By Nancy Perkins and Ben Winslow
Deseret Morning News
November 21, 2007
http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695229532,00.html
ST. GEORGE — Polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs could spend the rest of his life in prison under a sentence imposed Tuesday, as a judge ordered him to serve two prison terms of five years-to-life for performing a child bride marriage.
Defense attorney Wally Bugden said Jeffs will seek a new trial and file an appeal within a week.
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| Warren Jeffs looks at one of his attorneys during his sentencing Tuesday in St. George. Photo by Jud Burkett |
"We just don't agree with the charge of accomplice to rape. We don't agree with the verdict. We intend to do everything we can to reverse the verdict," he told reporters outside of court.
A request to allow Jeffs to stay at the Purgatory Jail until his appeal was ready was denied by 5th District Court Judge James Shumate. He also denied a motion by defense attorneys seeking to set aside the jury's verdicts.
Jeffs, who was found guilty by a jury in September of two first-degree felony counts of rape as an accomplice, entered the courtroom on Tuesday looking wan, pale and slightly disoriented. The 51-year-old leader of the Fundamentalist LDS Church wore a dark suit and looked thinner than at his previous court appearances. He dabbed once or twice at his mouth with a tissue.
Shumate listened to arguments before sentencing Jeffs to two consecutive terms of five years-to-life at the Utah State Prison and a $37,000 fine. Jeffs will earn credit for time already served since his arrest on I-15 outside Las Vegas in August 2006.
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Jeffs could arrive at the Utah State Prison as early as today and could go before the Utah Board of Pardon and Parole to review his time served on the first count in 2010.
"We believe that justice has been served," Washington County Attorney Brock Belnap said outside of court Tuesday.
Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff hailed the sentence.
"Warren Jeffs belongs in prison for abusing his authority and being an accomplice to rape. A jury found Jeffs guilty and Judge Shumate made the appropriate decision to protect other people from being harmed. Unfortunately, Jeffs' attorneys and some of his followers continue to claim that this convicted felon is being punished for his beliefs," Shurtleff said in a statement issued late Tuesday. "Jeffs can believe whatever he wants, but he is going to prison for his actions, which led to the rape of a child."
Bugden told Shumate that when Jeffs conducted a 2001 arranged marriage between 14-year-old Elissa Wall and her 19-year-old cousin, Allen Steed, he had no idea that it would lead to rape.
"Warren Jeffs' intent has to be considered," Bugden said. "His behavior is the result of more than 100 years of religion. This is a culture where everyone involved in this case grew up in this culture. Elissa Wall felt pressure from everyone in the culture, even though Warren Jeffs is the only one being prosecuted."
Wall testified during the trial that she objected to the union arranged by her stepfather, Fred Jessop, and performed by Jeffs. She said Steed forced her to have sex about six weeks after the ceremony despite her cries for him to stop.
About eight weeks into the marriage, Wall testified she sought a meeting with Jeffs to tell him her new husband touched her in ways that made her feel uncomfortable. Members of the FLDS Church are taught to avoid the opposite sex before marriage and believe that couples are placed together by the FLDS prophet through a revelation from God.
Bugden argued that Jeffs handled Wall's complaints in a common fashion based on his ecclesiastical role, and that other religious leaders would have reacted similarly.
"From Warren Jeffs' perspective and in the FLDS setting, they believe placement marriages work," Bugden said. "Eight weeks into a marriage is not the time to give up on it."
The practice of placement marriage existed long before Jeffs became prophet of the FLDS Church, he said.
"This is a unique case of Warren Jeffs where he is following a tradition of deeply held religious belief that the law of celestial marriage, of placement marriage, is what God wants," Bugden told Shumate.
Washington County Deputy Attorney Ryan Shaum said the jury's decision to convict Jeffs had nothing to do with his religion.
"This is not an indictment of a religious leader. It is an indictment of the conduct of Mr. Jeffs," Shaum said, urging Shumate to sentence Jeffs to two consecutive terms of five years to life instead of allowing him to serve them concurrently. "There needs to be a message sent to the FLDS or any other faith that the excuse, 'Gee, I'm just doing my job facilitating a marriage ceremony,' will not be tolerated of anyone."
Shaum said Jeffs hasn't accepted responsibility or shown any remorse.
"There appears to be no comprehension that his conduct toward Elissa Wall resulted in her rape," Shaum said. "Warren Jeffs gave her no other option than to submit to her so-called husband."
Jeffs continues to hold "incredible influence" over his followers, Shaum said, and should receive the maximum sentence as a deterrent to future behavior by him or the next leader of the FLDS Church.
"Incarceration is one way of limiting his ability to do what he has done in the past," Shaum told the judge. "Warren Jeffs has utter contempt for the law."
Jeffs counseled his followers to be strong in their faith, even if it meant "taking a hit," Shaum said.
"Well, it's Mr. Jeffs' turn to take the hit without flinching. He knew the state has statutes against behavior that put Elissa Wall in the predicament that she was in. He ignored her and the law."
Wall briefly addressed the judge, telling Shumate she had "thought about this day for a very long time and how it would go."
"Warren Jeffs and his influence over me as a 14-year-old girl affected me and my family in so many ways," Wall said in a tearful voice as she stood at the courtroom podium. "I am so grateful to the justice system to see the truth and to believe in me. I have great faith and confidence in you and the system to give Warren Jeffs the just sentence he deserves and perhaps some good will come of this."
Shumate said he admired Wall for having the courage to continue on, "but you don't have to do it alone."
The judge said he based his sentencing decision on several factors. Jeffs "knew this wasn't a lawful marriage," and that "a 14-year-old can't lawfully marry without intervention of a juvenile court," Shumate said.
Jeffs also knew Wall and Steed were cousins when he conducted the wedding ceremony in a small Nevada motel. Wall's former husband testified for Jeffs during his trial. The day after the FLDS leader was convicted, Steed was charged with rape. Steed's lawyer's are seeking to have that case dismissed.
The FLDS leader is next scheduled to face criminal charges in Arizona, where he is accused of performing more child-bride marriages.
"I don't know how long it will take to get him to Arizona, but I believe the defendant and his attorneys want him to appear in Arizona as soon as possible after he is sentenced," Mohave County Attorney Matt Smith said in an e-mail to the Deseret Morning News. "After that, it will just depend on how long it gets to take to get discovery completed and all the interviews done before we can set a trial date."
Jeffs has also been indicted by a federal grand jury in Salt Lake City on a single count of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, stemming from his time on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list.
E-mail: nperkins@desnews.com, bwinslow@desnews.com.
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