Arizona judge sets hearing in Jeffs case

KINGMAN, Ariz. — A judge here has scheduled a hearing next month on motions in the criminal case against Fundamentalist LDS Church leader Warren Jeffs.

Mohave County Superior Court Judge Steven Conn has set an Aug. 22 hearing on a motion to remand the criminal charges back to the grand jury that indicted him. He will also schedule future hearings at that time.

Jeffs' defense team is seeking to have the grand jury reconsider the case, arguing that the grand jury was not impartial and that prosecutors presented misleading information to jury members.

Jeffs, 52, is charged with sexual misconduct as an accomplice, accused of performing child bride marriages.

Incest as an accomplice charges already have been dismissed by the judge, and one case was tossed after one of the alleged victims said she would not testify.

Jeffs is serving a pair of 5-to-life sentences after he was convicted in Utah of rape as an accomplice for performing a marriage between a 14-year-old girl and her 19-year-old cousin. The FLDS leader is also facing a grand jury indictment in Texas, accusing him of sexually assaulting an underage girl.

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