| Jury selection starts today in Jeffs trial in St. George | |
|
By Nancy Perkins Deseret Morning News | |
ST. GEORGE — The process of selecting a jury that will decide whether jailed Fundamentalist LDS Church leader Warren Steed Jeffs is guilty of arranging the marriage of an underage girl to her 19-year-old cousin starts today. Two weeks ago, 300 Washington County residents received a summons from 5th District Court to appear for jury duty in the Jeffs case, scheduled to begin next week. Jeffs is charged with two first-degree felony counts of rape as an accomplice. The large jury pool is needed, Judge James L. Shumate has said, so that an impartial jury can be seated for the trial that is expected to last nearly two weeks. Polling data that had been presented by Jeffs' defense team showed 52 percent of the 210 Washington County respondents believed Jeffs was guilty or likely guilty of the charges filed. Those results were not enough to persuade Shumate to move the trial to Salt Lake County, where the population is approaching 1 million. Today, potential jurors will gather at the Dixie Center in St. George to fill out a questionnaire prepared jointly by the defense and prosecution. On Monday, jurors will be taken 50 at a time into the Washington County Courthouse to learn whether they have been dismissed or are being retained for further questioning. That process will continue until eight jurors and at least two alternates are selected. A copy of the blank questionnaire will be posted on the court's Web site once jurors have turned their completed copies in to the court, a court spokeswoman said. Potential jurors will also face questioning from prosecutors and defense attorneys during a one-on-one session with the judge in his chambers. If a full jury can be selected, the trial will begin immediately. Seating an impartial jury in the Jeffs case could prove difficult, observers say, and opinions vary widely on the probability of finding 10 residents of Washington County who are unbiased when it comes to Jeffs. For a conviction, jurors must decide that Jeffs intentionally and knowingly encouraged the girl's cousin to commit unlawful sex with the 14-year-old against her will. "I don't think Warren Jeffs can get a fair trial in Washington County," said Hazel Zitting, a Centennial Park, Ariz., resident who grew up in a plural family and has become a voice for polygamists living in the area. "People can be so prejudiced here. I was raised in Salt Lake City and never got the stares, sly remarks and rudeness that I've seen here." Jeffs, 51, is considered the president and prophet of the Fundamentalist LDS Church, which has nearly 10,000 members living in several western states and Canada. Most residents of Hildale and Colorado City, Ariz., are members of the FLDS church, which believes polygamy is essential to attain the highest degree in heaven. Zitting, whose father was jailed in the late 1940s and early 1950s for his polygamous views and lifestyle, said she still has family members actively involved in the FLDS Church, although her immediate family left the sect several years ago. "You just can't explain the camaraderie, comfort and safety that's involved in a large family," she said. "There's just no breaking it up." Ben Bistline, author of "The Polygamists — a History of Colorado City, Ariz.," said he thinks it is possible to select an unbiased jury, although it could take more than the initial jury pool of 300 individuals. Salt Lake City attorney Rod Parker, who represented the FLDS Church for many years and defended former Hildale police officer Rodney Holm on charges of bigamy and sexual misconduct with a minor, said "they're going to have a tough time (finding an impartial jury)." "I think they'll seat a jury, but I don't think they can get what they are looking for. Juries have definite characteristics once you get them." The Administrative Office of the Utah Courts provides a list of the potential jurists to the court, said staff attorney Tim Shea. "The jury roster is a consolidation of numbers taken from driver's licenses, identification cards and voter registration lists," he said. He said the numbers are checked to make sure there are no duplicates or deceased people on the list. After that, the jury roster is generated at random, Shea said, and no one can predict where those individuals may live in the county. Residents of Hildale in Washington County could be on that list, but it is unlikely theyill be selected for jury duty, said Parker. "In the Holm case, we did draw a couple of people from Hildale (for jury selection), but they were immediately dismissed, just because of where they lived," he said. Up to 10 percent of the individuals called to jury duty usually ask to be dismissed before the process even begins, said Fifth District Court Clerk Carolyn Smitherman, who will be helping jurors during today's process. Those that want to be excused have to write a letter to the judge, and there are always a certain percentage that don't show up, she said. "It's up to the judge if he wants to cite them with contempt or not." Contributing: Associated Press E-mail: nperkins@desnews.com | |
|
deseretnews.com Originally published September 7, 2007 | |
| Back | |
| For more information email: | |
