| FLD Polygamist convicted | |
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| Topic Started: Nov 5 2009, 11:50 PM (66 Views) | |
| Kerri P. | Nov 5 2009, 11:50 PM Post #1 |
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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33699837/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts Polygamist convicted of sexual assault on child First group member to be tried could face up to 20 years in prison updated 1 hour, 47 minutes ago ELDORADO, Texas - The first polygamist sect member to face criminal trial following last year's raid at the Yearning For Zion Ranch in West Texas was convicted Thursday of sexually assaulting an underage girl with whom he had a so-called "spiritual marriage." Raymond Jessop, 38, didn't visibly react when the verdict was read after just more than two hours of jury deliberations. Free on bond during trial, he was immediately handcuffed and led to jail. Jurors were expected to return to court Monday to begin deciding his sentence on the child sexual assault conviction. He faces up to 20 years in prison. Lawyers in the case declined to comment on the verdict Thursday. snip... Jessop's attorneys had argued that no witness placed Jessop in Schleicher County at the time of the alleged assault in November 2004. They said prosecutors instead relied on only small snippets of documents to place Jessop and the teen at the ranch run by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints at the time. Many of the documents were seized from enormous cement vaults inside the temple and temple annex at the ranch. snip.... ADDED: This is the very same ranch where the state rounded up over 1000 young girls some if not most of them were age 17 or older and it took the state months to figure this out. Edited by Kerri P., Nov 5 2009, 11:50 PM.
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| kbp | Nov 7 2009, 12:20 AM Post #2 |
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The total of all "children" rounded up was 468 to be exact, of which 33 were adults who had provided identification ranging from Texas DL's to Utah birth certificates.  Link if image does not show up The 37 YO teenager when she was reunited with her daughter, who had been held in a different foster home the entire time. The state claimed in court that the ID's might be fake. They then released some of the adults as they saw fit. One was told she was no longer in custody within a minute after giving birth to a child the state then took. Since the mother decided she would cooperate any way she could to stay with her baby, they made her stay the rest of the day and night in a CPS office, sleeping with a new born on the floor. The father purchased a small cot for the baby, but the state would not allow her to have it. As for Raymond Jessop, I suppose he is guilty of the offense they charged him for. No dispute is made as to whether or not the child is his or if the mother of it is one of his nine wives the records indicate he has. The dispute his attorneys, and I, have is proving he fathered the child to a jury. In Raymond's eyes, as best I understand it, "Caesar" is not one he fears judgment from. The problems which give me the greatest concerns are HOW they acquired all the evidence to charge him. Soon after any FLDS moved to Texas, Representative Harvey Hilderbran (R-Kerrville) introduced various bills directed to establish new laws directed ONLY at the FLDS - as his letter says (2nd paragraph explains the sky is falling) - in order to charge them with crimes and prevent them from voting or holding office. None had even registered to vote until AFTER the raid, but Texas was already working to convict them. The call made to instigate this raid - by a person some us suspect was working with the FBI, through a joint task force that includes a Lt. in the Colorado Springs P.D. this "caller" had been a "nanny" for - lead to a SW to SAVE that ONE person. Throughout this case the judge has tried to make all believe she had no involvement in anything other than reviewing and signing the SW at that time. Unfortunately for her reputation in the eyes of all that can read, she had personally called a neighboring county looking for help with ALL the children they would soon be taking hostage ** BEFORE ** the raid had even begun. At this point, she is still above the law. The state then hammered through a 2' thick concrete wall to take ALL church records (your church might be next!). All records of the church were leaked to the press almost as soon as the state had seized them. The main records used in the trial were the dictations of their "Prophet", held in what they call the "Book of Remembrance". It is the belief of that following that all deeds must be recorded and those records will be THE RECORD held in Heaven. Sort of like no record, no promotion, so they ALL in Priesthood keep records of those deeds. They feel they must admit & record all they administer others on. Now there are exceptions to the hearsay laws for church records, which in its entirety includes “Statements of births, marriages, divorces, deaths, legitimacy, ancestry, relationship by blood or marriage, or other similar facts of personal or family history”. The record of interest to the state, and presented in testimony, was mainly the dictations within the book of records compiled by the "Prophet", recording what directions he had given Raymond (defendant) in order to establish a record of when Raymond was in Texas (one of the many issues for appeal). Now the births and marriages were used also. A real hoot here was the "expert" the state used to introduce those records. A wife of the "Phropet's" late father has left the FLDS before they even bought property in Texas. As soon as the state had broken into the vault, they brought her in (case planning while the excuse to get in was to save ONE girl?) to ask her what of the records she was familiar with. Her reply was she recognized her wedding album. Expert approved, ready to present ALL the records they did not want to redact in a case that was not even being investigated "on the record"! Another move by the state, in an apparent effort to make evidence stronger, was the DNA testing. As a hypothetical, consider what the DNA from a group of 10 men and 30 wives (3 each avg) would look like in descendants after 3-4 generations. There are marriages of half-cousins (same grandfather, different grandmothers), so there will be quite a few markers in those tests that look alike. In order to determine the probability of parentage, the state compared the results to the frequency rates found in 4 separate sets of populations; Caucasians, Blacks, Southeast Hispanics and Southwest Hispanics. They were aware of a "inbreeding coefficient" that could be factored in to adjust the probability, but waived it off and stuck with what they had using Caucasians. I guess they weren't brave enough to use the Blacks, as the likelihood of it having been any of the Blacks made the number more impressive for the state! Hopefully what I wrote here gives you an idea of just how bad the law has abused their authority. It scares me knowing they are so above the law, because I have to worry for generations yet to face them. While I don't agree, or really disagree either, about the age and plural marriages, I have found that there are about 10 former wives that left and complain about it & all things associated with their former lives, along with many members of both genders that have left and still praise the FLDS. The best I can understand of their reason for doing anything that violates laws is that the law they follow is in scriptures (age for marriage = "flow", plural wives benefits you in Heaven). I am sure that all are happy for Raymond. The defense did not put on a single witness and the goal of ALL is to get their records back so they will be entered or copied to Heaven. Raymond is a hero to them, just as many men have been when arrested for their beliefs. Some have expressed to me how so many religions today can be selective about which portions of the Scriptures to believe, observe... I do not have an answer for that ...nothing beyond the Scriptures being considered as some sort of "living" record a few know more about today than those which originally wrote them. (sorry for any & all errors, been a long day) |
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| kbp | Nov 10 2009, 09:17 PM Post #3 |
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FYI: Guilty, 10 year sentence, eligible for parole in 5. A rather light sentence, since I'd anticipated the 20 YR maximum. The verdict opens the door to an appeal on ALL of the case, from the first search warrant in the raid that took 465 children hostage... |
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