DC Superior Court Judge Maribeth Raffinan delayed sentencing a shooting defendant on June 19 because of conflicts with his attorney.
Michael Grayton, 42, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder while armed for his involvement in the fatal shooting of Danzell Hall, 26, on the 1500 block of Benning Road, NE on July 12, 2025.
Initially set for May 23, sentencing was delayed due to changes in Grayton’s legal counsel.
In the status hearing, Grayton’s latest attorney, Andrew Ain, recused himself from the case, citing time conflicts with other ongoing trials. Further, Ain mentioned an unspecified conflict of interest with the Public Defender Service (PDS) that requiring him to withdraw from the case.
The PDS assigned attorney and co-counsel to Ain, Rachel Cicurel, agreed to recuse herself. In light of the legal turmoil, and the prosecution asked if Grayton intended to withdraw his guilty plea claiming repeated delays had been prejudicial to their case.
Due to the significant changes in Grayton’s defense team as well as the conditions of the initial plea, Judge Ruffinan said it was appropriate for sentencing to be delayed to get Grayton’s new attorney, Dan Kovler, up to speed over the objections of the prosecution. Kovler is not a PDS attorney but a member of a group of lawyers subsidiized by the court to work with indigent clients.
Judge Ruffinan agreed to expedite the status hearing on June 23.
