Eldorado, USA - A Texas grand jury is to resume hearing testimony on alleged criminal activity within the FLDS polygamous sect late next month.
On Wednesday, Teresa Jeffs, the last of seven FLDS witnesses summoned to testify before the panel during its closed-door hearings, spent about 40 minutes in the building.
Alan Futrell, a criminal attorney representing Jeffs, the 16-year-old daughter of polygamous sect leader Warren S. Jeffs, said the jury would meet again July 22. It was unknown what other witnesses were to be called to testify.
The FLDS women started arriving at the Schleicher County Courthouse shortly after 8 a.m. local time Wednesday as the grand jury convened to gather evidence of possible crimes committed by the polygamous sect members.
The women clustered in a corner of a parking lot as attorneys made their way into the courthouse and dozens of troopers strolled the surrounding grassy fields. The complex has been cordoned off with yellow crime scene tape to keep out media and others not involved in the proceedings.
With the women were their attorneys, including Criselda Paz of Legal Aid of Northwest Texas, Julie Balovich of Texas Riogrande Legal Aid and Brad Haralson, a San Angelo lawyer. Later, two attorneys representing women whose ages were earlier disputed with Texas authorities - Laura Shockley and Andrea Sloan - also arrived.
The 12 members of the jury heard from the FLDS members as part of a probe by the state into alleged sexual abuse involving young girls married to older men.
While grand jury proceedings are supposed to be secret, some details have spilled out in court documents and testimony involving Teresa Jeffs. She was accompanied by her mother, Annette Jeffs, and the two were seen speaking with an attorney before entering the building.
Natalie Malonis, attorney for Teresa Jeffs, was accompanied by a security officer as she arrived at the courthouse just after 9 a.m. Wednesday. She said she has received death threats since her dispute with Jeffs became public.
A district judge refused Tuesday to hear a motion to disqualify Malonis as the girl's lawyer based on the attorney's competing roles as witness and representative.
The state proceeding comes nearly three months after Texas Child Protective Services and law enforcement raided the Yearning for Zion Ranch to investigate a call for help. The initial call was later found to be a hoax.
But state authorities removed some 440 children from the ranch after observing what they characterized as a "pervasive pattern" of sexual abuse of young girls. Many of the girls identified by the state initially as abused minors were later found to be adult women.
The state returned the children to their parents after two higher courts found 51st District Judge Barbara Walther lacked sufficient evidence to keep them in custody.
Authorities gathered thousands of pages of documents in their sweep of the ranch they may be used to show underage marriages. They also collected about 600 DNA samples from ranch residents to link children to parents.
An Arizona investigator also has gathered Utah birth certificates for use by Texas officials, according to Jeff Duncan, director of the Utah Office of Vital Statistics.
But the women's testimony is expected to be key - if they give it. FLDS spokesman Willie Jessop said the women called as witnesses are being asked to choose between their children and their husbands, their freedom and their faith.
Wednesday's grand jury hearing ended without any indictments.