ShareThisSALT LAKE CITY - A judge has dismissed two cases pending against polygamist sect leader Warren S. Jeffs in Arizona and ordered that he be sent back to Utah, a move that abruptly ends his prosecution and potentially puts Jeffs on a faster track to face more serious charges in Texas.
Mohave, Ariz. Superior Court Judge Steven F. Conn's ruling came after County Attorney Matt Smith filed a motion Wednesday asking that the cases be dropped so that Texas can proceed against the 54-year-old Jeffs -- something Smith said both Arizona victims want.
Smith said extradition proceedings are already under way to bring Jeffs, ecclesiastical leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, to Texas.
A Texas grand jury indicted Jeffs in July 2008 of aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault and bigamy based on his marriages to two underage girls -- including one who was 12 when she was spiritually married to the sect leader at the Yearning For Zion Ranch in Eldorado, Texas.
No trial date has been set yet for Jeffs but the Texas Attorney General's Office already has prosecuted five men on similar charges for marriages to underage girls that were approved by Jeffs. A sixth man currently is on trial.
One FLDS man received a 75-year sentence from a Texas jury, while others received sentences of seven, eight, 10 and 33 years.
Conn said in his ruling that Arizona had only temporary custody of Jeffs while he awaited trial and any extradition proceedings must be initiated in Utah. He ordered the Mohave County sheriff to transport Jeffs back to Utah.
Arizona defense attorney Michael Piccarreta said Jeffs will fight any attempt to extradite him to Texas while legal issues are still pending in Utah.
The collapse of the Arizona cases came five years to the day from when the state first logged indictments against Jeffs, a move that culminated in his being placed on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list. After Jeffs' arrest in August 2006, Arizona authorities agreed to let him stand trial first in Utah, where he faced a more severe penalty.
A Utah jury found Jeffs guilty in September 2007 of two counts of rape as an accomplice based on a marriage he performed that involved an underage girl. He subsequently was ordered to serve two five-to-life sentences.
He was brought to Arizona in February 2008 and spent 28 months in the Mohave County Jail awaiting trial.
In the meantime, Jeffs appealed his Utah conviction to the Utah Supreme Court, which heard arguments in the case last November. Jeffs recently notified the court that he may seek a new trial based on just discovered evidence that false testimony and evidence were given during the 2007 proceedings.
Piccarreta said in a telephone interview that Jeffs "does have a right to have that matter completed before he is removed from any jurisdiction." In addition, he said, there are "serious issues with the legitimacy and constitutionality of Texas' request."
Arizona grand juries indicted Jeffs on charges related to five different marriages he conducted that involved underage girls -- among them, Elissa Wall, the star witness in Utah proceedings against Jeffs.
One case fell apart after a victim refused to participate and two others were dismissed because the state couldn't prove the marriages took place in Arizona. The remaining cases were pared back after Conn ruled incest charges did not apply, leaving two counts of sexual conduct with a minor in each case. The maximum penalty for that crime is a year in prison. Smith noted in his motion that Jeffs had already served more jail time in Arizona than he would receive if convicted in the cases.
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
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