Lawyers for the state Tuesday urged an appellate court to overturn a federal judge’s order that requires county sheriffs to release people held in jail on criminal allegations if they don’t have a lawyer appointed within seven days of their first court appearances.
U.S. District Judge Michael J. McShane’s order “intrudes into hundreds of ongoing state criminal proceedings,” imposes an “arbitrary seven-day deadline” that has no basis in the law and threatens the safety of crime victims and the public, the state lawyers argued.