From Deseret News archives:
No decision yet on Jeffs' extradition to Arizona
The Fundamentalist LDS Church leader appeared Wednesday afternoon before 5th District Court Judge James Shumate via closed circuit TV from Hurricane's Purgatory Jail. Jeffs remains incarcerated on two first-degree felony charges in Utah of rape as an accomplice. He is also being held on a fugitive warrant out of Kingman, Ariz.
"I am presuming Arizona still wants you, although they're going to have to wait until this matter with Utah is over," Shumate said, adding that Mohave County, Ariz., must seek an extradition warrant from Arizona's governor before Jeffs could face charges in that state.
Mohave County prosecutors have filed charges of sexual conduct with a minor and conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor against Jeffs, both class 6 felonies in Arizona.
Jeffs appeared clean-shaven and was dressed in a green-and-white jail uniform. His appearance before Shumate followed that of several other inmates. The FLDS leader appeared without counsel at Wednesday's hearing.
"My other lawyers are searching for Arizona lawyers, so it's in progress," said Jeffs, 50, who hesitated for a moment before leaning forward to speak into a microphone.
Mohave County Attorney Matt Smith was in trial Wednesday in Kingman, Ariz., and could not be reached for comment. A jury in that case handed down a pair of guilty verdicts against an FLDS man, David Bateman, who had been charged with sexual conduct with a minor and conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor.
"Information on the Governor's Warrant issue on Warren Jeffs will be coming as soon as the matter has been reviewed," Smith's office said in a news release late Wednesday.
Bateman, 49, is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 29. Prosecutors said the Colorado City, Ariz., polygamist was 44 when he had sex with a 17-year-old. Bateman is one of eight men facing the charges related to child-bride marriages. One man has already been convicted while another was acquitted.
Shumate said he was "a stickler" about the statutory deadline in the Jeffs case and told Washington County prosecutors to talk to their Arizona counterparts about the status of the fugitive warrant.
"The clock is running," the judge said. The deadline is Dec. 26.
Jeffs will return to St. George's 5th District Court on Nov. 21 for a preliminary hearing on the Utah charges.
E-mail: nperkins@desnews.com; bwinslow@desnews.com
