Wednesday Is Start Date If Jury Is Formed by Then
By Nancy Perkins and Ben Winslow
Deseret Morning News
September 8, 2007
http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695208286,00.html
St. George — Attorneys for jailed polygamist leader Warren Jeffs released a long list of potential witnesses on Friday that includes family members and friends of the woman known in court filings as "Jane Doe IV."
Jeffs is charged with two first-degree felony counts of rape as an accomplice for his 2001 role in joining Doe, then 14, and her 19-year-old cousin together in a spiritual marriage. The bride testified during a preliminary hearing that she didn't want to marry her cousin and objected to having a "husband and wife" relationship with him.
Fifth District Judge James L. Shumate instructed about 230 people who arrived at the Dixie Center in St. George about the jury selection process before asking them to be sworn in and fill out a questionnaire.
The original jury pool of 300 had already been whittled down after more than 30 people were earlier excused by the judge for various reasons and another 30 or so didn't show up to answer the 75 questions posed to the group. The judge dismissed another seven people on Friday following an initial introduction and screening of the film, "Selected to Serve."
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Among the potential jurors were elderly men and women, one of whom was sobbing while filling out the form before she was released by the judge. Each person was assigned a time to report to court next week when individual interviews will be conducted by the attorneys and judge. If a panel of eight jurors and two alternates can be seated, the trial is expected to begin on Wednesday and last until Sept. 21.
Attorneys also addressed several pre-trial motions before Shumate on Friday afternoon.
Jeffs, 51, attended the hearing, as did about a dozen of his supporters, who stood in respect as he entered the courtroom. Jeffs is revered as the prophet of the FLDS Church, which teaches polygamy as a central doctrine and has about 10,000 members in numerous Western states and Canada.
Bugden argued that comments delivered to the FLDS congregation by former Colorado City town marshal Sam Barlow about the sect's practice of plural marriage did not imply the church or its leaders believed rape or nonconsensual sex would occur in a marriage.
"The FLDS church has said, sort of like a conscientious objector, that we understand our views of plural marriage and of marriage by revelation are contrary to secular law, but we have to stand firm," Bugden told the judge. "There is not a logical relationship between Sam Barlow saying our religion is under attack, which it has been for more than 100 years, and their willingness to accept the consequences of that, and then saying that means rape and nonconsensual sex would occur (in a marriage)."
Washington County Attorney Brock Belnap argued that the FLDS belief in the celestial law of plural marriage and the principle of marriage by revelation are central to the state's case.
"These plural marriages are arranged through the prophet. A 14-year-old child does not consent to sex when she is enticed into doing something that she would not otherwise do," said Belnap. "Sam Barlow's words indicate pressure is brought to bear on young women to be faithful in these relationships."
Shumate agreed that Jeffs' mental state at the time he conducted a marriage between the two teenagers was "highly relevant," although there was a possibility the jury could be misled by some of Barlow's speech.
In another matter, it was revealed in court that Jane Doe's former husband, who has not been charged with a crime, is the subject of an investigation by the Washington County Attorney's Office. His name appears on the defense's list of potential witnesses, as do those of Jane Doe's mother and other close family members.
The prosecution intends to call 18 people, including Jane Doe, her father and brother, several former FLDS members, including Sam Barlow, and the Nevada trooper who arrested Jeffs after his vehicle was stopped on I-15 for an obscured temporary plate.
Jane Doe IV, the star witness in the case against Jeffs, has spent the last year in a sort-of "witness protection program," her attorney said. She has also filed a multimillion-dollar civil lawsuit against Jeffs and the FLDS Church. That lawsuit is pending.
Her attorney, Roger Hoole, said his client is "hanging in there" and is prepared to testify against the FLDS leader.
"There were some initial efforts to try and contact her by family members," Hoole said. "It was difficult for her not to respond to the people she cares about. But she had made a decision to move forward."
The two-week trial is expected to draw international media attention again. Credentials have been issued to more than a dozen media outlets including Court TV and CNN. On Friday, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issued a statement saying it has no association whatsoever to Jeffs or the FLDS Church.
"Jeffs is not now, and has never been, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints," the statement read. "There is good reason to make this clarification once again. In covering his arrest and reporting the activities of other polygamists, many news outlets have in the past left their viewers and readers confused by careless use of the term 'Mormon' either in text or in headlines."
The LDS Church discontinued the practice of polygamy in 1890.
E-mail: nperkins@desnews.com; bwinslow@desnews.com
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