Utah authorities wanted to be the first to prosecute polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs, claiming to have the strongest case against him.
Now, they have to prove it.
Prosecutor Brock Belnap will lay out his evidence today against Jeffs, charged with two counts of rape as an accomplice, during a preliminary hearing. The charges are first- degree felonies punishable by life in prison.
The proceedings mark a five- year effort by Utah to investigate alleged crimes in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, particularly underage marriages sanctioned by Jeffs.
Arizona, which also has sex- crime charges pending against Jeffs involving arrranged marriages, will pursue its case once Utah’s wraps up.
Defense attorney Wally Bugden says his client is a victim of religious persecution and that the case against Jeffs amounts to the state “condemning a culturally different religion.”
