Jeffs' jail conversations may haunt him in trials

Tapes are apparently still being made of Fundamentalist LDS Church leader Warren Jeffs' conversations inside the Purgatory Jail.

"We record conversations of all inmates," Washington County Sheriff Kirk Smith told the Deseret Morning News on Wednesday. "We are not doing anything differently with Warren Jeffs than we do for anyone else, and nothing has changed since his conviction."

Only conversations deemed protected, such as the ones between an attorney and client, are not recorded. The sheriff declined to comment on the contents of several jailhouse tapes that were detailed in recently unsealed court documents.

More court documents also reveal some of Jeffs' writings that were seized when the polygamist leader was arrested in August 2006, after months on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List.

"You know that there are laws passed for the purpose to take me in bondage and put me in prison. The evil powers know of this mission, and the devil wants this work stopped," Jeffs reportedly said in a 2005 document that prosecutors cite in a court filing.

In other court papers, defense attorneys detailed how Jeffs renounced his role as a prophet of the FLDS faith and suggested that 31 years ago he had done something "immoral" with a sister and a daughter. He did not elaborate and later recanted his renouncement, saying he had "experienced a great spiritual test."

The documents were suddenly made public late Tuesday night when 5th District Judge James Shumate ordered their release without any explanation.

Jeffs, 51, was recently convicted of first-degree felony rape as an accomplice, stemming from a marriage he performed between a 14-year-old girl and her 19-year-old cousin. Jeffs is being kept in isolation at the Purgatory Jail. He faces up to life in prison when he is sentenced Nov. 20.

Defense attorney Wally Bugden wrote in court papers filed under seal in July that Jeffs had been experiencing medical problems. In a series of recorded phone calls to family and followers on Jan. 24, Jeffs indicated that when he was 20, he had been "immoral" with a sister and a daughter.

"He renounced his role as the Prophet, explaining that the Lord revealed to him that he was a wicked man and has not held the priesthood since he was 20 years old," Bugden wrote.