Other law enforcement agencies have refused to confirm or deny the tape's existence.

In Arizona, where Jeffs faces charges accusing him of performing more child-bride marriages, Mohave County Attorney Matt Smith would not rule out using any tape as evidence.

"It would not be appropriate for me to comment on anything that I've learned about what's going on in Washington County," Smith said in an e-mail to the Deseret Morning News. "Obviously, if Warren Jeffs made statements along the lines suggested in the newspaper article, I would be very interested in their potential use at our trial."

Jeffs, 51, faces criminal charges in Utah of rape as an accomplice, a first-degree felony. He is accused of performing a child-bride marriage. A hearing is scheduled April 23 to discuss a motion suppressing evidence in the case against the polygamist leader.

Late Tuesday, Bugden filed a petition under seal in court. Court minutes indicate an order was also filed under seal. Typically, such filings deal with matters of evidence, medical or psychological issues. Bugden also declined to discuss the filings when contacted by the Deseret Morning News Wednesday.

In August 2006, Jeffs was arrested in a traffic stop outside Las Vegas. At the time, he was on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list. The computers, documents, cell phones, credit cards and other evidence seized from the Cadillac Escalade are at the center of an evidence battle.

Defense attorneys have asked to delay a hearing in a Nevada federal court pending the outcome of a similar fight over evidence in Utah. Last month, Jeffs was indicted by a federal grand jury in Salt Lake City on a single charge of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.

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E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com