VERNAL — A Uintah County man who contended he secured the right to marry a 12-year-old girl through a bartered arrangement with her mother failed to convince an 8th District Court jury last week that he was not guilty of burglary and attempted lewdness involving a child.

Dale N. Stevens, 70, who purports to be the leader of an American Indian tribe, acted as his own attorney throughout much of his two-day trial but turned closing arguments over to his court-appointed legal counsel, Mike Humiston.

Humiston told jurors that he wasn't going to try to convince them that Stevens is a "sympathetic character" but wanted them to determine if he had the intent required by law to be found guilty of committing the felony and misdemeanor counts.

Stevens was accused of entering the trailer home where the girl was living, without her permission — one time in his underwear — and trying to get her to undress.

According to Stevens, he went to the trailer where the victim was to protect her from potential fire danger. The girl lived in the trailer with her five siblings and her mother, who was often absent.

The girl's 2-year-old sister had started a fire in the trailer's stove earlier on the day in question, Humiston reminded jurors.

"That night there was this fear about that house burning down," Humiston said in his brief closing arguments. "If you look at it in that context there is a reason ... for what he was doing there that night. It was very plausible that she could have believed he was coming on to her. But did he intend ... to commit lewdness? If you go back to that, you will find Mr. Stevens not guilty."

The prosecution said that Stevens went to the trailer four times in one night to talk to the girl — whom he believed was his because her mother had exchanged her for half a cooler of energy bars — and entice her into a sexual act.

Testimony showed that Stevens' views on marriage — which he often shared with anyone who would listen — are derived from a "book of common law" written in 1870 that states that "a girl can get married at the age of 8 if she married someone who is 8. After the age of 10 she can marry who she wants."

"He attempted to get her to take off her pants ... he took a substantial step, and it wasn't just that night," deputy Uintah County attorney Greg Lamb told jurors. "Dale was trying to groom and mold the situation ... he claimed the fireplace was a safety problem; he used that as a pretext.

"He came over with no shirt and in jockey shorts," Lamb said. "If he was there to fix the fire, why was he just standing over her like that?"