Judge won't be booted from FLDS case

SAN ANGELO, Texas — A judge overseeing the massive custody case involving the children taken from the Fundamentalist LDS Church's YFZ Ranch won't be booted from a hearing over a restraining order.

After calling in a judge from Midland, Texas, it was ordered that Judge Barbara Walther will remain on the case. Lawyers for the mother of a 16-year-old FLDS girl filed a motion seeking to have Walther removed from the case. They cited news articles based on a Deseret News report about law enforcement dossiers being compiled on FLDS Church members deemed a "potential threat," which led to increased security surrounding the judge.

"A reasonable person could not be impartial under such circumstances," the attorneys wrote.

But Judge John Hyde denied their motion, saying it was not filed in a timely manner.

The hearing is now continuing over a restraining order against FLDS member and church spokesman Willie Jessop. The court-appointed attorney for Teresa Jeffs, 16, has sought a restraining order against Jessop, alleging that he has coerced the girl into avoiding a grand jury subpoena and interfered in her working relationship with the girl.

Natalie Malonis showed up to court here surrounded by two Texas Rangers. Security inside the courthouse has also been beefed up. Malonis confirmed to the Deseret News today that she has received death threats since filing for the restraining order.

"I've been getting death threats and I am being provided a security detail," she said this morning. "That was not even at my request. Law enforcement recognized the need for it."

Malonis said she did not know who has made the threats. She represents four FLDS members — including Pamela Jeffs, for whom she was praised by FLDS supporters when she managed to secure additional rights in court for the woman once declared by Texas authorities to be a minor.

Jeffs has asked for a new lawyer, accusing Malonis of acting against her wishes. The girl is expected to testify Wednesday before a grand jury investigating criminal allegations surrounding the FLDS Church.

Jeffs has fired off several e-mails asking Malonis to step aside. In e-mails sent to the Deseret News and posted on pro-FLDS Web sites, she accuses her court-appointed lawyer of not acting in her best interest.

"My attorney is going against my wishes. Maybe you need a restraining order that you can absolutely have nothing to do with me and you have to stay 1,000 feet away from me! What do you think of that?" she wrote in an e-mail to Malonis.