| 'M.J.' seeks a default ruling against Jeffs Does nonresponse by FLDS chief point to guilt? | |
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By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News | |
A personal-injury lawsuit accusing Fundamentalist LDS Church leader Warren Jeffs of forcing a teenage girl into a marriage with her cousin may be over before it even gets started. Lawyers for the woman, known as "M.J." in court documents, are asking a judge to grant them a default judgment. "We had hoped that Mr. Jeffs would find the courage and decency to respond to M.J.'s allegations. He has chosen not to respond," attorney Roger Hoole told the Deseret Morning News on Wednesday. "That speaks for itself." The court papers filed last week in Cedar City's 5th District Court ask for a hearing to determine how much Jeffs and the FLDS Church should pay. "M.J." is also "Jane Doe IV," the star witness in the criminal case against Jeffs. She claims that at age 14 she was forced into a marriage with her 19-year-old cousin. The woman's captivating testimony about her quick wedding and her many pleas to Jeffs to release her from the marriage led to the FLDS leader being ordered to stand trial in April on two counts of rape as an accomplice, a first-degree felony. "This was the darkest time of my entire life," the woman — who is now 20 and recently gave birth to a baby girl — testified during November's preliminary hearing in St. George. Jeffs was served with court papers about the "M.J." lawsuit in October at the Purgatory Jail, where he remains jailed without bail. The lawsuit names Jeffs, the FLDS Church and the United Effort Plan Trust. In 2005, a judge in Salt Lake City's 3rd District Court took control of the $110 million UEP Trust after allegations surfaced that Jeffs and other FLDS leaders had been siphoning assets. It was recently reformed and the court-appointed fiduciary of the trust has been trying to settle a series of lawsuits filed against it. The lawsuits in settlement talks include one filed by Jeffs' nephew, Brent, who claims that as a child he was sexually abused by the FLDS leader. Another was filed by a group of ex-FLDS members known as "The Lost Boys" because they were kicked out of the polygamous communities of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz. "We're getting closer and closer," said Jeffrey L. Shields, the attorney for the UEP fiduciary. "We still don't have a deal yet." E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com | |
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deseretnews.com Originally published Friday, January 12, 2007 | |
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