Judge sets hearing date in Jeffs' motion for new trial

ST. GEORGE — A judge has set a date to hear arguments over whether polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs should be granted a new trial.

A judge in St. George's 5th District Court set a March 6, 2008 hearing date in Jeffs' motion for a new trial. Jeffs' defense attorneys asked for a new trial, claiming there were "errors and improprieties" in his original trial that affected the Fundamentalist LDS Church leader's constitutional and due process rights.

Jeffs, 52, was convicted of rape as an accomplice for performing a marriage between a 14-year-old girl and her 19-year-old cousin. He is currently serving two 5-to-life sentences in the Utah State Prison.

On the day that they filed the motion, Jeffs' attorneys also released a statement from their client, announcing that he had resigned as president of the corporation of the president of the FLDS Church. It is unclear if Jeffs has resigned as prophet of the polygamous sect. He renounced his role in numerous jailhouse conversations with family and followers, but his attorneys have said he later recanted that.