Posted on 06/02/2008 3:48:58 PM PDT by hocndoc
ELDORADO, Texas -- Hours after signing an order releasing FLDS children from state custody, 51st District Judge Barbara Walther arrived at the Schleicher County Courthouse in Eldorado to swear in a grand jury that may be considering indictments related to the polygamous sect.
By the end of the day, 18 indictments had been issued, although no details were immediately available. The number was more than the usual; it is more typical for five to 15 indictments to be returned, a court clerk said.
Walther arrived at at the Eldorado courthouse at 12:30 p.m., accompanied by two bailiffs and her court clerk. She left an hour later.
Allison Palmer, the deputy district attorney for Tom Green County who has been leading the office's investigation into the sect and appearing at related hearings, also was at the courthouse.
Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran was unavailable earlier in the day because he was meeting with the DA's office, a spokeswoman said.
In a story published Saturday by The Los Angeles Times, Doran indicated criminal charges were pending, while downplaying reports that FLDS members had requested voter registration forms and could influence county elections.
"Once we begin impaneling some grand juries and the criminal case comes to light, we'll see the tide turn once again," he said.
It could be days before the focus of any of Monday's indictments are known; the county's policy is not to release information about indictments until they are served.
News of the grand jury's meeting circulated among members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, creating concern about returning to their homes on the YFZ Ranch.
A raid of the ranch that began April 3 led to the removal of some 450 children, who were eventually placed in shelters throughout Texas. Walther signed an order on Monday morning that allowed them to be returned to their parents immediately.
Last week, Arizona and Texas authorities collected DNA samples from Warren S. Jeffs, the sect's leader. He is jailed in Kingman, Ariz., awaiting trial on charges related to marriages he conducted between underage girls and older men.
The search warrant said the evidence was needed as part of a new investigation of four spiritual marriages between Jeffs and girls who range in age from 12 to 15.
In Texas, the Attorney General's Office is awaiting results from 599 DNA samples collected six weeks ago, mostly from FLDS adults and children living at the YFZ Ranch, located just outside Eldorado.
nothing to see here - move along
Deserved, I’m sure. However, when will we see the indictments against some of the judges, CS personnel, and the sherrif that should stem from this case?
Wow. For two months, I have said 10 indictments, and out of that 3 prosecutable cases, and ending with one conviction containing multiple charges.
So, I got the number of indictments wrong, so far.
And, the children are being returned slowly, as I guessed they would be.
Everything seems to be preceding normally. Due Process, in action.
I don’t know how this will affect the future of the FLDS in general. I hope it is for the best.
I got nothing against charging people with crimes, if their is evidence that they comitted them.
On the other hand...snatching kids and ADULTS, in violation of federal and TX law, is also a crime.
Do you think a single CPS worker will be charged with kidnapping, in the case of the 27-yo they kidnapped?
It is a federal death-penalty crime.
The other foot is about to drop, even as the FLDS tries to sign up all of its voting-age members to vote in the next election so that they can take over El Dorado, just like Hildale and Colorado City.
You're not spouting the crazy non-sense that Texas officials should be executed by the federal government too are you?
18 indictments? Gee.
Well, maybe. Or Maybe the DA is doing a bit of CYA.
Ping
Good thing I read the thread...since my first reaction was:
When will we hear about indictments against the officer requesting the initial warrant, the judge, and the kidnapping CPS folks?
And the DNA reports began coming in, too.
http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2008/jun/02/flds-children-heading-home-today/
While orders might have been vacated, no crimes were committed by the judge or the Texas Rangers and local Sheriff who carried out the orders.
There’s going to be a mess figuring out who lives where and that definition of “household” is still not settled.
In the meantime, that last article from the San Angelo paper notes that the lawyer for one of the girls - the 16 year old daughter of Warren Jeffs - asked the judge to stay the return of one of her clients, who the lawyer has identified as a victim of sexual abuse. She may go back tomorrow, but the lawyer is asking for stricter conditions.
>> The other foot is about to drop
Is this one jack-booted? Like the first one was?
Nah...sounds like the perfectly reasonable law-and-order response, asking for all to be punished by the same standards.
Like h*ll, IMO.
Yes, the government lawyer... Who is acting against her client's wishes... And who released her client's name to the world as a sexual-abuse victim.
Nope - I am perfectly willing to charge them INDIVIDUALLY, allow them to mount an INDIVIDUAL defense, find them INDIVIDUALLY guilty, and then hang them, INDIVIDUALLY.
Which is more than they offered the crazies in Eldorado.
No one released anyone’s name. Remember, most of the women go by their own names. It’s not a given that the children take on the father’s name, since there’s no real marriage under state law.
“and that definition of “household” is still not settled.
“
Nonsense - see item VI of the order. The last sentence defines “Household.”
Don’t forget that when Willie Jessop told all the women to stay sweet and cooperate, they willing got on those buses.
Also not tru - the girl in question is clearly identified in the order (they neglected to blank out her name).
I don’t think the 27-yo had a choice.
KIDNAPPING.
Does anyone else find it ironic that they are in Tom Green County? (Anyone remember that famous polygamist?)
So the sect says FROM THIS POINT, it will restrict marrying underage girls. So they are admitting they are raping children???
As I have said before, ALL THE ADULTS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR NOT STOPPING CHILD RAPE.
Oh this is the nimrod that went on Jerry Springer bragging about his five wives. Then Utah decided to prosecute him for “marrying” his 13 year old stepdaughter. He had 33 children with his five ‘wives’ and got welfare and food stamps for all.
Loser,sicko, and deserves his jail sentence.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/08/28/national/main520012.shtml
So your claim is that they just gave her a name that matched her father's, and they made it up?
Indictments? I hope they lead to convictions. That said there was no excuse for trampling the rights of the whole FLDS cult.
I wonder how many of these once in court are dependent on evidence found from the first warrant or the other warrants that came out of it. Thanks to the failure to get a good warrant most of this could git tossed.
Possibly they are hoping to run the cases after the election and then quietly drop them
So is it your opinion then, that the brides and the parents who give them permission to marry, should be arrested as accessories and co-conspirators as well?
Cause all I see are people calling for the MEN to be charged, even though the women, 14+ know that it's illegal for the people they're marrying to be married to more than one person and what the age to marry is. If they're old enough to be married they're old enough to deal the consequenses of it as well.
Patton's right.
The woman showed birth certificate and drivers license...and they still took her away. Don't tell me that guys in body armor, toting automatic weapons and riding in a tank Armored Personnel Carrier, don't give weight to this being coerced compliance.
And so we have supposedly competent professionals...allegedly experts...handling this case. and they can't tell the difference between a 27-year-old and a 16-year-old (at best)?!? Seems to me there's no way we can blame a child molester for failing to identify his underage victims, if these professionals can't tell the difference!
It's obvious that they just didn't care about rights...that their arrogance led them to believe that they would get away with it. And, in fact, they are getting away with a lot more than they should.
Can you imagine if a nursing 27-year-old mother were snatched off the street in Manhattan and carried away to where she was held against her will...wouldn't it provoke outrage and get covered to death by the media? Well, then, where are the muckraking reports on all of the abuses against these people?
Will you care when it happens to you, hocndoc?
So is it your opinion then, that the brides and the parents who give them permission to marry, should be arrested as accessories and co-conspirators as well?
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Not the brides that are underage, but yes, all others who sat by while this happened.
Why? They know that they're breaking the law. Why should they not face the consequences of breaking the law like everyone else?
Oh good, I got one right.
Off topic, but do have any idea why the korean workmen at my house today kept laughing, every time I yelled at my dog, Kaygoki?
Now I agree. They acted like it was a standoff.
I agree that child rape is WRONG and all involved should be punished, but to kidnap adults is also wrong. And very frightening.
OH that’s just retarded and I won’t even comment on the stupidity.
Do you seriously contend that at 14+ years old, a girl doesn't know that it's only legal for 1 man to marry one woman and anything else is illegal?
Or that criminals shouldn't be prosecuted? Why shouldn't they? Because they're underage or because they're female?
Do you seriously contend that at 14+ years old, a girl doesn’t know that it’s only legal for 1 man to marry one woman and anything else is illegal? ‘
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I seriously contend a 14 year old girl who is a CHILD should not be held legally responsible as of yet. Period. My kids know things are WRONG and even illegal, but I don’t think they should go to prison.
Thousands of crimes happen in this country every single day without prison being the result. But why should these children who are about to do some VERY adult things, get off scot-free? It just shows them that breaking the law has no consequences and encourages the next breaking of the law.
Check out the requirements for a Texas Driver License or Identification Certificate. They’ll have to prove residency to register to vote. It might not be that easy for some of them:
http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/administration/driver_licensing_control/identificationrequirements.htm
Note: revised 5/20/08
I doubt many if any are for the FLDS in regards to criminal acts. For one thing it hasn’t been that long and just recently there was an article quoting one of the DAs that they were still going through the some 400 boxes of material gathered during the raid.
I doubt they’ve had time to finish that process, organize it into some sort of case structure, decide which things they want to persue first, etc. etc. etc.....
Now all that speculation on my part isn’t worth a cup of coffee but just my thoughts at this stage. I’ve been wrong a bunch in this case and I suspect I’ll be wrong a bunch more times before it’s over with.
Ri-Dic-U-Lous.
Thanks for the debate.
There’s going to be a mess figuring out who lives where and that definition of “household” is still not settled.
It may not be settled but the judge issue her definition of it in her ‘vacating order’ in the last few sentences of item no. VI.
uh huh
Good for her..
You were yelling
BAD CAT
LOL, not quite. I gotta admit, the old Korean construction supervisor acted like it was the funniest thing he had heard in weeks.
Hear, hear. Government is corrupt and incompetent by its very nature! This incident also brings to mind the famous C.S. Lewis quote:
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience."
I was looking for that qoute - which essay is it from?
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