Editor's Note: Today a former member of a polygamist group has taken the stand in the sexual assault trial of the first group member tried since Texas authorities raided the group's ranch last year.

The former member testified that jailed leader Warren Jeffs kept detailed notes on his interactions with church members because he believed God would hold him accountable. Jeffs' notes could become part of the prosecution's case against 38-year-old Raymond Jessop. He is charged with sexual assault of a child, stemming from his alleged marriage to an underage girl. We have been following this case ever since authorities arrested Jessop. Below, read a blog from one of our producers about meeting Carolyn Jessop - Raymond Jessop's fourth wife. She recounts her experiences in a book about her life on the FLDS ranch. Watch David Mattingly's report on the Jessop trial tonight on AC360° at 10 p.m. ET.

Betty Jessop at the FLDS compound.

Carolyn Jessop at 22, feeding daughter Betty.

Carolyn Jessop's book on her experience.

Ismael Estrada
AC360° Producer

It was the moment Carolyn Jessop had been waiting for. The mother of eight and the fourth wife of a powerful FLDS man wanted out of the only life she knew. It was a rare moment. All of Jessop’s eight children were home and her husband was not. She only had a few hours to gather her kids and leave the polygamist life where she was born and raised. She says she was desperately seeking a new life on the outside. She wanted to escape.

Carolyn Jessop broke free from a life of arranged marriage, polygamy and a male dominated and controlled society. She says she wanted more for her and her children. Jessop began a new life with her children outside the FLDS. Her kids attended public school and no longer practiced the religion with which they were raised.

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The sweat lodge in Sedona, AZ organized by James Arthur Ray.

Ismael Estrada
AC360° Producer

At 6:30 pm on Wednesday night, people were lining up at the Heritage Ballroom inside the Antlers Hilton in Colorado Springs. About 125 people filled the ballroom to listen to James Arthur Ray. He was here to sell and promote his beliefs, teaching people how to “enrich their lives and their pocket book in the process.”

Gary Tuchman and I were there for another reason. We were trying to speak with Ray about a homicide investigation surrounding the deaths of three people at a sweat lodge Mr. Ray organized and attended in Sedona, AZ two weeks ago.

Authorities at the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office say they would like to speak with Ray about his involvement in the sweat lodge ceremony and have said the incident is now considered a homicide investigation. Family members of those who died also say they would like to speak with him. While he may not be talking to them, Ray has kept very busy, sticking with his schedule -  stopping at various cities across the country over the past two weeks trying to drum up business.

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A sweat lodge being prepared in Cornville, Arizona.

Ismael Estrada
AC360° Producer

Last night, Gary Tuchman and I were sitting inside a hot, dark sweat lodge with 11 other people.

Members of various Native American tribes in Cornville, AZ wanted us to see what a sweat lodge was all about, and it’s importance to their culture.

The lodge itself is constructed of willow branches, tied together and sturdy enough to hold several coverings and finally a tarp. Inside, there are hot rocks, placed inside a hole and water is poured on the rocks to increase the heat. The space inside is very small.

We all sat shoulder-to-shoulder as various Native American songs were sung and prayers were voiced.

The people here are worried that the tragic deaths of two people in a sweat lodge near Sedona last week is going to destroy what they consider to be a very important part of their culture.

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A memorial honoring the victims of the violence in Chicago, including Blair Holt.

Ismael Estrada
AC360° Producer

I'll never forget the day I met Ronald Holt and Annette Nance. It was in the spring of 2007 and their son, Blair Holt had just been killed on his way home from school on a city bus.

CNN Correspondent David Mattingly, Photographer Derek Davis and I walked into their home to interview the grieving parents of their honor roll student who had plans to move on to college. Two gunmen got on the bus and started firing when Blair jumped in front of his friend to protect her. He was killed.

As they told us about their loss, the pain in their voices was gut-wrenching. In the end they made a promise - to do all they could to stop the violence that is killing so many school children in Chicago.

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Alexandra Poolos and Ismael Estrada
AC360°

Jerri Hyde first sent Anderson an email in July. In it, she wrote that her sons Donald and Daniel had both served in Iraq. Dan, 23, worked as an explosives expert in the Marines, and Don, 25, had been in the Army. Both, Jerri wrote, now suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and weren't getting the help they needed.

"I am writing because I feel Mr. Cooper just might be the one to listen," Jerri wrote. "My sons are suffering PTSD after serving our country. And getting no help. I don't understand this."

Jerri's email arrived after visiting her younger son Dan in Texas.

When we first called her, Jerri told us that Dan's problems seemed minor when compared to his older brother Don’s, who had deserted the military almost six months ago after reenlisting for another tour of duty. Don didn't know what to do now that he deserted the army. Jerri didn't know where he was hiding, just that he was somewhere in their home state of Illinois. For three months, the family kept in touch, and then finally in late September, Don reached out and said he wanted to talk.

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CNN is broadcasting live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Ismael Estrada
AC360° Producer

We headed out bright and early this morning to pick up Anderson at his hotel and start our day at the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles.

As soon as we got close we could tell this was going to be a traffic nightmare. Anderson had to jump out of the car and head over to our set up while we were directed to drive around in circles until we could get our parking spot. The blue wristbands they handed out to the media don’t seem to impress the cops.

Gold wristbands were given to ticket holders who will attend the service.

But the gold wristbands – those are the most coveted items we’ve seen since Willy Wonka opened the gates to his chocolate factory. We saw fans lining up – wearing their wristbands with pride—they just won the lottery.

As we headed over to the media platforms—the buzz around the Stapes Center was growing. Large screens with images of Michael Jackson starting from his time with the Jackson 5 until just days before his death at his last rehearsal. As I sit here and write this, I can hear fans screaming as celebrities pass through the main entrance.

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Ismael Estrada
AC360° Producer

I was sitting at home in Chicago when I saw the video for the first time. An off-duty officer was caught on surveillance tape beating a female bartender in February of 2007. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing! The guy was huge. Anthony Abbate was behind the bar slamming the woman around, throwing her to the ground and punching her over and over in the head. I called a couple friends who are cops here in Chicago to ask if they knew this guy. One friend told me, “He deserves every day he gets behind bars! This gives us such a bad name.”

I knew the attorney, Terry Ekl, who had the tape. I gave him a call and he met me at our Chicago bureau in the morning with his client, the bartender who was beaten, Karolina Obyrcka. I remember thinking that Obyrcka was small, but I was also impressed with the fact that she was able to walk away from the beating she took.

Obyrcka told us her story which you were able to see on AC360° that night and gave us a copy of the surveillance tape. During the interview she says she refused to serve Abbate any more drinks when he became enraged. She says he went behind the bar and started to beat her. Abbate admitted during the trial that he was drunk during the incident, but also says the 5’ 3” bartender was the aggressor in the violent scuffle.

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Ismael Estrada
AC360° Producer

I’ll never forget a story I was working on about five years ago in Chicago.

It was a story on housing scams on the south and west areas of the city. I was snooping around an abandoned building that had been purchased for an incredible amount of money. I went around back and two pit bulls were about ready to attack each other. I realized they were getting trained to fight and I knew there was trouble around the corner. I tried to quietly walk away, but I was spotted.

Three guys started coming after me, so I ran as fast as I could back to my car. I don’t think they would have done anything to me, I probably could have told them what I was doing and been just fine, but as I was starting the car, one guy was raising his hands and I noticed a gun in the front of his pants. They let me drive away and that was that.

But ask any kid around here in the tough neighborhoods and they’ll tell you how to get a gun. I’m not arguing for or against gun control. It’s just a fact: guns are easy to get here, even when it’s illegal to have them in Chicago. Another fact, they are using them at an alarming rate. According the police department, in the first five months of this year close to 700 people have been shot. This school year, 36 Chicago Public School children have been killed, most of them by gun shots.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta and I were in the emergency room of Advocate Christ Medical Center near Chicago last week. We watched as people who were shot were rushed to the hospital and taken to the operating room. Tonight we bring you the story that you don’t see. It’s the story that doctors see here on a daily basis, people fighting for their lives after being shot on Chicago’s streets.

Tania Lozoya was shot dead in Juarez, Mexico earlier this month.

Ismael Estrada
AC360° Producer

Earlier this week, Mexican government officials announced a major corruption bust. Ten mayors and 17 other officials were arrested, suspected of having ties to one of Mexico’s most violent drug syndicates. It was a shift from what we have seen in Mexican president Felipe Calderon’s war on drug cartels. Until recently, we have seen much of the war fought by military force and beefed up police forces, but little done on the actual corruption of many in local governments who are rumored to be bought off by Mexican Drug cartels.

Yet, despite the military force in border towns and arrests of government officials, people continue to die. In one sad case, an innocent, promising 15-year-old girl was killed.

Tania Lozoya was shot dead in Juarez, Mexico earlier this month. She wasn’t over the border partying, she wasn’t doing anything she wasn’t supposed to be doing. She was not involved with the drug cartels. She was with family celebrating a cousin’s baptism when a gun battle broke out between suspected drug traffickers near the party. A stray bullet hit Lozoya in the neck and she was killed.

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Program Note: Tune in tonight for a full report on the kidnapping in Mexico on AC360° at 10 p.m. ET.

George Norman Harrison in his pizzeria. Harrison was kidnapped and murdered in Mexico.

A family photo of Harrison with his niece, Andrea.

The bull ring across the street from where Harrison's body was found.

Ismael Estrada
AC360° Producer

This week all the attention is on Mexico and how to contain the Swine Flu that has taken so many lives. As the illness pops up in the United States and other parts of the world, people are learning how to avoid the deaths like those in Mexico. People living in Mexico are walking around in surgical masks, encouraged to stay inside and restaurants are only serving food to go. At the San Ysidro border crossing, just south of San Diego, Customs and Border Protection agents are screening people coming back from Mexico, looking for signs of the illness.

But in the news this morning there was a quick reminder of another virus killing so many people in Mexico. Last night after 8pm, 10 Tijuana police officers were shot, leaving five dead and the others in critical condition. The drug war is a virus that no one seems to be able to stop. We have spent much of this year going into Mexico and talking with people who live in this danger zone. People are afraid to take their children out in the streets, many are upset that their country is being hijacked by a cartel members who have no value for human life.

Gary Tuchman and I were in Tijuana, Mexico two weeks ago when we met a man named Guadalupe who dealt with the drug war like no one could ever imagine. He was in contact with kidnappers who were holding a friend ransom. His friend was an American, George Norman Harrison, who was living in Mexico and owned a pizza business. Guadalupe, who wouldn’t give us his last name out of fear, dropped ransom money off and negotiated with the kidnappers. Harrison’s fingers were chopped off and sent to Guadalupe to keep pressure on to find more money. After delivering a second drop, his body was found, headless and without arms.

Mexico’s drug war has crippled their economy which relies so much on tourism. The United States has now issued a travel warning against unnecessary travel to Mexico because of the Swine Flu. The Mexican government is taking steps to try to contain the illness. They have ordered the closing of bars, clubs, movie theaters, pool halls, theaters, gyms, sport centers, and convention halls. It makes you wonder how much more can Mexico take?