Jackson trial to begin Wednesday
Published 3:00 am Thursday, August 6, 2015
Jurors have been selected for the trial of a Goshen man charged with the fatally shooting his 18-year-old son and the attempted murder of another son.
The trial will begin at 9 a.m. Wednesday in Pike County Circuit Court.
Sammy D. Jackson, 45, is charged with murder and attempted murder for the death of his 18-year-old namesake and the attempted murder of his then 16-year-old son. The shootings took place in November 2013 at the family residence in Goshen after domestic disturbance.
Sheriff deputies were called out to the Jackson home in Goshen, located at 811 County Road 1143, Nov. 9, 2013 for a shooting after a domestic violence situation, which had begun the previous night, carried on into the following day. Pike County Sheriff Russell Thomas said that there had been a history of domestic in the home, but had not expected a situation such as this to arise.
“There was a history of domestic violence problems, but you never dream that it comes to this,” Thomas said in an interview shortly after the shooting.
Jackson was scheduled to stand trial in February, but hours before the trial defense attorneys were granted delay to conduct another mental evaluation on Jackson. Jackson recently was found competent to stand trial after a competency hearing where additional evidence was presented including testimonies from Jackson’s previous employer and law enforcement officers.
Jackson has been out on $100,000 and $50,000 bonds since January 2014.
Pike County Circuit Clerk Jamie Scarbrough announced the selection of jurors. “There will be two alternatives in the jury as well,” Scarbrough said. “I will not indicate which will be the alternatives until the very end of the trial.”
Judge Shannon Clark predicted the trial would potentially last three or four days. “There are always question marks,” Clark said. “We can’t control how the witnesses respond and those sort of things.”
After jury selection, Clark reminded jurors that they are not to discuss the trial with anyone before dismissing them until Wednesday morning.
“You are in fact a jury in that case now,” Clark said. “You cannot talk to anybody about it now. You cannot research. There may be some people that you know that were not selected for the jury today who may want to ask questions. But, those are thing you cannot do.”