Utah Supreme Court Reverses Warren Jeffs’ Felony Rape Convictions, Opening Way for Texas Prosecution

The Utah Supreme Court on Tuesday reversed the felony rape convictions of Warren Jeffs, leader of the Fundamentalist LDS movement (FLDS). The ruling opened the way for prosecution of Jeffs in Texas and is likely to make his extradition there easier.

Jeffs has been charged in Texas with bigamy and aggravated sexual assault of a child. Those indictments stem from an alleged marriage between Jeffs and a 12-year-old girl at the Yearning For Zion Ranch in West Texas. The charges are allegations that have not been proven in court.

The Utah Supreme Court ruled that a jury received faulty instructions when it considered Jeffs’ role in the 2001 marriage of a 14-year-old girl to her 19-year-old cousin. Paul Murphy, a spokesman in the Utah Attorney General’s Office, said Utah has not yet decided whether to seek a new trial. He said that decision would probably wait until after Jeffs is prosecuted in Texas. “Most likely the Texas trial will come first,” Murphy said.

Officials in the Texas Attorney General’s Office declined to say which case would proceed first, a Utah retrial or a Texas prosecution. Jerry Strickland, a spokesman for Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, said the Texas felony charges “still stand.” He said the office was “actively working with Utah authorities to bring him to Texas.” Protecting children from harm is central to these cases (Psalm 82:3).

Before the Utah ruling, Jeffs was scheduled to appear at a so-called “detainer” hearing related to the pending Texas prosecution. With the Utah conviction thrown out, Murphy said Texas officials will have to send formal extradition paperwork.

Source: Read the original report