Judge unseals Jeffs evidence despite attorney's protest

ST. GEORGE — Evidence once filed under seal in the Warren Jeffs rape case, including excerpts of jailhouse conversations and a competency evaluation, were made public on Tuesday following a hearing in 5th District Court.

Additional information  » Court filings: State of Utah v. Warren Steed Jeffs

The request to unseal the documents was filed by media outlets and a private investigator working for an attorney suing the polygamist sect leader.

Defense attorney Wally Bugden argued that releasing the documents would prove prejudicial to Jeffs and make it extremely difficult to seat a fair and impartial jury in upcoming cases.

"There are five criminal cases in Arizona, and if you were to release those documents right now we absolutely believe it would seriously jeopardize Warren Jeffs' right to a fair trial," Bugden told Judge James L. Shumate. "You already concluded that releasing that information would be too prejudicial."

But Judge James L. Shumate said the only reason he sealed the documents in the first place was to protect the jury pool.

"The court's ruling to keep the matter under seal was, frankly in my mind, a way to enable the court to impanel an impartial jury in Washington County," the judge said. "That was why I wanted it sealed."

Shumate said he had no doubt that an unbiased jury could be seated in Mohave County, Ariz., where Jeffs is facing charges of sexual misconduct with a minor as an accomplice and incest as an accomplice.

Bugden urged Shumate to consider the privacy rights of those who visited Jeffs in jail, arguing that they were entitled to know their conversations "would not be released to the world," even though they were recorded by jail officials for law enforcement purposes.

"They would never in a bazillion years think that simply because they were talking in a jailhouse setting that it would be released on the evening news," Bugden said.

About one dozen followers of Jeffs attended Tuesday's hearing and stood when Jeffs entered the courtroom. Jeffs , who was wearing a suit, white shirt and bright blue tie, smiled and nodded to his followers before sitting down next to his attorneys.

Brett Ekins, an attorney representing media interests in the matter, said the only question facing the judge was whether or not releasing the information would endanger seating a fair jury down the road.

Washington County Attorney Brock Belnap argued that Jeffs' conviction on two first-degree felony counts of rape as an accomplice was already widely known and releasing the documents would do little to taint a jury pool.