Monday's court hearing wrapped up about 7 p.m. Texas time and will be continued Tuesday morning. The hearings involve seven FLDS children the state is trying to return to its custody.

The group is part of hundreds taken in April from the FLDS Church's YFZ Ranch who were subsequently ordered returned a couple of months later.

Two cases involving three children are being negotiated in hopes of a possible settlement. Texas CPS dropped one child — a 17-year-old boy — from another case being heard now.

"We're hopeful that there will be an agreement and that the judge will hear it," said CPS spokeswoman Marleigh Meisner, referencing the cases under negotiation.

Lawyers for Barbara Jessop are attacking the state's evidence seized from the ranch, including marriage certificates, bishops' records, photographs and letters. One of the children in question is a girl who CPS alleges at age 12 was married to FLDS leader Warren Jeffs.

However, Rios argued in Judge Barbara Walther's courtroom that the state is trying to relitigate the case with evidence that was not entered into court before.

"They are not alleging anything that's happened since these children have been with my client," Rios said, arguing that CPS claims are inadequate.

In response, CPS argued that they have tried to tailor their cases to be "fact specific and not in general to the FLDS."

Another case expected to be heard today involves children of Dr. Lloyd Hammon Barlow.

FLDS spokesman Willie Jessop noted that some members of the families involved in the custody cases being heard today have been nonsuited, while others continue to be litigated.

"How do they terrorize one family against another?" asked Willie Jessop. "One family, you are fine to live with, but you are not fine with another. If you was a dad, how would you feel?"

CPS is seeking to place the children back into foster care, alleging their mothers have failed to protect them from men involved in underage marriages.

In April, hundreds of children were seized in a raid on the ranch in nearby Eldorado. Two months later, the 440-plus children were returned after two appellate courts ruled the state failed to act appropriately and did not show the children were in imminent danger of abuse.

The nation's biggest child custody case has taken many twists and turns lately with 102 cases being "nonsuited" in which CPS is seeking to end court oversight of the children. There are 364 cases that are pending involving children from the Utah-based polygamist sect.

The raid on the ranch was the result of a phone call — now believed to be a hoax — from a pregnant 16-year-old girl who said she was in an abusive marriage to an older man. Once at the ranch, CPS investigators said they saw other signs of abuse, prompting Walther to order the removal of all the children while the state agency investigated.

Meanwhile, a Texas grand jury is scheduled to meet on Thursday to hear evidence of crimes involving FLDS members. Six men, including Warren Jeffs, have been indicted on charges ranging from sexual assault of children to bigamy and failure to report child abuse.

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E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com