Judge refuses to toss jury verdict in Jeffs case

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(Photo courtesy AP)

ST. GEORGE, Utah (AP) -- A Utah judge has rejected a request for a new trial for a polygamous-sect leader convicted of rape as an accomplice.

Court spokeswoman Nancy Volmer says the ruling came Thursday from 5th District Judge James Shumate.

Warren Jeffs' legal team claims his conviction should be thrown out because a juror failed to disclose that she was a rape victim. The juror was replaced during deliberations.

Jeffs, 52, is head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The sect's Texas ranch was raided April 3 and hundreds of children were removed.

In September, Jeffs was convicted in southern Utah for his role in arranging the marriage of a 14-year-old girl to an older cousin. He's now locked up in Arizona awaiting trial there.