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Judge Johnny Griffin Refused to Sign Search Warrant

2008-07-01 09:11:52

By Donald Richter

 

In our previous article “Crime Scene,” we stated that Schleicher County Judge Johnny Griffin refused to sign a warrant authorizing search and seizure at the YFZ Ranch because of insufficient evidence. Because the article was short and its tone informal, we did not include documentation for this statement. We have since learned that this information has been repeated on some blog sites but that the writers have wondered what evidence there is to substantiate the claim.
 
Furthermore, a report in the Deseret News of June 30, 2008, quotes Judge Griffin as denying that he was ever requested to sign the warrant:
 
“ELDORADO, Texas — Bloggers have been alternatively praising and condemning Schleicher County Judge Johnny Griffin for refusing to sign the original search warrant that prompted the raid on the Fundamentalist LDS Church's YFZ Ranch.
“But Griffin never got those search warrants, he told the Deseret News on Monday.
‘I did not sign it because it was never presented to me,’ said Griffin. ‘It went directly to the district.’”
We can only speculate on the reasons Judge Griffin is now denying what he previously affirmed and present as evidence statements from two “Offers of Proof” filed in the District Court of the 57th Judicial District in Bexar County, Texas, Cause No. 2008-CI-7631:
 
“If Linda Werlein was called to testify and testified, she would state the following:
 
“My name is Linda Werlein and I am the Chief Executive Officer of the Hill Country Community MHMR Center since 2000….
 
“I placed a call to Judge Johnny Griffin, who is the county judge of Schleicher County and told him of her concern about separating the children from their mothers. Judge Griffin told me that this never should have happened and that, in fact, he had refused to sign the warrant authorizing the search and seizure.”
 
“If Wanda ‘Scooter’ Brown were called to testify, she would testify 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.”
 

The Deseret News article quoted from above provides a possible clue to the reason Griffin is now denying any connection with the original warrant. As county judge he is also the chief administrative officer of Schleicher County. Griffin is not a lawyer, and it is likely that he did not know at the time the request for a warrant was made that he did not have authority to sign it anyway. Since that time, with the mounting expenses of the raid coming back upon the county, he now probably wishes to distance himself and the county as much as possible from involvement in this massive fiasco.


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