Shurtleff wants to see Jeffs evidence

ST. GEORGE — A stalled organized crime investigation into the Fundamentalist LDS Church could heat up again if the Utah Attorney General's Office is able to get its hands on evidence seized when FBI agents arrested polygamist leader Warren Jeffs.

"We believe there's substantial information in there that would help with regard to financial investigations," Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff said in an interview with the Deseret Morning News.

Shurtleff was tight-lipped about what evidence he would like to see but said some of it could be valuable to ongoing investigations into Jeffs and the FLDS Church.

"We've heard so much," he said.

Jeffs, 51, is on trial in 5th District Court 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.

Jeffs was on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list until he was arrested in a traffic stop outside Las Vegas in August 2006. A Nevada Highway Patrol trooper stopped a red 2007 Cadillac Escalade because the temporary tag wasn't visible.

The traffic stop ultimately led to the discovery of Jeffs and a "mother lode" of evidence inside the Escalade that has been the subject of legal battles in several states.

Deseret Morning News graphic    FBI document

Legal battles

The FBI has custody of most of the evidence.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Utah is using it as part of its prosecution of Jeffs for unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, stemming from his time as one of the FBI's Ten Most Wanted.

"We will continue to coordinate with any law enforcement agency," said Melodie Rydalch, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Utah.

Jeffs' defense attorneys fought to have some of the items returned to the FLDS leader, claiming they were protected under his First Amendment right to freedom of religion. A federal judge gave government prosecutors until Sept. 4 to decide what evidence was relevant to his criminal prosecution and then return the rest to Jeffs' lawyers.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Utah confirmed it met the deadline but declined to say what was returned to Jeffs' defense team.