Two communities dominated by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its jailed leader Warren Jeffs have been sued by the federal government for alleged religious discrimination against citizens who don't belong to the polygamous sect.
A Texas judge denied the appeal of fundamentalist sect leader Warren Jeffs on Thursday, the same day a jury considered testimony to determine how to sentence a key figure in his church after his own bigamy conviction.
Texas prison officials have found polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs guilty of "a major disciplinary infraction" following an investigation into whether he violated policy by -- among other things -- preaching a Christmas day sermon from prison, a state spokeswoman said Monday.
Polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs' phone privileges have been suspended, as investigators look into whether he preached from prison, authorities said Tuesday.
A long-time follower of a jailed polygamist sect leader says he has been ex-communicated after admitting to having sex with his wife -- a violation of an order that Warren Jeffs apparently issued from behind bars.
One of the 78 wives of jailed polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs left the Arizona community of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints this week and is receiving medical treatment at a shelter, authorities said.
Polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs is out of intensive care and in a "general hospital" bed, days after falling ill while fasting in a Texas prison, a state spokesman said Thursday.
Polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs, who was hospitalized this week after falling ill while fasting in a Texas prison, has been upgraded from critical to serious condition, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice said Wednesday.
CNN's Gary Tuchman and 3TV reporter Michael Watkiss discuss polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs' guilty verdict.
Polygamist leader Warren Jeffs remained in critical condition in a Texas hospital on Tuesday, but was not in a coma and is expected to recover, state prison officials said.
Evidence against polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs include audiotapes and images showing him and his wives.
Court officials have released the chilling audiotapes that prosecutors say depict convicted child rapist Warren Jeffs training the girls he claimed were his "spiritual wives" to have sex with him.
Warren Jeffs leaves the courthouse after being sentenced to life in prison for sexually assaulting children.
The polygamist leader was quiet as the Texas jury's verdict was read Tuesday
Polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs is found guilty on both counts of sexual assault of a child.
Polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs asked to leave the courtroom Friday and will not be representing himself during the penalty phase of his sexual assault trial.
He stared silently at the jury for 24 minutes, then said, "I am at peace"
A Texas jury finds polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs guilty on two counts of sexual assault.
The Texas jury that found polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs guilty Thursday of sexual assault will deliberate again to determine his punishment.
Texas prosecutors rested their case Wednesday in the sexual assault trial of polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs after playing a key piece of evidence for jurors: an audiotape they allege documents his sexual assault of a 12-year-old girl.
Prosecutors have audio of what they say is sound of Warren Jeffs having sex with a child. CNN's Gary Tuchman reports.
Polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs frequently objected to witness testimony as he faced sexual assault charges during his trial Tuesday in Texas.
Warren Jeffs requests legal assistance so he can properly format his "writing" as he represents himself.
A Texas judge warned Warren Jeffs against calling "for the jury's destruction" shortly after the polygamous sect leader said Friday during his sexual assault trial that those who prosecuted his church would face "sickness and death."
Polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs sat silent in a Texas court Thursday afternoon, declining to give an opening statement in his sexual assault trial hours after winning the right to defend himself.
CNN's Sanjay Gupta speaks with Michael Watkiss, a reporter for CNN affiliate KTVK, about the sect run by Warren Jeffs.
Attorneys are scheduled to be in court Wednesday to argue a motion to suppress evidence, a day after jury selection in the sexual assault trial of polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs.
A jury of 10 women and two men was selected Tuesday night at the sexual assault trial of polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs.
Jury selection in the sexual assault trial of polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs began in Texas on Monday, nearly a week after his motion to remove a judge assigned to the case was denied.
A last minute motion by polgyamist leader Warren Jeffs to remove a Texas judge assigned to hear sexual assault charges against him was denied Tuesday by a different Texas judge.
Polygamist leader Warren Jeffs is not only running the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, but he has also ousted at least 45 high-ranking members he considered a threat to his leadership, two well-placed sources tell CNN.
Polygamist leader Warren Jeffs is in Texas to face bigamy and sexual assault charges. CNN's Gary Tuchman reports.
Polygamist leader Warren Jeffs is once again running the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints -- this time from a jail cell, sources tell CNN.
Polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs got a Texas-based attorney Wednesday during a pretrial hearing in San Angelo, Texas, but the lawyer was fired within hours.
A judge in San Angelo, Texas, on Wednesday entered pleas of not guilty on behalf of polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs, who is scheduled to go on trial next month on bigamy and sexual assault charges.
Polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs, who calls himself a prophet, asked a judge on Wednesday to delay his bigamy trial so he can find a Texas lawyer.
After a legal battle that wound up before the Utah Supreme Court, polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs was extradited from Utah to Texas to stand trial on sexual assault and bigamy charges, according to authorities in both states.
In July, CNN's Anderson Cooper and his panel discussed the decision to reverse Warren Jeffs' convictions.
The Utah Court of Appeals said that polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs' extradition to Texas has been halted while the court considers his appeal of the extradition order, documents showed Monday.
Attorneys for Utah polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs are asking a court to delay his extradition to Texas, where he faces charges including aggravated sexual assault of a child, until Utah authorities decide whether to retry him.
Polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs will stay in a Utah jail for at least two more months after his attorneys objected to his signing an extradition waiver in a Utah court Tuesday.
CNN's Gary Tuchman reports a court reversed Warren Jeffs' convictions for rape as an accomplice and ordered a new trial.
At the urging of the Texas governor, Utah Gov. Gary Herbert has signed an extradition warrant that will send polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs to Texas to face criminal charges, according to Gov. Herbert's office.
A woman who claims polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs forced her as a 14-year-old to marry her 19-year-old cousin said she is not giving up, despite the Utah Supreme Court's overturning Jeffs' convictions and ordering a new trial.
The Utah Supreme Court has reversed Warren Steed Jeffs' two convictions on charges of rape as an accomplice and ordered a new trial, saying that instructions given to jurors were erroneous.
CNN's Susan Roesgen reports on the latest developments in the Warren Jeffs case.
A judge dismissed charges against polygamist leader Warren Jeffs on Wednesday after the Mohave County, Arizona, prosecutor requested they be thrown out, citing "much more serious charges" against Jeffs in Texas and the desire of his alleged victims that he "face these more serious charges as soon as possible."
A polygamist sect is planning an event today to mark the first anniversary of a raid in which more than 400 children were removed from its Texas ranch.
A top member of a Texas polygamist sect and the group's spokesman have been subpoenaed and are scheduled for court depositions Friday and Monday, according to court officials.
Court proceedings will be held in September to determine whether a 14-year-old girl believed to have married polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs should permanently remain in state custody.
A grand jury has indicted polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs on a second sexual assault charge in connection with a probe of his Texas compound, prosecutors said Wednesday.
Three more members of a polygamous sect led by Warren Jeffs are facing sexual assault charges, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said Tuesday.
A Texas grand jury indicted three more members of a polygamist sect that was raided in April, a Schleicher County official told CNN on Thursday.
A 14-year-old girl believed to have married jailed polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs was ordered to foster care by a Texas judge on Tuesday.
Five members of a polygamous sect who were indicted alongside leader Warren Jeffs last week turned themselves in Monday to face sexual assault charges, Texas authorities said.
A new felony sexual charge against Warren Jeffs and four associates ratchets up the pressure against the renegade Mormon sect
A Texas grand jury indicted polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs on sexual assault charges, and five of his followers also face a variety of charges, state Attorney General Greg Abbott said.
Warren Jeffs is in jail, possibly ill and on tape "recanting" his leadership. Who are the men angling to succeed him?
Polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs was released from a hospital in Las Vegas, Nevada on Wednesday, a source close to the case told CNN.
Jailed polygamist leader Warren Jeffs is hospitalized in Las Vegas for unknown reasons.
An Arizona judge dropped four of eight charges against polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs, even as authorities in Texas looked into whether pedophelia allegations there
Affiliate KXAN talks to members of a polygamist sect who were reunited with their children.
A teenage girl removed from a polygamist sect's compound can be released to her guardian, a judge ruled, as long as she's kept away from a person accused of abusing her, and from her father, sect leader Warren Jeffs.
Texas authorities say they collected DNA swabs from jailed polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs in connection with a criminal investigation involving "spiritual marriages" to four girls ages 12 to 15.
A member of a polygamist sect calls for the return of children siezed by the state of Texas.
Pictures showing the leader of a polygamist sect kissing a girl who appears to be a minor have been introduced into evidence in the legal battle over the seizure of more than 400 children from the sect's Texas ranch.
New photos show polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs with a young girl. CNN's Sunny Hostin reports.
Texas Child Protective Services workers were turned back from a polygamist sect's ranch Wednesday when they tried to investigate reports that some children remained at the compound, a lawyer for the sect said.
CNN's David Mattingly reports on the beginning of child custody hearings for polygamist families in Texas.
CNN's Gary Tuchman reports on preparations for the trial ofjailed polygamist leader Warren Jeffs.
Two children of jailed "prophet" Warren Steed Jeffs are among the hundreds of children removed from a polygamist ranch by child welfare authorities, court officials said Monday.
More than half the teen girls taken from a polygamist compound in west Texas have children or are pregnant, state officials said Monday
The U.S. government paid more than $1.7 million in defense contracts over the last decade to companies owned by leaders of Warren Jeffs' polygamous sect, with tens of thousands allegedly winding its way back to Jeffs and his church.
A 'Larry King Live' exclusive: Women from a polygamist sect talk about the raid on their Texas compound.
A custody hearing scheduled to begin Thursday morning will decide the fate of more than 400 children taken from a polygamist sect's ranch in central Texas amid allegations of abuse.
Panelists discuss challenges women and children raised in a polygamist society face when they enter the secular world.
A man guarding a gate at the polygamist compound in west Texas speaks briefly with reporters.
Texas authorities are investigating "the safety of children" at a ranch occupied by about 400 followers of polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs, officials said Friday.
CNN's Gary Tuchman reports on sentencing day for convicted polygamist prophet Warren Jeffs.
A Utah judge Tuesday sentenced polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs to two consecutive prison terms of five years to life for his conviction on two counts of being an accomplice to rape, a court spokeswoman said.
Polygamist-sect leader Warren Jeffs is sentenced to five years to life in prison for arranging the marriage of a minor.
Polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs tried to hang himself earlier this year while he was in jail awaiting trial, according to court documents unsealed by a Utah judge on Tuesday.
A young man whose arranged marriage to a young cousin led to the conviction of polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs was charged Wednesday with her rape.
Elissa Wall, the young woman whom Jeffs 'placed' in an arranged marriage at 14, comments on the guilty verdict.
A former polygamist sect member reacts to the guilty verdicts against Warren Jeffs.
Polygamist sect leader Warren Steed Jeffs was found guilty Tuesday of being an accomplice to rape for using his religious authority to push a 14-year-old girl into a marriage she did not want.
Jurors in the trial of polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs started deliberating all over again Tuesday with a new panelist after signaling earlier that they were close to a verdict.
Members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a polygamous sect, moved to this remote part of the desert to get out of the spotlight. But the harsh glare of public scrutiny is all they've been getting lately.
A prosecutor urged jurors Friday to find polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs guilty of being an accomplice to rape, saying "No means no."
The spurned husband whose arranged marriage is at the center of the rape-accomplice charges against polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs took the witness stand to defend his prophet on Wednesday.
Followers of polygamist "prophet" Warren Jeffs began testifying in his defense Tuesday after prosecutors rested their case in the sect leader's rape-accomplice trial.
A former follower is testified against polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs. KTVK's Mike Watkiss reports.
A reluctant child bride told a Utah jury Friday that she was trying to preserve her "eternal salvation" when she obeyed a command by polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs to marry her cousin at age 14.
A former follower of a polygamous sect leader claims she was acting to preserve her eternal salvation when she obeyed his command and married her cousin at age 14
Polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs was flown by helicopter to the Utah courthouse where his trial on rape-accomplice charges begins Thursday with lawyers laying out their cases for the jury.
CNN's Gary Tuchman reports on the trial of fugitive polygamist leader Warren Jeffs.
After 115 days on the FBI's most-wanted list and a year in solitary confinement in a jail called Purgatory, the leader of the nation's largest polygamist sect is going on trial in St. George, Utah.
Franky, a so-called "lost boy" from Warren Jeffs' sect, tells CNN's Dan Simon what it was like to leave the sect.
Impaneling a jury to hear the highly publicized rape case against a polygamous sect leader could prove difficult, some observers and legal experts say
When polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs appeared in a Las Vegas courtroom last August, Kathy Jo Nicholson, a former member of Jeffs' sect, felt fearful even though she was only watching him on television.
© 2013 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
|