Sheriff wants no more of Warren Jeffs
 
Dave Hawkins Special to the Standard-Times
San Angelo Standard-Times
 
KINGMAN, Ariz. — Sheriff Tom Sheahan said he’s working to return Mohave County jail inmate Warren Jeffs to Utah after Superior Court Judge Steve Conn dismissed charges against the polygamous church prophet Wednesday at the request of the county attorney’s office.

Sheahan said he understands the reasons for ending prosecution of the prophet and former leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints but is disappointed that Jeffs, 54, will not be convicted in Arizona.

Sheahan said it’s not clear how swift Jeffs’ return will be, but he hoped he’d be transported back to Utah by the end of this week.

The sooner the better, the sheriff said.

"He’s been a problem inmate since we had him," Sheahan said. "Mr. Jeffs was a handful from day one with his self-inflicted hunger strikes."

Prayer-related fasting rituals resulted in force-feeding Jeffs with use of tubes on several occasions during his 28-month-long confinement in the county jail in Kingman. Isolation of Jeffs within the jail and extra security assigned for transports to court hearings made him more than twice as expensive to incarcerate as other inmates, according to Sheahan.

Details of Jeffs’ return to Utah will not be made public for security concerns. Jeffs was convicted of two counts of rape as an accomplice in Utah and was given consecutive five years to life prison terms.

Dismissed in Arizona are two counts of sexual conduct with a minor, though Jeffs was not accused of any direct sexual misconduct. He was, however, prosecuted under the theory that he facilitated spiritual unions that allowed men to have illegal sexual relations with underage "celestial brides."

Mohave County Attorney Matt Smyth said more than 1,000 man-hours had been invested in the Arizona investigation and prosecution of the case. Smyth said he would have liked to have had his day in court, but that he had to respect the wishes of those who made the allegations against Jeffs but no longer want the cases to move forward in Arizona. He said the women, Elyssa Wall and Susie Barlow, understand that Jeffs has already served more jail time in Mohave County than could be imposed if he were convicted in the cases and given the maximum punishment.

"They’re looking at the fact that they don’t have anything to gain in terms of additional incarceration," Smyth said. "They know that Mr. Jeffs is wanted very badly in Texas." Smyth said the women simply prefer that Jeffs be prosecuted in Texas, where he faces more serious charges and more severe punishment if convicted. Roger Hoole, the Utah attorney who represents both Wall and Barlow, agreed with Smyth’s analysis.

Hoole said his clients and some of the state’s support witnesses in Arizona have been worn down.

"There’s definitely a fatigue factor," Hoole said. "There’s been a very aggressive defense and I think some of the witnesses have felt that and just don’t need it."

Michael Piccarreta, the Tucson-based lead attorney for the Jeffs’ defense team, applauded Smyth for exercising what he said was his ethical and legal obligation to dismiss the charges. He said witness credibility problems tainted both of the Arizona cases.

"The bottom line is that there’s no reasonable likelihood of convictions of Mr. Jeffs," Piccarreta said from his vacation home in Oregon. And he said Jeffs’ rights have been violated in both Texas and Utah.

"We uncovered evidence that complaining witnesses (in the Arizona cases) had falsified evidence involved in Mr. Jeffs’ Utah trial," Piccarreta said.

Piccarreta said there’s a strong chance that Jeffs’ Utah convictions will be overturned in Utah. He said Wall’s alleged participation in the fabrication of evidence used to convict Jeffs in Utah should at the very least prompt a new trial.

Piccarreta said he believes authorities would be unable to bring a new case because Wall would be so thoroughly discredited.

Willie Jessop, an FLDS spokesman, said that letting go of charges in Arizona is a ploy to avoid using questionable evidence that was used in Jeffs’ trial in Utah in 2007.

"Dropping charges in Arizona came as a direct result of the false medical records and false testimony given in Utah," Jessop said Thursday in Eldorado while attending the trial of Abram Harker Jeffs, an FLDS member accused of child sexual assault. "They’ve tendered that (evidence) to the Arizona court."

The records and testimony refer to that of a woman who said her records of a 2002 miscarriage of Wall were originals but are now suspected not to be so.

The state has begun extradition proceedings, according to an e-mail Thursday from Texas attorney general spokesman Jerry Strickland.

"We are going to fight any extradition to Texas," Piccarreta said. "Texas has demonstrated, at best, religious intolerance toward the FLDS."

Piccarreta, for more than a year, has questioned the spring 2008 raid and roundup of more than 400 women and children on the FLDS-owned Yearning for Zion Ranch near Eldorado. He has questioned subsequent court rulings as Texas authorities have brought charges against Jeffs and other church members.

Jeffs was among 12 men from the ranch indicted at least in part on the basis of evidence seized in the raid. He faces charges of first degree felony child sexual abuse and first degree felony bigamy.

Hoole noted that his clients greatly appreciate Arizona’s efforts to protect young girls he believes have been victimized by the polygamous culture embraced by the FLDS. He said many forget that Mohave County moved first before Utah or Texas brought charges against Jeffs.

Hoole said Smyth had the courage to take cases to court. And that special investigator Gary Engels endured the wrath of many when investigating in the reclusive community of Colorado City and neighboring Hildale across the border in Utah, both strongholds of the polygamist sect.

"My clients are so grateful to Mohave County," Hoole said. "Gary Engels is the bravest man they’ve ever met, being out there in the community in a hostile, hostile environment, basically by himself trying to help kids and try to lessen the impact that that lifestyle has on children."

Standard-Times staff writer Matthew Waller contributed to this report.
 
gosanangelo.com
Originally published June 10, 2010
 
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