BOISE – Defense attorneys charged that the FBI plied Joseph Duncan with milkshakes and gifts to manipulate him into not appealing his death sentence, but a federal judge rejected that charge Monday and tossed out the appeal.

Duncan’s standy attorneys had filed the appeal without his permission.

U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge told Duncan: “The right to appeal is possessed by you and you alone.”

He noted that Duncan still has until Friday to file an appeal of his death sentence, and he’s free to change his mind until that point.

Sentenced to death three times for the 2005 kidnapping, sexual exploitation and murder of a 9-year-old Coeur d’Alene boy, Duncan is entitled to one review of his death sentence by the federal Court of Appeals. But Duncan, who acted as his own attorney in his capital sentencing trial, said in court Monday, “My choice is not to appeal.”

He had also filed a letter with the court saying, “If any appeal is initiated on my behalf it is done contrary to my wishes.”

Judy Clarke, who is leading Duncan’s standby legal team, told the court the government had “manipulated” Duncan on his appeal decision, in part by providing him with milkshakes and other enticements during jailhouse visits.

FBI Special Agent Michael Gneckow said in court documents that he and another agent have met with Duncan five times at his Ada County Jail cell since the death sentences were handed down Aug. 27.

Gneckow said he was following up on a written offer Duncan made to prosecutors to answer questions about his 2005 crimes; the first meeting lasted nearly eight hours, and Duncan told the agents at that time that he’d welcome more such discussions.

Lodge said he was making no ruling on the question of whether a third party, such as the standby attorneys, can file an appeal for the defendant. Only the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals could address that question, he said. However, he said he’s within his authority to dismiss the attorneys’ notice of appeal if it had been filed without the defendant’s permission.

When Clarke disagreed, the judge told her, “I’m confident the 9th Circuit will have answers to each one of your questions,” and he adjourned the hearing.

If Duncan waives his appeals, his execution likely would come much sooner, because appeals can delay executions by years. In addition to three death sentences, Duncan’s also been sentenced to nine life terms in prison for his 2005 crimes, in which his attack on a North Idaho family left four people dead.

Riverside County, Calif., also is seeking a death sentence against Duncan for a 1997 child abduction and slaying there.