His wife, he said, went to Canada without him, wouldn't finish her schooling and often was rude to him. Yet, he testified, he still wanted to try and make the marriage work.

"The only thing I knew to do was to be patient. To show love and support," Steed said. Sometime later, he found a photo of his wife and another man on a vacation in Las Vegas with another couple. She later married the man and had a child with him. It was after finding the photo that he went to Jeffs and was released from his marriage.

Steed's testimony was quiet and subdued throughout the morning, and he paused several times to wipe his eyes.

Utah Assistant Attorney General Craig Barlow questioned the man, asking him whether he recalled his former wife ever saying "no" when it came to sex.

"She didn't come right out and say 'no, stop, don't,"' he testified. "She should at least have pushed away from me or something."

The girl testified earlier that she sobbed and cried during her wedding ceremony and was shaking with fright the night the two first had sexual intercourse. That's not the way he recalled either event, Steed testified on Wednesday.

Attorneys will review final jury instructions with Judge James Shumate today and offer their closing arguments on Friday. If convicted, Jeffs faces a penalty of five years to life in prison on each count.

The jury of seven women and five men will be trimmed to eight jurors, although the remaining four alternates will not be released until the trial is over, the judge said. The jury must reach a unanimous decision.

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E-mail: nperkins@desnews.com