Jeffs indicted on count of unlawful flight

Across the border in Mohave County, Ariz., Jeffs is facing charges of sexual conduct with a minor and conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor. He is accused of arranging more child-bride marriages. However, prosecutors have told the Deseret Morning News their case is shaky after a former child bride refused to testify in a related case against her former husband.

Tolman denied seeking the indictment as an insurance policy should the state prosecutions fail but said he would wait until Jeffs' trial is over before proceeding with his case. Washington County Attorney Brock Belnap declined to comment on Wednesday's indictment. Jeffs' defense lawyers did not return phone calls seeking comment.

A federal warrant is also pending against Jeffs in Arizona, but prosecutors there said no indictment has been issued.

"We don't discuss pending investigations or whether we plan to," said Wyn Hornbuckle, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney for Arizona in Phoenix.

A federal grand jury in Arizona had also been investigating Jeffs' whereabouts. Several of his followers were jailed on contempt charges for months after they refused to testify before the grand jury. They were ultimately released when Jeffs was captured.

Jeffs is being held in isolation in the Purgatory Jail, where he is allowed out of his cell for an hour a day. He has received visits from his lawyers as well as his faithful followers. A law enforcement source has told the Deseret Morning News that Jeffs has made phone calls to groups of his followers, who gather to hear his sermons. In turn, they sing songs to the man they call "prophet."

"He, at present, still leads this community, and I'll leave it at that," Tolman said.

Jeffs' lawyers filed a series of court motions on Tuesday seeking to have his trial moved from southern Utah to Salt Lake County. They claim the negative publicity surrounding the FLDS leader and his religion makes it difficult to get a fair trial. Defense attorneys also asked that the rape as an accomplice charge be declared "unconstitutionally vague."

A hearing on those claims has been scheduled for March 27 in St. George.

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E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com