Warren Jeffs Trial: Jury Returns Guilty Verdict Against Polygamist

[hrmwrm]

Polygamist Warren Jeffs, leader of a breakaway Mormon sect, has been found guilty of child sexual assault Thursday


Jeffs, 55, was found guilty by a west Texas jury also for aggravated child sexual assault for his “spiritual marriages” and sexual encounters with girls aged just 12 and 14.

The spiritual leader of the condemned Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints now faces up to 119 years in prison.

The jury took just three hours in deliberation to return with its guilty verdict, and the trial will now move to sentencing.

Jeffs has conducted an animated defense in his trial. Previously he broke into an hour-long speech defending his right to practice plural marriage and threatening death upon the court for continuing his prosecution.

Even after the judge in the case dismissed the jury, Jeffs continued asserting his right to practice his religion the way he saw fit. A self-proclaimed "living prophet" of God, Jeffs read what he claimed to be a message from God.


"I, the Lord God of heaven, call upon the court to cease this prosecution against my pure, holy way," said Jeff.

"I shall send a scourge upon the counties of prosecutorial zeal to be humbled by sickness and death," he added.

His polygamist sect has approximately 10,000 followers across North America, which promotes that plural marriage is the pathway to heaven.

During the trial the jury was shown evidence of Jeffs kissing the younger of the two girls, and also DNA evidence that he was indeed the father of the 14-year-old’s child.

The prosecution case reached its most intense when attorneys played to the jury a tape recording of Jeffs allegedly raping the younger girl.

The evidence built up against Jeffs was compelling and condemning. In response, Jeffs, who is representing himself in the case, conducted his unique defense calling one of his followers as a witness and questioning him for more than four hours on Mormon beliefs and plural marriage. The judge finally intervened and brought him to a halt saying it was “irrelevant.”

In his closing argument Jeffs continued to astonish by saying nothing for 20 minutes; standing silently as the jury members looked back and forth between Jeffs and the judge.

Finally as his time ran out Jeffs quietly proclaimed: “I am at peace.”

Jeffs is currently also awaiting trial for bigamy, which is expected for October.

http://www.christianpost.com/news/w...urns-guilty-verdict-against-polygamist-53402/


need to round up a few more of these perverts who try and hide under the guise of religious belief.

 

[hrmwrm]

Utahns react to guilty verdict in case of FLDS leader Warren Jeffs

SALT LAKE CITY — Not long after polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs — charged with sexually assaulting two underage girls he took in "spiritual marriages" — was found guilty by a Texas jury, Utahns with ties to Jeffs were buzzing about the verdict.

"I'm delighted" Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff said Thursday, noting that it's been 10 years since Utah filed its warrant in a separate case against Jeffs. "I'm extremely pleased justice has finally been served."

Jeffs, 55, was found guilty of sexual abuse of a child and aggravated sexual abuse of a child following a dramatic trial in which the 55-year-old leader of the Fundamentalist LDS Church fired his attorneys and chose to represent himself — a move Shurtleff said didn't surprise him.

"I've gotten to know Warren Jeffs from so many people, and I think he truly believes he's above all of us mere mortals," Shurtleff said. "He believes he's a special person, that nobody could do the job he could do, and obviously that was his defense: 'I'm a prophet, I'm right, you can't touch me.'"

That said, Shurtleff said he would have preferred that Jeffs have a defense team, though he believes state District Judge Barbara Walther and the Texas prosecutors did a great job with the case.

"Any prosecutor would prefer that there was good defense counsel, but the law allows a person to represent themselves," he said. "The judge had no choice but to let him do it, but she did a great job preserving the record and reminding him he wasn't doing any good."

Shurtleff said the evidence was "so overwhelming" that he thinks Jeffs would have been convicted regardless. His primary hope, now, is that members of the FLDS Church, who hold Jeffs up as a prophet, are told the truth about their leader.

"I don't believe (Jeffs) will find himself out of a prison cell for the rest of his life," Shurtleff said. "The question now is how to get those words to his followers."

Elissa Wall, who as a 14-year-old was forced into a "spiritual marriage" with her cousin, Allen Glade Steed, said she felt "relief" upon hearing the news. Jeffs was convicted of rape as an accomplice for overseeing the marriage between Wall and Steed, only to have the conviction overturned by the Utah Supreme Court.

"This day has been a long, hard road," she said Thursday. "It has been a long time coming for me. I never really wanted the fight, I never really wanted the conflict that has gone on to get here, but the miracle that has happened today and shined on us all is amazing."

Wall praised Texas for the work it did on the case, saying she had great respect for the state, citing the "grace, the wisdom and the eloquence in which they have encountered all the drama in the trials with Warren."

She said the conviction will hopefully "free the shackles that are on (the FLDS) people." But she warned that while the case is important, the work must continue to prevent further abuse.

"The reality that we have to face is that it's taken a lot of time, a lot of effort to get where we are today," Wall said. "It's going to take educating the people. We are going to have to continue this fight."

Wall's attorney, Roger Hoole, said he he wasn't surprised by the verdict and didn't believe if Jeffs had kept his defense team the result would have been different.

"A result of Jeffs representing himself is people have been able to see what's going on in his mind," Hoole said.

Willie Jessop, who, until recently acted as a spokesman for the polygamous sect, said he was not sorry to hear the verdict, only that "(Jeffs) did what he did."

Jessop has been kicked out of the sect.

"I thought it was interesting that Mr. Jeffs was pleading for more time, mercy ... all the stuff he surely denied to everyone else," Jessop said.

Those of the FLDS faith believe polygamy brings exaltation in heaven. Jeffs was charged after sexually assaulting two girls, ages 12 and 15, which he took as brides in what his church calls "spiritual marriages."

Jeffs and 11 other FLDS men were charged with crimes including sexual assault and bigamy. So far, all seven who have been prosecuted have been convicted, receiving prison sentences of between six and 75 years.

When he is sentenced following a penalty phase that began immediately after the jury trial, Jeffs could face as many as 99 years in prison.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/...dict-in-case-of-FLDS-leader-Warren-Jeffs.html

 

[shagdrum]

need to round up a few more of these perverts who try and hide under the guise of religious belief.

Agreed.

 

[04SCTLS]

Yes
This duh is where the line gets drawn.
All the other extreme things where faith is used as justification over reason get a pass.
There isn't much critisism of Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church for instance.

 

[shagdrum]

There isn't much criticism of Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church for instance.

There are a VERY isolated group (essentially two families) and hardly representative of anything across the country. I live in the same city as they do and can tell everyone here is Topeka (as well as the rest of Kansas) view them as, at best, a huge embarrassment. To think of them as anything more then the isolated nuts that they are is to give them way too much credit.

Speaking of which, they plan on protesting the funerals in Norway. The problem is, Norway, like most of Europe, doesn't have the same respect for free speech that we do. In fact, from what I understand, they have pretty strike hate speech laws. The Phelps' seem to be pushing their luck

 

[04SCTLS]

It seems they like to bluster just to get their name in the media ie Liz Taylor protest that never happened.
There's a stop Westboro Facebook page but otherwise conservatives prefer to ignore Phelps kind of like what we accuse Muslims of doing about their radicals although so far Westboro, sanctioned by SCOTUS is only guilty of hurting feelings which is not illegal.
Norway is not going to allow Phelps entry so this is just another attention getting stunt.

Phelp's attack is a calculated extremism borne of opportunity using his angle.

On a similar note
To me Michelle Bachman's husband Marcus Bachman comes across as a closeted self loathing gay man who can't participate in the lifestyle.
What else would explain his pre occupation with such a thing as praying the gay away.
Many people especially the Utes find this kind of behaviour despicable.
It always seems like it's conservatives who are the self loathing gays using religion as some kind of cure.
The "success" rate must be very low as who would chose the gay lifestyle given the choice.

 

[cammerfe]

Ouch

...who would chose the gay lifestyle given the choice.

Look out. That's a perspicacious statement, and might well hurt a twinkie's feelings!

KS

 

[04SCTLS]

I see you're up on current definitions Ken

 

[shagdrum]

Phelps is not a conservative. In fact, judging by his history, he leans more to the left. It is a false connection to identify him, in any way, as a conservative.

 

[04SCTLS]

To get attention he cynically uses an extreme view of religion in his so called church as justification for his hurtful opinions and actions.