Change of venue sends next YFZ trial to San Angelo
Thursday, 07 January 2010 00:00
A Tom Green County jury will decide the fate of YFZ Ranch resident Michael George Emack when he faces trial this month of a felony charge of Sexual Assault of a Child. 51st District Judge Barbara Walther signed an agreed order on Wednesday, December 30, 2009 approving the change of venue after it was requested by Deputy Attorney General Eric Nichols and defense attorney Randy Wilson. The 58-year-old Emack was indicted last July by a Schleicher County Grand Jury on a single count of Sexual Assault of a Child younger than 17, a first degree felony. He was indicted again the following month on a single charge of Bigamy, a third degree felony. Emack's trial on the sexual assault charge is slated to get underway in the Tom Green County Courthouse on Monday, January 25, 2010. A pre-trial hearing is slated to begin in the same courthouse at 9 a.m. this morning, Thursday, January 7th.
District Judge Barbara Walther denied a new trial last Friday for Raymond Merril Jessop. He was convicted in Schleicher County on November 5, 2009, on a charge of Sexual Assault of a Child. Jessop's attorney Gerald Goldstein argued for a new trial on the grounds that the grand jury that indicted Jessop did not include a sufficient number of Hispanic members. Schleicher County Clerk Peggy Williams was called to testify concerning the way grand jury commissioners are picked as well as the way the commission goes about picking individual grand jury members. Deputy Clerk Mary Ann Gonzalez also testified concerning the subject. Defense and prosecution attorneys then called former grand jury and grand jury commission members including Juan Montalvo, Albert Torres, Tommy Minor, Richard Mendez and Thelma Bosmans, Helen Brame and Jon Calcote.
Jury selection is slated to begin on Monday, January 25, 2009, in Courtroom A of the Tom Green County Courthouse. Emack is charged with Sexual Assault of a Child. He was indicted last year by a Schleicher County Grand Jury following an investigation that began with the April 3rd raid on the YFZ Ranch. He is the third YFZ Ranch defendant to go to trial. Raymond Merril Jessop was convicted in November on an identical charge and received 10 years in state prison. Jessop is now serving time in Texas Department of Criminal Justice's Byrd Unit in Huntsville. That unit is a diagnostic facility where inmate classifications are processed prior to a prisoner being permanently assigned to a prison facility.
Michael Emack pleads guilty to Sexual Assault of a Child
Thursday, 28 January 2010 00:00
Michael Emack, 59, entered a No Contest plea last Friday to a second degree felony charge of Sexual Assault of a Child. District Judge Barbara Walther sentenced Emack to seven years in state prison. The plea came three days before Emack was set to stand trial in Judge Walther's San Angelo courtroom. The plea bargain represents the first crack in the "Answer Them Nothing" wall of silence ordered by FLDS prophet Warren Jeffs. As part of the plea, Emack became the first of Jeffs followers to acknowledge his crime, even openly agreeing that the state's evidence against him was sufficient to convict him beyond a reasonable doubt.
Raymond Merril Jessop will appeal his 2009 sexual assault of a child conviction, according to a Notice of Appeal filed last Friday with the 51st District Court. Jessop is currently confined at the Byrd Unit in Huntsville where he is serving a 10 years prison sentence. He was indicted by Schleicher County grand jurors on July 22, 2008. Jessop was the first of ten defendants from the YFZ Ranch to be convicted of charges stemming from the April 3, 2008 raid on the ranch. A local jury deliberated for two hours before finding him guilty on November 5, 2009. The jury then heard evidence during the trial's penalty phase and handed down a 10 year sentence.
Allan Eugene Keate, currently serving a 33-year sentence following his conviction following his December, 2009 on a charge of sexual assault of a child, appeared before 51st District Judge Barbara Walther on Friday, February 5th to request that she grant him indigent status. Keate’s new appeal lawyer Karyl Anderson Krug was present to represent him, as was Deputy Attorney General Eric Nichols who represented the State of Texas. An affidavit filed by Keate indicated he had no income and no assets other than a 2000 Dodge Caravan. He said he is responsible for supporting 27 individuals, including 21 children age 6 months to 16 years.
In an affidavit filed on February 5, 2010, Keate stated that family and church members have generously paid for his attorneys. He noted, however, they have no legal obligation to pay for court records and transcripts needed by his attorneys during the appeal process.
His attorney, Karyl Krug questioned Keate during the hearing at which time he said he moved to the YFZ Ranch in January 2004 where he has worked as a machinist.
A Tom Green County jury will decide the fate of YFZ Ranch resident Michael George Emack when he faces trial this month of a felony charge of Sexual Assault of a Child.
Michael Emack, 59, entered a No Contest plea last Friday to a second degree felony charge of Sexual Assault of a Child. District Judge Barbara Walther sentenced Emack to seven years in state prison.