The issue focused on an incident in which the court decided to order that one of the charges be dropped.

Efforts by law enforcement officials to provide legal advice and technical assistance to criminal defendants have been largely ineffective, civil rights lawyers said. The Justice Department has only 14 attorneys available for federal prosecution.

"It's a political problem," said attorney Michael E. Lawlor, who heads the Criminal Law Reform Project at the Legal Aid Justice Center. "This is not about justice. It's about