BOISE – Defense attorneys for convicted murderer Joseph Edward Duncan III are criticizing a hearing a federal judge scheduled in Boise to determine whether the child killer really wants to appeal his death sentence.

The defense lawyers, who are serving only in a standby role, contend the U.S. District Court in Boise no longer has jurisdiction in the case. Instead, they contend in court papers that any issues related to Duncan’s appeal should be hashed out in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Duncan, 45, received sentences in both federal and state courts for a bloody 2005 rampage that started in northern Idaho and stretched into the wilderness of western Montana. A convicted pedophile, Duncan murdered three members of a Coeur d’Alene family, then abducted, sexually abused and tortured two young children before killing one of them at a remote Montana campsite.

During the sentencing phase of his federal case this summer, Duncan fired his attorneys, opting instead to act as his own legal counsel. However, U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge ordered the lawyers to serve as “standby counsel” instead, advising Duncan only when he asked for assistance.

Last December, Duncan pleaded guilty to 10 crimes stemming from the abduction, sexual abuse and torture of 9-year-old Dylan Groene and his 8-year-old sister, Shasta Groene, and the murder of Dylan. In August, a jury sentenced him to three death sentences and three life terms for the crimes.

Last week, Duncan’s legal team filed a notice of appeal. But Duncan responded the next day by sending a letter to the court stating he didn’t want the appeal, and federal prosecutors followed with a motion to have the appeal notice dismissed.

Lodge then called for a hearing on the matter, scheduled for today. But the defense says Lodge’s decision is inappropriate, the Spokesman-Review reported.

“This court has no jurisdiction to make the intended inquiry or to strike the notice of appeal as requested by the government,” the attorneys wrote in court documents filed Friday.

Defense attorneys also have filed a motion to the Idaho Court of Appeals asking the court to appoint experienced attorneys for Duncan. New legal counsel is necessary, they say, because they could be called as witnesses if any part of the appeal process focuses on Duncan’s mental illness or his intentions to appeal.

Duncan, originally from Tacoma, Wash., took the children after barging into their house and using a hammer to kill their 13-year-old brother, Slade, their mother, Brenda Groene, and her fiance, Mark McKenzie.

A state court sentenced Duncan in 2006 to three life terms on kidnapping charges for binding all three victims before they were bludgeoned. Recently, he received three more life sentences in state court for their murders.

Duncan is next expected to be tried for the 1997 abduction and slaying of 10-year-old Anthony Martinez in Riverside, Calif. He faces the death penalty in that case as well.