Jeffs’ attorneys seek to question Texas Rangers
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — Attorneys for polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs are asking a judge to order Texas Rangers to speak to them about the authorities’ raid on the sect’s ranch in Eldorado, Texas, earlier this year.
But prosecutors say they have no plans to use evidence seized from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints‘ Yearning for Zion ranch in a pending case against Jeffs in Arizona and want the judge to deny the motion filed this week.
Mohave County Superior Court Judge Steven Conn said the parties can expect the motion to be granted if he finds the testimony of the Texas Rangers is material to the case.
Jeffs is awaiting trial in Arizona on four counts of being an accomplice to sexual conduct with a minor. Those charges stem from the marriages of two teenage girls and their adult male relatives.
Michael Piccarreta, an attorney for Jeffs, said Thursday that he has made repeated attempts by telephone and e-mail to interview the law enforcement officials but without success. He had filed a motion last month to suppress the evidence seized at the Texas ranch.
“I think it’s sort of like when you lift up a rock and you see what’s underneath it and shine a light on it, it’s not pretty,” Piccarreta said. “I think we’re going to learn some things that they don’t want us to learn of or else they would talk to us.”