Warren Jeffs, Polygamous Leader, Fights Texas Extradition To Face Bigamy, Assault Charges

SALT LAKE CITY (CBS/AP) Polygamous leader Warren Jeffs has refused to sign a waiver that would have allowed his extradition to Texas, where he faces bigamy, aggravated sexual assault and assault charges over alleged incidents with underage girls at a church ranch.

Jeffs attended a short hearing in a West Jordan courtroom on Tuesday where he refused a waiver of extradition from Utah. It was his second refusal; Jeffs also refused in June, when Texas authorities brought a similar warrant to the Utah State Prison, where he is incarcerated.

Both the Utah and Texas governors have signed extradition warrants, setting up a legal mechanism for Jeffs' transfer.

Jeffs, 54, is the ecclesiastical head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The southern Utah-based church practices polygamy in arranged marriages that have involved underage girls.

Jeffs' defense attorney, Walter Bugden, said his client was not trying to avoid facing the Texas charges, but wants a speedy trial in Utah first.

In Utah's Washington County, Jeffs is facing a possible retrial on two counts of rape as an accomplice. The Utah Supreme Court recently overturned his 2007 conviction, ruling that faulty jury instructions denied Jeffs a fair trial and state attorneys misapplied accomplice liability law in the case.

"The reality of the situation is that if he is sent to Texas now, he won't come back to Utah to face a possible retrial on the Utah charges for several years," Bugden said after the hearing. "Utah filed first."

Bugden will make those arguments before a judge at a Nov. 15 hearing.

Washington County Attorney Brock Belnap has said his office has not decided whether it will retry the case.