< Previous Page
If Jeffs is also found guilty, another 700 so-called bad acts alleged against him may become public during the Texas process of sentencing by jury.
Some have already come out in Texas courts and in Canada, where a judge is weighing whether to strike down the country’s law banning polygamy. In two filings with the Canadian court, Texas Ranger Nick Hanna laid out marriage records and personal dictations pointing to Jeffs allegedly marrying six more girls from the U.S. and Canada, some as young as 12 years old.
—
Jeffs charges in Utah vs. Texas
Four years ago, Jeffs was convicted of being an accomplice to the rape of a 14-year-old girl in Utah because he presided over her unwilling marriage to her 19-year-old cousin. That conviction was overturned last year and he was extradited to Texas. The charges against him there are crimes he is directly alleged to have committed — potentially an easier crime to prosecute and make stick, according to University of Utah professor Daniel Medwed.
 |
Join the Discussion |
 |
Post a Comment |
Some were allegedly trafficked across the Canadian border from an FLDS settlement in British Columbia.
Two more sets of photos depicting two other then-13-year-old girls apparently wedded to Jeffs surfaced in hearings after the Texas raid.
That adds up to a total of at least 10 allegations of underage marriage.
Only two are the subject of the trial set to begin Monday, perhaps because there is not sufficient evidence that a crime took place in Texas — some marriages allegedly took place in Utah and Arizona.
But the threshold for introducing bad acts during sentencing is much lower than for filing criminal charges, White said.
"Everything in your past is now fair game," he said. Even a slip of the tongue can become sentencing fodder. And in the Jeffs case, "I would expect they’ve collected a notebook full of things that the man on the street would recoil at."
lwhitehurst@sltrib.comTwitter: @lindsaywhitehurstsltrib.com/blogs/polygblog
-
Cooler temperatures, but high fire danger across most of Utah
Published Jun 19, 2013 06:42:03AM -
Utah soldier finally awarded Bronze Star for service in Iraq
Published Jun 19, 2013 01:01:03AM -
Woman charged with felony animal torture for killing dog with insecticide
Published Jun 18, 2013 10:19:03PM -
Husband charged with abusing sick wife
Published Jun 18, 2013 10:01:02PM
Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
