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	Length of Warren Jeffs Trial Is Not Known By Matthew Waller San Angelo Standard-Times July 31, 2011 http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2011/jul/31/length-of-trial-is-not-known/ SAN ANGELO, Texas — All bets are off as to when the Warren Jeffs trial might end, and what exactly may happen next. Original estimates from one of Jeffs' previous defense attorneys put the length of the trial at a month. Then Special Prosecutor Eric Nichols said the guilt or innocence phase of the child sexual assault trial of Jeffs, 55, the head and spiritual leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, could come to a close as early as Tuesday. However, he said that before Jeffs began constantly interrupting, objecting and giving speeches that lasted almost an hour. What the prosecution has done thus far is to establish venue, where a crime takes place. "You'll be hearing a good deal about each and every one of these elements" of the alleged crime, one of which is venue, Nichols told the jury in his opening statement. The prosecution has established the ages and identity of the people in the case, the girls who were 12 and 15 years old at the time Jeffs allegedly assaulted them in 2005 and 2006. Then documents were introduced that came from the April 2008 raid on the FLDS Yearning for Zion Ranch in Schleicher County, a raid begun by what is believed to have been a hoax call from a woman claiming abuse at the ranch. Law enforcement collected hundreds of boxes of evidence from homes and the FLDS temple after seeing minors who were pregnant during their search for the caller. With church records stating that the alleged victims lived at the ranch, and with blueprints to homes on the ranch that had the names of girls written over certain rooms, the state is trying to prove that the alleged crimes happened in Schleicher County, as the indictment states they did. The introduction of these documents set off Jeffs' oratorical flights, and there is a doubt as to whether Judge Barbara Walther will allow his disrupting objection speeches. "If he continues to act out, misbehave, she will say, 'OK, that's enough,' and nobody knows when that will be," said Patrick Metze, an associate professor and director of criminal clinics at the Texas Tech Law School. "It depends on her patience and his behavior." The prosecution has applied for trial subpoenas for 78 women from the YFZ Ranch, some of whom are said to be Jeffs' plural wives. The FLDS sanctions polygamous marriage, having split with the mainstream Mormon church in the 1800s, in part over the issue. A DNA expert who has testified in previous criminal trials of FLDS members is listed in an application for a trial subpoena. Jeffs allegedly fathered a child through the 15-year-old girl. The prosecution could also play the audio recording of the alleged assault on the 12-year-old girl, recovered from the car in which Jeffs was found when arrested in 2006. Also ahead, a former FLDS member, Rebecca Musser, may testify about the importance of church records in the FLDS. One of Jeffs' former defense attorney asked each prospective juror whether he or she knew Musser. They all said they did not.
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