Witness against Jeffs called strong

Lawyer says Jane Doe IV is still willing to testify in court

Published: Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2006 9:17 p.m. MST
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The woman accusing Fundamentalist LDS Church leader Warren Jeffs of forcing her into a child bride marriage remains willing to testify against him, her lawyer said.

"I think when the full story comes out, it will be compelling," lawyer Roger Hoole said outside a court hearing in Salt Lake City's 3rd District Court on Monday. "She's a strong witness and we're looking forward to finishing up the preliminary hearing."

Hoole is representing the woman known in court documents as "Jane Doe IV." She says that at age 14, she was told by FLDS leaders she would be marrying her 19-year-old first cousin. When she objected to the union, Washington County prosecutors said Warren Jeffs threatened her "salvation."

"He had enough control to take everything away from me, when all I tried to do was everything he told me to do," the woman said of Jeffs during the Nov. 21 preliminary hearing. At times, she sobbed on the witness stand as she recounted the arranged marriage and said her then-husband forced himself upon her.

"I don't think he (Jeffs) has any control over her anymore," Hoole said, declining to elaborate any more about how his client felt about facing the man she once considered a "prophet."

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"Jane Doe IV" has since left the FLDS Church and remarried.

The woman has also filed a civil lawsuit against Jeffs and the FLDS Church's financial arm, the United Effort Plan Trust, over the forced marriage.

Jeffs, 50, is charged in St. George's 5th District Court with rape as an accomplice, a first-degree felony. The preliminary hearing is scheduled to resume on Dec. 14. A judge will then decide if there is enough evidence to make Jeffs stand trial.


E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com

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