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Title: Woman, wed at 14, testifies vs. Jeffs - Hearing will determine whether leader is tried
Source:
Arizona Republic
URL Source: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1122jeffs1122.html
Published: Nov 22, 2006
Author: Dennis Wagner
Post Date: 2006-11-22 07:14:33 by Red Jones
Keywords: None
Views: 84
Comments: 1
Woman, wed at 14, testifies vs. Jeffs - Hearing will determine whether leader is tried Dennis Wagner The Arizona Republic Nov. 22, 2006 12:00 AM Warren Jeffs (left) and defense attorney Tara Isaacson listen to testimony during his preliminary hearing Tuesday. ST. GEORGE, Utah - The woman was 14 years old when, she says, polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs threatened her with banishment and damnation if she did not marry her 19-year-old cousin. Now 20, the woman wept repeatedly Tuesday as she described in court how Jeffs and other officials in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints coerced her into the spiritual marriage. "I said, 'I'm not willing to marry my cousin.' Everything is telling me not to do this. Every part of my soul," she said. "He (Jeffs) told me this was a revelation from God, and this was an honor, (and) if you do not do this, your future here will be in jeopardy." advertisement Her emotional, unwavering testimony in Utah's 5th District Court came on the first day of a preliminary hearing to determine whether there is enough evidence for Jeffs to stand trial. He is charged in Utah with two counts of rape as an accomplice, felonies that carry a penalty of five years to life in prison. He also faces charges in Arizona. Considered a prophet by sect members, Jeffs, 50, became a fugitive after his indictments in Arizona and Utah. He was placed on the FBI's 10 most wanted list with a reward offer of $100,000 until his August arrest by a Nevada state trooper during a routine traffic stop. Investigators found more than $50,000 in cash in the Cadillac Escalade, plus computers, recording devices and church-related records. 'I honestly wanted to die' With an overflow courtroom and heavy security, the woman, who is referred to as Jane Doe IV, spent several hours describing how she resisted the "spiritual" marriage and sexual consummation with her husband. She said she repeatedly pleaded with Jeffs for help. The woman is the prosecution's lead witness. She said she was threatened with banishment and warned that she would never make it to the "celestial kingdom" because FLDS teachings require a woman to submit herself to the will of a husband without question. The woman said she wept while being fitted for the wedding dress and refused to say, "I do," until her mother joined those putting on pressure. "I felt totally powerless, trapped," she said. "I was scared. I didn't have anywhere to go. My salvation was in jeopardy. I knew nothing else but what was in that society. "I honestly wanted to die. I was so scared. This was the darkest time in my entire life." Jeffs, dressed in a dark suit and with gray streaking his dark hair, appeared implacable throughout her testimony. His defense team has yet to put on its case before Judge James Shumate, who stopped testimony and continued the hearing until Dec. 14. About a dozen of Jeffs' relatives and FLDS leaders attended the hearing, but they declined interview requests. During cross-examination, defense attorney Tara Isaacson sought to portray Doe as a willing participant in the marriage and argued that Jeffs did not know if the couple had intercourse. She also noted that the woman has filed a lawsuit against Jeffs, suggesting that the criminal case was initiated for monetary gain. Doe denied that allegation, saying she turned to authorities so that other FLDS children would not be victimized. "It is my worst nightmare that my sisters will go through what I went through because they have no choice," she said, breaking down on the stand. "That's why I'm here today, to change that for them." Doe is no longer in the church. She married a man who, she said, rescued her from the FLDS church. She is pregnant, with the baby due in two weeks. The Nevada marriage in 2001 was a "spiritual" bond unsanctioned by the state. Doe testified that she views her cousin as an FLDS victim, as well. However, she also said she repeatedly tried to reject his sexual overtures. Legal assault Utah and Arizona prosecutors began a legal assault on the church and Jeffs two years ago, amid reports of child marriages, the banishment of teenage boys and financial abuses. The church has dominated Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah, for decades, controlling schools, city halls and police departments. Members are taught to practice polygamy so they can reach the highest levels of heaven, a goal women can obtain only through marriage. The sect separated more than a century ago from the mainstream Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which bans polygamy, and there are no modern ties. The FLDS church has an estimated 6,000 to 10,000 members, with branches or affiliations in Texas, South Dakota, British Columbia and Chihuahua, Mexico. The Washington County, Utah, proceedings are just one part of a multipronged attack on suspected criminal activity: • In Mohave County, Jeffs faces an indictment on charges of arranging a marriage between a 16-year-old and a married man, as well as a fugitive warrant. Extradition proceedings are pending, but he will not be moved from Utah until the case there is completed. • At least eight other men from Colorado City and Hildale have been charged with crimes related to marriages involving underage brides. • In British Columbia, prosecutors announced last month that "a comprehensive charge assessment" was under review targeting FLDS members at the satellite community of Bountiful. • Jeffs and other church leaders were stripped last year of control over public schools in Arizona while authorities probed allegations of fraud, cronyism and mismanagement. • A Utah judge similarly removed church leaders as trustees for the United Effort Plan, a church trust that controls an estimated $100 million in community land, businesses and the giant homes where congregants reside. Bruce Wisan, a fiduciary, was placed in charge after a court finding of mismanagement and financial abuse. Defense complaint Wisan and Jeffs' defense lawyers have sought the return of documents seized by FBI agents at the time of Jeffs' arrest. The defense attorneys complained that the documents carry religious privilege as communications between a prophet and his followers. Wisan filed a court motion claiming the papers would help him decipher the church's complex financial affairs. Late last month, Wisan sent Jeffs a letter in jail asking him to direct the FLDS faithful to pay their property taxes. Wisan is working on breaking up the community property and asking residents to pay delinquent property taxes. Over the summer, 41 of 43 who had received notices had paid; the holdouts were among Jeffs' most influential supporters, and they were served with eviction notices. Sobering impact The government crackdown has placed the reclusive twin towns of Colorado City and Hildale in a national spotlight and appears to have taken a toll on residents. Some homes are abandoned or up for sale. On Monday afternoon, men were nowhere to be found on the streets of either town. Women, wearing trademark dresses and accompanied by flocks of children, answered greetings with sullen glares. The restaurant was locked at midafternoon with a sign on the door: "We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone." At Dezereta market, a matronly clerk clenched her jaw and refused to make eye contact with a stranger. Even the local park suffered last month, when vandals smeared tar on a monument to community ancestors. "The town is a lot quieter," said Gary Engels, an investigator with the Mohave County Attorney's Office. "I don't know if there are less people out doing things, or just less people there. Maybe a little of both. "I did notice that I don't get followed around near as much as I used to." This month, the Deseret Morning News in Salt Lake City reported that Jeffs continues to lead his flock from jail, where he conducts services over the telephone. He is being held in isolation at the Purgatory Correctional Facility in Hurricane, Utah.
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Witness: Young bride was scared of marriage Associated Press November 21, 2006 ST. GEORGE, Utah - A 14-year-old girl cried and was clearly troubled in the weeks preceding an arranged marriage to an older cousin, her sister testified Tuesday at a hearing that could lead to a criminal trial for the leader of a fundamentalist Mormon sect. "She was 14," said Rebecca Musser, whose sister has a different last name. "It was just shocking and horrific. ... She didn't want to get married." Warren Jeffs, leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, is charged with rape as an accomplice for his alleged role in forcing the girl to marry her 19-year-old first cousin in 2001. Musser was the first witness at a hearing to determine if there is enough evidence to send Jeffs to trial. The Associated Press does not identify victims of sexual assault. Looking thin and gaunt in a dark gray suit, Jeffs, 50, sat nearly motionless for the first few hours. He smiled at family and fellow church members in the audience. Musser is a former FLDS member who was married to Jeffs' late father. She recalled Jeffs telling her to counsel her teenage sister after the wedding at a Nevada motel. "You need to encourage her to be happy. God has put this marriage together. You need to encourage her to be submissive and obedient," Jeffs said, according to Musser. Utah and Arizona at the time were cracking down on marriages involving minors. She said Jeffs warned her that "this marriage could cause us some problems" Security at the Washington County courthouse was extraordinary Tuesday. Police sharpshooters dressed in black were posted on red rock hills that ring the building. No vehicles were allowed to park on the street. In court documents, prosecutors say the bride, identified only as Jane Doe No. 4, objected to the marriage and later begged to be released. Jeffs' defense team has said he is being persecuted for his religious beliefs. Jeffs was arrested Aug. 28 and is being held without bail in the county jail in Purgatory, about 25 miles west of the twin towns of Hildale, Utah and Colorado City, Ariz., where most of his estimated 10,000 followers live. The church arranges marriages for young girls and believes plural marriage ensures exaltation in heaven. Jeffs assumed leadership in 2002 after the death of his father. Followers revere him as a prophet who communicates with God. The FLDS church represents itself as a fundamentalist offshoot of the Mormon church. But the Mormons disavow any connection and renounced polygamy more than a century ago. Jeffs is also facing felony charges in Arizona in marriages involving minors. That case is on hold until after the Utah case is resolved.
Psalm 137:1 By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.
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