Polygamist Warren Jeffs' convictions overturned by Utah court
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Polygamist Warren Jeffs' convictions overturned by Utah court
19 comments by Dennis Wagner - Jul. 27, 2010 03:40 PM
The Arizona Republic
The Utah Supreme Court on Tuesday overturned the rape-as-an-accomplice conviction of Warren Jeffs, the prophet and leader of a polygamist sect based on the Arizona-Utah border, leaving his fate in the legal system uncertain.
In a unanimous decision, justices found that jurors in the case were given improper instructions by Washington County Judge James Shumate before reaching their verdict that Jeffs contributed to the 2001 sexual assault of teenage victim Elissa Wall, then 14, by directing her marriage to an adult cousin.
Jeffs, 54, once was listed among the FBI's most wanted fugitives, and faced criminal prosecutions related to child rapes in three states.
Because Mohave County prosecutors dismissed the Arizona charges against Jeffs in June, the Supreme Court decision in Utah could mean the leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints faces only remaining criminal charges in Texas.
Brian Filter, senior deputy in the Washington County Attorney's Office, said no determination has been made on whether Jeffs will be retried.
"We've just gotten the opinion. It's lengthy and obviously very complicated," Filter said. "From the beginning, we've sought justice in this case, and that's what we'll continue to do."
The ruling stunned former FLDS church member Flora Jessop of Phoenix, who wept over the phone as she denounced the court's findings: "I think the Supreme Court of Utah just raped Elissa Wall, and I wonder who's going to prosecute that case," said Jessop, who was abused before she fled the sect at age 16. "Anybody with kids should move out of Utah and Arizona because there's not justice here. It's a betrayal of all of us – every child victim … It just sickens me."
Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/07/27/20100727polygamist-jeffs-convictions-overturned27-ON.html##ixzz0uvWuXLWI
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