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A polygamous sect man convicted of sexual assault isn't giving up his fight against the search warrant that led to a massive raid on the sect's remote Texas ranch.
Attorneys for Michael Emack, 60, filed a motion for rehearing in the Texas Third Court of Appeals this week, according to court records.
Last year, Emack pleaded no contest to sexually assaulting an underage girl he took as a plural wife. But he appealed his conviction, arguing not that he was innocent, but that a 2008 raid on the Yearning for Zion Ranch in Eldorado was illegal because it was sparked by a hoax phone call from a Colorado woman pretending to be an abused 16-year-old wife.
In that raid, authorities collected evidence against him and 11 other members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, including sect leader Warren Jeffs.
Jeffs was convicted on sexual assault of a child charges and sentenced to life in prison in August.
Attorneys for the state of Texas argued the raid was legal because authorities acted in good faith, not knowing the call was fake. In August, the appeals court sided with the state and denied Emack's appeal.
His case is the first to come before the appeals court, and the court's decision will likely influence the cases of the other 11 men, including Jeffs.
Since his appeal was denied in August, Emack has hired new attorneys — Clinton Broden and Franklyn Mickelsen out of Dallas.