Rep. Rick Renzi (R-Ariz.) may stay out of the courthouse a bit longer as his defense attorneys and federal prosecutors filed a joint motion to further delay a trial in the public-corruption case.

[IMGCAP(1)]Citing the slow pace of discovery, both sides asked the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona to reschedule numerous pretrial hearings and the mid-October trial.

“The Government agrees that an adjournment of the motions schedule and a continuance of the trial date is appropriate,” the request states.

Legal experts not affiliated with either side have predicted the case, originally scheduled to begin in April, is unlikely to reach trial before Renzi’s term ends in January 2009.

Renzi, along with co-defendants Andrew Beardall and James Sandlin, was indicted in February on charges of extortion, money laundering and conspiracy. The Arizonan has pleaded not guilty.