More deals over discovery in FLDS custody case

SAN ANGELO, Texas — Child welfare authorities have reached more agreements with lawyers for children from the Fundamentalist LDS Church's YFZ Ranch.

Lawyers said more deals were struck over evidence in the child custody case during court hearings Thursday. Many court-appointed attorneys have complained that since the case began in April, they have not been given discovery.

"The judge fashioned a remedy that will serve to protect and allow my clients to get at what it is that CPS is seeking and asking for," Mark Ticer, an attorney representing four children ranging in age from 5 to 10, told the Deseret News.

"I think that CPS is trying to respond to discovery, but have been overwhelmed. Nevertheless, they have a legal responsibility to provide the information requested so each lawyer can advance their clients' interests."

Approximately 439 children were taken into state custody in the raid on the YFZ Ranch, when authorities launched an investigation into underage marriages. A pair of courts ordered the children returned two months later. As of Wednesday, 304 people have been dropped from court oversight in the case.

Nine members of the Utah-based polygamous sect have been indicted by a grand jury on criminal charges ranging from sexual assault to bigamy to failure to report child abuse.