Accused polygamist Warren Jeffs repeatedly interrupted his Texas child\u00a0abuse trial Friday, objecting that his rights were being violated and warning that God would humble prosecutors with “sickness and death.”<\/p>\n
Jeffs, 55,\u00a0is charged with child sexual assault and aggravated child sexual assault. The prosecution says he violated Texas law\u00a0with marriages to 12- and 14-year-old girls at\u00a0his\u00a0sect’s rural\u00a0Zion Ranch.<\/p>\n
Friday afternoon he delivered what he\u00a0said was\u00a0a statement from God to the court:<\/p>\n
“I will wrest your power. I shall judge you. I shall let all people\u2019s know your unjust ways. I will send a scourge upon the counties of prosecutorial zeal that to be humbled by sickness and death.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The\u00a0declaration came after a state\u00a0investigator began to testify about a 12-year-old girl with whom Jeffs\u2019 allegedly had sex. Jeffs interrupted the testimony\u00a0and made\u00a0objections, prompting District Judge Barbara Walther to send out the jury and warn him against\u00a0such outbursts.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, Jeffs fired his legal team, opting to represent himself — then asked for more time to prepare a “pure” defense. State District\u00a0Judge\u00a0Barbara Walther strongly advised him to\u00a0keep\u00a0his team of lawyers, warning that his odds of defending himself successfully were slim.<\/p>\n
\u201cMr. Jeffs, you may have assembled the most impressive legal team this court has ever seen, and perhaps in the state of Texas,\u201d she, adding that in her 30 years practicing law, she had never seen anyone successfully represent themselves.<\/p>\n
Jeffs refused in\u00a0a rambling 30-minute speech delivered\u00a0like a sermon, then\u00a0told the judge he\u00a0needed time to prepare his own \u201cpure defense,\u201d saying he wanted the \u201ctruth to be presented in a way that entails the knowledge thereof\u201d and that he needed\u00a0several days to study legal procedures.<\/p>\n
Walther\u00a0responded that\u00a0the court \u201cwill not recess proceedings for you to go to law school.\u201d<\/p>\n
Friday\u00a0as the prosecution offered evidence,\u00a0Jeffs made no objections. Judge Walther was concerned enough to call a recess so Jeffs could be advised\u00a0on \u201cthe perils of remaining silent.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then she\u00a0asked if he was ready to proceed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
As testimony continued, he became agitated, shouting, “This is not a fly-by-night religious organization,” referring to the breakaway Mormon sect he leads.<\/p>\n
Jeffs is the spiritual leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The sect is accused of promoting marriages between older men and under-age girls.<\/p>\n
As Texas prosecutors began to lay out DNA evidence that he fathered a child with a 15-year-old and said an audiotape would be presented of\u00a0Jeff’s actual\u00a0assault of a 12-year-old,\u00a0Jeffs interrupted, shouting, “You are stomping on sacred ground. You are treading on a people of peace. This religion deserves protection. The government of the United States has no right to infringe on the right of a peaceful people. The mockery must cease. This religious persecution must cease.”<\/p>\n
According to reports, Jeffs has told followers his trial\u00a0would never convene\u00a0and that\u00a0God will deliver him his accusers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The sect\u00a0teaches that in order to go to heaven, men must have at least three wives. \u00a0“This religious requirement is a pure, natural way of life.”<\/p>\n
Friday he told the court that polygamy is a religious principle first preached by Latter-Day Saints\u00a0Church founder Joseph Smith. Jeffs said he was a fifth-generation polygamist, and that he was following “God\u2019s law.”<\/p>\n
The Latter-Day Saints church outlawed polygamy 150 years ago and has disavowed Jeffs’ group.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Accused polygamist Warren Jeffs repeatedly interrupted his Texas child\u00a0abuse trial Friday, objecting that his rights were being violated and warning that God would humble prosecutors with “sickness and death.” Jeffs, 55,\u00a0is charged with child sexual assault and aggravated child sexual assault. The prosecution says he violated Texas law\u00a0with marriages to 12- and 14-year-old girls at\u00a0his\u00a0sect’s…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":270,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[138,8,1258],"tags":[2218,2260,2269],"class_list":["post-5115","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mormon","category-news","category-warren-jeffs","tag-mormon","tag-polygamy","tag-warren-jeffs"],"yoast_head":"\n
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