Salt Lake City, USA - Polygamous sect leader Warren S. Jeffs on Friday asked 5th District Judge James L. Shumate to block the release of sealed records connected to his criminal case.
Media outlets and others have requested audio and video recordings of conversations between Jeffs and followers, most made while he has been incarcerated at the Purgatory Correctional Facility in Hurricane.
A hearing on the requests is set for Tuesday before Shumate.
Lawyers for Jeffs - who was convicted Sept. 25 by a jury on two felony rape accessory charges and is awaiting sentencing - said the release would jeopardize his right to a fair trial in a pending Arizona case.
Jeffs' attorneys also say that releasing the records would violate his privacy rights and those of his visitors.
"While Mr. Jeffs' visitors would have been on notice that the conversations were recorded for security purposes, they would have nevertheless retained an expectation of privacy vis-a-vis the public," argues Walter F. Bugden, one of Jeffs' three attorneys.
The release of portions of the conversations - as described in a court document - doesn't justify releasing the remaining sealed records, which contain "highly prejudicial information," the document states.
Shumate ruled this summer Jeffs' statements could not be introduced during his trial and sealed documents that discussed them. But Shumate released some documents Tuesday, including one that partially described the comments.
It said Jeffs made a series of telephone calls on Jan. 24, during which he confessed to immoral acts with a sister and daughter and said he had not held the priesthood since he was 20. He also renounced his role as prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
He made similar comments a day later during a visit with his brother Nephi at the jail.
The document does not explain what Jeffs meant by immoral acts. Bugden said in the filing that a bad act under FLDS standards might not be legally wrong. The sect's strict moral code bans acts as mild as kissing before marriage.
Jeffs retracted the statements in February, explaining in a new series of telephone calls that he had "experienced a great spiritual test," the released document states.