By KRWG News
New Mexico –
SANTA FE, N.M. (KRWG) The state Supreme Court plans to review the case of a religious group's leader whose sexual misconduct convictions were tossed out.
Attorney General Gary King's office had asked the justices to consider a June decision by the state Court of Appeals in the case of Wayne Bent.
The appeals court ruled a grand jury's term had expired months before it returned an indictment against Bent for misconduct with teenage female followers. The court has denied a request to release the 70-year-old Bent from prison pending an appeal by prosecutors.
Bent was sentenced in 2008 to 10 years in prison for criminal sexual contact with a minor and two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
The Supreme Court agreed on Sept. 16 to review Bent's case.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. KRWG