(AP) — A Scotts Bluff County judge has denied a request by the public defender’s office to withdraw as the legal representative of a former Gering man charged in the death of a 2-year-old girl.

District Court Judge Leo Dobrovolny denied the request made after 26-year-old Dustin Chauncey wrote a letter to the court, questioning whether the public defender’s office could adequately represent him because of its large caseload. He sought representation by the Nebraska Commission on Public Advocacy.

The judge ruled Thursday indigent defendants can’t change counsel at their own choose.

Chauncey has pleaded not guilty to intentional child abuse resulting in the death of Juliette Geurts, of Gering, in July 2008. He was the boyfriend of the girl’s mother.