MINNEAPOLIS — U.S. Sen. Larry Craig’s lawyers asked the Minnesota Court of Appeals on

MINNEAPOLIS — U.S. Sen. Larry Craig’s lawyers asked the Minnesota Court of Appeals on Wednesday to allow the Idaho Republican to withdraw his guilty plea to disorderly conduct in a men’s bathroom at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport last summer.

Craig was not present at the hearing.

The case against Craig fails to show he participated in criminal conduct, Washington, D.C.-based lawyer Billy Martin told the three-judge panel in his 15 minutes of argument. The panel, composed of Judges Natalie Hudson, Thomas Kalitowski and Chief Judge Ed Toussaint, has 90 days to issue a ruling. The judges vigorously questioned Martin.

Martin talked about how the senator used a mail-in plea form rather than appear in person and lost a chance for an on-the-record discussion before the court.

Martin said he did but he did not waive the legal right that the complaint against him be adequate. He also argued that Craig’s behavior didn’t meet the standard for disorderly conduct because the law requires behavior to affect “others.”

But the judges seemed skeptical of that, noting several times that Martin himself said Craig was looking into a bathroom stall because all the stalls were occupied — meaning others were present.

Craig was caught last June by Sgt. Dave Karsnia in a sting operation at the airport. Karsnia was in a stall and said Craig peered in for more than two minutes from 3 feet away. his blue eyes.