OGDEN, Utah (AP) — An appellate attorney has sued a Utah county alleging his free-speech rights were violated when he was fired after speaking publicly about a lack of funding in a death penalty case.

Defense attorney Samuel Newton on Wednesday filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court against Weber County and its three commissioners.

Newton, who is based in Montana, had a contract with the county to represent death row inmate Douglas Lovell in his appeal. He withdrew from Lovell’s case in September, saying the county had created conflicts of interest and that payment problems were causing stress-related medical issues.

The county later severed Newton’s contract to represent indigent defendants. Officials deemed his comments “harmful to the county’s reputation.”

The county’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.