St. George, USA - The jury pool for the trial of a polygamist sect leader accused of ordering a 14-year-old girl to submit to sexual relations in a 2001 spiritual union with a cousin has been so biased by news reports that Warren Jeffs can't get a fair trial in southern Utah's Washington County, his lawyers contend.
Judge James L. Shumate was to hear arguments Tuesday during which Jeff's lawyers were to introduce polling data in support of their motion to move the trial to Salt Lake City, 270 miles north.
Jeffs, 51, has pleaded not guilty to two first-degree felony charges of rape as an accomplice. Prosecutors contend they can prove two instances when Jeffs used his position of trust as a prophet to prevail upon the girl to have sex with a 19-year-old cousin she testified she always hated.
The couple were then members of Jeffs' Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, an insular sect of nearly 10,000 which practices polygamy in arranged marriages. The majority of church members live in the twin border towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., about 45 miles east of St. George.
Defense attorneys contend polls taken in early February show news reports have biased the county's jury pool. Data show 51 percent of 210 Washington County respondents believe Jeffs is “definitely guilty” of the charges.
In Salt Lake County, 39 percent of 206 respondents said Jeffs was “definitely guilty,” according to court documents filed in 5th District Court. The survey was conducted Feb. 5-14 and has an error margin of 6.9 percentage points.
Respondents said they got most of their information about the case from the news media.
Salt Lake City pollster Dan Jones, who conducted the survey for the defense, was expected testify that the 13 percent split between counties is significant.
The estimated population of Salt Lake County is nearly 950,000 and Washington County is estimated at 118,000.
It was not known when Shumate would make a decision on the change of venue matter.
Earlier Tuesday, Shumate rejected a defense challenge to Utah's rape law. Jeffs' attorneys argued that the law was too vague to prosecute Jeffs.
The young woman has said she was unwilling but that Jeffs told her it was her religious duty to participate.
“Any words to encourage her to go against her will could easily be seen as enticement,” Shumate said.
Jeffs looked more gaunt and pale than in previous court appearances, his cheeks hollow and his hair grayer around the temples than after his arrest near Las Vegas last summer.
He turned and smiled at 15 FLDS church members, who stood as a sign of respect when Jeffs entered the courtroom.
Last week, the judge postponed Jeffs' April 23 trial and plans to hear arguments on a request to suppress evidence that day. No new trial date has been set.
Jeffs is being held in the county jail. He is also facing felony sex charges in Mohave County, Ariz., for his alleged role in two underage marriages and is under federal indictment for unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.