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A West Texas judge on Wednesday refused to push back the scheduled start date for the bigamy and sexual assault trial of polygamous sect leader Warren S. Jeffs until he finds an attorney.

Fifty-first District Judge Barbara Walther said the Jan. 24 start date is realistic, at least for now.

"This is not exactly a surprise Mr. Jeffs is here," she said. Proceedings to extradite Jeffs from Utah began in July. "You should understand these dates are not tentative dates and you should be prepared to (go to) trial."

Jeffs, 55, appeared in a Tom Green County courtroom in San Angelo, Texas, Wednesday. His next pretrial hearing is set for Dec. 15.

Jeffs was represented by Richard Wright, a Las Vegas attorney who represent Jeffs for four years in Utah and Arizona but said he cannot represent him in Texas. Wright said he's helping Jeffs find an in-state attorney, but many have declined because they would have only about six weeks to prepare. Wright said he has tried to reassure them that the trial would be pushed back by at least two weeks.

State prosecutors said they wouldn't object to delaying the start of the trial, but they would have to discuss such motions with a lawyer handling the case for him.

Wright, a folksy former federal prosecutor, did not comment beyond what was said in court. Willie Jessop, a spokesman for Jeffs' church, did not answer calls for comment.

Jeffs is charged with aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault and bigamy. Prosecutors plan to try each of the three charges against Jeffs separately. The charges relate to an alleged spiritual marriage between Jeffs and a 12-year-old girl, and a baby that Jeffs allegedly fathered with another underage girl.

Prosecutors filed the charges two years ago, after authorities raided the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints' Yearning for Zion Ranch in Eldorado, Texas. At that time, Jeffs was still imprisoned in Utah on accomplice to rape charges related to his presiding over a marriage between a 14-year-old girl and her 19-year-old cousin.

The Utah Supreme Court overturned his conviction on those charges earlier this year. Texas Gov. Rick Perry signed extradition documents to bring Jeffs to Texas two days later, and Utah Gov. Gary Herbert approved the transfer.

Jeffs' attorneys fought his extradition to Texas, arguing it would violate his right to a speedy re-trial on the Utah charges. Utah prosecutors have not decided whether to re-try him.

After the Utah Supreme Court declined to block the extradition, Jeffs was quietly flown to Texas last week.

If convicted on the single most serious of the Texas charges, Jeffs faces up to 99 years in prison. Other FLDS men who have been found guilty of sexual assault after the raid on the YFZ Ranch have been required to serve half their prison sentences before being eligible for parole.

Jeffs is the ecclesiastical leader of the FLDS. The sect has about 10,000 members, mostly in Utah, Arizona, Texas and British Columbia, Canada.

Wright has been involved in some of the biggest legal cases in recent Nevada history, including winning acquittal for the champion boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. after he was charged with hitting his former girlfriend during a 2003 argument.

Tribune reporter Lindsay Whitehurst, The San Angelo Standard-Times and Associated Press contributed to this story.