Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff wants clarity from rehearing in Warren Jeffs case

SALT LAKE CITY — Should Utah prosecutors decide to ever retry polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs, the state's top lawyer wants the Utah Supreme Court to clarify why last month it tossed Jeffs' 2007 conviction of rape as an accomplice.

"The state does not seek to change the result of the court's opinion," Attorney General Mark Shurtleff wrote in a petition for a rehearing filed Monday. "The state only seeks clarification on how to properly instruct a jury in this and other accomplice liability cases."

Citing an erroneous jury instruction, the state's high court overturned Jeffs' conviction on 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 order for a jury to convict Jeffs of rape as an accomplice, the court ruled, "the jury must find that Jeffs 'intended that the result of his conduct would be that' " a rape occurred.

Earlier this month, Utah Gov. Gary Herbert signed an extradition warrant to send Jeffs to Texas, where he faces charges of bigamy and sexual assault.

Shurtleff said that Utah prosecutors would wait until proceedings in Texas were finished before deciding whether to retry Jeffs in Utah.

— Aaron Falk