Schleicher County Warrant Mystery: Who refused to sign the FLDS warrant?
Can you say “cover-up”? Somebody’s lying in West Texas — in addition to the usual pathological CPS propaganda muppets.
Several weeks ago, I passed along a May 22, 2008 report from ABCNEWs quoting a “statement” by Texas Ranger Leslie Brooks Long. According to the statement, before Judge Walther signed the infamous fraudulent search warrant authorizing entry into the YFZ Ranch, a different Schleicher County judge “refused” to sign it. The ABCNews story remains on the website. Here’s the verbiage as of July 1, 2008, at about 5 pm EDT:
But a local judge had initially refused to allow Texas Rangers to search the compound, according to a statement from Texas Ranger Leslie Brooks Long. Long then took the same information to a different judge, who approved the search warrant, his statement says.
Today, the Deseret News ran a story quoting Judge Griffin as denying any involvement with the warrant. To the extent that the Des News has quoted him correctly, the circumstances suggest that he’s lying.
Truth Will Prevail has some interesting confirmation from two other witnesses, both of whom (according to Truth Will Prevail) claim, in offers of proof filed with the court, to have heard directly from Judge Griffin’s mouth that he was the Judge who refused to sign the warrant. Truth Will Prevail quotes one witness as follows:
“My name is Wanda ‘Scooter’ Brown and I have been the Director of Nursing at MHMR in Kerrville for the past four months….
One day, Linda Werlein and I and a few other co-workers went to meet with Judge Johnny Griffin in El Dorado [sic]. We talked with him in his office. He told us that they had come to him first to get the search warrant signed, but he refused to do it because there was not enough information to rely on to support a search of the ranch. He told us that he was very upset with Judge Walther for signing it with no evidence to support the search. Judge Griffin also told us that his brother owns a ranch next to the YFZ ranch and they are some of the best neighbors. His brother also does business with the ranch and says that they are always kind and always pay their bills.”
Folks, I want to believe that there are good people in Schleicher County. I think Judge Griffin may actually be one but — I think — he’s not acting like it right now. The truth is going to come out at some point. It’s hard to imagine what motive Wanda Scooter, Linda Werlein or Ranger Long would have to lie to the court about this issue. In contrast, it’s not so hard to imagine Judge Griffin having one or more reasons to mislead.
Assuming that Leslie Brooks Long did go to Judge Griffin for the warrant, why did he/she do it? I assume that Long would know that Griffin couldn’t sign warrants. Or, here’s a thought: Schleicher County is an outpost, rough-justice kind of place. One local commenter wrote: “This is a town [Eldorado] where the average person has at least 4-5 guns and shoots anything that moves.” Who’s to say that Judge Griffin, while not legally empowered to sign warrants, hasn’t made a habit of signing them anyway ?
We’ve seen how Judge Walther and Justice O’Neill scoff at due process. Maybe Schleicher County has a “pervasive environment” that just turns good people into procedural perps.
Possible story: Long, who has previously had Griffin sign warrants, goes first to Griffin who thinks, “Holy s–t, this thing’s gonna blow and I better not have my name on it.” He says “no” and Long tries the next judge. Griffin starts bragging about it. Then realizes he could get into serious trouble over all of those warrants he’s signed in the past. And suddenly, he knows nothing about it.
Understan, y’all, I’m jes speculatin’.
20 comments
Judge Griffin never got the warrant. Mainly he is a county judge that did not have the authority to sign it in the first place
“Griffin’s title as a county judge is that of a chief administrator for Schleicher County. He is not a lawyer, and says he is only authorized to hear certain types of cases, such as a misdemeanor or a civil lawsuit up to $10,000. Any other types of cases are handled by the 51st District Court, which encompasses Schleicher County. The warrants were signed by 51st District Judge Barbara Walther.
“I wouldn’t have signed it anyway,” Griffin said. “Because anything of that magnitude goes to district court.”
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700239410,00.html
I love it when you are soo wrong.. If you lived here you would know better..
OK, Just Me. So we’re to take your word on blog post over two offers of proof and one ABCNews story that won’t go away. We’ll find out how wrong I am. I hope Judge Griffin has either a really good story or a fast paper shredder — maybe Enron surplus?
“So wrong?” Because “Just Me” says so? Against the statements of three credible witnesses? Sorry, that does not fly.
What I suspect is going on is that pressure has come to bear, not just on our friend Curtis for his inexcusable kindness to the FLDS, but also on Judge Griffin for having observed the law. “Deny it or you will wish you had,” in effect.
If those of us who are looking on from the objectivity of distance lived there, what we might understand is that it is time to circle the wagons in El Dorado, in Wild West Texas. That you could get real unpopular real fast if you don’t. High Noon, Gunfight at the OK Corral, and all that sort of thing… With all that talk of shooting rattlesnakes, one cannot be too careful.
The folks involved in this debacle know they are on very thin ice (a phenomenon perhaps not fully understood in the heat of West Texas) and that not only have they grossly abused over 500 people, they have violated their legal rights and may just find themselves on the wrong end of a series of lawsuits. Why else would the then-chief of Texas CPS suddenly retire? And a local Baptist minister has left the scene, too, since the raid. The timing of both departures is not likely to be coincidental.
And those are the smart ones. Get out of Dodge, which is, after all, not that far away.
While the FLDS are not reportedly a suit-happy bunch, it appears they would be justified in taking most of Schleicher County to the cleaners. That might be a message this lynch-mob-mentality-locality needs to hear.
Ranger Long has been identified as a male in the past. Quotes telling what “he” said…
The story I’m reading is that Truth Will Prevail have FIVE witness statements.
Add to the supposition of what may have happened that I’m hearing Judge Johnny could sign warrants for anything within authority of his court, which did not include the felony of Sexual Assault of a Child.
If Sheriff “not so sharp” Doran was with Long, or if Long knew Judge Johnny, it would not seem all that out of the ordinary for either of them to have stopped by or called about the warrants. Maybe asking if he could get the judge in the County Courts at Law to sign off on it for them.
Judge Johnny, after the raid makes national headlines, is searching for his few seconds of fame among the MHMR nursing staff.
After the news comes out of his bragging, he has to back peddle. Misleads a few reporters, as I’ve had another tell me he denied it weeks ago.
That’s the version that leaves Judge Johnny the most room for cover.
Now I wonder if he’s guilty of being a total liar, and what Long’s statement says. Long’s statement is THE first hand knowledge of what took place with Judge Johnny.
This speculation is of little value to us!
An old AP article has a couple of quotes/paraphrasing from Johnny Griffin. This is from March 18, 2005.
“I think there’s reason to be apprehensive, but they’ve done nothing to warrant any kind of great fear,” says Schleicher County Judge Johnny Griffin. “But it’s the unknown. … It’s the secrecy that bothers most people. I just hope nothing happens.”
[...]
Griffin, the county judge, is torn between what is viewed by many as a threat to his county and his respect for the rights of privacy and religious freedom. And Doyle said he can’t see any criminal charges “until one of the girls comes into my office and raises her hand and swears they’ve been molested by so and so, and that’s never going to happen.”
http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,600119636,00.html
kbp — Speculation can lead to new avenues of investigation that may yield additional facts. Hence, it can be a value-added activity.
‘Just me’ is right on who legally can’t sign warrants, who can, and who can but didn’t. Everybody else is wrong because they didn’t read the newspaper, didn’t read what I wrote beforehand, and didn’t read what ‘Just me’ wrote too. We three agree on facts, disagree on attitudes.
No need to get snotty about Johnny Griffin ‘signing anyway’ when he didn’t. Doesn’t bode well for the FLDS when their supporters are so clueless. Doesn’t bode well for Schleicher folks that can’t see whats happening when it happens.
Judge Johnny did not tell us he couldn’t sign a warrant.
This warrant was for a crime his court is not authorized to handle.
Does not exclude him from being asked to sign a warrant.
I wonder if “Just Me” IS Griffin.
Deseret News says Judge never signed FLDS search warrant — and here’s why
Can’t say why Wanda ‘Scooter’ Brown said what she did. Being from Kerr, maybe she got confused, but it doesn’t look like it. I don’t care.
Google schleicher “john griffin” OR “johnny griffin” warrant -zion -flds -yfz gets NO valid hits. 29 years in office and Judge Griffin never signed a warrant. Now people (certain people) are saying he didn’t sign this one but he was supposed to? What y’all smoking? Schulzke, you need to back off what you said previous about him.
Johnny Griffin is the Schleicher County Judge. There’s nothing in there about “warrant”, it’s simply not his job. Like I said before. And it IS somebody elses’ job. That’s the kicker.
(Hey, I’m getting this blog stuff pretty quick, huh?)
kbp: “Judge Johnny did not tell us he couldn’t sign a warrant.”
That’s true, he didn’t. It’s sorta like your garbageman didn’t tell you he can’t sign US executive orders. People who have a clue about Texas know.
kbp: “This warrant was for a crime his court is not authorized to handle.”
No sh*t Sherlock, and your garbageman is authorized to tranfer Gitmo prisoners either.
kbp: “Does not exclude him from being asked to sign a warrant.”
Does not exclude your garbageman from being asked to sign an executive order.
Why don’t you blog about your garbageman? The garbageman’s misleading you because he “did not tell us he couldn’t sign” executive orders tranfering Gitmo prisoners, and it doesn’t exclude that he was asked to sign.
What a maroon.
Judge Johnny is a liar.
You have trouble contradicting yourself and creating fables that ignore the facts of the case.
All see your a master at name calling.
Share facts and someone reading might respect your efforts.
Good luck.
I am using a 2006 edition of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure for this.
Art. 2.09: Each of the following officers is a magistrate within the meaning of this Code:….the county judges.
Art. 18.01(a): A “search warrant” is a written order, issued by a magistrate….
Art. 18.01(c) limits the authority of a county judge to issue a search warrant to “a judge of a …county court who is an attorney licensed by the State of Texas…..
However, Art. 18.01(i) appears to ‘gives back’ that authority to county judges who are not licensed attorneys in particular cases: “In a county in which the only judge serving the county who is a licensed attorney is a district judge whose district includes more than one county or in which the only judges serving the county who are licensed attorneys are two or more district judges each of whose district includes more than one county, any magistrate may issue a seach warrant….”
So, Judge Griffin can issue search warrants if he is a licensed attorney, or because of the language of 18.01(i).
As I said, I’m using a two-year old version of the CCP; if there have been changes, please let us know.
I urge everyone who is truly interested in the dirty details of Ranger Long’s work of fiction to read Articles 18.01 and 18.02. I really do expect that a motion to quash will eventually be upheld, not at the trial level, but on appeal of a criminal conviction in which information found pursuant to the search is the evidence upon which a conviction is based.
A motion to quash probably would be granted at the trial court level if, in Texas, as in civilized and fair jurisdictions, a different judge would decide the motion, not the judge who signed the search warrant.
Thanks for sharing that with us Doran.
18.02 limits the scope of search warrant that can be signed by a non-attorney magistrate. It’s possible that if a warrant was presented to Griffin, it was actually outside the scope of his legal authority to sign. Or he could be lying about the whole thing. Given the two witness statements, I think he lied to them or he’s lying to us. Time may tell.
It’s also possible that Griffin’s telling the truth and that the two MH witnesses just misunderstood him. A little bird suggested to me that Ranger Long may have gone first to someone else like Doyle. Doyle’s son was the pilot who did the regular surveillance overflights of the YFZ Ranch.
There are FIVE witnesses that would have had to misunderstood him, from what I read.
And ABCNews is inaccurate also?
But ABCNEWs didn’t identify the judge. Just said that Long had been rejected on the first attempt. Until I see the offers of proof (or a facscimile), I’m still holding out the possibility that Griffin has been misunderstood. Can’t treat him differently than I’d treat the FLDS.
And, to be fair, the guy comes across as one of the more tolerant members of the community there in Eldorado. Some reports have shown him speaking up for moderation and caution. Heck, if he did tell Long “no,” even if he doesn’t want to own it now, he still did the right thing at that crucial moment.
Before I rhetorically gun him down, I want to see the “money.” In fact, I’m not even sure that the offers of proof would convince me that there wasn’t some misunderstanding between him and the good folks who — allegedly — wrote up those offers of proof.
“…rejected on the first attempt”
Quite a trail of circumstances here.
Judge Johnny can get copies of the “offers of proof”.
Judge Johnny should have known they existed.
Judge Johnny should then have cleared it up in a manner that does not leave others thinking he could be fibbing.
Where are you Judge Johnny?
Who turned Ranger Long down?
FYI
This was NOT the first time Judge Johnny had been questioned on that topic by reporters.
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