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Updated Sept. 25, 2007, 9:41 a.m. ET
Jury in Warren Jeffs trial may be close to a verdict after announcing deadlock on one count


Warren Jeffs is accused of using his religious authority to coerce a 14-year-old girl to marry and have sex with her 19-year-old cousin.

ST. GEORGE, Utah — Jurors in the trial of polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs announced Monday that they could not reach a unanimous decision on the issue of whether the so-called "prophet" influenced a 14-year-old bride to have sex with her husband against her will.

But, after several more hours of deliberations Monday evening, the jury said it was close to a verdict on both counts against Jeffs and would return Tuesday after sleeping on it.

Jeffs, the leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS), is charged with two counts of rape as an accomplice for allegedly using his religious influence to "entice" Elissa Wall into marrying and having sex with her 19-year-old cousin.

After deliberating about five hours Monday, the panel of three women and five men sent a note to the court indicating that they were deadlocked on the second of two counts of rape as an accomplice.

With the agreement of prosecutors and the defense, Fifth District Judge James Shuter sent the jury back to deliberate further on the second count. (VIDEO)

"Keep your minds open," Shuter said, as one male juror rubbed his temples. "See if you can work on count two a little bit longer, considering the effort that's been put in to this point."

The panel continued deliberating into the evening Monday before quitting for the night.

In an emotional turn on the stand in Jeffs' week-long trial, Wall, now 21, testified that she felt that her culture forced her into the unwanted marriage.

The first count refers to the three weeks following the wedding on April 23, 2001, when prosecutors believe the first sexual encounter occurred.

According to prosecutors, the ceremony, including Jeffs' directive that the couple "go forth and multiply and replenish the earth," was a psychological trigger that compelled Wall to submit to the marriage and nonconsensual sex.

The second count refers to the period after Wall, identified in court papers as Jane Doe IV, allegedly told Jeffs that her husband was "touching" her in ways that made her uncomfortable and that she did not "understand." (Although previously unnamed here as an alleged victim of sexual assault, Wall has recently agreed to have her name published in the press.)

Jeffs' response, according to Wall, was that she should "repent" and give herself "mind body and soul" to her husband.

Lawyers for Jeffs argued to the jury last week that the "prophet" did not command the teen to submit to nonconsensual sex. Instead, they claim, he offered her counseling consistent with the patriarchal norms of the FLDS, which broke from mainstream Mormonism in the 1890s over the issue of polygamy.

Jeffs, 51, faces five years to life in prison on each count if he is convicted.



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