The sentencing hearing for Paul Garcia in the 2008 shooting death of 53-year-old Mark Achilli is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Thursday.
But Garcia's lawyer, Ed Sousa, tells the San Jose Mercury News he plans to file a motion seeking a new trial for his client. Sentencing is expected to proceed as scheduled if the judge rejects that motion.
Garcia was convicted of first-degree murder in October in the death of Achilli, a local restaurateur who was shot in broad daylight outside his Los Gatos town house.
Authorities say Garcia paid to have Achilli killed because he was obsessed with a woman Achilli was dating.
Two other men, Miguel Chaidez and the alleged shooter, Lucio Estrada, were also convicted in the case.
