A man whose federal assault conviction was partially reversed on appeal will not be released early from prison, even though he has served all but two months of his original sentence.

The defendant, Rex Harrison, was convicted in 2007 of felony and misdemeanor charges of assaulting military police officers at a Mokule'ia beach.

Last week the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals threw out the misdemeanor conviction and ordered that a new sentencing hearing be held before U.S. District Judge David Ezra, who originally sentenced Harrison to two years behind bars.

Yesterday, Ezra turned down Harrison's request to be released from prison until that resentencing hearing can be held.

Ezra turned down the request in part because Harrison's lawyer, federal Public Defender Peter Wolff, has filed new appellate papers with the 9th Circuit.

"I would have been more than happy to expedite re-sentencing," Ezra said, telling Wolff and Harrison that he can't do that because of the new appellate filings.

In the new appeal papers, Wolff asked that all 29 members of the appellate court re-examine Harrison's case. The ruling last week was issued by a three-judge panel headed by Alex Kozinski, chief judge of the 9th Circuit Court.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Ronald Johnson opposed Harrison's request for release from prison.

"He still stands convicted of a felony offense which the government contends is a crime of violence," Johnson said.

Ezra agreed, calling Harrison "a defendant who committed a violent criminal act for which there was ample evidence at trial."

Last week's appellate ruling was sharply critical of the conduct of the prosecutor who handled Harrison's case.

A dissenting opinion by Judge Edward Bybee was even more critical of the government's trial conduct and said the whole case should be overturned.