Stolen Innocence - Lisa Pulitzer [188]
“How old are you?” Wally Bugden asked her.
“Twenty-six.”
“Have you been married?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“When I was seventeen years old.” What followed was a shocking and painfully inaccurate-sounding account of the process by which Jennie Pipkin had been married. “I took the first step,” she stated plainly. “I desired a placement marriage, and I turned myself in.”
“Please explain.”
“The woman indicates that she wants to get married,” she said, “and my intent was to ask my father to pray for me.”
“Did you have a choice? A part in the decision?”
“Oh, yes, of course,” she declared smugly.
“And when did you ‘turn yourself in’ for marriage?”
“Four days after my high school graduation ceremony.”
“What did your father say about your request to get married?”
“He said he would think about it. He asked me to get him something, and on my way back into the room, I picked up the phone. I really wanted him to make the call to Rulon Jeffs.”
“Did you get married?”
“Well,” she smiled slightly, “yeah. Warren said to Rulon, ‘This is a young lady looking to be placed,’ and Rulon asked, ‘Who does she want to marry?’ The prophet then contacted my father, and my father and I agreed that yes, we both wanted this. The marriage took place the next day.”
At first I was a bit confused listening to Jennie’s account. I had heard of girls turning themselves in to the prophet for marriage. It seemed contradictory that she’d desired a placement marriage and that then the prophet asked, “Who does she want to marry?” It didn’t seem like there was anything placement about that. I was disturbed by Jennie’s recounting of these events, and scribbled furiously on the legal pad that sat on my lap, “Turn yourself in ‘First Step.’ I NEVER TURNED MYSELF IN!! I was never asked if I had anyone in mind…. I never took the ‘First Step’ and asked to be married.”
“During your wedding ceremony, was there any mention of the phrase ‘to be fruitful and multiply’?”
“Well, that text is in the Scripture,” she said. “It meant that I could have children.”
As she spoke, Jennie refilled her water glass, and the object became a constant distraction from the questioning. I wondered if subconsciously she was creating a diversion from the subject at hand.
“Was there any expectation of when you were to have children?” the defense lawyer solicited.
“No, that was a girl’s personal choice.”
“And how many children do you have?”
“Five.”
Her false confirmation that a young girl’s progression into sexual activity was a matter of her own choice was aggravating, and she continued by launching into a statement that force in any way—sexual included—is not utilized or encouraged in the FLDS, let alone in a marriage.
When asked about her understanding of the concept of “obedience” and the duty of women of the FLDS, Jennie responded, “I wouldn’t necessarily describe it as a duty. A man has learned and teaches his wife.”
“Is a wife obligated to agree with her husband?”
“Absolutely not,” Jennie said in a defiant tone. “That would be hypocritical.” Jennie paused to take another sip of her water. “What if he went psycho or something?” Her rhetorical statement didn’t fool me, and I searched the faces of the jury to determine if they felt the same. A few cracked smiles, but Jennie’s jumpy body language seemed to betray her words.
“Would a husband command his wife what to do every day?”
Jennie laughed nervously and then responded, “No. Of course not.”
“If a wife rules over her husband, is that considered a bad thing?”
“No,” she answered firmly. “I do what I want whether we agree or not.”
Her statement shocked me. She was outwardly defying so many teachings of the FLDS in a desperate attempt to prove a point for the defense.
“Can you please explain the husband’s authority and the woman’s right to say no?”
“Whatever she feels is wrong, she doesn’t have to do,” Jennie uttered the words staccato, then took