They say beggars can't be choosers, but try telling that to two men who appeared in Lawrence County Common Pleas Court Wednesday.

Robert Crum, 26, of Huntington, W.Va., and LeShawn Nickelson, 33, of 403 Fourth St. East, South Point, each asked judges to assign new court-appointed attorneys to represent them in their respective criminal cases.

Court-appointed attorneys are appointed when defendants can not pay for their own legal counsel. In those cases, the bill for the lawyer is paid by Lawrence County taxpayers.

Nickelson, who is facing a 10-count indictment on various drug charges, asked Lawrence County Common Pleas Judge Frank McCown to replace D.L. McWhorter as his taxpayer-provided attorney.

In a rambling statement, Nickelson said he was unhappy that investigators promised him a good deal if he cooperated with them, he wanted to undergo drug rehabilitation and no one would reduce his bail. McCown told Nickelson none of this had anything to do with McWhorter's competency.

"Sitting beside you is an awfully good defense lawyer," McCown told Nickelson. "He can't make miracles happen. He doesn't have a key to open the jail door.

"Š These are some serious charges against you. If you are convicted you are looking at an awful lot of years (in prison). I didn't reduce or raise your bail, you just didn't meet it and so you are still in jail."

McWhorter said he and Nickelson

have differing viewpoints on how his case should proceed and that was the real crux of the problem.

"He's got one opinion and I've got another," McWhorter said.

McCown granted Nickelson's request but warned him not to request a change in court-appointed counsel again.

Meanwhile, Crum was indicted in February on one count of second-degree felony burglary and 18 counts of fifth-degree felony breaking and entering in connection with the break-ins at 18 area churches and one residence.

At his arraignment Wednesday, he told Lawrence County Common Pleas Judge Richard Walton he wanted to replace Derick Fisher because the law firm he is employed with, McCown and Associates, refused to sign a contract with him.

Crum also told Walton he did not accept Ohio state law regarding the charges against him.

The only law he recognized was the Uniform Commercial Code.

Walton entered a plea of not guilty on Crum's behalf and appointed David Reid Dillon as his new legal counsel.