Polygamist sect leader due back in Texas court
 
Associated Press
Yahoo! News
AP Photo/Laura Rauch, File
Warren Jeffs

In this Aug. 31, 2006 file photo, polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs appears in a courtroom in Las Vegas. On Wednesday, Dec. 29, 2010 Jeff is scheduled to appear in court in Texas for a final pretrial hearing on an aggravated sexual assault charge. The case stems from the 2008 raid of the Yearning For Zion Ranch in Eldorado, Texas where authorities seized over 400 children.

SAN ANGELO, Texas – Polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs is due in court for his final pretrial hearing with still no word on whether he has a Texas attorney.

A pretrial hearing in the aggravated sexual assault case against Jeffs is set for Wednesday morning.

The 55-year-old is scheduled to stand trial Jan. 24 but says he's had trouble finding in-state representation.

The ecclesiastical head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints also is charged with felony bigamy and assault, with trials on those charges to come later.

The case stems from the 2008 raid of the Yearning For Zion Ranch in Eldorado, where authorities seized over 400 children. Most were eventually returned to their families, but seven men in the sect have been convicted on child sexual abuse charges.
 
news.yahoo.com
Originally published December 29, 2010
 
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