A hearing to determine the fate of 416 child residents of the Yearning for Zion Ranch who were removed from a polygamist compound descended into chaos on last week as defense lawyers in two different locations entered a flurry of objections as the state tried to present its case. Before the proceedings were recessed after about 45 minutes of wrangling, a lawyer for the state’s Department of Child Protective Services said it would seek psychiatric examinations for the children, as well as genetic testing of the children and the adult members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and would try to have the children relocated to other parts of the state outside of this town in west Texas. The request for genetic testing appeared to be a way for officials to establish the family relationships between the children, many of whom appear to be half-brothers and half-sisters, and the adults involved.
