The Case Against the Prophet

If you could have planned for years to create a case trying to convict the leader of the FLDS church, you could not have had a case better than the one they had. The things that happened before the marriage, the ages of the “victims”, the timing of when Warren Jeffs became the leader, the split within the FLDS, who left the church and became witnesses in the case, besides what happened to him while in custody, could not have been scripted more precisely to make him look guilty.

He was guilty.

You may think I believe that he was guilty of the charges against him. I don’t. He wasn’t. In fact his conviction should put every priest or justice of the peace who performs a marriage in fear that they could be convicted of rape. And any family councilor who suggests a wife to stay with her husband is in danger of being convicted of rape as an accomplice.

Warren Jeffs is, was, and always will be guilty of believing his father was the prophet of God. And I am guilty of that too. If there was a death penalty for being guilty of that, please come and string me up.

Elissa Wall claims she was the victim of unwanted advances from her half cousin Allen Steed, the victim (as she refers to him) who she married. Warren performed the wedding even though he was not the one who arranged it. That fact, and the fact that he taught on tape that married people should have children if possible, was all the evidence they needed to convict him on the first count of “Intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly solicited, requested, or commanded her to have sexual intercourse without her consent”. Five years to life.

The second count is much less legitimate than the first. Sometime between May 2001 and September of 2003 (28 months), she came and asked to be divorced from Allen, telling Warren that she didn’t like Allen touching her. According to her (in “plig” language) this meant “He’s going to rape me!” Add another five years to life for telling her that if he wasn’t mistreating her she should stay true to her vows.

I am not positive that Elissa knew that she did not have to marry Allen, or anyone else for that matter, but even if she did not know she had a choice does not mean that she did not have that choice. If she had gone to the classes they played the audio of during the trial she would have known. If she would have read the book they quoted during the trial she would have known. Every time the Prophet was approached for marriage and he gave a name it was by way of suggestion, not commandment. His only desire was to bless; to help, to make you smile. He often said he was in the “happiness business”. If you weren’t happy about it, of course he wouldn’t perform the wedding. I know several that did that very thing.

If Elissa didn’t agree at first, Warren may have thought she was wrong, and tried to convince her that it was best. He had no doubt that his father was right, but he would have given her the final say. I wasn’t there, but that sounds more like the Warren Jeffs I know. Her own mother and sister Rebecca, I am sure, put more pressure on her than he did. I knew them both and I know how excited women get when a marriage is about to happen.

I don’t deny some of what Elissa went through before the wedding. Her second thoughts when she found out it was that “mean” boy who squirt her with cow’s milk back on grandpa’s farm, or that she was crying (happy? excited? nervous?) when she was being fitted with her wedding dress etc. But I still don’t believe she thought she was too young or sincerely objected to being married to Allen, until much later. I have absolutely no doubt that Uncle Warren did not know she objected. Her two bitter sisters said she didn’t want to marry, but her own mother was a defense witness. Only ten of the forty defense witnesses were put on the stand. The jury completely ignored them because they were all “brainwashed” FLDS. Part of "them", not "us"

The case would have gone absolutely nowhere except for her age at the time of the "crime". But that fact was not supposed to be even a consideration in a rape charge, the judge’s instructions plainly stated to the jury that the law was: “With respect to the crime of rape, a 14 year old is capable of consenting to an act of sexual intercourse” The jury ignored that and centered on the non-marriage law: “A lawful marriage cannot occur between first cousins or when on of the parties is younger than age fifteen” Yes, according to the law they could not have been married, but that is not proof of what they convicted him of. There is no life sentence for performing a marriage that cannot be licensed by the state.

The jury was hung and very heated until one of the jurors admitted to lying on the questionnaire. She was replaced, and the alternate ended the deadlock.

Allen Steed is a really nice guy, even if he was a little backward and had a hard time expressing himself. I enjoyed being around him because he was always smiling and asking if he could help. I know that Elissa has no desire to see him go to prison, unless keeping him out might help the Prophet Warren Jeffs get out.