[ by Melanie Gretchen ] Just 12 days before the scheduled start of Allen Stanford's trial on charges he led a $7 billion Ponzi scheme, criminal defense lawyers Ali Fazel and Robert Scardino asked the judge for permission to quit the case.  The lawyers say they're unable to represent their client competently.  Both attorneys are being paid with public funds because Mr. Stanford’s assets are frozen by court order in a related case. In their withdrawal request on Wednesday to Houston-based U.S. District Judge David Hittner, they noted: “The rulings of this court, the budget matters made public by this court, and matters still under seal have placed counsel in an untenable position." They further note that, "As a result of the funding issues in this case and in light of the current trial deadlines, the defense will be compelled to try the case without having had the resources necessary to render constitutionally adequate representation, while the government has been entirely unfettered by any financial resource constraints." Earlier this month, contractors supporting Mr. Stanford's defense team with electronic document management and expert witnesses quit over unpaid bills dating back to September.  They resumed work on 1/6/12 after the chief judge of the Fifth Circuit granted partial back pay and ordered them to resume work on the case.  Yet, 5 days later, Judge Hittner cut off funding for Mr. Stanford's jury consultant involved with Mr. Stanford’s defense. The two lawyers asked Judge Hittner for a 90-day delay in the start of the trial if he refuses to let them leave the case.  Jury selection is currently scheduled for January 23.  Lawyers have been barred from discussing the case by a court gag order. Mr. Stanford is on trial for defrauding investors who bought CD's issued by his Antigua-based Stanford International Bank - a claim he has denied.  Since being indicted in June 2009, Stanford has been in federal custody.  During that time, he has repeatedly tried to be declared unfit to stand trial, claiming to suffer retrograde amnesia caused by addiction to anti-anxiety medication and a brain injury suffered in a 2009 jailhouse fight. The case: U.S. v. Stanford, 09-cr-00342, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas (Houston). [Bloomberg, 1/12/12]