Cleveland, May 7 (AP) US prosecutors asked a judge to reject a federal public defender's request to represent a retired Ohio autoworker who is on trial in Germany for alleged Nazi war crimes.
John Demjanjuk, 90, already has a US attorney willing to work for free, so he doesn't need a public defender, prosecutors said in a US District Court filing.
The public defender asked last week to be appointed co-counsel, citing a 1985 FBI report recently uncovered by The Associated Press that challenged the authenticity of a Nazi ID card used as evidence in the trial.
The German court is nearing a verdict on more than 28,000 counts of accessory to murder against Demjanjuk on allegations he served as death camp guard. He denies the charges.
Federal prosecutors said there are no current US proceedings requiring representation for Demjanjuk.