FLDS Hearing before Grand Jury a Slow Grind Seven Women Spent 40 Minutes Each before Jury; Panel Will Meet Again on July 22 As Probe Continues, by Brooke Adams, Salt Lake Tribune, June 26, 2008

FLDS Hearing before Grand Jury a 'Slow Grind'
Seven Women Spent 40 Minutes Each before Jury; Panel Will Meet Again on July 22 As Probe Continues

By Brooke Adams
Salt Lake Tribune
June 26, 2008

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_9697255

ELDORADO, Texas - Seven FLDS women made brief appearances Wednesday before a Texas grand jury that ended the day without issuing any indictments.

But the panel's work is not over: The jury will meet again on July 22 as a criminal investigation into the polygamous sect continues.

The women went one-by-one before the jury in the afternoon and spent about the same amount of time - roughly 40 minutes - inside the Schleicher County Courthouse, which was cordoned off by crime scene tape and heavily guarded by state troopers throughout the proceedings.

The last FLDS witness to testify was 16-year-old Teresa Jeffs, who broke up the monotony of the wait by climbing a towering live oak tree outside the building and perched on a branch about 30 feet off the ground.

Alan Futrell, a San Antonio criminal attorney representing Jeffs, afterward called the process a "slow grind" and "emotional" but said "everybody appears to be doing their job with a minimum of contentiousness."

Asked how his client fared, Futrell said, "If I was 16, whoosh, I'd like to go home and take a nap."

Also summoned to testify: attorney Natalie Malonis, who represents the teenager in the state's child custody action against the sect. The lawyer, who arrived at about 9 a.m., was the last witness of the day.

Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran, center, stands at the Schleicher County Courthouse on Wednesday. A grand jury met to hear evidence of possible crimes involving FLDS members from the YFZ Ranch
Photo by Trent Nelson

Jeffs wants Malonis disqualified as her attorney and on Wednesday the two kept their distance from one another.

Identities of other witnesses who appeared before the jury, which apparently consists of five women and seven men, are not known. Sam Brower, a private investigator from Utah, spent the day at the courthouse but it is unclear whether he was there to accompany Malonis or as a witness.

The FLDS women arrived at the courthouse at 8 a.m., and spent most of the day clustered in a parking lot or on the grass lawn with their attorneys. Dozens of state troopers strolled the grounds, as did a sheriff's office photographer who relentlessly snapped shots of the witnesses, media and other onlookers.

Futrell said no one was held in contempt during the proceedings but said he did not know whether the Texas Attorney General's Office, which is handling the criminal investigation, had offered the women immunity for testifying. Such offers, which would be needed from both the state and federal government since both are pursuing investigations of the FLDS, are typically offered to encourage witnesses to testify without fear of prosecution.

That may be an issue for the women if the prosecution is considering charges based on polygamy, bigamy or failure to protect.

A witness who has not been offered full immunity may assert their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. But if a witness has been offered immunity and still refuses to testify, prosecutors may seek a contempt-of-court charge.

Brad Haralson, a San Angelo attorney who represents an FLDS woman, had even less to offer about how the day went: "I can't say a thing," he said.

The criminal probe is running parallel to a child welfare investigation into treatment of children by sect members, who were living at the Yearning for Zion Ranch in Eldorado. The ranch is home to members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

The state proceeding comes nearly three months after Texas Child Protective Services and law enforcement raided the ranch to investigate a call for help now considered a hoax.

But state authorities removed about 440 children from the ranch after observing what they characterized as a "pervasive pattern" of sexual abuse of young girls. The state returned the children to their parents after two higher courts found 51st District Judge Barbara Walther lacked sufficient evidence to keep them in custody.

Many of the girls identified by the state initially as abused minors were later found to be adult women, but Texas authorities continue to investigate sexual abuse of other girls married to older men.

Authorities gathered thousands of pages of documents in their sweep of the ranch that may be used to show underage marriages. They also collected about 600 DNA samples from ranch residents to link children to parents.

An Arizona investigator also has gathered Utah birth certificates for use by Texas officials, according to Jeff Duncan, director of the Utah Office of Vital Statistics.

But the women's testimony is expected to be key - if they give it. FLDS spokesman Willie Jessop previously said the women called as witnesses are being asked to choose between their children and their husbands, their freedom and their faith. In 2006, FLDS members summoned in an Arizona grand jury investigation of Warren Jeffs, refused to testify and ended up being jailed for contempt.

Contact: brooke@sltrib.com