San Angelo, USA - A Texas Ranger and Schleicher County Sheriff David Doran on Friday defended their work in the days before a raid on a polygamous sect's ranch, saying there was no reason to discount an apparent abuse victim's calls for help or to more aggressively seek her alleged attacker.
Shelter workers who spoke to the caller were "adamant that this girl needed help; they were adamant that this girl needed to leave the ranch," testified Texas Ranger Brooks Long.
The hearing, before 51st District Judge Barbara Walthers, is being held as part of an attack on the April 2008 search warrant she approved to enter the YFZ Ranch, home to members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
Attorneys for 10 FLDS men charged with counts related to bigamy and underage marriages are challenging the warrant, with 928 boxes of evidence and more than 60 computers seized from the Eldorado ranch as evidence at stake.
The state entered into evidence Friday, under seal, about 10 photos taken inside the sect's temple and described as showing beds and pedestals. Testimony continued until 10:30 p.m. Friday and the judge asked attorneys to return at 8:30 a.m. Saturday. The next witnesses are expected to include another Texas Ranger and the lead child welfare investigator.
Long said the caller who sparked the raid was credible, citing as an example her frequent use of the word "prophet," a title used for the sect's leader, Warren S. Jeffs. Her vagueness in naming her husband -- her alleged attacker -- or a hospital where she was treated was typical of domestic violence victims, he said.
The calls from "Sarah Jessop Barlow," a 16-year-old, pregnant plural wife being abused by her husband, are now believed to be a hoax staged by a Colorado woman with a history of making false abuse claims.
Once the caller identified her husband as Dale Evans Barlow -- selected from a list of men associated with the FLDS Church, read to her by hotline worker -- Long decided against contacting the man's Arizona probation officer.
Long said he had two reasons: in his experience, probation officers call offenders and alert them to such calls, and he had heard there were people sympathetic to the FLDS in the area's criminal justice system. Barlow, along with other sect members, had been prosecuted in Arizona on charges related to underage marriages.
Doran said he called Washington County Sheriff Kirk Smith and Arizona authorities to gather information about Barlow, but did not ask them about Barlow's whereabouts. He also did not ask the unnamed source he often used to gather information about the FLDS, he said, explaining his charge from the Rangers did not include locating Barlow.
Doran gave the same explanation for why he did not contact ranch leader Merril Jessop or take other actions, saying his duties were narrow. "I carried out the duties I was asked to do," he said.
He acknowledged that he spoke to Barlow by phone before the raid began, but said he could not be certain whether he was speaking to the correct man.
Doran would not confirm or deny whether former FLDS member Becky Musser, formerly married to previous prophet Rulon Jeffs, was the source to whom he referred. But he did say he had more than 100 conversations with her over four years, and gave her a 45-minute tour of the sect's temple days after the investigation began.
Defense attorneys argued that a better effort by law enforcement to find and question Barlow may have prevented the raid. They also argue the state's detailed planning before the raid -- which led to the largest child welfare investigation in U.S. history -- showed their intent ranged far beyond officers' pretext of locating the abuse victim and her husband.
They have identified at least 12 witnesses they plan to call, including Barlow, law officers, a Baptist pastor and a crisis hot line employee.