Warren Jeffs trial jury gets weekend off before beginning deliberations
 
By Daphne Bramham
Canwest News Service
 
Jurors in the Warren Jeffs trial have been given the weekend off after hearing final arguments and starting their deliberations on Friday.

They'll need the rest, as they're faced with a difficult case with a maximum penalty for the accused of life in prison.

Accomplice to rape is a highly legalistic, difficult-to-articulate charge that's complicated by the fact that nobody has actually been charged with rape in connection with the case.

Further, the actions that prompted the charges happened in a closed, religious community where Mr. Jeffs is the prophet, who determines which people go to heaven.

Mr. Jeffs's lawyers argue that not only was he not an accomplice to two counts of rape, there was no rape at all.

In his closing statement, defence lawyer Walter Bugden went further, suggesting to the five-man, three-woman jury that this is a politically motivated persecution by state legislators who disapprove of Mr. Jeffs's fundamentalist Mormon sect - the largest polygamous group in North America.

Mr. Bugden noted that state Attorney General Mark Shurtleff was in court a week ago comforting the girl once her testimony concluded.

"The state has gone crazy for political reasons to charge this man, Warren Jeffs, with rape.... This case is out of the world, Mars stuff," Mr. Bugden said, going on to add: "The state does not have the courage to charge Warren Jeffs with what Mr. Jeffs may be criminally responsible for" - unlawful marriage and the marriage of an underaged girl.

Instead, Mr. Bugden said, "The state dropped a nuclear bomb on the FLDS community and charged Warren Steed Jeffs with (accomplice to) rape. There was no rape. There is no accomplice liability."

Officiating at a marriage doesn't equate to Mr. Jeffs sanctioning rape, not even if Mr. Jeffs entreated the couple at the ceremony's close to "go forth and multiply and replenish the Earth," Mr. Bugden said.

As for the girl, Mr. Jeffs's lawyer suggested she is motivated by financial gain. The girl has filed a civil suit against Jeffs, the FLDS and the church's trust, the United Effort Plan, seeking compensatory damages.

Even if the jury acquits Mr. Jeffs, it will be a long time before he'll be going home. He still faces 10 counts of sex-related charges in Arizona and two federal charges of unlawful flight from prosecution.
 
canada.com
Originally published Friday, September 21, 2007
 
Back