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Jul 24 2008

Immunity questions stall polygamist sect grand jury

Posted by: Joshuah in Biblical Family

Source: Chron.com

Questions about whether members of a polygamist sect could be prosecuted over their grand testimony appears to have brought the proceedings to a halt, sources familiar with the discussions told the Houston Chronicle today.

Sources close to the investigation said the state of Texas offered female members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints immunity from prosecution in exchange for their testimony. But questions over whether that immunity would be accepted by federal prosecutions is in doubt, bringing the grand proceeding to a halt this afternoon.

The sources spoke to the Chronicle on condition their names not be used. One said state District Judge Barbara Walther was called to the secret proceedings and kept in a room separate from the deliberations to go over the immunity issue. No FLDS member or other subpoenaed witness has entered the building adjacent to the Schleicher County courthouse since the lunch break.

A steady stream of about nine women in long dresses with braided hair were called to the grand jury hearing earlier today. About half have made it into the meeting room on the courthouse square, but all left quickly after telling the grand jury nothing, said a 25-year-old member of the sect who would only identify himself as “Ben.”

“They are all taking the fifth,” he said as he and another member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints were snapping photos of government officials from inside their SUV in the courthouse parking lot.

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