| Warren Jeffs comes to Kingman Leader of FLDS arrives here under tight security | |
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By Aaron Royster Kingman Daily Miner | |
The notorious spiritual leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is in Kingman. Warren Steed Jeffs, 52, will make his initial appearance at 8:15 this morning at Mohave County Superior Court on various sexual misconduct charges. Under a cloud of secrecy, Jeffs was transported by the Mohave County Sheriff's Office in a plane from his prison cell in Utah to the Mohave County Jail Tuesday afternoon. At a Tuesday afternoon news conference, MCSO Capt. Greg Smith said the transfer occurred without incident. "I saw him (Jeffs) today and he looked good," Smith said. Jeffs is serving two Utah sentences of five years to life on rape as an accomplice charges for his involvement in an arranged marriage between a 14-year-old girl and her 19-year-old cousin. One of the victims in the Arizona cases also served as a key witness for Washington County in their case against Jeffs. "We are glad to see that the prosecution efforts in Mohave County are proceeding," said Greg Hoole, an attorney representing the former witness and another victim in the cases. Asked if they remain willing to cooperate, Hoole told the Deseret Morning News in Salt Lake City: "They are prepared." In Mohave County, Jeffs is facing charges in four separate cases similar to the ones in the Utah case. Jeffs was most recently indicted in 2007 on four charges of sexual conduct with a minor as an accomplice and four charges of incest as an accomplice related to marriages involving two underage girls to adult male FLDS members. Both indictments alleged Jeffs was an accomplice to the crimes beginning in May 1, 2002, and the last incident is alleged to have occurred Sept. 1, 2003, in Colorado City. Jeffs faces a maximum of two years in prison on each sexual conduct with a minor charge, a class 6 felony, and three years nine months in prison on each incest charge, a class 4 felony. "We have dismissed two of the cases against Warren Jeffs," Mohave County Attorney Matt Smith said. "One of the cases was dismissed because the victim in the case was involved in an alleged blackmail attempt involving the co-defendant of Mr. Jeffs." In that case, Jeffs was a co-defendant in a 2005 indictment with Rodney Hans Holm on three counts of sexual conduct with a minor as an accomplice. The charges against Holm were dismissed without prejudice on Aug. 27 because the alleged blackmail scheme. The other case involving Jeffs and Terry Darger Barlow was dismissed due to a lack of proof he committed the crimes in Mohave County. "Of the three remaining cases, two of them may very likely go to trial and the third case is dependent on the desires of the victim who has previously refused to testify against a co-defendant and may very well be unwilling to do so again," Smith said. In the case, Randolph Joseph Barlow and Jeffs were charged with sexual conduct with a minor as an accomplice and conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor, both class 6 felonies. The charges against Barlow were dismissed on Feb. 27. In an e-mail, Michael Piccarreta said he will file many motions in the court, including a change of venue for his client, Jeffs. All charges Jeffs faces in Arizona must be resolved before he will be sent back to Utah. To help ensure his safety, Jeffs will be housed on the first floor of the Mohave County Jail located directly behind the courthouse in downtown Kingman, Sheriff Tom Sheahan said earlier. He will be kept in solitary confinement, where he can leave his cell for only an hour every day. Due to the revelation of multiple suicide attempts while in custody in Washington County, Utah, Sheahan said they would also use additional manpower to place Jeffs on suicide watch. Sheahan and Washington County Sheriff Kirk Smith consulted about housing Jeffs. Jeffs attempted suicide, fasted extensively and was kept in isolation for his protection and the safety of others at the jail while in custody at Hurricane's Purgatory Correctional Facility, Kirk Smith told the Deseret Morning News. "You have security issues that with any high-profile inmate are a challenge," Kirk Smith added. As part of the standard procedure by the MCSO for inmates, Jeffs will undergo a medical evaluation. Greg Smith said he did not know when that would be. During the approximate 20-yard walk from the jail to the courthouse, additional officers will be used to help transport Jeffs. Greg Smith would not release the amount of additional manpower to be used specifically on Jeffs and added the MCSO hasn't determined how much the increased efforts would cost the county. Following his conviction, Jeffs had been placed in maximum security at the Utah State Prison, Utah Department of Corrections spokeswoman Angie Welling told the Deseret Morning News. His criminal defense attorney said in a deposition last week that Jeffs had bloody sores on his knees from spending so much time praying. Deseret Morning News reporter Ben Winslow contributed to this article. | |
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KingmanDailyMiner.com Originally published Wednesday, February 27, 2008 | |
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