Key Witness in Polygamist's Trial Describes 'Darkest Time'
USA TODAY, 2006-11-22
By Dennis Wagner
ST. GEORGE, Utah -- In tearful testimony, the lead prosecution witness against polygamist church leader Warren Jeffs said Tuesday that she was threatened with banishment if she did not marry her cousin at age 14.
The woman, now 20 and married to a different man, described being coerced by Jeffs and other leaders of the religious sect during a preliminary hearing. "This was the darkest time in my entire life."
Jeffs, 50, is charged with two counts of rape as an accomplice for his alleged role in arranging the marriage between the witness and her 19-year-old cousin. A judge must decide whether there is probable cause for a trial.
Jeffs, who sat nearly motionless at the hearing, is leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS), which allows polygamy. The fundamentalist church was founded more than a century ago in defiance of the mainstream Mormon Church's ban on polygamy.
The woman said she pleaded with Jeffs and others, weeping as she was fitted for the wedding dress and refusing to say the marriage vow until her mother joined those pressuring her.
"I felt totally powerless, trapped," she said. "I was scared. I didn't have anywhere to go."
Prosecutors completed their case Tuesday, and Judge James Shumate said the preliminary hearing would resume Dec. 14. Jeffs' defense team plans to call two witnesses, including the woman's current husband.
During cross-examination, defense attorney Tara Isaacson sought to portray the woman as a willing participant in the wedding and argued that Jeffs did not know the couple had sex.
Isaacson introduced sweetheart notes the couple had traded and quoted from the girl's journal, in which she expressed enthusiasm about being singled out for marriage.
The woman testified that the entry was written before she learned the identity of her partner.
Isaacson also noted that the witness has filed a civil suit against Jeffs, suggesting that the criminal case was initiated for monetary gain. The woman denied that, saying she turned to authorities so other FLDS children would not be victimized.
"It is my worst nightmare that my sisters will go through what I went through," she said.
The Nevada marriage in 2001 was a "spiritual" bond not sanctioned by the state. The woman said she repeatedly tried to reject sexual overtures, to no avail. The couple separated in the fall of 2004.
USA TODAY does not identify alleged victims of sexual assault.
The woman, no longer with the church, married a man who she said rescued her from the FLDS. She is pregnant with his child.
Utah and Arizona prosecutors began legal proceedings against the FLDS and Jeffs two years ago amid reports of child marriages, the banishment of teenage boys and financial abuses. Jeffs became a fugitive after his indictments in Arizona and Utah. He was arrested in August by a Nevada state trooper during a routine traffic stop.
Wagner reports daily for The Arizona Republic in Phoenix. Contributing: AP. (c) Copyright 2005 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.
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