The Yearning For Zion Ranch trial begins today and will be the first of 10 criminal trials for men in the sect. The state claims FLDS members prey on their children by marrying girls to older men, often their blood relatives while FLDS leaders and members claim the state is persecuting it for practicing its religion.
Jessop, 37, has pleaded not guilty to the charge of sexual assault of a minor, a second-degree felony punishable by two to 20 years in prison. Defense attorneys have launched a variety of actions since the April 2008 raid, among them motions earlier this year to have the evidence seized at the ranch suppressed, arguing that the original search warrant was flawed, and in the past week a 25-page consolidated motion to have the original indictments against all the men quashed because of the 12 grand jury members only one was Hispanic, although the population of Schleicher County includes more than 37 percent Hispanic people.
One name on the witness list is John P. “Jack” Sampson, a University of Texas law professor who said Friday he had been called as an expert witness on Texas family code provisions regarding marriages. Other witnesses on the list include numerous law enforcement officers, officials from the Department of Family and Protective Services, former sect member and author Carolyn Jessop, three sect members from the YFZ Ranch, a Denton attorney, forensic accounting experts and clerks from check cashing stores.
Excerpted from gosanangelo.com.
