| Jeffs to appear before a judge in Utah today Polygamist being held without bail; hearing could change that | |||
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By Ben Winslow and Nancy Perkins Deseret Morning News | |||
HURRICANE — Captured polygamist leader Warren Jeffs will make his first appearance before a Utah judge today. The Fundamentalist LDS Church leader is scheduled to appear in court this afternoon via video hookup from the Purgatory Correctional Facility. Jeffs is being held without bail, although it is possible that could change at today's court hearing. "He seems to be a very meek, passive person," Washington County Sheriff Kirk Smith said outside the jail Tuesday afternoon. "We will give him every benefit of the doubt until he proves otherwise." Formal notice has not been filed in St. George's 5th District Court, but the office of Las Vegas lawyer Richard Wright confirmed to the Deseret Morning News he is representing Jeffs. Wright has represented several high-profile clients in Las Vegas, including a county commissioner charged with political corruption and a boxer accused of assaulting his girlfriend. "He's not making any comment," a woman who answered the phone at Wright's law firm said Tuesday. Wright called the Purgatory Jail on Tuesday and requested Jeffs be segregated from other inmates "for his own protection," Smith said. Flight to Purgatory Jeffs, 50, was flown from Las Vegas to Hurricane in a Utah Department of Public Safety helicopter Tuesday. It flew over the Purgatory Jail before landing in the fenced-in jail yard, kicking up a huge cloud of dust. Accompanying Jeffs were a pair of Washington County sheriff's deputies, who traveled to the Clark County Jail to pick him up. Lt. Jake Adams described Jeffs as "cooperative and compliant." Security surrounding Jeffs has been tight. He was seen surrounded by police officers as he boarded the helicopter at a Las Vegas-area airport. Using the DPS helicopter was a calculated move. "Driving 120 miles by automobile is not my idea of a smart way to transport him," the sheriff said, adding that he has increased security at the Purgatory Jail. "Our chief concern, when we're dealing with religious extremists, is to get Mr. Jeffs safely through the process. I will be concerned about his followers until the day he leaves," Smith said. "No threats have been made, but we understand there may be people who don't ascribe to his religious way of being and may wish him harm." Clad in a green-and-white striped jail uniform, Jeffs smiled slightly in his booking mug shot released by the Washington County Sheriff's Office. His brown hair is graying. Inside Purgatory, Jeffs will be alone in a cell measuring 6-by-10 feet. It includes a mattress, urinal and sink. He will be allowed out of his cell for one hour a day to exercise, shower and make phone calls. One to two hours of visitation a week will be allowed. Jeffs was a fugitive on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list until last week, when he was arrested during a traffic stop on I-15 just outside Las Vegas. In Utah, Jeffs is charged with two counts of rape as an accomplice, a first-degree felony. He is accused of forcing a teenage girl into a polygamous marriage with an older man. An arrest warrant affidavit filed in April 2006 said Jeffs threatened her when she objected and asked to leave the union. "No matter what happens you cannot fight with the priesthood because if you do you'll lose your salvation," the court papers said Jeffs told the young woman, who is expected to testify against him. In Mohave County, Ariz., Jeffs faces charges of sexual conduct with a minor and conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor. He is accused of arranging child bride marriages. Coincidentally, FLDS member Donald Barlow is scheduled to go on trial today in Kingman, Ariz., on sex crimes charges, accusing him of taking an underage girl as a plural wife. Hildale jury pool If Jeffs' case goes to trial, members of his own community could be in the jury box. "It's possible. They are in the county," deputy Washington County attorney Jerry Jaeger told the Deseret Morning News last week. "If someone got called from Hildale, then they're going to have to make the same statement that they're going to be impartial." People from Hildale are in the county jury pool, clerks from St. George's 5th District Court said Tuesday. Despite the international publicity Jeffs' arrest has generated, prosecutors still believe it is possible to get a fair trial in St. George. "A lot of that is just getting a jury that is willing to listen to the evidence and make a decision based on the evidence," Jaeger said. The Washington County Attorney's Office has said it has taken steps to protect its witness from coming to any harm while she prepares to testify against Jeffs. "We need to try this case in court," deputy Washington County attorney Brian Filter said Tuesday. "We don't want to jeopardize this case so we will say as little as possible." If convicted, Jeffs could face up to life in prison. E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com; nperkins@desnews.com | |||
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deseretnews.com Originally published Wednesday, September 6, 2006 | |||
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