Legal experts say Jeffs' self-defense is bound to fail

He noted that Jeffs was quite active in his legal defense in his Utah case. By not saying anything in his own defense in Texas, Skordas said one is left to assume that Jeffs doesn't believe he can win.

"He might think he has no chance of wining this. He might think he's going to lose anyway so, 'I might as well go down as a martyr,'" Skordas said. "He may be thinking now, 'If you're going to lose, why not go down as a martyr?'"

The timing of his decision to represent himself is interesting to Skordas, who said if Jeffs really wanted to be a martyr, he might have decided two weeks ago to represent himself.

Shurtleff, however, doesn't believe martyrdom is the reasoning behind Jeffs' odd defense strategy.

"I think he wants to walk free. I think he's convinced himself God is going to free him anyway," he said. "He's a smart guy, there's no doubt about that."

But Jeffs also believes he is a prophet of God and doesn't need to answer to the legal system because it's contrary to his own law, Shurtleff said. "He truly believes he's above the law."

Shurtleff said prosecutors in Texas have a "good solid case" against Jeffs and believes the jury will find him guilty and probably sentence him to life in prison.

Contributing: Associated Press

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