(The Daily Advertiser) – Lafayette City Marshal Brian Pope, who faces perjury and malfeasance charges, wants a judge to delay his trial until 2018.

The most recent trial date is set for Sept. 25.

Pope is charged with two counts of perjury that allegedly occurred during a civil deposition and with five counts of malfeasance in office. At a hearing July 27, a judge is expected to consider his request to delay his trial by jury until 2018.

His attorney argues in a motion for continuance that he filed five motions that have not been resolved or that the district attorney’s office has not yet responded to.

In addition, the attorney wrote that he expects to file motions “to suppress and to dismiss” because of selective prosecution, or to recuse the district attorney’s office from prosecuting the case.

Pope also is asking the judge to change the conditions of his pretrial release by releasing him on his own recognizance or to lift travel restrictions against him.

He was granted permission to travel to Destin, Florida, from June 2-11 to attend the Louisiana City Courts and Clerks Conference June 4-7, and the Nuts and Bolts Fun Judicial Seminar June 7-9.

Pope was elected in December 2014 and took office in January 2015.

He first got in trouble in 2015 when he refused to turn over emails requested by The Independent news organization through a public record request. The Ind sued for the emails, which it believed would prove Pope conspired with Lafayette Parish Sheriff candidate Chad Leger in his race against Mark Garber.

Leger is the police chief in Scott. Garber was elected sheriff.

Pope was sentenced to seven days for contempt, which he served using a monitoring device.

He was indicted by a grand jury in November on perjury and malfeasance charges stemming from the Independent’s lawsuit. The indictment alleges Pope committed perjury under oath in December 2015 in a deposition when he denied he ordered the mass distribution of emails about the Sheriff’s race by a third party.

Pope also allegedly lied under oath in the same deposition when he denied Hilary “Joe” Castille, who worked for Leger’s campaign, assisted Pope in distributing a media advisory prior to a press conference about the campaign.

The malfeasance charges apparently relate, at least in part, to Pope’s use of workers in the City Marshal’s Office to prepare a fundraising mail-out for his campaign and for using his office to urge voters to support Leger.

Pope held a news conference at his office. Flanked by four deputy marshals in uniform, he accused Leger’s opponent, Garber, of encouraging illegal immigrants to come to the United States and file worker’s compensation claims.