ROBERT LEE, Texas -- An attorney for a polygamist ex-bishop told jurors that the act of "sealing" as practiced by a Warren Jeffs-led polygamous group differs from a marriage ceremony as defined by Texas law.
The San Angelo Standard-Times (http://bit.ly/uhYbn9) reports Rae Leifeste of San Angelo, in her opening statement Tuesday, said she'll make the distinction as trial proceeds.
Fredrick Merril Jessop is charged with a felony count of performing an illegal 2006 wedding ceremony between Jeffs and an underage girl. The ceremony occurred at the Yearning For Zion Ranch near Eldorado, owned by the Jeffs-led Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
The San Angelo Standard-Times Prosecutor Angel Goodwin said she the prosecution will prove that on July 27, 2006, Jessop "married a freckled, 12-year-old girl to a 50-year-old man."
Comments