Warren Jeffs trial: Judge Walther is in, but is defense attorney Kearney really out?

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

A judge decided today — again — that the defense hasn't shown Texas District Judge Barbara Walther is biased, and she should stay put for the Jeffs trial.

Oh, and the state doesn't want Jeffs' erstwhile defense attorney, Jeff Kearney, to leave. They say Jeffs might be just trying to delay the trial by firing him and want Walther to deny Kearney's motion to withdraw. Story below (it's running with the AP version of the recusal hearing story at sltrib.com and in the paper). For the record, no one on Jeffs defense team has yet requested a trial delay.

Walther should make a decision at a final pretrial tomorrow afternoon.

....

Texas prosecutors say polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs's abrupt firing of his defense attorney two weeks ago could be a tactic to delay the trial, and on Tuesday urged a judge to keep on schedule.A final pretrial hearing in the case is scheduled for 2 p.m. tomorrow. No attorney for Jeffs has yet asked for the July 25 proceedings to be delayed. "The state is concerned, however, that the defendant may attempt to use his qualified right to retain counsel in yet another effort to delay the trial of this case," prosecutors wrote in court documents. The state opposed a motion to withdraw filed by high-profile Fort Worth attorney Jeff Kearney, who said he was contacted by an unidentified Jeffs representative July 6 and summarily dismissed after representing the FLDS leader for more than six months. There has not yet been a ruling on his motion to withdraw.