Jeffs' lawyers oppose 'amens'

Fundamentalist LDS Church leader Warren Jeffs' defense team is trying to get the word "amen" kept out of the polygamist's trial next month.

In papers filed in St. George's 5th District Court late Tuesday, defense attorney Wally Bugden said prosecutors planned to introduce an utterance that Jeffs had made at an FLDS Church meeting. It's an effort to show that Jeffs supported a speaker's opposition to government efforts to regulate or interfere with underage marriages.

"Jeffs' utterance of 'amen' to the anti-government statement bears no logical relationship to the crime charged," Bugden wrote. "First, the utterance of amen is at best an ambiguous response to the speaker."

In their memorandum in support of a motion to limit or exclude evidence, defense attorneys claim it's hearsay and that by highlighting the "amen," prosecutors are trying to portray FLDS members — including Jeffs — as unlawful.

"It says little if anything about whether Jeffs committed accomplice rape," Bugden wrote. "Shifting the focus from actual guilt or innocence to dissident political agendas, the State misleads the jury."

Jeffs, 51, is scheduled to go on trial Sept. 10 in St. George on charges of rape as an accomplice, a first-degree felony. He is accused of performing a marriage between a 14-year-old girl and her 19-year-old cousin. In Arizona, Jeffs is facing charges, including sexual misconduct with a minor, related to alleged child-bride marriages. He also is facing a federal grand jury indictment on unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, stemming from his time on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list.

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