FLDS teen's lawyer stays, judge says

SAN ANGELO, Texas — It got ugly.

The hearing over who should represent a 17-year-old member of the Fundamentalist LDS Church took some strange twists on Thursday, with attorneys outed as working for the polygamous sect, allegations of interference and lawyers putting each other on the witness stand.

Ultimately, a judge here refused to remove Natalie Malonis as the court-appointed attorney for Teresa Jeffs.

"I don't see any authority for a parallel attorney-client relationship to exist," Texas 51st District Judge Barbara Walther said.

But the judge also allowed San Antonio attorney Alan Futrell to continue to act as counsel for Jeffs in the ongoing criminal probe surrounding the FLDS Church.

"He has to work with me," Malonis said as she left the courthouse.

Jeffs wrote a letter to the judge seeking a new attorney ad litem, something supported by lawyers hired by her mother. They argued that Malonis has acted against her client's wishes, including preventing her from visiting the YFZ Ranch, having contact with her father (FLDS leader Warren Jeffs), and other restrictions.

"What we have, in my opinion, is a circumstance where the attorney-client relationship is broken," said attorney Ken Isenberg, an attorney hired by the FLDS Church. "Like a divorce, sometimes they need to go their separate ways."

Malonis has said that following her client's wishes would have placed her in a dangerous situation. Throughout the contentious hearing, Malonis' side argued the FLDS Church was putting pressure on Jeffs, causing any breakdown in her attorney-client relationship.

They pointed to Isenberg and other lawyers retained by the Utah-based polygamous sect sitting in the courtroom. Just as Thursday's hearing got under way, Malonis' co-counsel sought to have Isenberg removed from the case.

"He was hired by the church to represent the mothers and gave advice not to answer questions on the fathers of their children," Susan Hays said.

"I do not believe it is a conflict for me to be here any more than Ms. Malonis to be prosecuting a motion against the wishes of her client," Isenberg replied.

Isenberg was later put on the witness stand, where he was grilled about going to a makeshift shelter at Fort Concho just after the April raid on the FLDS Church's YFZ Ranch and speaking to the women there as they faced questioning by Child Protective Services workers. It was detailed by one of Jeffs' sister-wives in a posting on an FLDS Web site.

Isenberg, who said he represented the church and no mothers or children, stopped short of calling it legal advice but merely a "suggestion."