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	Judge, Lawyers Go on with Jury Selection in Jessop Trial By Trish Choate San Angelo Standard-Times October 27, 2009 http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2009/oct/26/judge-lawyers-in-jessop-trial-sift-panel-as-jury/ ELDORADO — The judge in a child sexual assault trial that is receiving media attention from as far away as England and France was optimistic late Monday that she’d be able to dismiss many of the more than 150 members of a jury panel soon after their return at 9 a.m. today. Defendant Raymond Merril Jessop is accused of sexually assaulting a child, an underage girl he is alleged to have taken as a wife. The clean-cut 38-year-old resident of the YFZ Ranch and member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints could serve two to 20 years in prison if found guilty. He watched quietly all day Monday as 51st Judicial District Judge Barbara Walther worked to move forward the selection of 12 jurors and two alternates from among 153 Schleicher County residents who answered a summons for jury duty, including 17 members of Jessop’s sect. “We’re hoping tomorrow we’re going to send most of you home,” Walther said Monday evening. She dismissed all but 36 members of the jury panel and kept defense and prosecution attorneys after 5 p.m. Monday. The judge began having quiet discussions with lawyers and members of the jury panel who had various issues that could lead to their dismissal from the pool of potential jurors. The issues? Seven FLDS sect members called for jury selection are related to Jessop, for one thing. Jessop’s is the first criminal trial to come out of the historic raid by the state authorities of the sect’s Yearning for Zion Ranch near Eldorado in April 2008. Jessop and 11 other men were indicted by a Schleicher County grand jury late last year. Many of the allegations spring from records and other evidence seized during the April 2008 raid. Walther has presided over the case from the beginning, overseeing the mass custody hearings dealing with more than 400 children authorities said were at risk of sexual abuse at the ranch and later hearing months of motions anticipating a series of prosecutions that began with Monday’s proceedings.. On Monday in a cramped space inside the Memorial Building in Eldorado, the sect members sat shoulder-to-shoulder with fellow Schleicher County residents summoned for jury duty in Jessop’s case. Cheerful curtains on the windows spoke of the room’s routine use for community events. Nearly half the 300 prospective jurors were previously excused or exempted before the day started. The prairie dresses and intricate braids of the women and the long-sleeved simple shirts and jeans of the men as well as their names made the YFZ Ranch residents stand out from their neighbors. State prosecutor Eric Nichols was first up among the attorneys to figure out prospective jurors feelings on various issues and determine if they were qualified during voir dire, the trial-within-a-trial used by jurists to settle issues that come up during court proceedings. Nichols’ question about being related to the defendant was the first expected to whittle down the panel. But no hands went up when Nichols asked if anyone was related by marriage to Jessop. Men in the sect are known to take more than one spiritual wife as part of practicing their religion. Some of the soft-spoken women had to repeat their names several times when disclosing they were related to Jessop by blood. The raid of YFZ Ranch generated international publicity, and recognizing that, Nichols decided not to ask anyone if he or she had heard about the case. Instead, he asked if anyone hadn’t. “I don’t see any hands,” Nichols said. He explained the issue wasn’t whether members of the jury panel had seen or heard anything about the FLDS but whether they could put it aside to participate in a jury. Is there anyone sitting in the panel ... that just feels like they would not be able to put whatever they’ve heard ... aside? he said. The issue is central to whether or not a jury can be seated in Schleicher County, which has a population of about 2,800 and was also the focus of relentless news reports.At least 10 people quickly volunteered that they would not be able to put the publicity aside. None of them appeared to be FLDS sect members. When Nichols asked if any members of the panel had personal, moral, philosophical or religious views that would prevent them from sitting in judgment of a person in a criminal case, a single person raised a hand. She did not appear to be a member of the FLDS. At about 2:45 p.m., voir dire began. First, 51st Judicial District Judge Barbara Walther asked some basic questions and advised the panel on certain issues such as how long all this would take. Walther told them it was like having a baby. You know its coming. You just don’t know exactly when. Upon dismissing most of the jurors, she said she felt the due date was in about two weeks. Walther has set aside two weeks for the trial. Defense attorney Mark Stevens used his time to address the potential jurors and emphasize the importance of basic legal system tenets such as being innocent until proven guilty, proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt and the letting the burden of proof rest with the prosecutors. Stevens asked questions to find out whether the potential jurors would have any conflicts to be impartial. “If this isn’t the right case for you, please tell us,” Stevens said. Stevens asked questions such as whether the issue itself of sexually abusing a child influences the potential jurors’ partiality, whether anyone had ever worked for Child Protective Services, worked for a hot line or advocacy group or whether anyone was close to a victim of sexual crime. Among other questions, Stevens asked if anyone was uncomfortable with the penalty for the crimes in question: two to 20 years in prison. Thirty-seven people said they were. Stevens also went through a list of dozens of potential witnesses one at a time and asked if anyone knew the potential witness, which was often the case. At one point, Stevens pointed up to a projected slide listing what prosecutors have to prove to win a guilty verdict. You don’t see anything about a man’s beliefs, the defense attorney said. Standard-Times Reporter Matthew Waller contributed to this report.
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