At least not right now. Not according to the Utah Supreme Court, which today overturned Warren Jeffs’ rape conviction. From the Christian Science Monitor:
Mr. Jeffs, known as the “prophet” of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (FLDS), was convicted in September 2007 of two counts of rape and has been in prison since.
The Utah justices held that instructions given to the jurors were erroneous and ordered a new trial. Jeffs was originally found guilty of being an accomplice to rape for using his religious influence to coerce a minor into marrying her 19-year-old cousin.
The justices said that the jury’s deliberation should have been focused on whether Jeffs’ intent in performing the “spiritual marriage” was for rape to occur, not on whether the action itself led to nonconsensual sex.
“In particular, the court held that Mr. Jeffs had to have the intent to aid the rape that was committed,” says Paul Cassell, professor of criminal law at S.J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah. “That will be the issue on which the new trial will focus.”
Ah, memories of criminal law. I wonder if Utah applies common law or the Model Penal Code.
