U.S. District Judge Helen Gillmor continued the case until Sept. 10 and removed federal Deputy Public Defender Pamela Byrne as Shi's lawyer. Gillmor said Byrne "has lost her objectivity."

Byrne, an attorney for 26 years, said nothing like this has ever happened to her. "It's just astonishing to me," she said afterward.

The decision was prompted, in part, by a failed attempt Monday to withdraw the guilty plea, Byrne said. Gillmor denied that request.

Shi pleaded guilty in January after learning that even if a jury acquitted him, he would be deported to Taiwan or China and executed for his involvement, Byrne said. At the time, he was also told by the U.S. attorney's office that a guilty verdict would likely produce a life sentence, she said.

But Shi changed his mind three weeks ago after learning he would not be executed, Byrne said. On Monday, Byrne also wanted Gillmor to appoint an attorney to review the public defender's further involvement in the case that has been made complicated by plea agreements, she said. That request also was denied.

Shi pleaded guilty to the March 2002 killings aboard the Taiwan-owned fishing vessel Full Means No. 2.

The killings occurred on the high seas, southeast of the Big Island.

According to statements made during pretrial hearings, Shi and several other crew members had been recruited from rural areas of China, had given money to middlemen to obtain jobs on the fishing ship and had been at sea for more than a year without touching shore or having their families receive the wages promised.

Shi said the captain became irate and beat him for asking to be put off the ship and allowed to return to China.