Salt Lake City, USA - Attorneys for polygamist leader Warren Jeffs are seeking to have charges against him dismissed or have his trial moved to Salt Lake County, in motions filed Tuesday.
Jeffs, 51, is president of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a sect of almost 10,000 who practice polygamy in arranged marriages. Jeffs is facing an April trial on state felony charges of rape as an accomplice for arranging and performing a 2001 marriage between a 14-year-old girl and her adult cousin.
In the motion to dismiss the charges, Jeffs' attorneys said prosecutors failed to prove during a preliminary hearing last year that Jeffs was aware that the girl objected to having sex with her husband.
On Tuesday, Jeffs' attorneys also filed for a change of venue. Most members of the FLDS church live in the twin cities of Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah. Hildale is in Washington County, where Jeffs is being jailed and the trial is scheduled. The motion cites "the nature of the community in Washington County" along with the seriousness of the offense as reasons Jeff's trial should be moved.
The group also has a facility near Eldorado, Texas, about 40 miles south of San Angelo in West Texas.
His attorneys contend he's being prosecuted for his religion. A message left after hours for Jeffs' attorneys Tuesday was not immediately returned.
In another motion, Jeffs' attorneys say Utah's statute on rape as an accomplice is "unconstitutionally vague."
"Because of the sweeping application of the statute, prosecutors and courts may use it to discriminate against members of the defendant's religion, where marriage between young couples is common," the motion states.
Prosecutors claim they can prove Jeffs twice ordered the girl to submit sexually to her cousin. If convicted, he could spend the rest of his life in prison.
A message left after hours for Washington County Attorney Brock Belnap was not immediately returned Tuesday.
Jeffs is also facing felony charges in Mohave County, Ariz., for other arranged marriages. He's expected to be extradited there following the Utah case.