Jury seated in Texas polygamist raid trial
Raymond Jessop,the first man to face criminal charges following the raid of a polygamist sect's West Texas ranch,is seen outside the courtroom in the second day of jury selection of his trial Tuesday,Oct. 27,2009,in Eldorado,Texas. (AP Photo/Harry Cabluck
By MICHELLE ROBERTS
The Associated Press
ELDORADO, Texas (Oct. 28, 2009) — Eight men and four women have been seated on a jury to hear the first criminal case stemming from the raid of a polygamist group’s West Texas ranch last year.
It took the summoning of 300 residents and individual interviews of more than 80 people over 2½ days to get 12 jurors and two alternates in sparsely populated Schleicher (SHLYE’-kur) County.
Opening statements are scheduled to begin Wednesday afternoon in the case against 38-year-old Raymond Jessop. He’s charged with sexual assault of a child, a charge stemming from his alleged marriage to an underage girl in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
Prosecutors say Jessop has nine wives. He has also been indicted on bigamy but will be tried on that charge later.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.