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Warren Jeffs Fights Extradition To Texas

By Howard M. Friedman

Attorneys for Warren Jeffs, former leader of the polygamous FLDS Church, are seeking to quash an extradition warrant signed by Utah Governor Gary Herbert that would turn Jeffs over to Texas state authorities for trial on sexual assault and bigamy charges there. The move comes after the Utah Supreme Court overturned Jeffs' Utah conviction on charges of being an accomplice to rape because of improper jury instructions. (See prior posting). According to CNN, Jeffs argues that the Interstate Agreement on Detainers does not apply because Jeffs is not a person who has "entered upon a term of imprisonment" since his conviction was reversed.  Apparently Utah is relying upon the Uniform Criminal Extradition Act to authorize Jeffs transfer to Texas.  Jeffs' attorneys argue that Utah and Texas have "shrouded their ungodly alliance in the semantics of extradition law."

Full post as published by Religion Clause on October 19, 2010 (boomark / email).