State rests in Jeffs case; judge denies defense motion to dismiss

ST. GEORGE — Attorneys for Warren Jeffs lost a bid in 5th District Court today to have the case against the 51-year-old polygamous sect leader dismissed.

Defense attorney Wally Bugden made the motion to dismiss the charges after prosecutors rested their case in the trial that began Thursday. Judge James Shumate denied the motion.

Jeffs, who is charged with two first-degree felony counts of rape as an accomplice, leads the Fundamentalist LDS Church and its 7,500 members. He is accused of conducting a 2001 spiritual marriage between an unwilling 14-year-old girl and her 19-year-old first cousin.

The girl, now 21, testified that she did not want to marry her cousin and that she was pressured into going through with the wedding by Jeffs, her family and other members of the closely knit community.

The woman testified she sought a meeting with Jeffs to tell him that her new husband was touching her in ways that she didn't like and asked for a release from the marriage. She said Jeffs denied her request, telling her she should repent and return to her husband and submit to him, "mind, body and soul."

Two of the woman's older sisters, both of whom grew up in the FLDS Church and have left the religion, testified on Monday. One sister testified that the girl's stepfather, Fred Jessop, arranged the marriage and that Jeffs supported the decision. All three women testified that they did not believe it was possible for a woman to refuse to marry or have sex with her husband.

During today's testimony, the defense called two current FLDS members to the stand, seeking to clarify some of the church's doctrines when it comes to marital relations and the role men and women play in the faith.

Jennie Pipkin, 26, said when she was 17 she asked her reluctant father to turn her name in to the prophet so she could be placed in marriage. She finished attending an FLDS high school and then married the man whose name she submitted for consideration, Pipkin testified. Her marriage was dissolved after she complained to Jeffs that her husband would not stop "nagging" her for sexual relations, even though she asked for a respite after having five children.

Ben Thomas, 34, also said he had an arranged marriage, testifying the couple grew to love one another as time went on. Having children was a personal decision for each couple, he testified.

"There is no time table on it. It's whatever they decide," Thomas said. "It is up to the lady to approach her husband when she is ready to have children."

Both witnesses testified that the FLDS do not teach or expect women in the church to obey men without asking questions.

"There is no force in our church," Thomas said.

Jurors also heard a recording of a 2002 sermon given by FLDS member Sam Barlow about the coordinated effort by Utah and Arizona to prosecute underage marriages.

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E-mail: nperkins@desnews.com