Polygamist Leader Back In West Texas Courtroom

SAN ANGELO (AP) - Polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs is due to appear in court for his fifth pretrial hearing with still no word on whether he has a Texas attorney.

The hearing was set for Wednesday.

Jeffs is scheduled to stand trial for aggravated sexual assault Jan. 24 but says he has had trouble finding in-state representation so close to its start.

The ecclesiastical head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was arraigned last week on charges of bigamy, aggravated sexual assault and assault, with trials on the other charges to come later.

The case stems from the 2008 raid of the Yearning For Zion Ranch, where authorities seized over 400 children. Most were eventually returned to their families, but seven men in the sect were convicted on child sexual abuse charges.

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