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SALT LAKE CITY -- The Utah Attorney General's Office is asking the state's highest court to uphold the conviction of polygamist leader Warren Jeffs.
Responding to an appeal of Jeffs' rape as an accomplice conviction, the Utah Attorney General's Office argues that the Fundamentalist LDS Church leader forced an unwilling 14-year-old girl into an illegal marriage with her cousin.
"And as a consequence of that, she was forced into a non-consensual sexual relationship with her cousin," assistant Utah Attorney General Laura Dupaix told KSL NewsRadio. "We think that's rape."
Jeffs' lawyers appealed his conviction last year, making a wide range of arguments including flawed jury instructions, the terms of sentencing, and an unconstitutionally vague definition of "enticement" in Utah's rape law. They also argue in essence that Jeffs, as a leader of the FLDS Church, was merely performing a marriage ceremony, not facilitating a rape.
Dupaix disputes that claim. "Any other minister of any other religion marries consenting adults," she said. "They don't force 14-year-old girls into a non-consensual marriage, an illegal marriage, and therefore an illegal and non-consensual and sexual relationship," she said.
Jeffs, 52, was convicted in 2007 of rape as an accomplice for presiding over a 2001 marriage ceremony between then 14-year-old Elissa Wall and her 19-year-old cousin, Allen Steed. He was sentenced to a pair of 5-years-to-life prison terms.
Jeffs is currently in Arizona where he is facing similar criminal charges, accusing him of performing more underage marriages. In Texas, the FLDS leader was indicted alongside 11 other men by a grand jury on charges connected to alleged underage marriages.
Jeffs' attorneys will be allowed to respond to the state's legal response, then the Utah Supreme Court is expected to hear arguments in the case this fall.
E-mail:bwinslow@ksl.com
