Frontier Justice State of Arizona vs. Warren S. Jeffs

"Men are not hanged for stealing horses, but that horses may not be stolen"     -- George Saville, Marquis of Halifax Warren Jeffs was transported to Kingman, Arizona on February 26, 2008 to stand trial for charges of incest and charges of sexual contact with a minor.  One case involves the arranged marriage of a man more than 50 years old who was married to his relative who was only 17 years old.  Another case involves the marriage between a 19-year-old man and his 14-year-old first cousin.  It is this second case for which Warren was found guilty in Utah as an accomplice to rape on September 25, 2007.  Warren pled "Not Guilty" to all charges in Mohave County Superior Court on February 27, 2008. According to a Mohave County Attorney's Office Press Release dated February 27, 2008: "There are three separate and distinct cases involving a total of ten felony counts against Mr. Jeffs. In one case there are two counts of Sexual Conduct with a Minor and two counts of Incest. In a second case there are two counts of Sexual Conduct with a Minor and two counts of Incest. In a third case there is one count of Sexual Conduct with a Minor and one count of Conspiracy to Commit Sexual Conduct with a Minor." Mohave County Attorney Matt Smith has emphasized that "These cases are not about religious persecution or polygamy. They have to do with underage sex practices involving men that are much older than the girls involved." It is estimated that the Arizona trial will begin in Kingman in the late summer or fall of 2008. Below are articles about the Arizona charges against Warren Steed Jeffs for marrying off little girls to older men who are related to these child brides.

Matt Smith Reads Jeffs' Documents With "Great Interest"

ePress Tri-State News Network Originally published November 8, 2007

UTAH/ARIZONA - Mohave County Attorney Matt Smith has sent an e-mail to Utah's "Deseret Morning News" regarding newly unsealed documents on convicted polygamist leader, Warren Jeffs, saying the documents "are of great interest to us."  Smith is interested because Fundamentalist LDS Church leader, Jeffs also has an upcoming trial in Kingman where he faces charges accusing him of performing child bride marriages.  That's part of what got him in trouble in Utah where he may end up serving life in prison when he is sentenced on Nov. 20.  The Utah Attorney General's Office has also been investigating Jeffs for other possible crimes, including an "organized crime" probe.  The just released documents include the startling assertion he tried to kill himself in the Purgatory Jail and also repeatedly renounced his "prophet" status with his church.  Doctors wrote that Jeffs tried to hang himself inside his cell in January.  He went to a hospital emergency room and went back to the jail under a suicide watch.  Jeffs was convicted of rape as an accomplice, a first-degree felony, for performing a marriage between a 14-year-old girl and her 19-year-old cousin.

BREAKING NEWS: JEFFS GETS FIVE YEARS TO LIFE

Faces Arizona charges next

The Spectrum Originally published November 20, 2007

ST. GEORGE — Polygamist leader Warren Jeffs was sentenced to five years to life in prison today in Washington County’s 5th District Court.  Jeffs, head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, was found guilty of two charges of rape as an accomplice on Sept. 25 for his part in arranging a marriage between a then-14-year-old girl and her 19-year-old cousin.  Jeffs could have faced a maximum of two life sentences.  He still must stand trial on charges pending in Mohave County, Ariz., as well as a federal charge of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.  The Arizona charges include sexual conduct with a minor, conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor, and incest as an accomplice.  However, today’s sentencing brings to a close nearly two years of Jeffs' sometimes bizarre trek through the Utah judicial system that began with the charges of rape as an accomplice.  Jeffs had maintained a low profile prior to the charges, then fled after they were filed.  There were reported Jeffs sightings throughout the country during the months he was on the run.  As a fugitive, he was named to the FBI's Top 10 Most Wanted list.  On Aug. 28, 2006, a Nevada Highway Patrol Trooper stopped a red, Cadillac Escalade on Interstate 15, just north of Las Vegas in which Jeffs was a passenger.  He was accompanied by one of his wives, Naomi, and his brother, Isaac, who was driving.  The trooper said he stopped the vehicle because its temporary license plate was obscured.     Read more

Polygamous-sect leader expected in Arizona soon for another trial

The Associated Press KVBC News 3 - Las Vegas Originally broadcast November 20, 2007

Now that polygamous-sect leader Warren Jeffs has been sentenced in Utah to two consecutive terms of five years to life in prison for his role in the arranged marriage of teenage cousins, he may be headed to Arizona soon for another trial.   Jeffs is charged in Arizona with being an accomplice to both incest and sexual misconduct with a minor for arranging marriages between two underage girls and relatives.  Those charges have been on hold while the Utah case was tried.  "Jeffs will soon stand trial in Arizona," said Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard.  "Arizona's criminal justice system now awaits him."  In Kingman, Mohave County Attorney Matthew Smith says he believes Jeffs "and his attorneys want him to appear in Arizona as soon as possible. After that, it will depend on how long it takes to get discovery completed and all the interviews done before we can set a trial date."

Ariz. courts await Jeffs

By Amanda Lee Myers The Associated Press Mohave Daily News Originally published Wednesday, November 21, 2007

PHOENIX - It could take between two and six months for polygamous-sect leader Warren Jeffs to be brought to Arizona to face charges involving marriages between two teenage girls and older men, an Arizona prosecutor said Wednesday.  Mohave County Attorney Matt Smith told The Associated Press that prosecutors are eager to move forward, but that the longer it takes for Jeffs to be brought to Arizona, the longer attorneys will have to prepare their cases.  "We're working on the cases now, so this is just more time for us to prepare, too," he said.  "That's not a bad thing."  Smith said, however, that the time has come for Jeffs to answer to the Arizona charges.  "It's just time to bring this case to a close and to find out what's going to happen here," he said.  "We'd like to see it resolved, hopefully favorably," he added.  Jeffs' Utah attorney, Wally Bugden, declined to comment, referring to Jeffs' Arizona lawyer, Mike Piccarreta.  A call to Piccarreta's office was not immediately returned Wednesday.  Jeffs, 51, is head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, whose members practice polygamy in arranged marriages that often involve placing young girls with older men.  He faces four felony charges in Arizona in a 2005 case involving marriages between two teenage girls and older men who were their relatives.  Jeffs also is charged as an accomplice with four counts of incest and four counts of sexual contact with a minor in an indictment handed up earlier this year for similar cases.     Read more

Jeffs seeks change of venue

Defense attorney says Kingman too close to St. George

By Amanda Lee Myers The Associated Press Mohave Daily News Originally published Monday, November 26, 2007

PHOENIX - An attorney for Warren Jeffs said Monday that he'll ask for a new trial location when the polygamous-sect leader is tried on Arizona charges tied to arranged marriages.  Tucson lawyer Mike Piccarreta said Jeffs' fate was sealed in a separate case in Utah after a judge refused to grant a change of venue for his client.  Jeffs was tried and sentenced in St. George, Utah, which is in the same county where the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is based.  "We just need a community with enough distance away from the previous trial so that we can get jurors that are neutral, and secondly, jurors who would not be criticized in the community if they rendered a fair verdict," Piccarreta said.  Kingman, where prosecutors want to try Jeffs, is too close to St. George, Piccarreta said.  Piccarreta said Phoenix, Tucson, Flagstaff or Prescott would be preferable to Kingman, in the same county as Colorado City, where - along with the twin border town of Hildale, Utah - FLDS church members live.  Jeffs, 51, is the group's leader.  Mohave County Attorney Matt Smith, whose office is prosecuting Jeffs on the Arizona charges, said he wants the trial held in Kingman.  "Until you see the motion, it's kind of hard to speculate, but I think that anybody can get a fair trial anywhere in the country," Smith said.  "I don't think there's necessarily that much more publicity in Mohave County than there is anywhere else on the Warren Jeffs case. It's just a matter of questioning jurors individually."     Read more

Convict on trial

By Aaron Royster Kingman Daily Miner Originally published December 2, 2007

Although it will be months before Warren Jeffs is transferred here, Kingman and Mohave County are already preparing.  Based on his experience, Mohave County Attorney Matt Smith said that it could be as many as two to six months before the spiritual leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is transported from his prison cell in Utah to Kingman.  In order for Jeffs, 51, to come to Mohave County, an Interstate Agreement on Detainers has to be completed by the defendant or his attorney Michael Piccarreta, Smith said.  As a condition of the IAD, all charges Jeffs faces in Arizona must be resolved before he will be sent back to Utah.  Jeffs is currently being held in a Utah prison serving two sentences of five years to life.  He was sentenced in St. George, Utah, for rape as an accomplice for his involvement in an arranged marriage between a 14-year-old girl and her 19-year-old cousin. Transportation and lodging Once Jeffs is cleared to come to Kingman to face charges in four separate cases similar to the ones in his Utah case, the trip will be the responsibility of the Mohave County Sheriff's Office.  When and how Jeffs will be transported will be kept confidential, Mohave County Sheriff Tom Sheahan said.  His office is taking extra steps with Jeffs as a precaution against any escape or attack attempts.  Piccarreta said he wasn't concerned about Jeffs' safety, and his client would be secure.  The MCSO has been preparing for the transportation and housing of a man once on the FBI's most wanted list since he was arrested near Las Vegas last year during a routine traffic stop.     Read more

Sheriff announces intent to run again

By Suzanne Adams Kingman Daily Miner Originally published January 9, 2008

Sheriff Tom Sheahan is seeking a fourth term in office.  Sheahan announced his decision Monday afternoon.  The county is facing several serious issues, he said, including problems with illegal immigration and the continuing saga in Colorado City.  Mohave County has done just as much if not more than Maricopa County to combat illegal immigration.  Sheahan said his deputies have been working closely with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to crack down on the problem and have made several arrests in the past year.  Illegal immigrants looking for jobs in the county isn't the only problem the office runs into, he said.  Some illegal immigrants turn to crime when they run out of money or can't find a job.  Crime by illegal immigrants is having an impact on county finances, he said.  Last year, the office responded to a stabbing call in Mohave Valley.  Two illegal immigrants had gotten into a fight and one had stabbed the other.  The injured immigrant was flown to Las Vegas because of his injuries.  Taxpayers ended up footing the bill for the flight, he said.  Sheahan said, if re-elected, he plans to continue to work closely with ICE officers to stay on top of the problem.  The continuing problems in Colorado City are another concern of Sheahan's.  He said the county has made more headway with the issue in the last year than in the previous 50 years.  He is currently working with the state and state law enforcement associations to decertify officers in the Colorado City Police Department.  Sheahan also said the county plans to see the political leader of the group, Warren Jeffs, arrive in town soon to stand trial.  Sheahan was unable to give an exact date but stated that the county had already started to make plans on how to keep Jeffs secure during the trial.     Read more

Polygamous-sect leader is AZ-bound

By Amanda Lee Myers The Associated Press Arizona Daily Star - Tucson, Arizona Originally published February 12, 2008

PHOENIX — Polygamous-sect leader Warren Jeffs should be in Arizona late this month or in early March to face charges in the marriages of two teenage girls and older men, an Arizona prosecutor said Monday.  "He should be here fairly soon," Mohave County Attorney Matt Smith told The Associated Press on Monday.  He said Utah officials are signing the last of their paperwork and making arrangements, and the Mohave County Sheriff's Office has to coordinate with Utah authorities as to when they can pick Jeffs up.  Jeffs will have an initial appearance once he gets to Arizona, but Smith said it's unclear when his trial will start.  "He's got attorneys and they're going to file motions, and we're going to have hearings and interviews and depositions," he said.  Jeffs' lawyer, Mike Piccarreta, said he has been requesting that Jeffs be brought to Arizona as soon as possible so he can get the fair trial he didn't get in Utah.  Jeffs is serving two consecutive terms of five years to life in prison on his conviction there on two counts of rape by accomplice.  "We wanted this process to begin sooner rather than later, and we're hoping that it's about to begin," Piccarreta said.  "Mr. Jeffs did not get a fair shake in Utah, and in large part due to where the trial was located, and I think unless Mr. Jeffs gets a trial in a fair venue here in Arizona, any outcome is subject to public skepticism, and properly so."     Read more

Jeffs will go to Arizona by the end of February

By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News Originally published Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs will soon be extradited to Arizona, authorities said.  "Our latest information is it will be sometime by the end of February," said Utah Department of Corrections spokeswoman Angie Welling.  Police and prosecutors in Arizona are preparing for Jeffs' arrival.  "This is still in process but we hope it won't be too much longer," Mohave County Attorney Matt Smith said in a recent e-mail.  Jeffs waived his right to appear at an April hearing in 5th District Court in St. George, where his Utah criminal defense attorneys will argue a motion for a new trial.  "It is my understanding that the state of Arizona intends to extradite me before April 24, 2008, to face criminal charges in that state," Jeffs said in court papers.  "I have previously waived my right to oppose extradition to Arizona."  A hearing date has not been set in the Arizona cases against Jeffs, which accuse him of performing child bride marriages.  Jeffs is also facing a federal charge in Utah of unlawful flight to avoid prosection, stemming from his time on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list.     Read more

Colorado City polygamist prophet headed to court

By Jim Seckler Mohave Daily News Originally published Sunday, February 24, 2008

KINGMAN - The jailed leader of a polygamist sect of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Colorado City could arrive in Mohave County in a few days.  Warren Steed Jeffs, 51, faces charges of two counts of incest and two counts of sexual conduct with a minor in one 2007 case involving one victim and two counts of incest and two counts of sexual conduct with a minor in another 2007 case involving another victim.  He is also still charged with three counts of sexual conduct with a minor in one 2005 case, sexual conduct with a minor and conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor in another case, and sexual conduct with a minor and conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor in a third case.  Jeffs' Tucson attorney, Michael Piccarreta, said Thursday his client could be in Kingman this week.  The defense attorney will file a motion to move the trial to another county.  Jeffs was convicted last year in St. George, Utah, of two counts of rape as an accomplice and was sentenced to consecutive five-year prison terms for each count.  Mohave County Attorney Matt Smith said he will proceed with the two 2007 cases first, and whether he proceeds with the three 2005 cases will be determined by the outcome of the 2007 cases.  The Mohave County Sheriff's Office will pick up Jeffs in Utah and fly him back to Kingman.  Once the case is brought to Mohave County, it will be heard before Superior Court Judge Steven Conn.     Read more

Jeffs moved to Arizona

The Spectrum Originally published Tuesday, February 26, 2008

DRAPER — Polygamist leader Warren Jeffs has been moved from the Utah State Prison to Mohave County, Ariz., to face criminal charges in that state.  Authorities from the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office took custody of Jeffs late this morning.  Jeffs has previously waived extradition in the Arizona case, and Utah prison officials worked with the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office to ensure a safe transition of custody.  Jeffs, 52, has been at the Utah State Prison since November 2007.  He is serving two consecutive terms of five years to life in prison on first-degree felony charges of rape as an accomplice.

Jeffs to face judge today in Kingman

By David Bell Today's News-Herald - Lake Havasu City, Arizona Originally published Tuesday, February 26, 2008

KINGMAN — Warren Jeffs, leader and self-proclaimed prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, was booked into the local jail Tuesday.  He is accused of orchestrating and assisting the sexual assault of teenaged girls.  "Mr. Jeffs was transported and booked into Mohave County Jail in Kingman where he is housed in his own cell. He will be in the cell 23 hours a day," said Sheriff’s spokesperson Trish Carter.  Jeffs will be allowed outside for one hour each day for exercise and fresh air, and he will be given access to meet with his attorney and visitors.   Jeffs was booked on six counts of sexual conduct with a minor, a class-6 felony, four counts of incest, a class-4 felony, and one count of conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor, a class-6 felony.  Jeffs will make his initial appearance in Mohave County Superior Court today at 8:15 a.m. in front of Judge Steven Conn.  Jeffs had faced more charges when he became a fugitive in 2005.  However, Mohave County Attorney Matt Smith said two of the cases were dismissed.  "One of the cases was dismissed because the victim in the case was involved in an alleged blackmail attempt involving the co-defendant of Mr. Jeffs. The case against that co-defendant was also dismissed," Smith said in a press release.  "The other case was dismissed because the State cannot prove that any of the conduct that occurred involving the co-defendant occurred in Mohave County. The case against that co-defendant was also previously dismissed quite some time ago."     Read more

Arizona: Polygamist Sect Leader Faces More Charges

The Associated Press National Briefing | Southwest The New York Times Originally published February 27, 2008

The polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs was handed over to the authorities to face sex charges stemming from the arranged marriages of two teenage girls to older relatives.  He has already been convicted in Utah in connection with one of those cases, involving a 14-year-old girl.  Deputies from the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office took custody of Mr. Jeffs from Utah officials, a sheriff's spokeswoman said.  Mr. Jeffs, 52, leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, will plead not guilty to the Arizona charges on Wednesday in a Kingman court, said Mike Piccarreta, his lawyer.  Church members live in the isolated twin towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz.

Warren Jeffs comes to Kingman

Leader of FLDS arrives here under tight security

By Aaron Royster Kingman Daily Miner Originally published Wednesday, February 27, 2008

The notorious spiritual leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is in Kingman.  Warren Steed Jeffs, 52, will make his initial appearance at 8:15 this morning at Mohave County Superior Court on various sexual misconduct charges.  Under a cloud of secrecy, Jeffs was transported by the Mohave County Sheriff's Office in a plane from his prison cell in Utah to the Mohave County Jail Tuesday afternoon.  At a Tuesday afternoon news conference, MCSO Capt. Greg Smith said the transfer occurred without incident.  "I saw him (Jeffs) today and he looked good," Smith said.  Jeffs is serving two Utah sentences of five years to life on rape as an accomplice charges for his involvement in an arranged marriage between a 14-year-old girl and her 19-year-old cousin.  One of the victims in the Arizona cases also served as a key witness for Washington County in their case against Jeffs.  "We are glad to see that the prosecution efforts in Mohave County are proceeding," said Greg Hoole, an attorney representing the former witness and another victim in the cases.  Asked if they remain willing to cooperate, Hoole told the Deseret Morning News in Salt Lake City: "They are prepared."     Read more

Polygamist Leader Jeffs in Custody

By AMANDA LEE MYERS The Associated Press TIME Magazine Originally published Wednesday, February 27, 2008

(KINGMAN, Ariz.)—Polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs was handed over to Arizona authorities Tuesday to face sex charges stemming from the arranged marriages of two teenage girls to older relatives.  He already has been convicted in Utah in connection with one of those cases, involving a 14-year-old girl.  Deputies from the Mohave County Sheriff's Office took custody of Jeffs from Utah officials, sheriff's spokeswoman Trish Carter said.  He was booked into the county jail, where he will be kept separate from other inmates, said sheriff's department Capt. Greg Smith.  "Now it's our turn," Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard said.  "I hope the message is very simple: the law applies to everybody, whether they're the head of a large religious group, or somebody who's not. It's a crime to abuse children, and there are no exceptions."  Jeffs, leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, will plead not guilty to the Arizona charges Wednesday in a Kingman court, said defense attorney Mike Piccarreta.  Jeffs, 52, is charged as an accomplice with four counts of incest and four counts of sexual contact with a minor in an indictment.  Smith said Jeffs was booked on six counts of sexual conduct with a minor, four counts of incest and one count of conspiracy to conduct sexual conduct with a minor but couldn't explain the discrepancy.  Prosecutor Matt Smith wasn't in his office on Tuesday afternoon and couldn't immediately be reached for comment.     Read more

PRESS RELEASE

WARREN JEFFS

Matt Smith Mohave County Attorney Originally published February 27, 2008

Warren Jeffs had his Initial Appearance and Arraignment in front of Judge Conn in Mohave County Superior Court, Division III.  The Defendant pled Not Guilty, and the next hearing is called the Case Management Hearing and has been set for 8:15 a.m., on March 19, 2008.  The Defendant pled Not Guilty to the charges.  There are three separate and distinct cases involving a total of ten felony counts against Mr. Jeffs.  In one case there are two counts of Sexual Conduct with a Minor and two counts of Incest.  In a second case there are two counts of Sexual Conduct with a Minor and two counts of Incest.  In a third case there is one count of Sexual Conduct with a Minor and one count of Conspiracy to Commit Sexual Conduct with a Minor.  Those are all of the pending charges.  Sexual Conduct with a Minor and Conspiracy to Commit Sexual Conduct with a Minor are Class 6 felonies that are punishable either by Probation or Prison, which can be anywhere from four months to two years.  The Incest charge is a Class 4 felony and is also punishable either by Probation or a Prison sentence between one and 3.75 years.     Read more

Jeffs pleads not guilty to charges in Arizona

By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News Originally published Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs pleaded not guilty today in an Arizona court to sex charges related to performing child-bride marriages.  Arizona authorities took custody of Jeffs at the Utah State Prison on Tuesday.  He was flown to Kingman and booked into the Mohave County Jail on six counts of sexual conduct with a minor, four counts of incest and one count of conspiracy to commit sexual misconduct with a minor.  This morning the Mohave County Sheriff's office released a new booking mug of Jeffs, who appear thin and pale.  "It was just a matter of time when it was going to come down to Utah authorities releasing him to us," Mohave County sheriff's spokeswoman Trish Carter said Tuesday.  "We have been taking a proactive approach to his arrival and the safety and security of everyone, including him."  Security surrounding the high-profile inmate was heavy, but the transfer was uneventful, the Utah Department of Corrections said.  Mohave County authorities said Jeffs will be housed in isolation for 23 hours a day, allowed out for an hour to get exercise and fresh air.  He will be allowed visitation and will undergo regular medical evaluations.  Jeffs has posed a security risk.  While incarcerated in Hurricane's Purgatory Jail facing trial, he attempted suicide, fasted extensively and was kept in isolation for his protection and the safety of others.  "Whenever you have an inmate like that, you know you have to take everything seriously," Washington County Sheriff Kirk Smith told the Deseret Morning News.     Read more

Jeffs pleads not guilty to Ariz. charges

By Jim Seckler Mohave Daily News Originally published Wednesday, February 27, 2008

KINGMAN - Not since Timothy McVeigh roamed Kingman have the eyes of the world focused on Mohave County.  But that changed on Wednesday, when, newly arrived from a Utah prison, Warren Steed Jeffs, 52, the convicted leader of a polygamist sect of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Colorado City, pleaded innocent to 10 felony charges.  Jeffs, looking pale and extremely thin, was arraigned before Superior Court Judge Steven Conn on charges in two 2007 cases involving two underage victims.  Conn previously granted Jeffs' request not to allow cameras in his courtroom.  Jeffs was transferred by van from the jail across the street to the back of the courthouse under tight security.  Television crews and media photographers had little chance to view Jeffs, who wore the standard orange jumpsuit.  Surrounded by officers in Conn's courtroom, Jeffs spoke only one word, acknowledging that his name was spelled correctly before his Tucson attorney, Michael Piccarreta, entered a not guilty plea on the charges.  Conn, who ordered Jeffs held without bond, set Jeffs' next hearing for March 19.  The first 2007 case charges him with two counts of incest and two counts of sexual conduct with a minor involving an underage girl between May 1 and June 30, 2002, and between Aug. 15 and Sept. 15, 2002.     Read more

Polygamist leader says 'not guilty' to Ariz. charges

By Amanda Lee Myers The Associated Press Casper Star-Tribune - Casper, Wyoming Originally published Thursday, February 28, 2008

KINGMAN, Ariz. -- Polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs entered a not guilty plea Wednesday to sex charges stemming from the arranged marriages of three teenage girls to older men.  The court appearance was Jeffs' first in Arizona, where prosecutors filed charges against him even before he faced charges in Utah.  He was convicted there last year of rape as an accomplice in the arranged marriage of a 14-year-old girl and her 19-year-old cousin.  A thin-as-ever Jeffs, flanked by three law enforcement officers, wore an orange-and-white-striped jail uniform and ankle and wrist cuffs.  He had a slight smile when he walked into the courtroom, and talked in hushed tones with his lawyers.  The only thing he said during the hearing was "yes" when Mohave County Superior Court Judge Steven Conn asked him if he was Warren Jeffs.  Otherwise, Jeffs sat quietly with no expression on his face and hands folded in his lap.  His lawyer, Mike Piccarreta, entered the not guilty plea on his behalf.  After the hearing, Piccarreta said "it's difficult times" for Jeffs, but declined to speak further, saying he was just worried about handling the case.  Conn ordered Jeffs held in the Mohave County jail without bond and set a case management hearing for March 19.  Jeffs was returned to Kingman Tuesday from Utah, where he had begun serving his prison term for his conviction there.  Piccarreta has said he plans to ask the judge for a change of venue, saying Kingman is too close to St. George, Utah, the site of Jeffs' first trial, for him to get a fair trial here.     Read more

Jeffs pleads not guilty at 1st court appearance

By Aaron Royster Kingman Daily Miner Originally published Thursday, February 28, 2008

Even in handcuffs, Warren Steed Jeffs held the respect of followers as they rose when he entered the courtroom for his initial appearance and arraignment.  Jeffs, 52, pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to 10 felony counts involving arranged marriages between teenage girls and adult male members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  Jeffs is facing five counts of sexual conduct with a minor, four counts of incest and one count of conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor in three separate cases.  The indictments charged Jeffs as an accomplice to the crimes beginning around March 28, 2002, and ending approximately Sept. 1, 2003, in Colorado City.  Each charge is probation eligible or carries prison sentences ranging from nine months in prison to three years and nine months in prison.  In November, Jeffs received two sentences of five years to life on rape as an accomplice charges for his involvement in an arranged marriage between a 14-year-old girl and her 19-year-old cousin in Washington County, Utah.  If prosecutors are able to prove the Utah conviction as a prior felony, the maximum sentence would increase and probation would not be an option for Jeffs if found guilty.  Mohave County Attorney Matt Smith said they will be looking for that option in the Arizona cases.  Mohave County Superior Court Judge Steven F. Conn set a case management hearing for 8:15 a.m. on March 19.  Conn, who oversaw the case against Jeffs' co-defendant Randolph Joseph Barlow, will also preside over the cases against Jeffs.     Read more

Jeffs arraigned in Arizona

Polygamous church leader charged in cases of sex offenses against minors

By DAVE HAWKINS SPECIAL TO THE REVIEW-JOURNAL Las Vegas Review Journal Originally published February 28, 2008

KINGMAN, Ariz. -- Polygamous church leader Warren Jeffs made an initial court appearance on sex offense charges under heavy security and the watch of supporters and news media Wednesday morning.  Jeffs, 52, pleaded not guilty to 10 counts of being an accomplice to incest and sexual conduct with a minor in assigning three underage girls as spiritual brides to male adults.  Jeffs heads the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, whose members subscribe to a multiple-wife lifestyle in the northern Arizona community of Colorado City and the neighboring border town of Hildale, Utah.  The mainstream Mormon church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, renounced polygamy more than a century ago, excommunicates members who engage in the practice and disavows any connection with the FLDS church.  "To have a jury verdict of guilty would be vindication for what we've done and show that these cases are not about religious persecution or polygamy," Mohave County Attorney Matt Smith said, referring to other prosecutions of FLDS members on similar charges.  "They have to do with underage sex practices involving men that are much older than the girls involved," he said.  Jeffs already is serving two consecutive terms of five years to life in prison in Utah, where he was convicted of rape as an accomplice for arranging the union of a 14-year-old girl to her 19-year-old cousin.  If convicted and sentenced to prison time in Arizona, Jeffs would first have to finish out his Utah sentence.     Read more

Threats, intimidation dogged Jeffs probe

By TONY RAAP Today's News-Herald - Lake Havasu City Originally published Monday, March 3, 2008

Gary Engels remembers the time when he was nearly run off the road by a group of cars with tinted windows.  He recalls the stacks of threatening letters that poured into his office, one of which was a bomb threat.  The story of Engels' probe of polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs is filled with intimidation, corruption and uncooperative witnesses, yet Engels is hoping for a happy ending.  He is the investigator credited with infiltrating Jeffs' isolated sect, peeling back the secrets that eventually led to the polygamous leader's undoing.  Engels, an independent investigator for the Mohave County Attorney's Office, spoke Monday at a forum hosted by the London Bridge Republican Women's Club.  "(Jeffs' followers) will not cooperate with outside law enforcement," he told the crowd of about 45 people.  "I knew I could not use them, that I could not trust them. I knew that going in."  Jeffs pleaded not guilty last week in Mohave County Superior Court to charges of arranging marriages between teenage girls and older men.  His trial is expected to begin in roughly six to eight months.     Read more

Tight security surrounds Jeffs

By Greg Bucci Opinion Mohave Daily News Originally published Thursday, March 6, 2008

A photo in another Mohave County newspaper showed a phalanx of scary-looking officers guarding Warren Jeffs, the polygamist leader who is on trial in Kingman for several felony sex offenses.  Jeffs, reed-thin from a recent fast while incarcerated in Utah, was barely visible as he approached a sheet or cover of some sort while scowling security officers glared at the crowd you couldn't see in the photo.  This newspaper's county and courts reporter, Jim Seckler, told me late last week about the security screws being tightened for the high-profile suspect from Colorado City in the far northern reaches of Mohave County.  Jeffs, seen as a prophet by members of his Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints church, is accused of officiating over illegal marriages and a lot of other crimes I won't list here.  It's unnecessary because Warren Jeffs is becoming as famous as Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh.  Anyway, Jim tells me that photos are strictly prohibited in the courthouse for this case.  He couldn't even snap a shot on Pine Street behind the courthouse - the main avenue for prisoners being led to and from the jail to the courtroom.  Jokingly, Jim said, he told one guard that he could just take a photo with his cell phone.  To which the guard replied that the cell phone would be taken.  I worked at a local paper when murderers Bobby Poyson, Frank Anderson and Kimberly Lane were being tried for three homicides in Golden Valley.  No such restrictions on the media existed in those cases.  I published a photo of Poyson, in an ill-fitting suit, being led to the court from the jail.  "In the eight years I've been here (covering the courts), I've never seen any restrictions," Seckler told me last week.     Read more

Arizona prosecutor dropping one case against Warren Jeffs

By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News Originally published Monday, March 17, 2008

Because one of the alleged victims refuses to testify, the Mohave County Attorney is dropping one case against Fundamentalist LDS Church leader Warren Jeffs.  In a motion to dismiss filed in Mohave County Superior Court, Mohave County Attorney Matt Smith asks a judge to drop a case with prejudice that charged Jeffs with sexual conduct with a minor and conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor.  In the motion, Smith writes that the victim "has been contacted and has indicated through her attorney, Mik Jordahl, that she would not cooperate or testify in the present case."  "The state cannot prove its case without the testimony of the victim," Smith wrote in the court document, filed March 10.  "For this reason, the state requests this case be dismissed with prejudice at this time."  Dismissing a case "with prejudice" means that it likely will not be refiled again.  Smith has acknowledged in the past the case was on shaky ground.  He dismissed the case against FLDS member Randy Barlow because the alleged victim refused to cooperate.  In a 2006 letter to the judge in the case, Candi Shapley described herself as "the supposed victim of a case that has been blown out of proportion in an effort to get Warren Jeffs."  Shapley said she felt prepared for a marriage granted by Jeffs.  She said she felt pressured to testify by Mohave County authorities while her baby was having surgery in Salt Lake City.  "Of course I said whatever they wanted me to say," Shapley wrote.  "I wanted to get it over with and be done with it.     Read more

Prosecutor files motion to dismiss 2 charges against Warren Jeffs

By Amanda Lee Myers The Associated Press Houston Chronicle Originally published March 17, 2008

PHOENIX — An Arizona prosecutor has filed a motion to dismiss two of 10 charges against polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs because the alleged victim refuses to testify.  Mohave County Attorney Matt Smith said Monday that he received a letter from Candi Shapley's attorney explaining that she doesn't want to take the stand against Jeffs.  "She does not want to have to deal with all the family and community pressures to be involved in this case," Smith said.  "And that's her decision, and I'm going to respect it and have always respected it."  Shapley's attorney, Mik Jordhal, did not return a call for comment Monday.  Shapley was 16 when Jeffs presided over her marriage to Randolph Barlow, who is more than a decade older than her.  Shapley had cooperated with authorities, but surprised prosecutors when she refused to testify against Barlow at his 2006 trial on sexual assault charges.  Her refusal in the Jeffs trial came as no surprise to Smith or defense attorneys.  "It is frustrating," Smith said.  "But when you see a pattern of this type of thing, you just have to realize that's part of it and you just have to move on."     Read more

Warren Jeffs Heads To Court In Hopes Of Getting 2 Charges Dropped

KTNV Channel 13 - Las Vegas Originally broadcast March 19, 2008

Polygamous sect leader, Warren Jeffs, heads to court Wednesday.  The leader of the fundamentalist LDS church is charged as an accomplice with four counts of incest and four counts of sexual conduct with a minor.  His lawyers want to get two of those charges dropped Wednesday.  According to the "Desert Morning News," that is because one of the alleged victims has refused to testify.  Jeffs spent over a year on the run before he was arrested just outside of Las Vegas in August 2006.  He was convicted last year in Utah of rape as an accomplice.  Keep it tuned to Channel 13 Action News for the latest on this story.

Fall trial estimated in Jeffs' Arizona cases

By Aaron Royster Kingman Daily Miner Deseret Morning News Originally published Wednesday, March 19, 2008

KINGMAN, Ariz. — The Mohave County Attorney said he estimates a fall trial in the cases remaining against Fundamentalist LDS Church leader Warren Jeffs.  Jeffs, 52, seemed to be in better spirits as he smiled to his supporters when he entered the courtroom on Wednesday morning, wearing prison garb with a camouflaged bulletproof vest.  At the case management hearing, Mohave County Judge Steven F. Conn alerted Mohave County Attorney Matt Smith and Jeffs' defense attorney, Michael Piccarreta, to the ruling dismissing with prejudice a 2005 case at the request of the state.  After a witness in the case indicated that she would not testify against Jeffs, Smith filed a motion to dismiss it.  Jeffs still faces four counts of sexual conduct with a minor and four counts of incest in two separate cases accusing him of arranging marriages between teenage girls and adult male followers in the Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah area.  Conn set a hearing for 8 a.m. on May 19.  A trial date could be set at the hearing, though Smith said it would be unlikely to happen at that time.  "This case will be tried probably in the fall as this case will not take as along as other serious cases," Smith said.  Piccarreta filed a motion requesting the case be classified as complex, which will allow for the case to take longer without infringing on Jeffs' constitutional right to a speedy trial.     Read more

Judge drops 2 of 10 Arizona charges against Warren Jeffs

By Amanda Lee Myers The Associated Press Houston Chronicle Originally published March 19, 2008

PHOENIX — An Arizona judge has dismissed two of 10 charges against polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs, who appeared briefly at a court hearing Wednesday.  Mohave County Superior Court Judge Steven Conn made no rulings at the 15-minute hearing in Kingman but set various deadlines for the prosecuting and defending attorneys. No trial date has been set.  Meanwhile, Conn agreed Monday to dismiss one charge each of sexual conduct with a minor and conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor against Jeffs at the request of the prosecuting attorney.  The charges stemmed from the arranged marriage of a 16-year-old girl with a man more than a decade older than her. Jeffs presided over the marriage.  Mohave County Attorney Matt Smith wanted the charges dismissed because the alleged victim in the case is refusing to testify against Jeffs.  She had previously cooperated with authorities.  Jeffs, who was already prosecuted in Utah, is still charged in Arizona as an accomplice with four counts each of incest and sexual conduct with a minor stemming from two arranged marriages between teenage girls and their older male relatives, one of whom was in his 50s.     Read more

Polygamist leader back in court

By Jim Seckler Mohave Daily News Originally published Wednesday, March 19, 2008

KINGMAN - The leader of a polygamist sect of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Colorado City made his second court appearance Wednesday still surrounded by heavy police protection.  Wearing a bulletproof vest in court, Warren Steed Jeffs, 52, now faces eight felony charges in two 2007 cases involving two underage victims.  He is charged with four counts of incest and four counts of sexual conduct with a minor.  The first 2007 case charges him with two counts of incest and two counts of sexual conduct with a minor involving an underage girl between May 1 and June 30, 2002, and between Aug. 15 and Sept. 15, 2002.  The second case charges him with two counts of incest and two counts of sexual conduct with a minor involving another underage girl on Aug. 31, 2003, and in September 2003.  Jeffs allegedly arranged marriages between older men and their teenage relatives.  Jeffs' Tucson attorney, Michael Piccarreta, said Wednesday he expects to file numerous motions - including remanding the case back to the grand jury, suppressing evidence and dismissing all criminal charges because of comments made by Mohave County Attorney's Office investigator Gary Engels.  Engels reportedly made remarks about the case at a Republican function that hinted of religious intolerance, Piccarreta said.     Read more

Hearing for Jeffs gets moved up

By Suzanne Adams Kingman Daily Miner Originally published Thursday, May 8, 2008

KINGMAN - The pace of the Warren Jeffs case may be picking up.  Judge Steven Conn recently issued a court order moving an omnibus hearing in the case from 8 a.m. on May 19 to 1:30 p.m. on May 16.  Jeffs is facing four counts of sexual conduct with a minor and four counts of incest in two separate cases.  Conn dismissed with prejudice a 2005 case involving Jeffs after the victim, Candi Shapley, refused to testify.  The court is still considering a motion made by Jeff's attorneys to dismiss the four counts of incest.  According to court records, his attorneys are arguing that Arizona Revised Statutes require that both the victim and the suspect involved in an incest case be 18 years old or older.  The victims were both under the age of 18 when the alleged incidents occurred.  Jeffs' attorneys also argue that the victims and Jeffs are not related closely enough to meet the state requirement for incest.  Arizona Revised Statutes specifically prohibits the marriage of half-blood brothers and sisters and the marriage of first cousins, but it does not specifically prohibit the marriage of half-blood cousins.  According to the attorneys' argument, Jeffs and the victims are half-blood cousins and do not meet the ARS requirements for incest.  Jeffs is currently being held in the Mohave County Jail on the charges.  Jeffs was transported to Kingman in February following a November conviction in Utah on rape as an accomplice charges for his involvement in an arranged marriage between a 14-year-old girl and her 19-year-old cousin in Washington County, Utah.     See Arizona Mug Shot

Jeffs requests dismissal of incest charges

By Ben Winslow Deseret News Originally published Saturday, May 10, 2008

Attorneys for former Fundamentalist LDS leader Warren Jeffs are asking a judge to dismiss incest charges in the cases pending against him in Arizona.  In papers filed in Mohave County Superior Court in Kingman, Jeffs' defense team argues that incest charges must be dismissed because Arizona laws require both participants to be "18 or more years of age."  "In addition, because (suspect) and (victim) are first cousins of the half blood, they are not within the degrees of consanguinity that are defined as incestuous under Arizona law," attorneys Richard Wright and Michael Piccarreta wrote.  "Accordingly, counts 2 and 4 of the indictment must be dismissed, leaving Mr. Jeffs to stand trial as an accomplice to the charges of sexual conduct with a minor."  Mohave County Attorney Matt Smith did not dispute that his victims were both under 18 but wrote in his response that Jeffs "used his position of power and trust to place both victims into so-called 'marriages' with men who were over 18 years of age and are related to the victims as first cousins of the half-blood."  He said that while a plain reading of the statute makes the 18 and older argument, applying it that way leads to absurd results.  "A prosecution of the defendant for incest or accomplice to incest is proper in Mr. Jeffs' case because he was an adult when the crime occurred," Smith wrote.  "However, with respect to victims (names redacted from the court documents) the two victims cannot be prosecuted because they were both minor children under the age of 18 when the crimes occurred."     Read more

Jeffs' lawyers want Arizona indictment dismissed

By Ben Winslow Deseret News Originally published Saturday, May 17, 2008

KINGMAN, Ariz. — Fundamentalist LDS Church leader Warren Jeffs' defense team is asking a judge to dismiss a grand jury indictment against him that led to charges of sexual misconduct and incest as an accomplice.  The defense team accused Arizona prosecutors of presenting misleading information to the grand jury.  "The state presented inaccurate information, failed to present clearly exculpatory information and improperly influenced the grand jury," lawyers Richard Wright and Michael Piccarreta wrote.  "Accordingly, Mr. Jeffs is entitled to a remand."  In papers filed in Mohave County Superior Court, Jeffs' lawyers also announce they intend to pursue a defense that proves Jeffs' innocence and appear to be ready to pounce on a high-profile book deal by one of the alleged victims.  The Mohave County Attorney's Office did not immediately offer a comment but is expected to reply to the court in its own filings.  Clad in a bulletproof vest, Jeffs sat quietly during a hearing in a Kingman court on Friday as a judge took under advisement an earlier request to dismiss the incest charges, leaving only the sexual misconduct charges.  The FLDS leader is charged there with sexual misconduct with a minor and incest as an accomplice, accusing him of performing child-bride marriages.  The judge also took under advisement a request for a subpoena seeking medical records in one of the cases.  A prosecutor with the Arizona Attorney General's Office raised the possibility that evidence from the raid on the FLDS Church's YFZ Ranch in early April might be used to bring additional charges against Jeffs.  Timothy Linnins told Judge Steven Conn that both his and the Mohave County Attorney's Office had spoken with Texas authorities about the raid.  He did not go into details regarding what evidence might have been found or what additional charges might be brought against the FLDS leader.     Read more

Texas raid may impact Jeffs' trial

Evidence from Yearning for Zion Ranch could prompt additional charges

By Suzanne Adams Kingman Daily Miner Originally published Sunday, May 18, 2008

KINGMAN - The recent events involving the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints in Texas may impact the trial of Warren Jeffs in Kingman.  Jeffs sat quietly in his bullet-proof vest during a court hearing Friday afternoon as Timothy Linnins of the Attorney General's Office said that there was a possibility that evidence from the raid by Texas authorities on the Yearning for Zion Ranch might be used to bring additional charges against Jeffs.  Linnins told Judge Steven Conn that both his and the Mohave County Attorney's office had spoken with Texas authorities about the situation in Texas.  He did not go into detail of what evidence might have been found or what additional charges might be brought against the FLDS leader.  After the hearing, Jeffs' attorney Michael Piccarreta said that if evidence from the Texas raid was brought into the case, that the defense would most likely argue that the search and seizure of evidence from the ranch was illegal.  Another bombshell dropped on the court Friday came from a motion filed by the defense, Wednesday, to remand the case back to the grand jury.     Read more

Four counts dropped in Jeffs case

By JIM SECKLER Mohave Daily News Originally published Wednesday, June 4, 2008

KINGMAN - A Mohave County Superior Court judge dismissed four of the eight felony counts against Warren Steed Jeffs, the jailed prophet of the polygamist sect in Colorado City.  Superior Court Judge Steven Conn ruled on a motion filed by Jeffs' attorney, Michael Piccarreta.  The defense motion argued that under Arizona statute, incest applies to those 18-years-old and older.  The two victims were under 18 at the time of the alleged crimes.  The defense also argued that the victims were first cousins from half blood, not full blood.  Mohave County Attorney Matt Smith argued as absurd that a man could be subjected to harsher penalties for having sex with a relative older than 18, compared to a girl younger than 18.  Smith could not reached for comment on Conn's ruling.  Conn ruled that the law is clear, requiring both parties in an act of incest to be 18 years or older.  "Both participants in the alleged sexual activity were not more than the age of 18," Conn ruled.  The judge also ruled that the crime of incest cannot be committed by first cousins of the half blood, saying "the statute does not apply to first cousins of the half blood."  Jeffs, 52, the prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, is still charged in two 2007 cases involving two underage victims.  He is charged with four counts of sexual conduct with a minor.  The first case charges him with two counts of sexual conduct with a minor involving an underage girl between May 1 and June 30, 2002 and between Aug. 15 and Sept. 15, 2002.  The second case also charges him with two counts of sexual conduct with a minor involving another underage girl on Aug. 31, 2003, and in September 2003. Jeffs allegedly arranged marriages between older men and their teenage relatives.     Read more

Sect Leader Spared of 4 Charges

By AMANDA LEE MYERS The Associated Press TIME Magazine Originally published Thursday, June 5, 2008

(KINGMAN, Ariz.) — An Arizona judge dropped four of eight charges against Warren Jeffs, even as authorities in Texas looked into whether the polygamist sect leader had relationships with four girls at the west Texas ranch raided in April.  Mohave County Superior Court Judge Steven Conn dismissed the charges at the request of the defense, finding that a state incest law does not apply to the arranged marriages of two teenage girls and their older male relatives.  Conn ruled the law only applies if both participants in the sexual activity are older than 18, and that the law does not apply to half cousins.  In both of the marriages Jeffs is accused of arranging, the girls were under 18 and were their husbands' half cousins.  He was charged with incest as an accomplice.  Prosecutors said the law could lead to absurd results, such as an uncle having sex with two nieces, one younger and one older than 18, and being subject to harsher punishments for his conduct with the older one.  But the judge said the statute's language was clear and unambiguous, leaving no room for interpretation.  "We're obviously very pleased with the court's ruling," Jeffs' attorney, Mike Piccarreta, told The Associated Press.  "You can see we've chopped these things down considerably."  In his ruling, Conn wrote that Arizona's incest law initially was enacted without reference to participants' ages.  In 1985, it was amended to apply only to people who were 15 years or older, and in 1998, it was changed to its present form, applying only to those 18 or older.     Read more

Is the case against Warren Jeffs unraveling?

By Brandon Kline KPNX 12 News - Phoenix Originally broadcast June 5, 2008

The list of charges against Warren Jeffs in Arizona is dwindling. Four incest charges were dropped this week.  Two other charges were dropped in March.  Some are wondering if any prison time will be added to Jeffs' prison sentence.  Anti-polygamy activist Flora Jessop says its a tough battle to be a prosecutor in this case.  She says one of the biggest challenges is convincing the FLDS faithful to testify.  Many are afraid of retaliation from other members.  Jeffs faces four charges in Arizona including sexual misconduct.  He faces anywhere from probation to eight years in prison if convicted.  Originally, Jeffs faced as many as 27 years in prison.  Many anti-polygamy activists seem demoralized.  Hundreds of FLDS children have been returned to their families in Texas.  They fear the FLDS community believes the government will never be able to stop underage marriages.  Jessop believes the families will begin to filter into mainstream society where CPS won't be able to find them.  But does the Arizona case even matter?  Jeffs is serving a sentence of five years to life after a conviction in Utah.  But, Jessop says an Arizona conviction could send a powerful message to the FLDS community.  Mohave County attorney Matt Smtih declined to comment.  He says he doesn't want to further jeopardize the case against Jeffs.  No date has been set for the Kingman trial.

Conn drops incest charges against Jeffs

Attorneys for former FLDS leader argue that statute doesn’t apply

By Suzanne Adams Kingman Daily Miner Originally published Friday, June 6, 2008

KINGMAN - In a written ruling, Judge Steven Conn agreed with an argument made by attorneys for Warren Jeffs and threw out four charges of incest against the polygamous leader.  Jeffs is charged with four counts of being an accomplice to incest and four counts of being an accomplice to sexual conduct with a minor.  He could now face anything from probation to eight years in prison on the remaining charges.  Before the incest charges and two other charges were dismissed, he was facing 27 years in prison.  During a hearing on May 16, Jeffs' attorneys argued that according to state statutes, incest could only occur between two first cousins of whole blood who are over the age of 18.  His attorneys said that Jeffs married two couples who are both first cousins of half-blood - they share only one common relative - and the women involved in the marriage were both under the age of 18 when they were married.  Timothy Linnins from the Attorney General's Office argued that limiting the charge of incest to relatives that are over the age of 18 does not make sense.  He also argued that while state statute does not specifically state that marriages between cousins of half-blood are prohibited, it is implied by the fact that marriages between half-siblings are prohibited.  In his written ruling, Conn stated that the statute defining what constitutes incest was "clear and unambiguous" and required that both parties involved in the act of incest must be 18.     Read more

Jeffs' defense wants all raid evidence left out of his trial

By Ben Winslow Deseret News Originally published Friday, June 6, 2008

Fundamentalist LDS Church leader Warren Jeffs' defense team wants to keep any evidence seized from the raid on the YFZ Ranch out of his upcoming trial in Arizona.  In papers filed in Mohave County, Ariz., Superior Court late Thursday, Jeffs' defense lawyers put the court on notice that they intend to fight to suppress "any and all evidence obtained from the raid and the search of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints (LDS) property in the state of Texas."  "It is becoming more and more evident that the Texas raid was based on a hoax telephone call containing false accusations of abuse," attorneys Richard Wright and Michael Piccarreta wrote.  "Published newspaper articles indicate that similar charges were made regarding the Colorado City/Hildale community, and were determined to be unworthy of belief.  Indeed, it is believed that Colorado authorities are investigating criminal charges of false reporting to a law enforcement agency in connection with that matter."  Jeffs' attorneys put the court on notice in a legal reply, complaining that they have been denied access to public records regarding calls claiming abuse in Arizona and Utah.  The Arizona Attorney General's Office objected to their records request, saying that attorneys representing criminal defendants cannot make public records requests, because they can obtain it through discovery.  In their reply, Wright and Piccarreta said they want to gather information on the hoax calls and "show that the raid and search of the FLDS property in Texas was illegal and the fruits thereof must be suppressed."     Read more

Four incest charges against Jeffs dropped

Staff and Wire Reports Today's News Herald - Havasu City, Arizona Originally published Saturday, June 7, 2008

Mohave County Superior Court Judge Steven Conn dropped four of the eight charges against polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs at the request of the defense on Wednesday, finding that a state incest law does not apply to the marriages of two teenage girls and their older male relatives.  Conn ruled the law only applies if both participants in the sexual activity are older than 18, and that the law does not apply to half cousins.  In both of the marriages Jeffs is accused of arranging, the girls were under 18 and half cousins to their husbands.  He was charged with incest as an accomplice.  Prosecutors said the law could lead to absurd results, such as an uncle having sex with two nieces, one younger and one older than 18, and being subject to harsher punishment for his conduct with the older one.  In the charges against Warren Jeffs, Conn said the statute’s language was clear and unambiguous, leaving no room for interpretation.  "We’re obviously very pleased with the court’s ruling," Jeffs’ attorney, Mike Piccarreta, told The Associated Press.  "You can see we’ve chopped these things down considerably."  In his ruling, Conn wrote that Arizona’s incest law initially was enacted without reference to participants’ ages.  In 1985, it was amended to apply only to people who were 15 years or older, and in 1998, it was changed to its present form, applying only to those 18 years or older.  Conn also wrote that because the incest law specifically mentions half brothers and sisters, it arguably excludes all other relationships of the half blood by not mentioning them.  Mohave County Attorney Matt Smith, the prosecutor in the Arizona case against Jeffs, reportedly had no comment.  Mohave County Supervisor Buster Johnson said Judge Conn "has a history of ignoring punishment" regarding state sex offense cases and "that sends a message that it is okay to commit such crimes."  "Judge Conn has lost his reputation of being a hangman judge and facilitates abuse through lenient sentences for convicted sex offenders," Johnson said.  Johnson added, in regards to this judge, the crime of drunk driving is more punishable than are the crimes of sexual abuse or even rape.     Read more

Jeffs' defense wants to kill evidence from Texas raid

By Suzanne Adams Kingman Daily Miner Originally published Monday, June 9, 2008

KINGMAN - Attorneys for polygamous leader Warren Jeffs will move to suppress any evidence brought before the court from the raid on the Yearning for Zion Ranch in Texas.  The warning - given to the Mohave County Superior Courts, the Mohave County Attorney and the Arizona Attorney General - came in the defense's response to an objection by the state to a public records request by the defense.  "For the Court's information, Mr. Jeffs will be moving to suppress any and all evidence obtained from the raid and search of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints property in the state of Texas," the defense states.  According to court records, the defense made a public records request on May 1 to the Attorney General's Office for copies of newspaper articles about the phone call that started the Texas raid possibility being a hoax.  The defense "made a public records request to gather information concerning these hoax claims and to show that the raid and search of the FLDS property in Texas was illegal and the fruits thereof must be suppressed."  The Attorney General's Office filed an objection to the request, stating that the request "circumvents the criminal discovery rules."     Read more

New filings delay Arizona hearing for Jeffs

By Ben Winslow Deseret News Originally published Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Arizona prosecutors deny misleading a grand jury that indicted Fundamentalist LDS Church leader Warren Jeffs.  In papers filed in Mohave County, Ariz., Superior Court, Mohave County Attorney Matt Smith said the claims made by Jeffs' attorneys "miss the point of the presentation of evidence to the grand jury."  "This evidence was crucial to show that Warren Jeffs acted as an accomplice by performing the sealing ceremony between the couple that he himself arranged. It was also essential to show why a 51-year-old man would marry his 16-year-old first cousin," Smith wrote.  "None of the evidence presented that the defense argues was religiously based was misleading or false."  Jeffs is facing sexual misconduct charges in Arizona, accusing him of performing a pair of underage marriages.  A judge recently dismissed incest as an accomplice charges against Jeffs.  Meanwhile, Jeffs' defense team is seeking to quash a subpoena served on the man in charge of the FLDS Church's real-estate holdings arm, claiming the information is protected by priest-penitent privilege.  "The subpoena improperly requests material regarding the religious beliefs and practices of Mr. Jeffs and the FLDS Church," attorneys Richard Wright and Michael Piccarreta wrote.     Read more

Prosecutors respond to Jeffs' motion to remand

By Suzanne Adams Kingman Daily Miner Originally published Thursday, June 12, 2008

KINGMAN - Paperwork continues to fly back and forth between Warren Jeffs' attorneys, the court and the Mohave County Attorney's Office.  On Friday, the MCAO responded to a motion made by Jeffs' attorneys to remand the case back to the grand jury.  Jeffs' attorneys argued that the prosecutor did not properly question jurors as to how much media coverage about Jeffs and the situation they had been exposed to.  The attorneys also argued that the prosecutor failed to give the jurors the legal definition of accomplice.  They also stated that the prosecutor presented false, misleading and prejudicial evidence about Jeffs and his religious beliefs to the grand jury and left out evidence that might have been exculpatory.  They also said the prosecutor improperly tried to control and direct the grand jury investigation by discouraging the grand jury from pursuing charges against Allen Steed, one of the men who was allegedly married to one of the women involved in the case.  The County Attorney's Office has asked the court to deny Jeffs' attorney's motion to remand the case back to a grand jury.     Read more

Date set to review action in Jeffs case

The Associated Press Deseret News Originally published Wednesday, June 18, 2008

KINGMAN, Ariz. — An Arizona judge has set a July 11 date to consider whether to send four remaining charges against polygamist leader Warren Jeffs back to a grand jury for reconsideration.  The charges stem from the arranged marriages of two teenage girls and their older male relatives.  Defense attorney Mike Piccarreta is arguing that Jeffs was denied a fair, impartial and unbiased grand jury and that the prosecution presented false or misleading evidence to the grand jury.  Jeffs originally faced 10 charges in Arizona.  In the past three months, six of those charges have been dropped — four at the request of the defense because Arizona's incest law doesn't apply to Jeffs' cases, and two at the request of the prosecution because the alleged victim refused to testify.

Jeffs' attorneys want charges sent back to grand jury

By Ben Winslow Deseret News Originally published Monday, July 7, 2008

Pushing to have the criminal cases against FLDS leader Warren Jeffs sent back to an Arizona grand jury, lawyers for the polygamist-sect leader say his rights were trampled on.  "There were significant problems with the qualifications of the grand jurors, problems with the lack of adequate legal instruction and problems with inaccurate factual presentations," wrote criminal defense attorneys Richard Wright and Michael Piccarreta.  In court documents filed recently in Mohave County Superior Court, the attorneys again seek to remand Jeffs' grand-jury indictment on charges of sexual conduct with a minor as an accomplice.  Jeffs is accused of performing a pair of underage marriages.  The judge overseeing the case has already dismissed incest as an accomplice charges against Jeffs.  In their arguments, Wright and Piccarreta accuse Mohave County prosecutors of not doing enough to ensure a fair and impartial grand jury, noting the massive publicity surrounding Jeffs.  They also accuse prosecutors of failing to instruct the grand jury on the legal definition of "accomplice."  Prosecutors counter that they read the Arizona law to the jury.  Jeffs' attorneys also accused prosecutors of improperly influencing the grand jury by making prejudicial statements about the Fundamentalist LDS Church belief system, as well as other misleading statements.  "Mr. Jeffs motion for remand contends that it is improper to use religious beliefs and practices as evidence of criminal guilt," they wrote.  "Warren Jeffs is not the originator of the beliefs and practices of the FLDS. It is the culture in which he was raised and to which he has devoted his life."     Read more

FACES TRIAL IN ARIZONA: Jeffs rushed to Las Vegas hospital

Convicted polygamist sect leader's health deteriorating

By FRANCIS McCABE and DAVE HAWKINS LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL Originally published July 9, 2008

Convicted polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs was transferred to a Las Vegas hospital Tuesday from a Kingman, Ariz., jail after authorities noticed his deteriorating health.  Jeffs was flown by helicopter to Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center, where he was placed under armed guard by the Metropolitan Police Department.  Later in the evening, Mohave County, Ariz., sheriff's deputies arrived to take over guarding the 52-year-old felon.  Jeffs' condition was unknown late Tuesday.  But his condition was of enough concern that he was flown to Las Vegas from Kingman Medical Center, Mohave County Sheriff Tom Sheahan said.  The sheriff said his jail staff in Kingman noticed that Jeffs looked to be in poor health.  Sheahan said Jeffs had no other known medical problems while at the Kingman jail.  Jeffs, leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, faces trial in Arizona on charges that he arranged marriages of teenage girls to older men.  Jeffs was convicted in Utah on first-degree felony accomplice to rape charges and was sentenced to two consecutive prison terms of five years to life.  Las Vegas police Lt. Sean Jackson said Tuesday the department performed a "courtesy hold" until authorities from Mohave County arrived to guard Jeffs.     Read more

Polygamist Warren Jeffs Found 'Convulsive' in Arizona Jail

By KEN RITTER The Associated Press FOX 10 Phoenix Originally published July 9, 2008

LAS VEGAS (AP) - Polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs was found "convulsive," weak and feverish in an Arizona jail cell before he was hospitalized under tight security in Las Vegas, a sheriff's spokeswoman said Wednesday.  The 52-year-old president of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was found Tuesday "in a weakened state of health, acting in a convulsive manner, shaking, and running a fever," said Trish Carter, spokeswoman for Mohave County Sheriff Tom Sheahan.  Jeffs had "sporadic eating habits" and may have lost weight in the 133 days he was held in the Mohave County jail in Kingman, Carter said.  But Carter said she couldn't say Jeffs had been fasting as he did while jailed in Utah over the past two years.  "This is our watch. He's our inmate," Carter said.  "Our job is to ensure he's in good health and ready to go to trial. If he has any medical conditions, we are going to have deputies and detention officers make sure he's safe and healthy."  Jeffs is charged in Arizona as an accomplice with four counts of sexual conduct with a minor stemming from the marriages of two girls.  He also had been charged with four counts of incest as an accomplice, but those charges were dropped last month.  In dropping the charges, Mohave County Superior Court Judge Steven Conn found that Arizona's incest law does not apply to the arranged marriages of two teenage girls and their older male relatives.  Sheahan issued a statement saying Jeffs would be "under heavy guard 24 hours a day" while being treated at Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center for "an unknown medical condition."  Jeffs was first taken from jail to Kingman Regional Medical Center, and then flown by medical helicopter about 100 miles to Las Vegas.     Read more

FLDS leader hospitalized in Vegas

By JIM SECKLER Mohave Daily News Originally published Thursday, July 10, 2008

KINGMAN - The jailed prophet of the polygamist sect in Colorado City was taken Tuesday afternoon to a Las Vegas hospital.  Warren Steed Jeffs appeared lethargic and suffered from convulsions, a weakened state and signs of a high fever when he was taken to Kingman Regional Medical Center around noon Tuesday.  Later that afternoon, he was airlifted to Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center in Las Vegas, Mohave County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Trish Carter said.  Sunrise Hospital spokeswoman Ashley Seymour would not comment on Jeffs' condition.  Jeffs, 52, the prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, is charged in two 2007 cases involving two underage victims.  He is charged with four counts of sexual conduct with a minor and has been held in Mohave County Jail since Feb. 26.  The first case charges him with two counts of sexual conduct with a minor involving an underage girl between May 1 and June 30, 2002, and between Aug. 15 and Sept. 15, 2002.  The second case also charges him with two counts of sexual conduct with a minor involving another underage girl on Aug. 31, 2003, and in September 2003.  Jeffs allegedly arranged marriages between older men and their teenage relatives.  Last Month, a Mohave County Superior Court judge dismissed four other counts of incest.  Jeffs was convicted last year in St. George, Utah, of two counts of rape as an accomplice and was sentenced in November to 10 years in a Utah prison.  While in the Utah jail, Jeffs attempted suicide and went on a hunger strike.  However, his current stay at the Mohave County Jail has been uneventful, Carter said.     Read more

FLDS leader Jeffs out of Las Vegas hospital, back in jail

By Ben Winslow Deseret News Originally published Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Fundamentalist LDS Church leader Warren Jeffs is back in jail after spending a day in a Las Vegas hospital.  "He is no longer in the hospital but I wouldn't be able to tell you if he got transferred to another facility or back to Arizona. That's not our case," said Las Vegas Metro Police officer Jose Montoya.  Jeffs, 52, was taken from his cell at the Mohave County Jail in Kingman, Ariz., to Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center in Las Vegas on Tuesday after authorities said his health was deteriorating.  "Our jail staff observed him being lethargic," Mohave County Sheriff's spokeswoman Trish Carter told the Deseret News.  "Upon further observation, he was in a weakened state of health. He was acting in a convulsive state like he was shaking, and he was running a fever."  Jeffs was first taken to a Kingman hospital and then flown by medical helicopter to Las Vegas, where police put him under heavy guard.  The FLDS leader's exact medical problem has not been disclosed.  "It does not appear to be life threatening," Carter said Wednesday.  Jeffs has been under a medical/suicide watch in the Mohave County Jail since he arrived there on Feb. 26.  Carter said that Jeffs may have lost some weight since he arrived, but he has been eating sporadically.     Read more

FLDS leader Jeffs back in Arizona jail

By Ben Winslow Deseret News Originally published Thursday, July 10, 2008

Fundamentalist LDS Church leader Warren Jeffs is back in a Kingman, Ariz., today, but remains under a medical/suicide watch.  "He's back in the quarters he was in," Mohave County sheriff's spokeswoman Trish Carter said Thursday.  "He's under a medical watch."  Carter could not say if there were any special measures being taken for the polygamist sect leader in light of the health scare.  He is already under 24-hour watch and is kept in isolation at the Mohave County Jail.  Jeffs was flown to a Las Vegas hospital on Tuesday, after jail staff noticed he was lethargic, feverish and shaking.  His exact medical condition is unknown, but Carter said it was not life threatening.  He was released from the hospital late Wednesday.  Jeffs, 52, had attempted suicide while incarcerated in Hurricane's Purgatory Jail.  Court documents filed in Utah said he also went through extended periods of a self-imposed fast and developed bleeding ulcers on his knees from spending so much time praying.  Jeffs was convicted in Utah of rape as an accomplice, stemming from a marriage he performed between a 14-year-old girl and her 19-year-old cousin.  In Arizona, he is facing sexual conduct with a minor as an accomplice charges, accusing him of performing more underage marriages.  A hearing on the charges scheduled for Friday in Mohave County Superior Court has been continued, but not because of Jeffs' medical problems.  Court clerks said it was delayed because the judge has a jury trial that is running longer than expected. E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com

Polygamist prophet back in Mohave County Jail cell

By JIM SECKLER Mohave Daily News Originally published Thursday, July 10, 2008

KINGMAN - After more than a day at a Las Vegas hospital, Warren Steed Jeffs, the convicted leader of the polygamist sect in Colorado City, returned to his cell Wednesday night at the Mohave County Jail.  Jeffs, 52, was discharged from Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center in Las Vegas and returned to Kingman.  His medical condition was not released.  Around noon Tuesday, Jeffs appeared weak and lethargic and suffered from convulsions and a high fever when he was taken to Kingman Regional Medical Center.  He was later airlifted to Sunrise Hospital, Mohave County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Trish Carter said.  Jeffs, the prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, is charged in Mohave County with four counts of sexual conduct with a minor in two 2007 cases involving two underage victims.  He has been held in county jail since Feb. 26.  Jeffs' hearing scheduled for today was postponed until August because of another trial being held in Mohave County Superior Court Judge Steven Conn's court.  The first case charges Jeffs with two counts of sexual conduct with a minor involving an underage girl between May 1 and June 30, 2002, and between Aug. 15 and Sept. 15, 2002.  The second case also charges him with two counts of sexual conduct with a minor involving another underage girl on Aug. 31, 2003, and in September 2003.  Last month, Conn dismissed four counts of incest filed against Jeffs.  Jeffs was convicted in 2007 in St. George, Utah, on two counts of rape as an accomplice and was sentenced in November to 10 years in a Utah prison.  While in Utah jail, he attempted suicide and went on a hunger strike, however, there have been no incidents while he has been in custody in Arizona.

Polygamist leader Jeffs "doing just fine"

The Associated Press Houston Chronicle Originally published July 11, 2008

KINGMAN, Ariz. — A sheriff's spokeswoman in Arizona says polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs is doing well just days after he was rushed to a Las Vegas hospital for an undisclosed medical problem.  The 52-year-old prophet of a breakaway Mormon sect was flown to Las Vegas Tuesday after being found weak and convulsive in his cell.  He was returned to the Mohave County jail in Kingman late Wednesday.  Spokeswoman Trish Carter says Jeffs spent part of Friday walking around the jail exercise yard and was drinking plenty of fluids and eating.  She says he "appears to be doing just fine."  Jeffs is awaiting trial in Arizona on charges of being an accomplice to sexual conduct with a minor stemming from marriages he allegedly arranged between underage girls and older men.  He's already been convicted of two counts of felony rape as an accomplice in Utah.

Next court date set for Jeffs

By JIM SECKLER Mohave Daily News Originally published Thursday, July 24, 2008

KINGMAN - The often-delayed hearing that could set a trial date for Warren Steed Jeffs, the convicted leader of the polygamist sect in Colorado City, has been set in Superior Court for the end of August.  Jeffs, the prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, is currently charged in Mohave County with four counts of sexual conduct with a minor in two 2007 cases involving two underage victims.  Judge Steven Conn set Aug. 22 to hear all pending motions and possibly to set a trial date.  Motions to be argued include a motion to remand the case back to the grand jury.  The first case charges him with two counts of sexual conduct with a minor involving an underage girl between May 1 and June 30, 2002, and between Aug. 15 and Sept. 15, 2002.  The second case also charges him with two counts of sexual conduct with a minor involving another underage girl on Aug. 31, 2003, and in September 2003.  Last month, Conn dismissed four counts of incest filed against Jeffs.  He was convicted in 2007 in St. George, Utah, on two counts of rape as an accomplice and was sentenced in November to 10 years in a Utah prison.  He was also recently indicted on new charges in Texas.  Mohave County Attorney Matt Smith, who is prosecuting Jeffs' case, said the new Texas indictments will not affect Jeffs' Arizona charges.

Ariz. judge considers remanding Jeffs charges

The Associated Press San Angelo Standard-Times - San Angelo, Texas Originally published Friday, August 22, 2008

KINGMAN, Ariz. (AP) - A court hearing is on tap to decide whether to send four remaining charges against polygamist leader Warren Jeffs back to an Arizona grand jury for reconsideration.  The charges stem from the arranged marriages of two teenage girls and their older male relatives.  Defense attorney Mike Piccarreta argues that Jeffs was denied a fair, impartial and unbiased grand jury, and that the prosecution presented false or misleading evidence to the grand jury.  Jeffs, who is jailed in Kingman, where today's hearing was scheduled, originally faced 10 charges in Arizona.  Four of them were dropped at the request of the defense because Arizona's incest law doesn't apply to Jeffs' cases.  Two others were dropped at the request of the prosecution because the alleged victim refused to testify.

Jeffs lawyer says he'll challenge search in Texas

By BOB CHRISTIE The Associated Press Houston Chronicle Originally published August 23, 2008

PHOENIX — A lawyer for polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs said Friday that he plans to fight the use of any evidence seized during a raid on the sect's Texas ranch at Jeffs' trial in Arizona.  Attorney Mike Piccarreta told a judge at a court hearing in Kingman that he will challenge the search because it was based on a call that Texas authorities should have known was a hoax.  "They proceeded to search the premises nevertheless," Piccarreta said in an interview after the hearing.  "And there are also a whole assortment of constitutional errors by the Texas authorities and we intend to raise each and every one of them.  "I believe the search is illegal and unconstitutional, even by Texas standards."  The main focus of Friday's hearing in Arizona was a defense effort to have the case against Jeffs sent back to a grand jury for reconsideration.  Piccarreta argues that Jeffs was denied a fair, impartial and unbiased grand jury, and that the prosecution presented false or misleading evidence to the grand jury.  Mohave County Judge Steven Conn said he'll rule on that next week.  Mohave County Attorney Matt Smith wasn't immediately available for comment.     Read more

Arizona judge is considering fairness of grand jury hearings

By Suzanne Adams Kingman Daily Miner Deseret News Originally published Saturday, Aug. 23, 2008

KINGMAN, Ariz. — A judge will rule next week whether to remand the criminal case against FLDS leader Warren Jeffs back to the grand jury that indicted him.  A lawyer for Jeffs, 52, was in Mohave Superior Court Friday for a hearing on a motion to remand the case on the grounds that Jeffs was denied his right to due process and had not received a fair and unbiased grand jury hearing.  "Absolutely nothing was done" by the county attorney to question or determine if grand jurors were biased against Jeffs because of the media coverage, lawyer Mike Picarreta said.  "If this is sufficient in this case, with all the publicity, then there is no right to a fair and unbiased grand jury," he said.  "This is the most extreme situation (concerning media coverage) I've seen."  Mohave County Attorney Matt Smith agreed that media coverage of Jeffs had been extensive, but added that he had asked both grand juries numerous times if they could remain unbiased.  At least two jurors case excused themselves because they felt they could not be unbiased, he said.  "I think we went far and above any grand jury in this county (when dealing) with this case," Smith said.  After hearing from both sides, Judge Steven Conn said he would review the minutes of both grand juries and make a final written ruling.  The judge granted a motion to quash a subpoena prosecutors filed to get FLDS records that were seized when Jeffs was arrested in Nevada in 2006.  After the hearing, Picarreta announced plans to file a motion to challenge any evidence or information seized in the raid on the FLDS Church's YFZ Ranch in Texas that may be used in Arizona's prosecution of Jeffs.

Defense says media coverage hurts case

Polygamous sect leader faces trial in Arizona

By DAVE HAWKINS SPECIAL TO THE REVIEW-JOURNAL Las Vegas Review Journal Originally published August 23, 2008

A defense lawyer argued Friday that media exposure and other flaws tainted grand jury proceedings that led to the criminal indictment of polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs.  Mike Piccarreta said two Arizona cases against Jeffs should be remanded back to the panel for a new determination of probable cause.  Piccarreta labeled as insufficient the prosecution effort to ensure a fair and impartial presentation to members of the grand jury panel that indicted Jeffs, 52.  He argued transcripts reflect that grand jurors who handed up indictments in Kingman in the spring of 2007 conceded personal exposure to media coverage of Jeffs.  "It was very prejudicial. There were comments, there were interviews, there were television shows," said Piccarreta, claiming he was shocked by the pervasive negative publicity even before he was hired to represent Jeffs.  "There seemed to be no semblance of any balanced, fair reporting."  Mohave County attorney Matt Smith conceded there was extensive publicity but countered that grand jurors were admonished on repeated occasions to recuse themselves if they could not be fair and impartial in their charging deliberations and decisions.  Smith argued the instruction to weed out bias was effective because two grand jurors did opt out on the Jeffs case.  Jeffs paid close attention to Piccarreta during the proceeding attended by 15 of his followers -- nine well-dressed men in coat and tie ensembles and six women wearing traditional pastel-colored prairie dresses.  The handcuffed Jeffs, smiling occasionally, appeared in a standard jail jumpsuit with a flak jacket over his chest.     Read more

AZ Official Defends Texas Jeffs Evidence

The Associated Press KPHO CBS 5 - Phoenix Originally published August 25, 2008

KINGMAN, Ariz. -- An Arizona county attorney prosecuting polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs said Monday he'll oppose any attempt by Jeffs' defense to prohibit use of evidence seized during a raid on the sect's Texas compound.  Jeffs awaits trial in Arizona on four counts of being an accomplice to sexual conduct with a minor.  Those charges stem from the marriages of two teenage girls and their adult male relatives.  Jeffs defense attorney Michael Piccarreta had told the judge presiding over the Arizona case that evidence from the Texas raid should be barred on the grounds that the raid was based on a call that Texas authorities should have known was a hoax.  "They proceeded to search the premises nevertheless," Piccarreta told The Associated Press in an interview Friday after a hearing before Judge Steven Conn of Mohave County Superior Court.  Mohave County Attorney Matt Smith responded Monday by saying he believes that Texas authorities acted in good faith in their April raid on the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints compound.  Their actions were "appropriate and constitutional," Smith said.  "If they get information and it later turns out to be false, it doesn't necessarily invalidate the (search) warrant."     Read more

Judge declines to send Jeffs' case to grand jury

The Associated Press Houston Chronicle Originally published August 25, 2008

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — A judge has denied a request to have Arizona's case against polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs sent back to a grand jury.  Jeffs' attorney Michael Piccaretta had argued that Jeffs was denied a fair and unbiased grand jury, and that the prosecution presented false or misleading evidence to the grand jury.  Mohave County Judge Steven Conn ruled against Jeffs on Monday.  Piccaretta also plans to ask the judge to bar evidence seized during a raid on the sect's Texas ranch at Jeff's trial in Arizona.  Mohave County Attorney Matt Smith had said he believed the actions of Texas authorities were appropriate and constitutional.  Jeffs awaits trial in Arizona on four counts of being an accomplice to sexual conduct with a minor.

Jeffs indictment not thrown out

By Ben Winslow Deseret News Originally published Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2008

A judge in Kingman, Ariz., has declined to throw out an indictment against Fundamentalist LDS Church leader Warren Jeffs.  Mohave County Superior Court Judge Steven Conn released his ruling late Monday, denying a motion by Jeffs' attorneys to remand the case back to the grand jury.  In a 14-page ruling, Conn noted the massive amounts of publicity coverage surrounding the case, but said there was nothing to show it deprived Jeffs of a fair and impartial grand jury.  Jeffs' defense attorney Michael Piccaretta argued that prosecutors also presented misleading, false and prejudicial information to the grand jury to secure the indictments.  Conn said he did not believe prosecutors undermined the fairness of the grand jury presentation.  Piccaretta said he plans to appeal Conn's decision.  "We felt that there should have been more inquiries into whatever biases and prejudices the grand jurors had before they heard the case," he said.  "We wanted a fair and unbiased grand jury. We wanted it returned so we could obtain one, and the judge disagreed."  Mohave County Attorney Matt Smith's office did not immediately offer any comment.     Read more

Judge dismisses defense motion in Jeffs case

By DAVE HAWKINS SPECIAL TO THE REVIEW-JOURNAL Las Vegas Review-Journal Originally publishe