Jackson claims he was protecting teammates
Indiana Pacers guard Stephen Jackson says he was just trying to protect three teammates when he fired a handgun and was hit by a car during a fight outside an Indianapolis strip club.
The 28-year-old Jackson faces a pretrial hearing on a felony charge of criminal recklessness and misdemeanor counts of battery and disorderly conduct Nov. 1, the same day the Pacers open the season in Charlotte, N.C.
His trial is scheduled to begin Jan. 8 in Marion Superior Court. The criminal recklessness charge carries a prison term of six months to three years.
“I’m in a situation now where people thought I acted recklessly, when I know I didn’t,” Jackson said Saturday night after the Pacers’ 97-84 loss to the Utah Jazz.
“Over due time the courts will know that,” he said. “We’ll be able to see I wasn’t trying to hurt anybody. I had no intentions of hurting anybody. I was just making sure me and my teammates were safe. I’m the one who got hit by the car.”
Police said Jackson fired a gun in the air at least five times during an Oct. 6 fight outside Club Rio. Jackson originally told police that he fired the gun in self-defense, but Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi said Jackson retrieved his gun from his car and fired it before he was struck and injured by another car.
•Former Gonzaga University All-American Ronny Turiaf had 7 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocked shots for the Los Angeles Lakers in a 99-91 loss to the Phoenix Suns in an NBA exhibition at Las Vegas.
Tennis
Blake wins title
James Blake defeated Jarkko Nieminen 6-4, 6-2 to win the Stockholm Open in Stockholm, Sweden, for the second straight year.
It was the fifth ATP title of the season for Blake, tying him for second with Rafael Nadal. Only Roger Federer (nine) has won more.
•Top-seeded Nikolay Davydenko reclaimed his title and teenager Anna Chakvetadze pulled off an upset, winning all-Russian finals at the Kremlin Cup in Moscow.
Davydenko, the 2004 champion, beat Marat Safin 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 for his fourth title this season and Chakvetadze upset fifth-seeded Nadia Petrova 6-4, 6-4 for her second straight win.
•Defending champion Ivan Ljubicic defeated fifth-seeded Fernando Gonzalez of Chile 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 to win the BA-CA Tennis Trophy in Vienna, Austria.
Miscellany
Lacrosse players talk
The three members of Duke University’s lacrosse team charged with rape say they had expected DNA testing would clear them of a crime they insist they did not commit. Authorities continue to pursue the case after those tests failed to find a match with the accuser.
“It’s so frustrating because that was an opportunity for us to exonerate ourselves,” accused player Reade Seligmann told “60 Minutes.” “And we were told that. If we cooperated, those that were innocent would be shown to be innocent. … It didn’t play out that way.”
A trial is expected to begin next spring.
•Team Japan won the women’s competition when Americans Kimmie Meissner and Sasha Cohen failed on planned triple jumps in the U.S. Figure Skating Campbell’s Cup in Cincinnati.
Team USA won the men’s title and Team Canada won pairs/dance.
Johnny Weir, the three-time U.S. champion, got his team rolling by winning the short program.
American Scott Smith won the free skate.
•James Kwambi Kipsang of Kenya edged out David Kipkorir Mandago to win the Beijing International Marathon.
Kipsang finished in 2 hours, 10 minutes and 36 seconds.
•Jason Line raced to his fourth Pro Stock victory of the season in the Torco Racing Fuels NHRA Nationals in Dinwiddie, Va., to move closer to securing his first NHRA POWERade world championship title.