A judge agreed Wednesday to delay additional sentencing for a 20-year-old convicted murderer who accused his attorneys in a court document of doing him "incredibly wrong."
Cortez Sims was sentenced to life in prison in April after a jury found that he killed Talitha Bowman, 20, during a rampage at a College Hill Courts apartment in 2015. He still faces sentencing for three counts of attempted first-degree murder and one count of employing a firearm during a dangerous felony.
Sims has delayed those proceedings, though, by accusing his attorneys of misrepresentation in a court document that judges often request before sentencing.
"I'm innocent and I was wrongfully convicted of the current crime," Sims said in his pre-sentence investigation report statement. "I told [my lawyer] I wanted to testify on my own behalf, but he told me if I did I would get a life sentence. I felt like I was done incredibly wrong due to the fact that I wasn't able to face my accuser, testify on my own behalf, put up my alibi witnesses, and due to the fact that my attorney failed to make a closing argument "
Defense attorneys Lee Ortwein and Clancy Covert asked to be taken off the case in a motion filed Friday in Hamilton County Criminal Court.
"During an interview for purposes of the presentencing report, the defendant made various accusations," Ortwein wrote. "As a result, counsel contacted the Ethics Counsel for the Board of Professional Responsibility and was advised to file this motion."
Judge Barry Steelman agreed to cut them loose, set Sims' next court date on Aug. 2, and appointed defense attorney Joshua Weiss to the case.
This is not the first time Sims has clashed with his legal team.
Attorney Brandy Spurgin-Floyd walked into court in August 2016 and announced that Sims wanted to fire her because of her inexperience. At the time, Sims was scheduled for trial on Sept. 27 and attorneys still needed to iron out a range of issues such as gang affiliation and witness suppression.
When Sims couldn't write down a specific problem he had with Spurgin-Floyd's representation, Steelman denied the request. He pointed out that Sims never raised any concerns with his attorney of more than a year until 60 days before his trial.
Steelman let Sims pick a new attorney after Spurgin-Floyd appealed to a higher court and argued their communication had become "impossibly strained."
Prosecutors say Sims, then 17, opened fire inside a College Hill Courts apartment on Jan. 7, 2015, because of an ongoing feud between two Chattanooga street gangs, killing Bowman, injuring Bianca Horton and Marcel Christopher, and paralyzing Horton's then-1-year-old baby.
Horton was found dead in May 2016 on the 2100 block of Elder Street.
Christopher, who is in federal custody on gun charges, refused to testify at Sims' trial.
Contact staff writer Zack Peterson at zpeterson@timesfree press.com or 423-757-6347. Follow him on Twitter @zackpeterson918.