Criminal Law Blog by Defense Lawyer John Floyd and Mr. Billy Sinclair
By: Houston Criminal Defense Lawyer John Floyd and Senior Paralegal Billy Sinclair
In July 2008 a Schleicher County grand jury indicted five members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, including FLDS leader Warren Jeffs, on sexual assault of children charges and a sixth member for failure to report a child abuse charge.
On August 20, 2008 the same grand jury indicted two additional FLDS members on sexual assault of children charges and added an additional charge of bigamy against Warren Jeffs.
This litany of criminal charges stem from allegations that some male FLDS members engaged in “spiritual marriages” with underage teenage girls. Records from Texas’ Child Protective Services indicate the agency is investigating 10 cases involving marriages of girls ranging in ages from 12 to 16 while the Texas Rangers are investigating as many as 20 cases of sexual assault and 50 cases of bigamy. The Texas Attorney General’s Office, which is presenting the FLDS case to the grand jury, will only say that the case remains under investigation.
The Texas Ranger investigation is being led by Captain L.C. Wilson. He replaced Ranger Captain Barry Caver who supposedly retired in June to take a job in the oil industry. Caver was in charge of the military-style raid on the FLDS compound in Eldorado last April that triggered “the FLDS case.” Five of the 17 Rangers now under Wilson’s supervision are working full-time on the case. Attorney General Greg Abbott has not disclosed how many of his staff are involved in the investigation and prosecution of the case. As we reported in a previous column, the case has already cost Texas taxpayers at least $12 million dollars. (more…)
By: Houston Criminal Defense Attorney John Floyd
and Mr. Billy Sinclair
The grand jury is a powerful weapon in the hands of state and federal prosecutors. An old legal adage says that a prosecutor can get a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich if it the “target” of a criminal investigation.
Since state and local law enforcement authorities stormed Yearning for Zion Ranch owned by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Eldorado, Texas, last April and unlawfully seized more than 450 children from their parents, the leaders and members of the church have been “targets” for grand jury indictment.
The grand jury hammer finally fell on July 22, 2008 on five members of what the Houston Chronicle called “a West Texas polygamist sect” who were indicted on sexual assault of a child charges and a sixth member for failing to report child abuse. The “polygamist sect” designation in the mainstream media, fueled by the arrest and conviction last year of FLDS leader Warren Jeffs in Nevada on two counts of being an accomplice to rape, has lent unwarranted credence to the efforts of Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott to indict and prosecute adult FLDS male members for what has been described as imposing “forced spiritual marriage” on underage FLDS girls.
“There will be an aggressive effort to apprehend them,” Abbott was quoted by the Chronicle as saying shortly after the grand jury indictments were announced.
The only named person indicted was Warren Jeffs because, as Abbott said, he is already in custody. The Attorney General said the names of the other indicted five FLDS members would not be released until they were arrested. The only information released was that one of the five was charged with bigamy while another was charged with a misdemeanor offense of failure to report child abuse. (more…)
