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	Warren Jeffs Hires New Lawyers By Jennifer Dobner The Associated Press, carried in Daily Herald September 12, 2006 http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/192780/4/ St. George, Utah - The legal team hired to defend polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs against allegations he arranged a "spiritual marriage" that led to the rape of an underage girl are considered bright and creative, according to prosecutors and defense attorneys who've worked with the pair. Salt Lake City attorneys Walter F. Bugden Jr. and Tara L. Isaacson were hired by Jeffs sometime over the weekend and filed a notice Monday with the 5th District Court here. "They're smart, they're a sharp legal team," Salt Lake City defense attorney Greg Skordas said. Jeffs, 50, is facing two felony counts of rape as an accomplice, accused of arranging a spiritual marriage between an underage girl and an older man. Each count carries a penalty of five years to life in prison. Court documents filed by Washington County Attorney Brock Belnap do not identify the girl or her husband, but indicate she fought the marriage despite being directed by Jeffs to give herself "mind, body and soul, to your husband like you're supposed to." A preliminary hearing for Warren Jeffs was postponed Monday at the request of Isaacson, who spoke to Judge James L. Shumate by telephone prior to the 8:30 a.m. hearing. Jeffs, the leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, appeared at the hearing via closed-circuit TV from the Purgatory Correctional Facility in nearby Hurricane. Isaacson asked Shumate for a continuance of the Sept. 19 preliminary hearing _ a hearing at which the case against Jeffs would be outlined. Shumate agreed and set Sept. 27 as a scheduling hearing date to decide when a preliminary hearing would be held. Jeffs, who was arrested Aug. 28 by the Nevada Highway Patrol during a traffic stop on Interstate 15, is being held without bail. That issue could also be addressed Sept. 27, Washington County's Chief Deputy Attorney Brian Filter said. A telephone message left by The Associated Press seeking comment from Bugden or Isaacson was not immediately returned Monday. Bugden is a well-known Salt Lake City attorney, who's practiced law in Utah since 1977. He's defended clients against charges of capital murder, rape and sexual assault. Jeffs "is a client who is going to need lots of attention and Wally's really good at that," Skordas said. "The courts like him, juries like him, he's very personable." Isaacson has been a lawyer since 1996 and is lesser-known to the public. She's respected among lawyers for her well-reasoned arguments and knowledge, Salt Lake County Deputy Attorney Kent Morgan said. As a team in 2002, Bugden and Isaacson won an acquittal in a second trial for Robert Allen Weitzel, a psychiatrist accused of killing five elderly patients by administering a combination of psychotropic drugs and morphine. "They were very prepared when they came to court," said Steve Major, the Davis County deputy attorney who filed the Weitzel charges. "They were very creative, I think, and this is an unusual charge, so I think they'll be well-suited to (Jeffs') case." Until Monday, Jeffs had been working with Las Vegas attorney Richard Wright. It remained unclear Monday if Wright, who is not licensed to practice in Utah, would participate in Jeffs' Utah defense. A telephone message left at his office was also not returned. Wright has filed a motion in Nevada's U.S. District Court, however, seeking the return of personal papers, computers and recording devices found inside the Cadillac SUV Jeffs was riding in when arrested. Wright claims the items contain "sacred" and privileged information shared between Jeffs and his followers. Wright has asked a judge to review the materials before making them public. It was unknown Monday when a judge would address the motion. Also found inside the SUV was more than $54,000 in cash, wigs, cell phones, global positioning devices and police scanners. Jeffs had been on the run for about a year-and-a-half when he was arrested. He had been on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list since May. Besides the Utah charges, Jeffs is facing two felony charges in Mohave County, Ariz., for a similarly arranged marriage involving an underage girl. He's expected to be prosecuted there after Utah proceedings have concluded. The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is a polygamy-practicing sect of nearly 10,000 people who mostly make their homes in the twin towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz.
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