Final sentencing has been postponed Tuesday morning for Joshua Cotton, who was found guilty of murder by a jury in the death of Alijah Watts, as he looks to hire new counsel to represent him.
Cotton—who was found guilty September—represented himself before Judge John Atkins Tuesday, when he was set to be formally sentence to 45 years in prison, which is the sentence recommended by the jury that convicted him. However, Cotton told the court he intends to hire a new attorney and expressed that he isn’t happy with the representation provided to him by attorney Brandi Jones.
After some consideration, Judge John Atkins told Cotton that normally he would deny such a request, but due to the complicated nature of the case and the remaining charges, he was willing to give Cotton time to hire a new attorney.
Commonwealth’s Attorney Maureen Leamy had no objection, saying she’d like more time to consider how to proceed.
Judge Atkins continued proceedings to March 25, but warned Cotton that if he did not have a new attorney by then, they would proceed with his sentencing.
Cotton’s co-defendants in this case, Jonathan Weston and Christian McKeel, pled guilty to their roles in the incident. Weston entered a guilty plea to facilitation to first-degree assault and first-degree wanton endangerment, which comes with sentence of eight years and six months, while McKeel entered a guilty plea to facilitation to murder and second-degree robbery. That comes with a recommended sentence of 11 years.