Polygamist leader Warren Jeffs appeals rejected by Utah Supreme Court

The Utah Supreme Court has denied polygamist sect leader Warren S. Jeffs’ appeal seeking a new hearing on three key issues related to his upcoming trial.

The court denied the petition late Tuesday with no comment.

Jeffs’ attorneys filed the interlocutory appeal on April 18, asking the high court to review 5th District Court Judge James L. Shumate’s refusal to move Jeffs’ trial out of Washington County.

Shumate also refused to reverse his decision that there is sufficient evidence to send the case to trial. And he rejected a defense argument that Utah’s rape statute is unconstitutionally vague in defining what constitutes enticement.

So far, the only success Jeffs’ attorneys have had is in getting Shumate to allow their client to wear street clothes at his hearings and scaling back security at the courthouse.

Attorneys Walter Bugden, Tara Isaacson and Richard Wright had argued that widespread media coverage had made it unlikely Jeffs can get a fair hearing before a jury culled from the county.

Shumate was not persuaded by legal arguments or results of a telephone survey that showed a majority of respondents in Washington County have a negative opinion of Jeffs and believe him guilty, even though many could not articulate the charges against him.

Jeffs faces two felony charges of being an accomplice to rape for conducting the marriage of a 19-year-old man and a 14-year-old girl who had objected to the arranged union. His trial is set to begin Sept. 10.

The judge lambasted local newspaper coverage of the case but said he believes a fair jury can still be pulled together.

Shumate has agreed to extensive questioning of an initial pool of about 200 jurors. The judge said that if he is not able to seat a jury after running through about 175 of those candidates, he’ll order the trial moved.

Jeffs’ attorneys also wanted the Utah Supreme Court to look at whether Shumate erred in deciding there was enough evidence to set the case for trial and in upholding the enticement language in Utah’s rape statute.

They argued that Jeffs could not have known that conducting a marriage or encouraging a couple to stay together might be construed as enticement to engage in nonconsensual sex.

Shumate found Jeffs had ample information to know the bride, identified as Jane Doe, did not want to proceed with the marriage or engage in intimate relations with her husband.

Read Another Article

Scientology gains followers in Victoria, Australia
Jain convention in New Jersey draws thousands

Related News Articles Topic(s): FLDS • Polygamy Subscribe to Religion News Blog updates Subscribe to Religion News Blog [What is this?] Get Religion News Blog's headline by Email [What is this?] Follow Religion News Blog at Twitter Find Related Information Use our custom search engines to find additional research resources on religions and cults: ApologeticsSearch.com: Search for apologetics articles, books, videos, and other research resources across 135 Christian apologetics websites and blogs. CounterCultSearch.com: Search for information about (religious) cults, cult-like organizations, and cults experts -- as well as paranormal-, New Age, and pseudoscientific claims -- across 260+ websites, blogs and forums dedicated to cult research, spiritual abuse, ex-cult counseling & support. Find Related Religion & Spirituality Books at Amazon.com FLDS Possibly related... or Most Popular Religion News Articles Kent Hovind: Evangelist arrested on federal charges Beast’s real mark devalued to ’616′ Muslim Woman Gives Sex Advice on Arab TV Michael Jackson Confirms Conversion to Islam Kent Hovind, ‘Dr. Dino,’ guilty on all counts The fall and rise of Carlton Pearson Search False prophet Harold Camping sets another date for rapture: May 21, 2011 Watch the film Theo van Gogh was murdered for Kent Hovind — Dr. Dino — sentenced to 10 years in prison

Search Religion News Blog