Defense attorneys in a high-profile murder case in Queens claim the district attorney’s office is unfairly attempting to remove them as counsel to the defendant, over conflict of interest concerns they say are entirely of prosecutors’ making.

Christopher Ransom was charged with, among other things, second-degree murder in the February shooting death of New York Police Department Detective Brian Simonsen. Ransom is not alleged to have himself shot Simonsen; on the night of Feb. 12 Ransom attempted to rob a Richmond Hill T-Mobile store with a fake gun. News accounts at the time indicated Simonsen and another officer were the first to respond to the scene.