Utah Court Reverses Polygamist Leader Convictions
by Associated Press
July 27, 2010
The Utah Supreme Court has reversed the convictions of polygamist leader Warren Jeffs and ordered a new
trial.
The 54-year-old Jeffs was convicted by a southern Utah jury in 2007 of two counts of first-degree felony rape as an accomplice for his role in the 2001 nuptials of a 14-year-old follower to her 19-year-old cousin.
Jeffs is head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The group practices polygamy in marriages arranged by church leaders. The church is based on the Utah-Arizona state line.
Jeffs is serving two consecutive terms of five years to life in the Utah State Prison on the convictions.
The court ruled Tuesday that jury instructions on lack of consent were in error. Jeffs also faces criminal charges in Texas.
Officials say the polygamist leader has a compound just south of Custer, South Dakota for the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saint's.
