In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district where in the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense.During this business in Texas, I have heard, unchallenged, the assertion that the State (in this case Texas) has the "right to a fair trial." No such right exists for the State. The State is not a person, people have rights in the United States. The State? It has none.
I have also heard, as an obscene echo of the "Borking" of Clarence Thomas (and other political figures), that the "seriousness of the charges" somehow outranks the less serious charges in Utah.
In short, I hear a lot of what amounts to "horse feathers" and myth in regard to the rights of the State in the matter of "The State of Texas VS the FLDS."
I was not a big fan of Warren in the past, but even in my most loathing stage of Warren Jeffs dislike, I disliked even more the way in which Utah, the United States and various other states were trying to "get" him. I believed from the outset that Warren should not be convicted, and when he was, I saw it as a travesty of justice.
So taking a page from "the time when I thought Warren was a creep," I recommend that you too put aside personal dislike and deal with what is really at stake for you, in the way Warren is being treated.
Warren, per our US Constitution, has Sixth amendment rights. If his are not adequately defended, if the existence of Sixth amendment rights are said to be compromised by a State right to a "fair trial" or a superiority of "Serious Charges" (charges that Warren must be regarded as "not guilty" of until proven otherwise), you lose. You lose big.
Arguments that Texas must have Warren before charges in Utah are resolved (because Texas' charges are more serious) are nowhere found in the US Constitution. The argument that Texas might need him now, so as to better prosecute him and obtain a "fair trial" for Texas, this argument too is nowhere found in the US Constitution.
Warren's Sixth Amendment rights are YOUR Sixth Amendment rights. You cannot compromise them without compromising your own. You might need them. A loved one of yours might need them. Warren needs them and if you don't let him have them, you won't have them. At least, you won't have a full version of them.
The practical upshot of Warren winning his appeal is quite simple. There will be no new trial in Utah. Warren will "go free," and summarily be arrested by Texas in some way shape or form, and go to Texas. You, who hate Warren, will be deprived only of one thing. The illusion that Warren Jeffs is being sought for rape in Utah, and the illusion that Warren Jeffs was on the "FBI Ten Most Wanted" list for a crime that he was actually guilty of.
You still get Warren in Texas. He is still tried in Texas. He's just tried as Warren Jeffs, who has never done anything wrong (so far as we know) in his life. If he has done something wrong, you'll get your chance to prove it.
In the meantime, by rooting for him briefly, you'll do yourself a big favor.
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