An Ottawa man awaiting sentencing for attempted murder has hired a new lawyer. Anthony Brito’s new counsel will try to win Brito a new trial for the 2023 drive-by shooting in Ottawa.

Anthony Brito, 32, appeared Wednesday in La Salle County Circuit Court in his ongoing bid to reverse his August conviction for attempted murder. He faces up to 50 years for firing shots outside La Salle County’s downtown courthouse. No one was hurt.

Sentencing has been on hold since October. After a La Salle County jury convicted him, Brito split with his private attorney, then fired the public defender and has since represented himself at post-trial hearings.

Not anymore. A new lawyer, Chicago attorney Marc Barnett, appeared on Wednesday and asked for time to review the trial transcripts before filing post-trial motions. Chief Judge H. Chris Ryan Jr. agreed and set a May 13 status hearing.

Brito remains convicted and no longer enjoys any presumption of innocence. The onus now is on Barnett to persuade Ryan to vacate the jury’s guilty verdicts and send the case to a new jury.

Jurors rejected Brito’s claims that there wasn’t enough evidence linking him to the shots fired at Larry Burns, who was not injured. Prosecutors persuaded jurors that Brito was trying to silence Burns, who was cooperating in a separate investigation against Brito.