LITTLE FALLS — The attorney for a Minnesota homeowner accused of fatally shooting two teens breaking into his house is asking an appeals court to intervene in the case.

Byron Smith’s lawyer is asking the state Court of Appeals to review a Morrison County judge’s decision to not dismiss a first-degree murder indictment against Smith.

Defense attorney Steven Meshbesher also will ask Judge Douglas Anderson on Friday to put the case against Smith on hold until the appeals court decides whether to get involved.

Smith, 65, is accused of killing Nicholas Brady and Haile Kifer after they broke into his house north of Little Falls on Thanksgiving Day 2012.

Smith’s attorneys had argued that prosecutors made mistakes in presenting their case to the grand jury.