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ST. GEORGE, Utah (AP/KSL News) -- Joined by three attorneys, polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs made his first appearance in a Utah courtroom Wednesday as a judge set a Nov. 21 hearing to determine if there is probable cause to send him to trial on charges of arranging an underage marriage.
"Yes, sir. Yes, your honor," Jeffs replied when asked if he was willing to wait nearly two months for the preliminary hearing.
Judge James Shumate said he would address Jeffs' bond status at that time. He remains in jail.
The hearing lasted less than 10 minutes for the self-proclaimed prophet who heads the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Jeffs is charged with two counts of rape as an accomplice, a first-degree felony that carries life in prison.
Under his suit, tie and white shirt, Jeffs was wearing a bulletproof vest. There was tight security inside and outside the Washington County courthouse, including SWAT teams.
Prosecutors claim Jeffs, 50, forced a teenage girl to enter a spiritual marriage with an older man and submit to sex in order to produce children.
The girl twice told Jeffs she didn't want to marry or have sex, but was told it was her "spiritual duty" to submit because the marriage had been arranged by God, according to court filings.
"The victim is doing well," Brian Filter, chief deputy county attorney, said outside court. "We do anticipate the victim in the case, who has been identified as Jane Doe No. 4, will be present and will testify."
"We're going to have a preliminary hearing, just one step at a time, said Defense attorney Walter Bugden. "We intend to confront the witnesses against us and there will be cross examination of the witnesses, and that's all the comment I'm going to make."
Bugden said "absolutely" when reporters asked if this was religious persecution.
"Let's wait until we can have a trial in this matter before we jump to the conclusion that Mr. Jeffs is guilty of anything," Bugden said.
Jeffs' brother, Nephi Jeffs, and FLDS member Lindsey Barlow were in the courtroom during the brief hearing. At least one former follower came and denounced Jeffs.
"If we were to judge warren as he has judged his own, we would have to lock him away and throw away the key," said Ezra Draper, a Former FLDS Member.
But people from the FLDS culture were heavily outnumbered by police and media personnel.
The security and the media attention are now part of the routine in the Jeffs case. The police stand ready for any possibility of trouble; either from his loyal followers, or perhaps from former followers whose lives, families and emotions have been disrupted under his leadership.
Named to the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list in May, Jeffs was arrested last month during a traffic stop near Las Vegas. He had been a fugitive for nearly two years.
Jeffs, who took over the leadership of the church from his father in 2002, is also facing two felony charges in Arizona for a similarly arranged marriage. He'll face those charges after the Utah case.
The FLDS is a sect that practices polygamy in marriages determined by its leaders.
For nearly 100 years, members of the sect, which number nearly 10,000, have lived a quiet, insular life in the border towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz.
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
