TRENTON -- The New Jersey chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union has stepped in to represent the man facing charges in the string of bombing attacks in New Jersey and New York, newly filed court records show.

Ahmad Khan Rahami has been in a New Jersey hospital since his arrest following a bloody shootout with police in Union County last week. A gunshot wound to the abdomen has left him in critical condition, a law enforcement source previously told NJ Advance Media.

An attorney for the ACLU-NJ entered a notice of appearance in federal court in Newark on Monday after a judge denied a public defender's request to be appointed to represent him.

Rahami will face federal weapons of mass destruction charges for the series of explosions in Seaside Park, Manhattan and Elizabeth, as well as multiple state charges of attempted murder of a police officer stemming from the shootout.

He has not yet been given access to an attorney, court records show, though he may be unable to communicate with one. He has been described as "incapacitated and intubated" in court filings.

Defense attorneys argue Rahimi's rights are being violated as he sits, reportedly unconscious, in a hospital bed. Prosecutors argue the case against the accused domestic terrorist has not reached the point that would trigger his right to counsel.

In the court filing, senior staff attorney Alexander Shalom said that Rahami's father and wife had requested the ACLU get involved. The group's representation, Shalom wrote, "is limited to the time period before which Mr. Rahami is appointed a federal public defender or obtains other criminal defense counsel."

A state public defender, Peter Liguori, sought unsuccessfully last week to visit Rahami at University Hospital in Newark, according to The New York Times.

Richard Coughlin, a federal public defender, also requested to represent Rahami on the federal charges, court records show. But Judge Mark Falk wrote last week that such an appointment would be "inappropriate" because Rahami was not in federal custody and had not yet made a first appearance in court.

The civil liberties group claims Rahami is left in a kind of legal limbo, with authorities in Union County denying access to attorneys because he is reportedly unconscious and hasn't been properly served with the complaint against him, and federal authorities saying he remains in state custody.

"It's conspicuous whenever the government says, 'We're not going to give you a lawyer, but don't worry, you don't need one,'" Shalom said in a telephone interview Monday evening. "It's unlikely the government would be opposing appointment of counsel in a different case."

Shalom said that while a judge may have decided it was too soon to give Rahami a taxpayer-funded lawyer, there was nothing to stop his family from seeking private attorneys.

Shalom said he had not yet been briefed on Rahami's medical condition because the man's family had just spoken to a doctor for the first time on Monday.

The ACLU on Monday also sent letters to state and federal prosecutors telling them they had been appointed as Rahami's counsel and that he should not be interviewed by investigators without their prior knowledge, Shalom said.

Spokesmen for U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman and Union County Prosecutor Grace Park declined to comment.

S.P. Sullivan may be reached at ssullivan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter. Find NJ.com on Facebook.