By Jennifer Dobner
Houston Chronicle
September 7, 2011
http://www.chron.com/news/nation-world/article/Jeffs-delivers-request-for-new-trial-2159163.php
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| FILE - This Aug. 9, 2011 file photo provided by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice shows polygamist leader Warren Jeffs in Huntsville, Texas. A document filed Friday, Sept. 2, 2011 states that jailed polygamous sect leader Jeffs is seeking a new trial after being convicted and sentenced to life in prison on child sexual assault charges in Texas. Jeffs has filed a handwritten motion seeking a new Texas trial on child sexual assault charges, claiming his religious freedoms were violated by the courts. (AP Photo/Texas Department of Criminal Justice, File) Photo: HOPD / AP2011 |
SALT LAKE CITY - Imprisoned polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs has filed a handwritten motion seeking a new Texas trial after being convicted and sentenced to life in prison on child sex assault charges.
Jeffs claims his religious freedoms were violated by the courts.
A jury in August convicted the 55-year-old leader of the Utah-based Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Jeffs represented himself at trial and received a life sentence plus 20-years in prison.
He's currently in a hospital after becoming sick from fasting.
The motion contends that a constitutional violation of rights is grounds for a new trial.
The document was filed Friday in the 51st District Court in Eldorado, Texas.
The Texas Attorney General's Office did not have an immediate comment on Wednesday.
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