Polygamist sect leader again wants judge removed

Polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs is again asking for removal of the judge overseeing his trial.

The ecclesiastical head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is due in court Monday in San Angelo.

He sought to remove state District Judge Barbara Walther last month, but failed. Jeffs then switched attorneys, and new counsel Emily Detoto will try again.

Jeffs is to go on trial July 25 on a charge of aggravated sexual assault of a child from a 2008 raid on a remote church retreat for which Walther signed the search warrant. Detoto argued that could bias her.

Detoto also argues that Walther may not be impartial since authorities warned her in the past that Jeffs supporters, so-called "church enforcers," may try to harm her.