| FLDS Leader Warren Jeffs Files Petition to Quash Texas Extradition | |
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By Morgan Skinner KCSG News KCSG TV - St. George, Utah | |
(Salt Lake City, UT) - Attorneys for FLDS leader Warren S. Jeffs have filed a Writ of Habeas Corpus claiming the state has violated Jeffs constitutional right to a speedy retrial and asked the judge to toss the warrant to extradite Jeffs to Texas. Attorneys Walter F. Bugden and Tara L. Isaacson want all charges against Jeffs in Utah resolved before he faces charges anywhere else. Court documents contend the governor’s warrant for extradition to Texas is improper and will violate Jeff’s constitutional rights if allowed to proceed. A hearing on has been scheduled November 15 in Third District Court before Judge Terry L. Christiansen in West Jordan. Texas extradition charges against Jeffs include bigamy, aggravated sexual assault, and assault with underage girls alleged to have taken place at the church's YFZ ranch near Eldorado, Texas. Jeffs was found guilty of being an accomplice to rape of a 14-year-old FLDS church member he married to her 19-year-old cousin. The Utah Supreme Court overturned the conviction based upon what the court said were faulty jury instructions that denied Jeffs a fair trial and remanded the case for retrial. Warren Jeffs is considered the spiritual leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) one of the largest practitioners of polygamy in the United States. The FLDS church emerged in the 1930's when its founding members were excommunicated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons). Followers of the FLDS continue the practice of polygamy after the Mormon Church discontinued the practice in 1890. | |
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KCSG.com Originally published October 18, 2010 | |
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