Defense attorneys have tried to steer the cases away from Circuit Judge Steven Alm, and on Thursday asked the high court to overrule another judge’s refusal to transfer the cases to a lower court.

But Circuit Judge Dan Kochi refused today to delay the cases while the matter is before the Supreme Court, and assigned them to Alm for trial in February.

Several judges have granted defendants the chance to wipe their records clean in similar cases after paying fines. But Alm sentenced attorney Edward Chun to 10 days in jail after Chun pleaded guilty this month to a misdemeanor campaign violation.

A former federal prosecutor, Alm has said he generally does not accept pleas of no contest because he feels they allow defendants to avoid taking responsibility for their actions.

A defense attorney and deputy prosecutor each accused the other last week of trying to steer the misdemeanor cases involving the nine defendants to a particular court or judge.

Most misdemeanors are heard in District Court, but Kochi ruled that the cases should remain in Circuit Court because they originated there through grand jury indictments.

The defendants include R.M Towill Corp. executives Nancy K. Matsuno, Kenneth T. Sakai, Roy Tsutsui, and retired Towill controller Robert Y. Ko.