoned
* Willie Jessop, a sect member who has served as its spokesman since a state raid in April
The depositions - scheduled for Friday and Monday - were confirmed by the Tom Green County District Clerk's Office. Copies of the subpoenas and subsequent motions to quash them, rejected Wednesday by 51st District Judge Barbara Walther, were not immediately available.
Court documents allege the girl was 15 when Jeffs allowed her to be married to 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 the underage marriage the state alleges was prevalent at the sect's YFZ Ranch.
Willie Jessop, of no close relation 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 against the girl's mother, Annette Jeffs, that ordered her to keep her daughter away from Jessop.
Excerpt
Lawyer Natalie Malonis, the lightning-rod attorney for imprisoned sect leader Warren Jeffs' now-17-year-old daughter, has subpoenaed:
* Merril Jessop, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints elder believed to have run the ranch since Jeffs was imprisoned
* Willie Jessop, a sect member who has served as its spokesman since a state raid in April
The depositions - scheduled for Friday and Monday - were confirmed by the Tom Green County District Clerk's Office. Copies of the subpoenas and subsequent motions to quash them, rejected Wednesday by 51st District Judge Barbara Walther, were not immediately available.
Court documents allege the girl was 15 when Jeffs allowed her to be married to 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 the underage marriage the state alleges was prevalent at the sect's YFZ Ranch.
Willie Jessop, of no close relation 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 against the girl's mother, Annette Jeffs, that ordered her to keep her daughter away from Jessop.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
State still seeks custody of sect's 14-year-old bride
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/metro/6197746.html
Excerpts
A fight for the custody of the 14-year-old bride of jailed polygamist leader Warren Jeffs could be heating up, according to a document filed in West Texas over the holidays.
The girl is the only child still in foster care who was among the 439 children taken by CPS last spring from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints ranch in Eldorado.
And the teen could remain in foster care permanently, her parents' rights severed, which could free her up for adoption, if her mother does not assure the agency that she can provide a safe home, one where the girl is not married to another man.
A Texas Child Protective Services progress report on the case, filed Dec. 22, reveals the agency's frustrated attempts to persuade the teen's mother, Barbara Jessop, to cooperate with them by assuring them her daughter would not be involved in other marriages.
The agency indicated it now wants permanent custody of the girl.
State seeks reunited family
"Ms. Jessop has not been able to identify how she will be able to protect (her daughter) from future abuse," the progress report, filed in San Angelo, reads.
-----------------------------------
In previous filings, CPS officials have presented records, including excerpts from Jeffs' journals, that indicate the girl was married to Jeffs when she was 12 years old. Jeffs is the jailed leader of the FLDS, a breakaway Mormon sect that practices polygamy.
Those records indicated that the marriage ceremony was performed by the teen's father, Frederick Merril Jessop, considered Jeffs' second-in-command, and witnessed by the girl's mother, the third of Jessop's six wives.
A status hearing, allowing all parties to meet on the teen's case, is scheduled for Thursday in San Angelo.
Excerpts
A fight for the custody of the 14-year-old bride of jailed polygamist leader Warren Jeffs could be heating up, according to a document filed in West Texas over the holidays.
The girl is the only child still in foster care who was among the 439 children taken by CPS last spring from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints ranch in Eldorado.
And the teen could remain in foster care permanently, her parents' rights severed, which could free her up for adoption, if her mother does not assure the agency that she can provide a safe home, one where the girl is not married to another man.
A Texas Child Protective Services progress report on the case, filed Dec. 22, reveals the agency's frustrated attempts to persuade the teen's mother, Barbara Jessop, to cooperate with them by assuring them her daughter would not be involved in other marriages.
The agency indicated it now wants permanent custody of the girl.
State seeks reunited family
"Ms. Jessop has not been able to identify how she will be able to protect (her daughter) from future abuse," the progress report, filed in San Angelo, reads.
-----------------------------------
In previous filings, CPS officials have presented records, including excerpts from Jeffs' journals, that indicate the girl was married to Jeffs when she was 12 years old. Jeffs is the jailed leader of the FLDS, a breakaway Mormon sect that practices polygamy.
Those records indicated that the marriage ceremony was performed by the teen's father, Frederick Merril Jessop, considered Jeffs' second-in-command, and witnessed by the girl's mother, the third of Jessop's six wives.
A status hearing, allowing all parties to meet on the teen's case, is scheduled for Thursday in San Angelo.
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