Texas attorney general attends polygamist's trial

ELDORADO, Texas — Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott made a surprise appearance Tuesday at the trial of a polygamist group member, taking notes during jury selection but not actively participating in the questioning of potential jurors.

Abbott appeared at the prosecutors' table for the start of jury selection in the case against Allan Keate, 57. Keate faces up to life in prison if convicted of sexual assault of a child for his alleged "spiritual marriage" to a 15-year-old.

Keate is the second member of the Fundamentalist LDS Church to face criminal trial since Texas authorities raided the polygamist group's ranch last year.

Abbott's office is handling the prosecutions in tiny Schleicher County. He previously made a presentation to a grand jury in the case, but he did not comment on why he decided to participate in Keate's trial in particular. In all, 12 men from the sect were indicted after the raid.

FLDS spokesman Willie Jessop said Abbott's unusual appearance before potential jurors at a criminal trial was proof that the prosecution was political after the state was forced to return the 439 children taken from the sect's parents last year.

"It was political to come here and put himself visibly in front of all the jurors," he said.

Abbott's spokesman didn't immediately respond to a call seeking comment Tuesday evening.

The charge against Keate stems from his alleged "spiritual marriage" in 2005 to a girl who was 15. Prosecutors say she got pregnant when she was 16, younger than the age at which she could legally consent to sex under Texas law.

Officials sent jury summonses to 300 residents in an effort to get 12 jurors and two alternates for the trial. They sent the same number for the first trial, that of Raymond Jessop last month, and it took more than three days to seat the jury that later convicted him of sexual assault of a child and sentenced him to 10 years in prison.

By Tuesday, the Keate jury pool had been weeded to about a 100 people. Jury selection was to continue today.

Most residents know one another in this ranching community, and the raid in April 2008 of the sect's Yearning For Zion Ranch became international news for weeks as women and children in prairie dresses were taken from the ranch.

Several potential jurors admitted knowing a lot about the raid and being unsure they could impartially serve as jurors in the case.