Salt Lake City, USA - A polygamous sect leader convicted of being an accomplice to rape will get a chance to argue that he deserves a new trial.
Fifth District Judge James Shumate on Thursday set a March 6 hearing for Warren Jeffs, leader of the southern Utah-based Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
Court papers filed Dec. 5 by Jeffs' attorneys asked for a second chance, saying unspecified ‘‘errors and improprieties'' occurred during the four-day trial in September in St. George.
Defense attorneys have said that Jeffs' prosecution was religious persecution motivated by state officials who disapprove of polygamy.
A jury found Jeffs, 52, guilty of two counts of rape by accomplice for his role in the 2001 arranged marriage of 14-year-old follower, Elissa Wall, to her 19-year-old cousin.
Wall, now 21, said Jeffs used his church authority to coerce her into the marriage .
He also faces trials in Mohave County on similar sexual misconduct charges stemming from church-arranged marriages.