Warren Jeffs to return to Schleicher County TX to face charges

[twomanywords]

Interesting that even though the jury had probably made up their mind rather quickly, they did their job and went over the evidence, even though it was SICKENING!
Thats what good jurors do....

 

[Steely Dan]

http://www.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/08/04/texas.polygamist.jeffs/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

Jury finds Warren Jeffs guilty of sexual assault
By the CNN Wire Staff
August 4, 2011 6:10 p.m. EDT

San Angelo, Texas (CNN) -- A Texas jury found polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs guilty Thursday of two counts of sexual assault on a child.

Jeffs, who represented himself, remained stoic as the verdict was read. Jurors will deliberate again in the sentencing phase. The sect leader could face up to life in prison.

Jurors deliberated for less than four hours, beginning Thursday afternoon after Jeffs stood silently for most of his 30-minute closing argument.

It was the latest dramatic twist in a trial that has included sermon-like speeches about religious freedom and an audio recording that prosecutors allege documents Jeffs' sexual assault of a 12-year-old girl in the presence of three other "wives."...

Thank God, this guy is slime.

 

[Steely Dan]

If this is inappropriate please remove the post mods but it is true.

If you read the book [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Under-Banner-Heaven-Story-Violent/dp/1400032806/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1312497364&sr=1-1"]Amazon.com: Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith (9781400032808): Jon Krakauer: Books@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/510E2NQ2YXL.@@AMEPARAM@@510E2NQ2YXL[/ame] what Warren Jeffs was doing is close to what Joseph Smith wanted in the church. This is why JS is played down and Brigham Young is played up.

Smith was tarred and feathered by a town for having relations with a fifteen year old farmers daughter. A doctor was going to castrate him but chickened out. Smith, who claimed to get his directions from God himself, said that polygamy is ok but the vast majority of followers were disgusted by that.

 

[wenwe4]

I am anxiously awaiting what the penalty phase witnesses have to say....the jury has been hearing their testimonies since they returned from their 30 minute break nearly 2 hours ago. I heard on HLN some speculation that the penalty phase testimony could take today through 8pm tonight and through tomorrow. I am not sure how accurate this info is but would love to know what is being said in that courtroom right now.

 

[Searchfortruth]

It's so good to see justice work !

 

[fifteen89]

The jurors here actually looked at the evidence, unlike some others we know

Whoo hoo! Texas knows how to do it! :great:

Ita, my husband just said " Well, at least, Texas knows how to take care of business."

He has been almost as upset with the FCA verdict as most of us.

Let ALL the truth be told in the penalty phase.

Interesting that even though the jury had probably made up their mind rather quickly, they did their job and went over the evidence, even though it was SICKENING!
Thats what good jurors do....

ICAM. I was a bit worried when they asked to hear one of the tapes again....thinking OMG we have another jury wanting to see a videotape of the defendant. I'm grateful they were able to connect the dots in this case and follow the prosecutions case unlike some jurors in Florida.

 

[Smelly Squirrel]

Finally! The spotlight needs to continue to shine on this cult so that all the criminal activity is completely exposed and dismantled. It is beyond atrocious what has been allowed to go on within this community.

Can anybody say whether those girls are still being abused? Is that bed still in the temple and being used?

(love your avatar, Leah)

 

[Leah0107]

I think someone should take jumbo tron screens and place them all around the compound and play and replay the GUILTY verdict and all the trial news, commentaries, former members, female judge and female jurors over and over 24/7 so these people can see what is really going on.
Additionally, they should drop thousands of leaflets into the compound grounds exposing the TRUTH of what is going on inside the compound, (i.e., the abuse, the lies, the coverup, ways to leave, contact info if they want to leave, etc.) LETS make a list. This is what they do in war zones like Iraq and Afghanistan. I'd say this qualifies as a war zone!

ps. I don't know who 'they' is!

 

[Bullwinkle]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htUpVC3-Xqw"]Jeffs guilty on two counts of aggravated sexual assault[/ame]​

By the way, I've started a new thread about a documentary that explains the real story behind this case: [ame="http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=146438"]Colorado City and the Underground Railroad - FLDS documentary by Mike Watkiss[/ame]

 

[Smelly Squirrel]

If this is inappropriate please remove the post mods but it is true.

what Warren Jeffs was doing is close to what Joseph Smith wanted in the church. This is why JS is played down and Brigham Young is played up.

Smith was tarred and feathered by a town for having relations with a fifteen year old farmers daughter. A doctor was going to castrate him but chickened out. Smith, who claimed to get his directions from God himself, said that polygamy is ok but the vast majority of followers were disgusted by that.

Not sure what you mean by JS being played down (by who?) Young had more wives than JS and also married some young teens.

I do agree JS was all for the multiple wives thing (not sure about the public sexual assault and group "training" by Jeffs) and I would say, like Jeffs, Smith used his religion and made up rules mostly to benefit himself and his male friends, including getting more and more wives of whatever age. (Smith's first wife wasn't too keen on the extra wives, so Smith had a "revelation" that God said Emma better go along with it or else.)

 

[Smelly Squirrel]

Christie Paul is crying right now on HLN. I think she's trying to compose herself.

I didn't see that but I fallen for Paul during coverage of this case. It's been a difficult one to cover but she's done so very professionally. It obviously pained her to talk about the details but she didn't go for the cheap theatrics of NG or JVM.

I would be a plural hubby to Paul if she'd have me. PM me, Christi! :bananajump:

 

[Steely Dan]

Not sure what you mean by JS being played down (by who?) Young had more wives than JS and also married some young teens.

I do agree JS was all for the multiple wives thing (not sure about the public sexual assault and group "training" by Jeffs) and I would say, like Jeffs, Smith used his religion and made up rules mostly to benefit himself and his male friends, including getting more and more wives of whatever age. (Smith's first wife wasn't too keen on the extra wives, so Smith had a "revelation" that God said Emma better go along with it or else.)

Where did you get your info that Young had multiple wives? I recall differently. Also what I mean by play down is that they don't publicize him much. It's called Brigham Young University and not Joseph Smith University.

 

[Bullwinkle]

Where did you get your info that Young had multiple wives? I recall differently.

Here's a source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brigham_Young#Family_life

Young was a polygamist, marrying a total of 55 wives, 54 of them after he converted to become a Latter Day Saint...By the time of his death, Young had 56 children by 16 of his wives; 46 of his children reached adulthood.

Sources have varied on the number of Young's wives, due to differences in what scholars have considered to be a "wife". There were 55 women that Young was sealed to during his lifetime. While the majority of the sealings were "for eternity", some were "for time only". Researchers believe that not all of the 55 marriages were conjugal. Young did not live with a number of his wives or publicly hold them out as wives, which has led to confusion on the number and identities. This is in part due to the complexity of how wives were identified in the Mormon society at the time. If a woman was married and her husband died, she often married another man in proxy of her former husband. All of her resulting children were considered fathered by her late husband. For a time women had themselves "sealed" to men without the men knowing about it.

Of Young's 55 wives, 21 had never been married before; 16 were widows; six were divorced; six had living husbands; and the marital status of six others are unknown.

 

[Bullwinkle]

Here's a study of current American polygamous families: http://principlevoices.org/diversity-of-fundamentalist-mormons

 

[Smelly Squirrel]

Where did you get your info that Young had multiple wives? I recall differently. Also what I mean by play down is that they don't publicize him much. It's called Brigham Young University and not Joseph Smith University.

Who's they? Smith is the founder of their religion, he wrote ("translated") their Book of Mormon. If someone is introducing you to Mormonism you will hear a lot about Smith long before you hear anything about Young.

 

[Smelly Squirrel]

Saw AG Abbott on In Session today and he was asked about the children at the ranch today, and he said they are confident this kind of abuse has ended, that CPS is monitoring, and that they have convicted 8 men now and more to to come. It's possible women who participated in abuse may be prosecuted, that the entire case and investigation is an ongoing process.

He also said that during the penalty phase we will hear even worse "atrocities" by Jeffs than we've heard yet. They will be going over his history since he became FLDS leader.

 

[Bullwinkle]

Yesterday on Twitter, a reporter named Katy Vine tweeted: "Here's what prosecutor said he'd like to introduce in punishment phase: 78 illegal marriages (24 of which were to underage brides), 67 marriages he performed between men and underage girls; 500 bigamous marriages facilitated, encouraged; 6 instances of "illegal sexual conduct" involving individuals; in excess of 60 instances in which Jeffs engaged in breaking up 300 families, releasing "unworthy" wives; expelling young men; conduct that reveals contempt for "the laws of man"; testimony that he abused his authority that harmed educational and social lives of FLDS. Prosecutor says it'll take 2 days. Warren Jeffs was consulting his stand-by counsel at end of day and judge called recess until 10:00 tomorrow morning. Jeffs seemed unclear what was ahead. "I object. There must be a work that allows me to understand...court procedure."

Jeffs has "been removed" from the courtroom while his attorneys are presenting his defense in the penalty phase.

You can follow the latest about the case here: http://twitter.com/#!/search/realtime/Warrenjeffs

 

[CathyinTexas]

Never said it was but due process is. While there is no 'presumption of innocence' spelled out per se, in the 6th amendment, the law does require that the state prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt and until such a time that they do so the law requires that the defendent be presumed innocent. It is a legal right of anyone accused of a crime in the United States of America.


Its nice that you 'know' these things, but it doesnt matter what you or anyone else 'knows', what matters in our system of jurisprudence is whether the state can prove it beyond a reasonable doubt. For example, in the case Florida v Casey Anthony, the state failed miserably in that regard and as a result the jury acquitted the defendant in short order, and rightfully so.


I recall a lot of people 'knowing' the earth was flat at one time and that it was the center of the universe too so its a good thing that we dont depend on that when it comes to taking away people's freedom and liberty otherwise there would be a lot more innocent people locked up in our prisons than there already is.


I would guess that the state will be more successful in the prosecution of Jeffs especially since he has now chosen to represent himself, and if the evidence shows he did what he is accused of he certainly should be held accountable for that.

I am curious. Do you think the evidence the jury heard was convincing? Do you now believe that Warren Jeffs is guilty as charged? More is coming out about his crimes in the punishment phase. This case has outraged me more than most. The numbers of women and children who are effected is shocking.

 

[CathyinTexas]

Thank you for posting this. You said it so much better than I could. I'm furious about America not looking at its own backyard for the same atrocities going on that America fights and dies to end in other foreign countries. Where is the outrage! Where is the fury! Where are the women and children advocate groups? Where is the IRS? Where are the Feds? Women and children are being traded across borders! Young boys are being abused and abandoned. Babies are being tortured by a technique that is basically "waterboarding". We have Americans furious over terrorist murderers being waterboarded but don't have any interest in babies receiving the same treatment for crying. This cult is ignored and is allowed to be covered in secrecy due to it being a "religious" sect...............yeah right! Slavery is alive and well here in America.:twocents:

It seems to me that the states have legal grounds to go in to the compound for abandoning minors. It is definitely endangering a child, which is a felony, to put them on a desert highway to fend for themselves. They are miles from any city. They could go after them for welfare fraud. There are many things the states could prosecute them for. Even if it is a case by case basis, it gives them grounds to go in and do an investigation. So why haven't they all these years?

 

[CathyinTexas]

I caught a bit of the coverage on trutv and heard that 80% of the town and all the cops on the force in eldorado are flds. This is repulsive. Does anyone know anything about these cops? I'm wondering how almost the whole town got taken over and if these cops harass the remaining 20% of the population. Some of the people are saying that if a rape victim wants to escape they have to get out of the concentration camp and past those cops. How in God's name does this go on and how did those men get on the job? I'm assuming they're all men. Also, Beth K. was going on about how Texas is sooo serious about preventing further abuse in the camp and the women know how to report and what to do. How do people think these women and children can report anything if they don't have phones and are isolated out there. Texas has magical thinking.

Yes. I am so proud of our Attorney General and law enforcement for prosecuting those they have. Don't mess with Texas is no joke. But, I am saddened that we sent those children back and I suspect it is because there are so many, and Texas is last on the totem poll for public assistance. We pride ourselves for having no state tax, but the down side of that is we have less money to help those in need. My opinion only. I want the state to stop what is happening at the "ranch".