SAN ANGELO, Texas — Polygamist sect leader Warren Steed Jeffs, representing himself on charges of child sexual assault, filed another motion to remove Judge Barbara Walther from court, claiming that God himself demands a change. Purporting to quote God, The polygamist sect leader told Judge Walther to “step away from this abuse of power against a religious and pure faith in the Lord.”
After a short recess, Judge Walther ruled that the trial would resume due to new laws made by Texas Supreme Court in effect Monday. There will not be an immediate hearing on Jeff’s motion, though it will happen eventually, the Associated Press reports.
As the trial continued, forensic analyst Amy Smuts testified that DNA samples collected from Jeffs and a 15-year-old girl’s child matched on more than fifteen markers. Smuts said that made her more than 99.99 percent certain that Jeffs was the child’s father.
Warren Jeffs’ charges of sexual assault of a 12-year-old and 15-year-old girl stem from a raid back in 2008 on the polygamous compound “Yearning for Zion”. Though the call that prompted the raid turned out to be a hoax, authorities witnessed underage girls that were clearly pregnant, and collected enough evidence for charges against Jeffs and 11 other polygamist men. All seven sect members that have been prosecuted so far have been convicted.
