Rape by association? Jeffs goes on trial in Utah

ST. GEORGE, Utah - Seven women and five men were selected as jurors Thursday in the trial of a polygamist sect leader who is charged with rape by accomplice for his role in the marriage of a 14-year-old girl and an older cousin.

Opening statements were set for 1:30 p.m. MDT after jury instructions and final pretrial motions by attorneys on each side.

Warren Jeffs is the head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a sect that split with the mainstream Mormon church decades ago.

The woman, now 21, says Jeffs told her she risked her salvation if she refused to enter a religious union and have sex with her 19-year-old cousin in 2001 when she was 14.

After more than three days of interviews with prospective jurors, it took just 30 minutes to settle on 12 people from a final pool of 28. Four of the 12 jurors are alternates.

Jeffs, shackled and wearing a bulletproof vest, was flown to the courthouse by helicopter. He typically is driven 20 miles from the Washington County jail for court hearings. Sheriff's deputies were not immediately available for comment on the switch.

Jeffs, 51, was a fugitive for nearly two years and was on the FBI's Most Wanted list when he was arrested during a traffic stop outside Las Vegas in August 2006. If convicted, he could spend the rest of his life behind bars.

Jeffs has led the FLDS church since 2002. Followers see him as a prophet who communicates with God and holds dominion over their salvation. Ex-church members say the former school principal reigns with an iron fist, demanding perfect obedience from followers.

Many had speculated it would be difficult to seat an impartial jury in Washington County because of intense media coverage and because Jeffs' insular FLDS church is based only about 50 miles east in the twin border towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz.

In questioning with one prospective juror Wednesday, 5th District Judge James Shumate said some polygamists perceive themselves as involved in a civil-rights struggle, similar to blacks who "refused to sit in the back of the bus" in the 1950s.

Polygamy advocates have long contended that the freedom to practice plural marriage as part of their religion is a civil-rights matter. FLDS members believe polygamy brings exaltation in heaven.

And while Jeffs is not charged with being a polygamist, and the marriage between the cousins was monogamous, polygamy likely will emerge in discussions at trial.

But polygamy, the judge said, "cannot be allowed by jurors to be a focus of concern."

Jeffs' attorneys also have used a civil-rights comparison in asking potential jurors if they are bothered that the sect embraces an illegal practice.

In one of the interviews, a potential juror said she doesn't automatically believe Jeffs is likely to break other laws simply because the FLDS church practices polygamy.

"He may be breaking that law, but it doesn't mean he's going to break 10 others," she said.