WICHITA, Kan.  -  Prosecutors are urging an appeals court to uphold the convictions of a Kansas doctor and his wife convicted in a moneymaking conspiracy linked to 68 overdose deaths.
     Documents filed Tuesday with the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals argued Dr. Stephen Schneider and his wife, Linda, had a fair trial despite the involvement of a national patient advocate. The couple was convicted in 2010 of unlawfully prescribing drugs, health care fraud and money laundering. The doctor was sentenced to 30 years, his wife to 33 years.  Their new attorneys contend their trial lawyers had a conflict of interest that allowed the advocate to direct defense strategy.
     But the government argues the couple waived rights to conflict-free representation in separate hearings before two federal judges. Prosecutors say they got a fair trial.