KSLA News 12 Shreveport, Louisiana |Hearing planned for first Texas polygamist trial
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Associated Press - October 2, 2009 4:15 AM ET
SAN ANGELO, Texas (AP) - A judge planned a pretrial hearing in San Angelo to iron out some of the final details before the first criminal trial of a polygamist sect member in West Texas.
Texas District Judge Barbara Walther still has not ruled on whether thousands of documents, photos and church records seized from the Yearning For Zion Ranch can be used as evidence in the trial of 38-year-old Raymond Jessop or other sect members facing criminal charges.
A pretrial hearing is set for Friday, though it's unclear whether she'll rule on evidence question.
Jessop is scheduled to go on trial Oct. 26 on a charge of sexual assault of a child. He faces a separate indictment on a bigamy charge that could be tried later.
In all, a dozen men from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Days were indicted following the April 2008 raid of their ranch. Their trials are scheduled separately over much of the next year.
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