Judge Grants New Lawyers in North Dakota Death Penalty Case

A judge has approved a new legal team for the death penalty appeal by a man who killed a North Dakota student in 2003. 

Lawyers for Alfonso Rodriguez Jr. say the change is needed because of staffing and personnel changes in the federal system and the Minnesota federal public defender’s office. 

Rodriguez, of Crookston, Minnesota, sits on death row for the kidnapping and killing of Dru Sjodin, of Pequot Lakes, Minnesota.  Rodriguez filed what is considered his final appeal more than five years ago. 

U.S. District Judge Ralph Erickson says the Minnesota public defender’s office doesn’t have enough money to pay the attorneys. The case will now be handled by the Federal Community Defender’s Office in Pennsylvania. 

Federal prosecutors argued against the change, calling it a “disguised delay tactic.”