More than 100 would-be jurors already decided on Warren Jeffs

SAN ANGELO, Texas — Ten women and two men were selected to sit on the jury in the sexual assault trial of polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs late Tuesday, after more than 100 potential jurors were excused for admitting they'd previously heard enough about his background to no longer presume him innocent.

An initial pool of 207 was on-hand for the second day of jury selection in the case of the ecclesiastical head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, an offshoot of mainstream Mormonism that believes polygamy brings exaltation in heaven.

The 55-year-old Jeffs faces two counts of sexual assault of a child. If convicted, the maximum sentence for both is 119 years to life in prison. He will have a separate trial for bigamy in October.

Eric Nichols, a special prosecutor for the Texas attorney general's office, asked those assembled if they'd heard enough about Jeffs previously to affect his guilt or innocence in their minds. Eighty-three people raised blue cards stamped with their juror numbers.

After a brief recess — which was made a bit more uncomfortable because of a water main break that affected water pressure in the courthouse — defense attorney Deric Walpole referenced those who indicated they had already made up their minds about Jeffs.

"Y'all, that's getting off to a bad start," he said. "Which is fine, as long as you're identified."

Walpole then asked if anyone no longer presumed his client innocent. "If you don't, raise your cards," he said. "Get 'em up high. Don't be shy."

That drew an objection from Nichols, but the number of cards raised eventually increased to 101.

By contrast, when Walpole asked how many people had read or seen nothing about the Jeffs case, about 60 people raised their cards.

The defense labored the point because it has already said it plans to file for a change of venue out of the oil and gas town of San Angelo — though it has yet to file the motion.

Those who said they had already formed an opinion about Jeffs were excused hours later, as were 19 others who said they couldn't punish someone convicted of sexual assault of a child with the minimum prison sentence of five years, nor consider probation.

In Texas, juries are responsible for setting the penalty for those they convict.

The remaining candidates were then split into groups to answer individual questions, which allowed both sides to settle on the jury in a matter of hours.