Disgruntled by the performance of one attorney and concerned about potential conflicts for another, the man accused of being the getaway driver in a 2014 Aurora restaurant shooting recently started representing himself against serious felony charges.
The switch took nearly a year to happen for 28-year-old Joshua Scott, who is charged with attempted murder and weapons counts in connection to the September 2014 incident inside the East New York Street KFC restaurant that left three workers wounded. Kane County Judge Linda Abrahamson granted Scott’s request to be his own attorney after a lengthy explanation about the ramifications of doing so. The judge pointedly explained to Scott how he would be held to the same standards as trained attorneys and would be opposed by experienced prosecutors without any assistance, according to hearing transcripts.
Scott said he understood. He returned to court Friday for a status hearing and has another appearance set for next week.
Prosecutors allege Scott, who is held in Kane County Jail on $1.5 million bail, was the wheelman of a Cadillac Escalade used to flee the KFC after Chase West and Claude Jackson entered the restaurant and demanded money from employees. When the three employees said they couldn’t access the cash register, Jackson fired single shots at each employee, wounding one employee in the stomach, a second in the leg and the third in the arm and body, authorities previously said. After the shooting, the men took off in the Escalade, police said. Within 10 minutes of the shooting, Aurora police and Kane County Sheriff’s deputies arrived on Liberty Street to find the Escalade parked near where Jackson lived, according to authorities.
The three men have been held awaiting trial ever since. In February 2016, Scott filed a motion to remove his attorney, Greg Brown, because of concerns about his handling of the case. Scott claims in court filings that Brown – without permission – tried to broker a deal with prosecutors in which Scott would testify against West and Jackson.
At that time, Abrahamson denied Scott’s motion, which also included a request to represent himself. Scott renewed his attorney complaints a few months later when he argued in a second motion that his new public defender was not working in his best interest because of the previous attempt to remove Brown from the case. Everything culminated when Abrahamson agreed to allow Scott to take over his defense.
Scott has also unsuccessfully tried to substitute Abrahamson, but a separate judge denied that request earlier this month. Scott is now seeking to have a standby attorney and an investigator brought on to assist him.
No trial dates have been scheduled for any of the three men in the KFC case.
Dan Campana is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News