An Atlantic City man accused of killing his former girlfriend in 2016, will get a new lawyer after a brief appearance punctuated by anger and cursing.
Joseph McCoy — who prefers to go by Abdul Salaam — is accused of killing Jacqueline Hoyle, 24, who was found bleeding and unconscious inside the apartment they once shared in the 300 block of North Tennessee Avenue.
Salaam has been jailed since January 2017, when he was captured in North Carolina. After getting to the Atlantic County Justice Facility in March, he was ordered held pending trial.
On Monday, he was supposed to have a hearing on a motion to dismiss the charges.
But instead, Salaam asked the judge to dismiss his court-appointed attorney.
Salaam claimed attorney Joe Swift visited him only four times in jail, did not answer letters he sent with questions and has not given him all of the evidence in his case.
He also said Swift came to him with different plea offers, but that he didn’t think they made sense.
Superior Court Judge John Rauh said that everything Salaam said Swift did sounded like what a lawyer would do.
That seemed to anger Salaam, who said they didn’t need to bring him to court for the next appearance.
“Just leave me in the county,” he said. “I don’t even have to come here for this (expletive) shit. Leave me alone. I’ve been locked up for a year. I’ll be locked up for 30 more.”
Swift told the judge that he had filed the motion, but then Salaam told him that he had filed both a complaint against him with the Public Defender’s Office and an ethics complaint.
Swift then asked to be relieved from defending Salaam.
Rauh granted his request, asking Salaam if he had any objections.
“I would appreciate it,” Salaam said.
Salaam will now have to reapply for a public defender.
His next court appearance is set for April 23.
