Warren Jeffs was the leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (FLDS Church), a religious organization that practices polygamy. Jeffs went on trial in 2007 after being charged with two felony counts of being an accomplice to rape. The charges stem from his arrangement and conducting of a marriage ceremony of an unwilling 14-year-old girl, Elissa Wall, and her 19-year-old first cousin, Allen Steed.
This video shows the reading of the verdict at the Warren Jeffs trial. Jeffs received a sentence of 10 years to life for two counts of rape as an accomplice, but the conviction was overturned by the Utah Supreme Court, which decided jurors were given improper instructions. According to the Supreme Court, the judge failed to inform the jury that Jeffs could only be found guilty if he intended for Steed to have nonconsensual sex with Wall when he performed the marriage.
Authorities raided Jeffs‘ Yearning for Zion Ranch in Eldorado, Texas, and removed 400 children suspected of being sexually abused. The FLDS has 10,000 members in Utah and Arizona and openly practices polygamy. Warren Jeffs was extradited to Texas, where he will face additional charges of bigamy and sexual assault related to his marriage to a 12-year-old girl.
Learn more about the Warren Jeffs trial and find additional courtroom video clips here at BestLawyerVideos.com.
In April 2006, Sheila LaBarre was charged with first-degree murder in the killings of boyfriends Kenneth Countie and Michael Deloge on her farm in Epping, NH. When LaBarre was tried in 2008, defense attorney Brad Bailey argued that his client was not guilty by reason of insanity.
In his opening statement, Bailey described Sheila LaBarre as a delusional woman. He said she killed both men based solely on fictitious delusions and assured the jury there would be no question of LaBarre‘s insanity by the time the trial was finished.
The defense claimed LaBarre believed she had died and was sent back to earth as an avenging angel. She also believed every man she knew was a pedophile and a victim of incest, and it was her job to kill them.
LaBarre was convicted of the two murders and her plea of insanity was rejected. She was sentenced to life in prison. In January 2010, her attorneys filed an appeal claiming the trial judge should have thrown out evidence that was gathered without a warrant.
To learn more about the Sheila LaBarre trial, watch the video of Brad Bailey‘s opening statement. You can also find more courtroom videos throughout our site.
In 2008, Dale Neumann and his wife Leilani were charged with second degree reckless homicide for neglecting to take their 11-year-old daughter, Kara Neumann, to the doctor when she became ill. Kara died from undiagnosed but treatable diabetes.
The Neumanns saw Kara‘s illness as a test of faith and believed that prayer would heal her. They felt that taking her to the doctor would have been putting the doctor before God. Leilani Neumann had already been convicted of second-degree reckless homicide before her husband‘s trial began.
In his closing arguments, Dale Neumann‘s defense attorney, Jay Kronenwetter, admitted that what Neumann did was wrong. However, he argued that Neumann was not aware that his turning to faith healing instead of a doctor was causing Kara bodily harm. Therefore, he should not be found guilty of second-degree reckless homicide.
Assistant District Attorney Lance Leonhard argued that Dale Neumann watched his daughter suffer and that he "ignored his obligations as a parent." He cited Neumann‘s own observations of Kara‘s illness as proof that he knew she needed medical intervention.
After over 15 hours of deliberation, Dale Neumann was convicted of second-degree reckless homicide and faced up to 25 years in prison. However, in an unconventional move, Judge Vincent Howard sentenced him and his wife to just one month in jail each year for six years and 10 years probation.
To learn more about the reckless homicide charge and trial, watch video of the closing arguments and reading of the verdict. You can also find more courtroom videos throughout our site.
Could prosecuting attorneys in the O.J. Simpson trial have done more to convince jurors that the former NFL star was guilty of murder? Famed prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi thinks so.
Vincent Bugliosi is best known as the prosecutor in the Charles Manson trial. After the trial, Bugliosi co-wrote a book called “Helter Skelter” that details the case. His other books include “Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy” and “Outrage,” which is about the acquittal of O.J. Simpson.
After the reading of the Simpson verdict, Vincent Bugliosi appeared on The Geraldo Rivera Show declaring that Judge Lance Ito and the prosecution mishandled the case.
According to Bugliosi, moving the trial from Santa Monica, Calif., to downtown Los Angeles was a mistake. He claims it led to a jury that was extremely biased against the prosecution. Bugliosi cites the fact that the jury only deliberated 3 hours after a nine-month trial.
Bugliosi also believes that irrelevant issues of racism overshadowed the issue of Simpson‘s guilt. Judge Ito allowed questioning regarding police officer Mark Fuhrman‘s use of racial slurs. Bugliosi claims the relevance to the case was remote and the damage to the prosecution was monumental.
Finally, Bugliosi declares the prosecution could have done a much better job. He lists three key pieces of evidence they didn‘t introduce and points out that prosecutor Marcia Clark spent a very short time trying to debunk the claim that Simpson was set up by the police. Bugliosi believes Clark should have spent more time explaining how difficult and ludicrous a frame-up of that magnitude would have been.
To learn more about Vincent Bugliosi and his view of the trial, watch video of him on The Geraldo Rivera show here at BestLawyerVideos.com. You can also browse other courtroom videos throughout our site.
