Jackson Pleads Guilty To Firearms Charge

Thu., Sept. 14, 2000

By Kevin Blocker kevinb@spokesman.com

To streamline his upcoming murder trial, Brad Jackson pleaded guilty Wednesday to a separate charge of unlawful possession of a firearm.

“Kind of like the golf term `gimme,’ this was a `gimme’ for the prosecutor,” said defense attorney Jim Kane. “We just wanted to get this out of the way before the trial because it doesn’t need to clutter up deliberations.”

Jackson is accused of killing his 9-year-old daughter, Valiree, burying her body, then exhuming her remains and placing them in a shallow grave in Stevens County last October.

Detectives found the grave site by planting a tracking device on Jackson’s vehicle.

As detectives were closing in on Jackson last November, he reportedly became frantic and drove around the city. He was picked up by Spokane police at a downtown restaurant, and an unloaded 20-gauge shotgun was found in the back seat of the 1979 Chevy pickup he had borrowed from a friend.

Jackson was not supposed to have the weapon in his possession because he is a felon. He pleaded guilty to second-degree theft in 1991 after he had tried to steal four car tires and wheels.

Spokane County Superior Court Judge Ellen Clark handed Jackson a two-month sentence after his guilty plea. He could have received a maximum term of five years and a $10,000 fine.

Jury selection for Jackson’s murder trial started last week. The trial could begin as early as the middle of next week.

Superior Court Judge James Murphy has not ruled on Kane’s request to move the trial out of Spokane due to pretrial media reports.

Kane also would like to see a jury brought to Spokane from King County to hear the case.

“There’s still a lot of interviewing of potential jurors that needs to be done,” Kane said. “I think we’re still a couple of days away from making that determination.”

This sidebar appeared with the story: DETAILS

Jury selection for Brad Jackson’s murder trial started last week. The trial could begin as early as the middle of next week.

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