Warren Jeffs

Attorneys for polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs are asking for removal of the judge in his upcoming trial. The legal team for the ecclesiastical head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints alleges that the body language of state District Judge Barbara Walther influenced jurors in past trials of sect members. Witnesses called during a hearing Monday in San Angelo included attorneys for those sect members, who have been convicted of such crimes as sexual assault of a child and bigamy.

SALT LAKE CITY - Polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs may be serving a life-plus-20-year sentence in a Texas prison, but his grip on most of his 10,000 followers does not appear to be lessening. Some former insiders say he is imposing even more rigid requirements that are roiling the church and splitting its members. The edicts from Jeffs, head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, form the basis for what he has called the Holy United Order. An estimated 1,500 men, women, and children in the church failed to meet the stringent standards by a Jan. 1 deadline,...

A second official from the polygamous sect-run town of Colorado City, Ariz., has been indicted on criminal charges for an alleged misuse of public funds. The Mohave County attorney's office says in a statement that David Darger improperly used a city credit card while serving as secretary-treasurer of the city fire district. Darger faces 13 felony counts of violating the duty of a custodian of public money, participating in a criminal syndicate and assisting in a criminal syndicate.

SALT LAKE CITY - Utah prosecutors dropped charges yesterday against a polygamist sect leader who is serving a life sentence in Texas in a separate case. Warren Jeffs had been found guilty of rape by accomplice in 2007, but his conviction was overturned by the Utah Supreme Court, which cited improper jury instructions by the trial judge. "As a result of the conviction in Texas, we decided not to bring him back to Utah for a retrial," said Brian Filter, senior deputy attorney for Washington County.

SALT LAKE CITY - Polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs may be serving a life-plus-20-year sentence in a Texas prison, but his grip on most of his 10,000 followers does not appear to be lessening. Some former insiders say he is imposing even more rigid requirements that are roiling the church and splitting its members. The edicts from Jeffs, head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, form the basis for what he has called the Holy United Order. An estimated 1,500 men, women, and children in the church failed to meet the stringent standards by a Jan. 1 deadline,...

SALT LAKE CITY - A polygamous church led by Warren Jeffs before he was jailed in 2007 has named a new president, who is facing bigamy charges. Wendell Loy Nielsen, 69, was named president in documents filed with the Utah Department of Commerce. He has long been a senior leader in the hierarchy of the southern Utah-based Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He previously served as a counselor to Jeffs and his father, Rulon Jeffs, who led the church until his death in 2002.

SAN ANGELO, Texas — Polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs was quietly extradited yesterday from Utah to Texas, where he was arraigned on charges of bigamy and sexual assault. Jeffs, 54, who was indicted more than two years ago, appeared during a brief hearing in San Angelo wearing glasses, orange jail pants, and a gray sweatshirt, a spokesman for the Texas attorney general’s office said. Texas authorities have charged the ecclesiastical head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints with felony bigamy, aggravated sexual assault,...

SAN ANGELO, Texas - The child sexual assault case against Warren Jeffs was in the hands of a Texas jury yesterday, after the polygamist leader stood mostly mute for his closing argument. Jeffs, who acted as his own attorney, stood expressionless, staring at the floor, for all but a few seconds of the half hour he was allotted. At one point he mumbled, "I am peace," and said no more. The 55-year-old head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is accused of assaulting two underage girls he had taken as so-called spiritual wives.

HOUSTON - Imprisoned polygamist leader Warren Jeffs was in a coma yesterday in a Texas hospital after complications from fasting. A person familiar with Jeffs's condition said the 55-year-old prisoner's coma was medically induced and he is expected to survive. The person requested anonymity and was not authorized to discuss Jeffs's condition publicly. Jeffs's attorney Emily Detoto said her client was taken to East Texas Medical Center in Tyler on Sunday night. Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokeswoman Michelle Lyons says Jeffs hasn't been eating or drinking...

SAN ANGELO, Texas - Polygamist leader Warren Jeffs was sentenced to life in prison yesterday for sexually assaulting an underage follower he took as a bride in what his church deemed a "spiritual marriage. " The head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints also received a 20-year sentence for the sexual assault of a 15-year-old girl. He stood quietly yesterday as the decision of the Texas jury was read, giving him the maximum sentence on both counts.

A former polygamist bishop was convicted Monday of performing an illegal wedding ceremony between a 12-year-old girl and sect leader Warren Jeffs. Jurors deliberated about an hour and 20 minutes before finding Fredrick Merril Jessop guilty of officiating over the 2006 ceremony at Yearning for Zion Ranch, owned by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The FLDS holds polygamy as a fundamental belief and its men take multiple wives in what are termed "celestial marriages" in a ceremony called a "sealing.

Polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs was en route to a Texas state prison Tuesday night following his discharge from a hospital at another prison where he was treated after becoming sick while fasting, a state official said. Jeffs was discharged Monday night from the state prison hospital in Galveston and will receive further treatment in a prison infirmary until he's well enough to return to his cell, Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesman Jason Clark said. Clark declined to identify Jeffs' destination for security reasons.

HOUSTON - Polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs, described by a Texas prison official as "awake and alert," was moved yesterday to a prison hospital for additional treatment after he became sick while fasting. Michelle Lyons, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, said Jeffs was flown 215 miles yesterday from East Texas Medical Center in Tyler, where he was admitted Sunday, to the Texas prison hospital at Galveston. Jeffs, 55, last week was assigned to the Powledge Unit, about 100 miles southeast of Dallas, to serve his life sentence for sexually...

HOUSTON - Imprisoned polygamist leader Warren Jeffs was in a coma yesterday in a Texas hospital after complications from fasting. A person familiar with Jeffs's condition said the 55-year-old prisoner's coma was medically induced and he is expected to survive. The person requested anonymity and was not authorized to discuss Jeffs's condition publicly. Jeffs's attorney Emily Detoto said her client was taken to East Texas Medical Center in Tyler on Sunday night. Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokeswoman Michelle Lyons says Jeffs hasn't been eating or drinking...

A second official from the polygamous sect-run town of Colorado City, Ariz., has been indicted on criminal charges for an alleged misuse of public funds. The Mohave County attorney's office says in a statement that David Darger improperly used a city credit card while serving as secretary-treasurer of the city fire district. Darger faces 13 felony counts of violating the duty of a custodian of public money, participating in a criminal syndicate and assisting in a criminal syndicate.

SAN ANGELO, Texas - Polygamist leader Warren Jeffs was sentenced to life in prison yesterday for sexually assaulting an underage follower he took as a bride in what his church deemed a "spiritual marriage. " The head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints also received a 20-year sentence for the sexual assault of a 15-year-old girl. He stood quietly yesterday as the decision of the Texas jury was read, giving him the maximum sentence on both counts.

A former polygamist bishop was convicted Monday of performing an illegal wedding ceremony between a 12-year-old girl and sect leader Warren Jeffs. Jurors deliberated about an hour and 20 minutes before finding Fredrick Merril Jessop guilty of officiating over the 2006 ceremony at Yearning for Zion Ranch, owned by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The FLDS holds polygamy as a fundamental belief and its men take multiple wives in what are termed "celestial marriages" in a ceremony called a "sealing.

SAN ANGELO, Texas - Texas authorities yesterday began looking for five indicted members of a polygamist sect, in a child sex-abuse case that the group's spokesman alleged was a face-saving move by officials who lost a court battle over their seizure of hundreds of children from a sect-owned ranch. The five men were indicted Tuesday with sect leader Warren Jeffs, who already was convicted in Utah and jailed in Arizona on charges related to underage marriages. Jeffs and four of the followers were charged in Texas with felony sexual assault of a child, and the fifth follower was...

SAN ANGELO, Texas - The child sexual assault case against Warren Jeffs was in the hands of a Texas jury yesterday, after the polygamist leader stood mostly mute for his closing argument. Jeffs, who acted as his own attorney, stood expressionless, staring at the floor, for all but a few seconds of the half hour he was allotted. At one point he mumbled, "I am peace," and said no more. The 55-year-old head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is accused of assaulting two underage girls he had taken as so-called spiritual wives.

SAN ANGELO, Texas - Polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs made a third attempt yesterday to remove the Texas judge overseeing his child-sex-assault case, this time based on the claim that God himself demands a change. The head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints filed a motion purporting to quote God as saying state District Judge Barbara Walther should "step away from this abuse of power against a religious and pure faith in the Lord. " After a short recess, Walther ruled the trial would continue under new Texas Supreme Court rules that went into effect...