With an August 18 trial date bearing down in federal court, Jackson Mayor Frank Melton said he still has not settled on his defense attorney.

John Colette of Jackson, the attorney for Melton's ex-bodyguard, Marcus Wright, filed for a continuance Wednesday, partly on grounds that Melton and another former bodyguard, Michael Recio, have "been unable to secure defense counsel to represent them at trial."

All three face federal civil rights violations and weapons charges.

Wright and Recio were formally charged with violating civil rights laws during an August 26, 2006, raid conducted on an alleged drug house in west Jackson.

Melton, Wright and Recio are charged with violating the constitutional rights against unreasonable search and seizure of two Jackson residents.