Prosecutors Biased, Morgan Lawyer Says : Courts: Defense attorney says he will ask a judge to appoint the state attorney general’s office to take over for the county in the murder case against paroled sex offender.

Orange County prosecutors should be removed from the case of a paroled sexual offender who faces a possible death sentence if convicted of sexually assaulting and murdering a young Huntington Beach woman, a defense attorney said Friday.

Deputy Public Defender Steve J. Biskar said he fears local prosecutors--who have come under fire for their handling of Edward Patrick Morgan Jr.’s prior sexual offenses--may try to compensate by seeking the death penalty against his client.

Biskar said he will ask a judge to appoint the state attorney general’s office to step in and take over the prosecution of Morgan, who has pleaded not guilty in the May 20 slaying of Leanora Annette Wong, 23.

Prosecutor Lewis R. Rosenblum declined to comment on the defense’s request.

Wong was sexually assaulted before her bloodied body was abandoned in an Orange parking lot across the street from the Australian Beach Restaurant & Nightclub, where she was seen talking to Morgan. Key evidence in the case will involve footage captured by parking lot surveillance cameras.

Morgan was arrested four times in the past decade on charges that he sexually assaulted young Orange County women. He was convicted of one rape, and allowed to plead guilty to lesser charges in two other cases. In the fourth case, Morgan was sent back to prison for one year on a parole violation when authorities declined to prosecute him for rape.

Morgan was on parole in May when the attack on Wong occurred.

Prosecutors, however, have defended their actions. They say the victims in three of the cases had credibility problems, making it unlikely that the rape charges could be successfully prosecuted before a jury.

Biskar said he just wants his client to have a fair chance.

“We would like to have someone who doesn’t have any baggage to make that decision” on whether to seek death, Biskar said.

After the killing, Morgan went to Northern California and vowed he would not give up without a fight. “Shoot me! Shoot me!” he yelled before he was taken into custody.

On Friday, Orange County Superior Court Judge David O. Carter ordered Morgan’s shackles removed when he appears before the court in the future. After Rosenblum noted Morgan’s earlier vow, the judge warned Morgan not to pull any fast moves.

“I hope you’re not so foolish, because the deputies will just shoot you,” the judge said with a slight smile, as Morgan grinned in response and nodded his promise to behave.