The Schleicher County makeshift courthouse was most definitely not a media circus this morning for the first day of Raymond Jessop’s trial. Both journalists and live camera crews were sparse. I attribute most of the lack of interest to two things, no cameras are allowed in the courtroom for any part of this trial, and the media doesn’t think the county can really seat a jury anyway.
Brook Adams of the Salt Lake Tribune was right behind me as I pulled into the parking lot. Soon afterwards a friend informed me that she had just Tweeted “The Triplap lady is here, smoking furiously”.
People wonder why some question her journalistic integrity. She knows my name. The only story she ever covered regarding the AAAP was our initial incorporation as an organization last February, and check out the language she used for the title of that particular blog entry, “New Group Attacks Polygamy”.
Polygamy is a felony in all 50 states of our union. I wonder when the last time an organization was formed to bring attention to criminal activity they got a headline like that, from an objective reporter.
I saw Willie Jessop try to go in but they were only allowing potential jurors and legal staff. Latter they admitted some print journalists.
The jury pool reporting to the courthouse was comprised of 153 potential jurors. In my estimation, fully 25% of those who showed up were FLDS members. After the raid their self declared spokesperson, Willie Jessop made the comment, “I don’t want to have to vote but if I have to I will”.
Soon after the rescue the residents of the YFZ Ranch requested 400 voters’ registration cards from the county and it showed today.
As long as the AG is asking questions of all these potential jurors, how about a few of these:
Were you a resident of the YFZ Ranch at the time of the rescue?
Do you know Raymond Jessop?
Are you in any way related to Raymond Jessop?
Are you, any of your relatives or acquaintances in Schleicher County currently committing the felony crime of Bigamy, which is the anti-polygamy statute within the state of Texas?
Were you, anyone you are related to or personally acquainted with one of the 124 designated perpetrators of child abuse on the YFZ Ranch, as identified by the final Texas CPS report?
I figure the potential jury pool should be down to about 100 jurors if the AG asks any of those questions.
Can a jury of 14 [12 jurors and 2 alternates] be seated in the county?
I have no doubt that 14 people who would give the case a fair hearing can be identified from the pool but I am unsure what standards will be in place as to how much media exposure either side will tolerate.
If no jury is seated, it will likely be December before another jury pool in adjoining Tom Green County can be called, since a notice for jury duty must be sent out 30 days in advance.
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Brook Adams reminds me of the personality profile of a first wife within the FLDS. Maybe someday she will learn to speak for herself and not someone else.
ReplyDeleteThe French journalist asked me about Brook and I told her she is a pro-polygamy advocate.
ReplyDelete"Look, I have a list this long [pointing to my arm] of friends who have been raped and abused by these people. Brook's friends are the ones who do the raping and abusing. We just have different friends".
Tripleap lady, what kind of cigarettes do you smoke? I'm a smoker as well, trying to wean mees-self to electronic cigarettes, but your busybody cousins in the federal govt. are making a move to ban e-cigarettes "for our own good".
ReplyDeleteAnyway, your group does attack polygamy. While it is a crime many of us don't see any difference between having multiple "wives" for religious reasons and having multiple sex partners for hedonistic or secular motivation.
Whether one is guilty of sex assault, welfare fraud, baby killin', or any other atrocity you can think of...having multiple sex partners in of itself, is no way related to those these crimes. Thanks for keeping us entertained.
FLDS people by and large are decent folks who love their families and are good to their children.
duane
Duane,
ReplyDeleteI think anyone who reads this blog [or others]regularly knows how entertained you are by thoughts of multiple sex partners, molestation of female children, and the 'goodness' of people who consistantly abandon their children by the hundreds, out of blind obedience to the head of their criminal organization, their G-d, the "prophet".
Keep being entertained, Daune. There is plenty more of all this "entertainment" coming right at you, in the form of convictions and serious prison time.
Boots, the whole point of liberty is the liberty to have multiple sex partners whether for religious reasons or otherwise, live on ranches, and wear prarie skirts.
ReplyDeleteit is legal for 16 year olds to have sex, including Texas if you are married, since they are being charged with bigamy, then it stands that the "victims" who were 16 were married.
What if the "care bear" mothers refuse to leave their husbands or change their lifestyle? If you were capable of forcing them to have only one sex partner under threat of physical force, how is that liberty?
duane
Tripleap Lady, yeah polygamy is a crime but what if you found out a women was "married" to 2 dudes and "doing it" to both of them. Would you and your buddies cry out for her prosecution and proclaim the men "victims"? Some acquaintences of mine are in this type of relationship, are they "victims", should we conduct an "intervention"?
ReplyDelete