Jeffs' lawyers want Arizona indictment dismissed

The Deseret News first reported last year on those conversations in which Jeffs renounced his role as"prophet" of the FLDS Church but later recanted those statements. Jeffs' portrait still hangs in the homes of FLDS faithful, who still consider him their leader.

Defense case

Pursuant to Arizona court rules, lawyers for Jeffs filed notice of their possible defenses, including: no intent, knowledge nor requisite mens rea (Latin for "guilty mind") factual innocence, mistake of fact, mistake of law, consent, insufficiency of prior conviction, someone else committed the alleged offense and violation of Jeffs' constitutional rights.

The defense witness list filed in the Mohave County Superior Court includes an expert on polygamy, anyone listed in police reports or the grand jury transcript, and numerous FLDS members. Allen Steed is also on the defense list in the case involving his ex-wife.

Wall's lawyer, Roger Hoole, and the custodian of records for a Utah-based group that helps children leaving the FLDS communities are also being sought for testimony. So is Lisa Pulitzer, Wall's co-author for her book.

Jeffs' lawyers are demanding to see "book contracts, drafts of manuscript of the proposed book and any other financial benefits Wall received, agreements to provide information related to the events associated with this matter, including book deals or appearance fees and any related payments or expenses."

Police reports and medical reports in the other case are also sought, as well as the personnel file of Mohave County Attorney's Investigator Gary Engels, who has pursued the criminal cases against Jeffs in Arizona.

"Defendant may use any or all of the tapes and/or transcripts which were made of the conversations between the agents, confidential informant and defendant," Jeffs' attorneys wrote.

---

Contributing: Suzanne Adams, Kingman Daily Miner
E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com