Prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York delved deeper into the family dynamics of two attorneys accused of a Molotov cocktail attack on a New York City Police Department vehicle in a reply brief filed late Thursday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Urooj Rahman and Colinford Mattis, who were arrested on May 30 and indicted on charges of arson and use of explosives to commit a felony, among other offenses, are "caretakers and authority figures in the familial relationships they identify," Assistant U.S. Attorney David Kessler wrote.

While attorneys for Mattis and Rahman have argued that the pair's family commitments —Rahman cares for her aging mother, while Mattis is a foster parent of three — demonstrate strong character and are likely to encourage good behavior as they await trial on bond, Kessler argued that the family members did not prevent the previous alleged attack and were apparently unaware of it.