4 International Journal of Cultic Studies ■ Vol. 9, 2018
[the elder] and Uncle Warren [Warren
Jeffs], and even my mother for putting
me in this position. I was fourteen years
old with no money and nowhere to go.
When my brothers and sister had tested
the boundaries of rebellion, they had
been shipped off to reform. While that
was hard for them, at least it wasn’t
permanent. Marriage to Allen wasn’t
just permanent, it was infinite—a
punishment that would continue through
this life and into the next.
23F
24
Wall explained that propelling this unhappy
union was FLDS spiritual leader, Warren
Jeffs.
24F
25 According to Wall, she was forced to
have sexual intercourse with Mr. Steed, as
procreation was encouraged by FLDS.
25F
26 After
suffering emotional and physical abuse during
the marriage, Wall described how she took a
bold step and left Steed.
26F
27
Outside of FLDS, an attorney met with Wall and
explained that “what had happened to [Wall]
was criminal.”
27F
28 Wall decided to press criminal
charges.
28F
29 Warren Jeffs was brought to trial by
prosecutors in Utah.
29F
30 In summarizing the case
for the jury during the criminal trial, the
prosecutor told the jury “[t]he evidence has
shown that the only reason that Elissa Wall went
into that bedroom and had sexual intercourse
with Allen Steed is because that man there
[Defendant Warren Jeffs] told her she was
supposed to.”
30F
31 The prosecutor urged the jury
that Jeffs “placed her in a position where she had
24 Id. at 144.
25 Id. at 144. See State v. Jeffs, 243 P.3d 1250, 1253, ¶ 9 (Utah
2010) (when Wall sought counseling from the FLDS leaders about
the impending marriage, Jeffs told her, “you will go forward with
this [marriage.]”).
26 WALL, supra note 20, at 144 Jeffs, 243 P.3d at 1253, ¶ 11 (at
the wedding ceremony, Jeffs pronounced “Now go forth and
multiply and replenish the earth with good priesthood children”).
27 WALL, supra note 20, at 239−40 (telling her husband she was
not returning to him). Wall also filed a civil suit against Jeffs and
the FLDS Church seeking monetary damages. Id. at 350.
28 Id. at 349.
29 Id. at 352. In the criminal case, Jeffs was charged with two
counts of rape as an accomplice, a first-degree felony (for the
forced marriage of a teenage girl with an older man). Id.
30 Jeffs, 243 P.3d at 1250.
31 WALL, supra note 20, at 415.
no choice.”
31F
32 The jury found Jeffs guilty of two
counts of rape as an accomplice.
32F
33
Following the verdict, on the courthouse steps,
Wall gave a speech.
33F
34 In words intended for
FLDS girls and women, whom she would never
be permitted to speak with directly since her
ouster from FLDS, Wall advised, “[y]ou do not
have to surrender your rights or your spiritual
sovereignty. I know how hard it is, but please
stand up and fight for your voice and power of
choice. I will continue to fight for you.”
34F
35 Jeffs
was sentenced to ten years in prison,
35F
36 but he
appealed.
36F
37
Reviewing the case on appeal, the Supreme
Court of Utah reversed the verdict.
37F
38 The
appellate court agreed with Jeffs that the consent
instructions given to the jury were erroneous,
warranting a reversal. In analyzing the state’s
rape statute, the court noted that the defendant
must be the “actor” who commits the act of
nonconsensual sexual intercourse with the
victim.
38F
39 The Court concluded that Jeffs was not
the “actor” as defined in the statute, and that it
was erroneous for the trial court to have
instructed the jury to equate the statutory term
“actor” with the term “defendant.”
39F
40 The
Supreme Court of Utah’s reasoning is indicative
of the U.S. justice system’s rejection of the
theory of undue influence in a cult context.
40F
41
Had the court understood that everyone in the
church is controlled by the church, then Jeffs
may have been found liable because he would
have been considered the actor, and the husband
his agent. Instead, although the trauma described
by what was then a young fourteen-year-old girl
is apparent to most outside observers, the
32 Id.
33 Jeffs, 243 P.3d at 1250.
34 WALL, supra note 20, at 420.
35 Id. at 422.
36 See generally The Assoc. Press, Texas: 10-Year Sentence for
Polygamist Marriages, N.Y. TIMES, Nov. 8, 2011.
37 Id.
38 Jeffs, 243 P.3d at ¶¶ 53−54, 1260−61.
39 Id. at ¶ 33, 1257.
40 Id. Note that having grounded its decision on the erroneous
consent instructions, the other issues raised by Jeffs were
addressed by the court in dicta. Id. at ¶ 39.
41 See id. at 1260−61.
[the elder] and Uncle Warren [Warren
Jeffs], and even my mother for putting
me in this position. I was fourteen years
old with no money and nowhere to go.
When my brothers and sister had tested
the boundaries of rebellion, they had
been shipped off to reform. While that
was hard for them, at least it wasn’t
permanent. Marriage to Allen wasn’t
just permanent, it was infinite—a
punishment that would continue through
this life and into the next.
23F
24
Wall explained that propelling this unhappy
union was FLDS spiritual leader, Warren
Jeffs.
24F
25 According to Wall, she was forced to
have sexual intercourse with Mr. Steed, as
procreation was encouraged by FLDS.
25F
26 After
suffering emotional and physical abuse during
the marriage, Wall described how she took a
bold step and left Steed.
26F
27
Outside of FLDS, an attorney met with Wall and
explained that “what had happened to [Wall]
was criminal.”
27F
28 Wall decided to press criminal
charges.
28F
29 Warren Jeffs was brought to trial by
prosecutors in Utah.
29F
30 In summarizing the case
for the jury during the criminal trial, the
prosecutor told the jury “[t]he evidence has
shown that the only reason that Elissa Wall went
into that bedroom and had sexual intercourse
with Allen Steed is because that man there
[Defendant Warren Jeffs] told her she was
supposed to.”
30F
31 The prosecutor urged the jury
that Jeffs “placed her in a position where she had
24 Id. at 144.
25 Id. at 144. See State v. Jeffs, 243 P.3d 1250, 1253, ¶ 9 (Utah
2010) (when Wall sought counseling from the FLDS leaders about
the impending marriage, Jeffs told her, “you will go forward with
this [marriage.]”).
26 WALL, supra note 20, at 144 Jeffs, 243 P.3d at 1253, ¶ 11 (at
the wedding ceremony, Jeffs pronounced “Now go forth and
multiply and replenish the earth with good priesthood children”).
27 WALL, supra note 20, at 239−40 (telling her husband she was
not returning to him). Wall also filed a civil suit against Jeffs and
the FLDS Church seeking monetary damages. Id. at 350.
28 Id. at 349.
29 Id. at 352. In the criminal case, Jeffs was charged with two
counts of rape as an accomplice, a first-degree felony (for the
forced marriage of a teenage girl with an older man). Id.
30 Jeffs, 243 P.3d at 1250.
31 WALL, supra note 20, at 415.
no choice.”
31F
32 The jury found Jeffs guilty of two
counts of rape as an accomplice.
32F
33
Following the verdict, on the courthouse steps,
Wall gave a speech.
33F
34 In words intended for
FLDS girls and women, whom she would never
be permitted to speak with directly since her
ouster from FLDS, Wall advised, “[y]ou do not
have to surrender your rights or your spiritual
sovereignty. I know how hard it is, but please
stand up and fight for your voice and power of
choice. I will continue to fight for you.”
34F
35 Jeffs
was sentenced to ten years in prison,
35F
36 but he
appealed.
36F
37
Reviewing the case on appeal, the Supreme
Court of Utah reversed the verdict.
37F
38 The
appellate court agreed with Jeffs that the consent
instructions given to the jury were erroneous,
warranting a reversal. In analyzing the state’s
rape statute, the court noted that the defendant
must be the “actor” who commits the act of
nonconsensual sexual intercourse with the
victim.
38F
39 The Court concluded that Jeffs was not
the “actor” as defined in the statute, and that it
was erroneous for the trial court to have
instructed the jury to equate the statutory term
“actor” with the term “defendant.”
39F
40 The
Supreme Court of Utah’s reasoning is indicative
of the U.S. justice system’s rejection of the
theory of undue influence in a cult context.
40F
41
Had the court understood that everyone in the
church is controlled by the church, then Jeffs
may have been found liable because he would
have been considered the actor, and the husband
his agent. Instead, although the trauma described
by what was then a young fourteen-year-old girl
is apparent to most outside observers, the
32 Id.
33 Jeffs, 243 P.3d at 1250.
34 WALL, supra note 20, at 420.
35 Id. at 422.
36 See generally The Assoc. Press, Texas: 10-Year Sentence for
Polygamist Marriages, N.Y. TIMES, Nov. 8, 2011.
37 Id.
38 Jeffs, 243 P.3d at ¶¶ 53−54, 1260−61.
39 Id. at ¶ 33, 1257.
40 Id. Note that having grounded its decision on the erroneous
consent instructions, the other issues raised by Jeffs were
addressed by the court in dicta. Id. at ¶ 39.
41 See id. at 1260−61.
