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By Pat Reavy
SAN ANGELO, Texas — FLDS Church leader Warren Jeffs told a Texas judge Thursday morning that he wants to fire his attorneys and represent himself in his trial.
Jeffs is charged with two counts of sexual assault of a child. The San Angelo Standard Times reports that Jeffs made a lengthy 25-minute plea before 51st District Judge Barbara Walther to represent himself, saying his defense attorneys did not understand the facts of the case and that by defending himself, "true justice" would be served.
When Walther asked Jeffs when he made his decision to fire his attorneys, he said, "only recently," according to the newspaper.
"My release of counsel has been with great thought. I stand before the court for true justice to be served, for truth to be presented in a way that entails the knowledge thereof," Jeffs said.
Prosecutors were OK with Jeffs' representing himself, according to the San Angelo Times.
A break was taken in the courtroom as the judge considered Jeffs' request. Opening arguments in the trial had been scheduled to begin this morning.
On Wednesday, Walthers dealt a blow to the defense by refusing to suppress evidence police seized during a 2008 raid on his sect's west Texas YFZ ranch.
If convicted, Jeffs — leader of the Utah-based Fundamentalist LDS Church — could receive a maximum sentence of 119 years to life in prison.
