opening statement warren jeffs talked about the history of the mormon church at times comparing it to the civil rights movement. he warned the jury not to prosecute him simply because his religion is unpopular. what he did not talk about was the prosecution s case. he never mentioned the charges about him raping two girls. experts say this is a prime example of why defending yourself is risky. listen. the good news is he can basically take some liberties and just try to explain to the jury in his own words why he feels that he is not guilty of the offense and just kind of pour out his heart and make his argument as best as he can. it s generally considered a bad move. jeffs first witness by the way is a member of the fundamentalist mormon church who keeps reading from the book of mormon. and now the judge has given jeffs a deadline to show how that is relevant at all to this case. shepard: this idea of listening to audio of a grown man raping a 12-year-old child. as a juror that
fundamentalist mormon church but she says it was a struggle. listen. many team don t understand that the people within these closed communities can t just walk out of them. it takes a choice. you are going against your entire life. everything you have ever known. and because of the religious rhetoric we have had, we often believe that we re dammed to hell by making the choice to leave that community. we should also point out, shep, the fundamentalists mormons have no connection whatsoever to the mormon church. shepard: jeffs, the allegation is, is still controlling his followers from jail? yeah. the sheriff in the texas jail where he is staying says that over the past five months that warren jeffs has spent no less than $23,000 on phone cards. and. believe that he is actually calling his followers directing them and getting them orders over the phone. alyssa wall says he has a very firm grip on his followers. listen. they will always continue to
he was convicted but the conviction was overturned. and she was a member of the fundamentalist mormon church which of court has nothing to do with the mormon church and says and i quote, many people don t understand the people in these closed communities can t just walk out of them, it takes a choice about warren, she goes on to tell good morning america he wasp was much like a prince but the mouthpiece of god because god what in our prophet and can ted a lot respect and we all feared him very much. of course he now is facing life in prison all over again. shepard: many believe he is still controlling his followers from jill, is that right? trace: yes, they believe he has a firm grip on his followers from jill and that he will, until the day he dies. the texas sheriff says he has actually fed $23,000 on phone
cousin, and she brought charges, he was convicted but the conviction was overturned. and she was a member of the fundamentalist mormon church which of court has nothing to do with the mormon church and says and i quote, many people don t understand the people in these closed communities can t just walk out of them, it takes a choice about warren, she goes on to tell good morning america he wasp was much like a prince but the mouthpiece of god because god what in our prophet and can ted a lot respect and we all feared him very much. of course he now is facing life in prison all over again. shepard: many believe he is still controlling his followers from jill, is that right? trace: yes, they believe he has a firm grip on his followers from jill and that he will, until the day he dies. the texas sheriff says he has
to break free of the fundamentalist mormon church but she says it was a struggle. listen. many team don t understand that the people within these closed communities can t just walk out of them. it takes a choice. you are going against your entire life. everything you have ever known. and because of the religious rhetoric we have had, we often believe that we re dammed to hell by making the choice to leave that community. we should also point out, shep, the fundamentalists mormons have no connection whatsoever to the mormon church. shepard: jeffs, the allegation is, is still controlling his followers from jail? yeah. the sheriff in the texas jail where he is staying says that over the past five months that warren jeffs has spent no less than $23,000 on phone cards. and. believe that he is actually calling his followers directing them and getting them orders over the phone. alyssa wall says he has a very firm grip on his followers. listen.