Up until midnight, Stalin's trains must run on time. "Git 'er Done!"

Why no news all day yesterday on the various motions before the court?

The San Angelo Standard-Times - "Judge Barbara Walther, known for marathon courtroom sessions, presided over a joint consolidated motion by the defense attorneys for 10 members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on Monday in the same makeshift courtroom where last month Raymond Merril Jessop was convicted of child sexual abuse and sentenced to 10 years in prison by a Schleicher County jury.

Keate is the second of the 10 to go to trial on a charge of child sexual abuse based on evidence acquired during the state's historic raid in April 2008 on the Yearning For Zion Ranch, the 1,700-acre community near Eldorado operated and inhabited by members of the polygamist sect.

Attorneys for the sect members argued Monday that the indictments against their clients should be quashed because the Schleicher County grand jury that issued the indictments did not have enough Hispanic members to represent the community profile in accordance with the accused men's civil rights. Walther denied the motion in a hearing that ended a few minutes before 11 p.m."

There is a complete dearth of information in the press on who the Judge would be that would rule on the motion to recuse, according to "Ron" who supposedly is an attorney and lives in Houston:

" 'That motion will be denied counsel" only takes about 3 seconds to say."

I have heard from a variety of sources, some fairly reliable, the names of two judges. That of Judge John Hyde and later a poster I don't know anything about claimed it was Judge Dean Rucker who ruled on the motion to recuse Judge Walther.

Bill over at "Free the FLDS Children" says Judge Walther just ignored the motion, but the San Angelo Standard-Times article says no, but doesn't give any detail:

"An earlier ruling by another judge denied a motion to disqualify Walther on the basis that she might be called as a witness in the grand jury challenge. The FLDS legal team, led by Jerry Goldstein, had argued that Walther should not be allowed to hear the motion against the indictment because she had a role in selecting the grand jury commissioner."

3 seconds? Apparently the court needed more, Ron.

At some point someone on the defense is going to raise the issue of the quality of the decision based on the "ram it, jam it, 'git 'er done" sort of pushiness that Walther is exhibiting. There are complex issues in all of these trials and they are in a lot of ways, unprecedented, but Walther proceeds by imposing deadlines and limiting testimony.

It has been remarked that it is a bad strategy in Iraq or Afghanistan to name a withdrawal date for our troops, and instead we should wait until the job is done. "Git 'er done" is a dangerous methodology when thoroughness is needed. "Git 'er done" is generally the mentality of a bull in a china shop.

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