Warren Jeffs' rape conviction overturned, new trial ordered

SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Supreme Court on Tuesday reversed the 2007 rape conviction of polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs in a decision that both prosecutors and defense attorneys say would make retrying the case difficult.

The court ordered a new trial for Jeffs, the leader of the Fundamentalist LDS Church who had been convicted of two counts of rape as an accomplice for his role in the "spiritual wedding" of a 14-year-old girl to her 19-year-old cousin.

In its unanimous decision to overturn the conviction, the court left the future of the case in jeopardy, attorneys said.

The state has not decided whether to retry the case, said Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, but in light of the court's ruling it would be difficult to get a conviction under the prosecution's original contention that Jeffs was an accomplice to rape.

"We still believe in the theory," said Shurtleff. But the ruling "does leave us wondering how we go forward with the current law."

Elissa Wall, who testified she was forced to marry her cousin, Allen Steed, said she would support prosecutors in whatever decision they make. But she said she would be willing to testify again in court.

"Wrongs have been done and justice has not been served," Wall said. "I want to see justice served. I want to see little girls like myself at 14 years old protected."

Should prosecutors decide not to retry the case, Wall said she would support the decision.

"If nothing else, Warren Jeffs was off the street for three years," she said.

Jeffs' attorney, Walter Bugden, said his client should never have been charged under a legal theory he called "mixed and matched." He accused prosecutors of "pushing the law beyond what was reasonable" in an effort to prosecute an unpopular religious leader.

"For years, there's been an attack on the FLDS Church," Bugden said. "Utah is very invested in persecuting and prosecuting Warren Jeffs. That's not going to change overnight."

During the 2007 trial, Wall, who is now an adult, testified that while she raised concerns before and after the union, Jeffs counseled her to give herself "mind, body and soul" to her husband and to "obey him without question."