Warren Jeffs' Rape Convictions Overturned: New Trial Ordered

by Amy Judd | July 27, 2010 at 08:46 am

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The Utah Supreme Court Has Ruled That Warren Jeffs' Rape Convictions Be Overturned and a New Trial Be Ordered

Polygamous sect leader, Prophet Warren Jeffs has been in prison for four years, but now with a new trial ordered he could be set free.

The Utah Supreme Court has said that due to 'serious errors' in instructions given to the jury in the trial, Warren Jeffs did not receive a fair trial. The court stated that 5th District Judge James Shumate made an error when he "rejected an instruction requiring the jury to find Jeffs knew unwanted sex would take place" in the cast of 14-year-old Elissa Wall and her 19-year-old cousin Allen Steed according to the Salt Lake Tribune.

The court released a statement saying:

“We regret the effect our opinion today may have on the victim of the underlying crime, to whom we do not wish to cause additional pain. However, we must ensure that the laws are applied evenly and appropriately, in this case as in every case, in order to protect the constitutional principles on which our legal system is based. We must guarantee justice, not just for this defendant, but for all who may be accused of a crime and subjected to the State’s power to deprive them of life, liberty, or property hereafter.

Warren Jeffs went on trial in 2007 on two counts of being an accomplice to rape between Wall and Steed. Elissa Wall testified during the trial and chronicled her story in the book Stolen Innocence.

Jeffs defense was that if any rape occurred then Allen Steed was responsible, not Jeffs, but Judge Shumate agreed to an instruction that focused on Jeffs' position in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) Church and on his influence as leader and not on Steed's actions.

Jeffs also faces charges in Texas, including sexual assault of a child and bigamy after the Yearning for Zion ranch in Eldorado was raided in 2008. He is now scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday afternoon for a hearing that could see him be moved to Texas to face those charges.

The FLDS church has about 10,000 members, mostly in British Columbia, Utah, Texas and Arizona.