Jeffs talks of religious persecution
SAN ANGELO, Texas -- Polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs gave a delayed opening statement about religious persecution Wednesday at his trial, where he is defending himself on charges of sexually abusing underage girls.
His surprise 30-minute statement came after prosecutors rested their case against him, after they played an audiotape of what they said was Jeffs assaulting a 12-year-old he had taken as a "spiritual wife."
Jeffs, the head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, evoked images of the civil rights movement and mentioned former Mormon leader Joseph Smith Jr. in his statement He also asked the jury to remember constitutional guarantees of religious freedom.
His sect believes polygamy brings exaltation in heaven. The church's 10,000 members see Jeffs as a prophet who speaks for God on Earth.
After his statement, which attorneys have the option to make when they start presenting their cases, Jeffs called one of his church's members to testify. JD Roundy read from the Book of Mormon.
Jeffs, 55, is accused of sexually assaulting two girls, the 12-year-old and a 15-year-old. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 119 years to life in prison.
Prosecutors called 22 witnesses over five days, but neither of the alleged victims participated in the case.
On Tuesday, prosecutors played two tapes of Jeffs instructing the older girl, and several women, on how to please him sexually and thus please God. Forensic experts have testified that DNA shows Jeffs fathered a child with the 15-year-old.
The recordings were seized by police after an April 2008 raid on Yearning For Zion, a church compound in remote Eldorado, Texas, about 45 miles south of San Angelo. More than 400 children were placed into protective custody amid allegations that girls were being forced into polygamist marriages.
An anonymous call for help that sparked the raid turned out to be a hoax, and the children were returned to their families, but images of FLDS women wearing frontier-style dresses and hairdos out of the 19th century had made headlines nationwide.
Nick Hanna, a Texas Ranger involved in the raid, said Wednesday's recording was made Aug. 7, 2006, at the compound and was held on a thumb drive recovered when Jeffs was arrested later that month after a routine traffic stop just outside Las Vegas. An electronic copy was found at Yearning For Zion.
Played in court, it was difficult to decipher, but Jeffs' and a female voice are heard. He said, "I perform this service in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen," then mentions the alleged victim by name. When she says something, he responds, "Don't talk while praying."
Several minutes of heavy breathing followed.
