CHEYENNE - The Wyoming Supreme Court's delay in deciding two death-penalty cases signals a breakdown in the appellate process, the State Public Defender's Office asserts in a brief filed with the court .

In a motion filed by Senior Assistant Public Defender Marion Yoder, the brief asks the court to promptly issue a decision in the appeals of James Martin Harlow, also known as Thorvaldr Sigwolf, and Martin J. Olsen.

Harlow was convicted of first-degree murder and felony murder in the June 26, 1997, fatal stabbing death of Cpl. Wayne Martinez during an aborted prison escape along with two other inmates. At the time, Harlow was serving a life sentence for rape and attempted murder.

Olsen was sentenced to death for the fatal shooting of three people during the robbery of a Worland bar. The victims were Arthur Taylor, Emma Lou McCoid and Kyle Eric Baumstarck.

Olsen's appeal has been pending before the Supreme Court since Oct. 13, 1997.

Harlow's appeal has been pending since Dec. 21, 1998.

Olsen's case was argued before Justices Michael Golden, Larry Lehman, former Justice Richard V. Thomas and retired Justices Richard Macy and William Taylor, the public defender's motion said.

Harlow's case was argued before Golden, Lehman, Thomas, Macy and 7th District Court Judge Thomas Sullins of Casper.

The public defender's motion said state law requires the Supreme Court to give priority to death-sentence cases.

"A delay in finally adjudicating a direct criminal appeal beyond two years is presumptively excessive," the motion said, quoting from a 1994 U.S. Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals case.

"Generally, the longer in the appellate process extends beyond two years, the less showing a petitioner must make to provide the state's appellate process is ineffective," Yoder wrote.

The delay, the motion continued, has resulted in the denial of the defendants' rights to due process, including the right to a speedy trial, as well as denial of their rights to equal protection under the laws and the constitutions of Wyoming and the U.S.

Moreover, the delay places an unnecessary burden on the defendants and the limited resources of the Public Defender's Office, and on the federal courts, which rightly expect the state to first decide all constitutional claims.

The motion noted that since the Olsen case was submitted, the Supreme Court decided 925 cases between 1999 and 2003, but apparently did not assign the Olsen case priority.

If the court should reverse the convictions and remand the cases for retrial, the defendants will be faced with the possibility of witnesses and evidence that has disappeared over time.

The motion also noted that among Olsen's 25 claims on appeal is the delay in adjudicating his appeal. He also claims jury misconduct and ineffective assistance of appellate counsel.

Current Supreme Court Chief Justice William U. Hill said he couldn't comment on the cases. Hill recused himself from the Harlow case because he was Wyoming attorney general at the time and worked with the prosecution team.

Lehman and Golden could not be to be reached for comment.