Judge Replaced in Bigamy Trial of West Texas Sect Leader

Fort Worth Star-Telegram
March 2, 2012

http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/03/01/3777311/judge-replaced-in-bigamy-trial.html

The West Texas judge who has presided over the investigation and trials of a polygamist sect has been replaced for this month's bigamy trial of a former lieutenant to sect leader Warren Jeffs.

In a terse court order, the presiding judge of the 7th Administrative Judicial Region ordered senior Judge Robert Moore of Big Spring to replace state District Judge Barbara Walther for the trial of Wendell Loy Nielsen, the San Angelo Standard-Times reported.

The order gave no reason for the change, and Walther declined to comment, the newspaper reported.

Nielsen, 71, ex-president of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, renounced a plea deal in November and said he'd go to trial on three counts of felony bigamy. He is accused of marrying three women in 2005.

Last month, Walther moved his trial from San Angelo to Midland. It is set to begin March 21.

Walther has presided over all of the FLDS trials. Sect attorneys have repeatedly asked that she be replaced, accusing her of bias against sect members. Walther signed the search warrants that led to the April 2008 raid on the Yearning For Zion ranch near Eldorado.