Councilman’s stay of sentence granted
A county Superior Court judge on Thursday ruled that El Centro Councilman Jason Jackson has the legal right to have his jail sentence stayed.
The stay was requested pending an appeal of the judge’s previous denial of a motion seeking to challenge the validity of Jackson’s guilty plea in an animal cruelty case.
Judge Christopher J. Plourd’s ruling came after his careful review of two separate statutes that he said essentially were in conflict with one another.
Although those convicted of misdemeanors are legally entitled to have their detention stayed pending an appeal, Plourd said, trial courts also have the discretion to determine whether a defendant has enough probable cause to warrant such an appeal.
“I think I have to interpret the statutes liberally in favor of the defendant,” Plourd said.
Previously, Plourd had ruled that Jackson’s motion for a certificate of probable cause did not meet the legal threshold, a decision that Jackson’s defense attorney had attempted unsuccessfully to appeal.
Plourd said his decision Wednesday also intended to strike a balance with the people’s interests, including those of a separate judge who had ordered Jackson to serve a 10-day jail sentence and the prosecution’s desire to have Jackson remanded to jail.
Should the Fourth District Court of Appeals ultimately deny Jackson’s latest appeal, he would then be required to serve the jail sentence. “There’s no indication that we can’t do the sentence later,” Plourd said. “It’s not like the jail is going to go away.”
During Wednesday’s hearing, county Senior Deputy District Attorney Heather Trapnell had said that although Jackson did have a right to remain out of custody pending appeal, the circumstances of his case had changed over time.
“The defendant strategically abandoned his appeal; then he filed his appeal, which I think is arguably just an attempt to prolong the period of time before he has to serve his sentence,” Trapnell said.
Jackson had also temporarily appealed his July 13 conviction, before deciding to withdraw the appeal and subsequently file a motion in January seeking to withdraw his guilty plea.
Plourd’s denial of that motion had prompted defense attorney Raj Singh to seek a certificate of probable cause from the judge, which he denied in February. Jackson’s latest appeal marks the second attempt to have the appellate court overturn the trial court’s decision to deny the certificate for probable cause.
“It’s probably a little less frivolous than the first appeal, nonetheless defendants have a right to appeal,” Plourd said.
Jackson was released from custody on his own recognizance Wednesday following the hearing at the El Centro courthouse.
The ruling allows Jackson to avoid a jail term that couldn’t be reversed if he does go on to win his appeal in the near future, Singh said.
“It was a big victory that the court granted our request,” Singh said.
The appeal specifically seeks a writ of mandamus from the appellate court to overturn the trial court’s decision to deny the certificate for probable cause.
Ultimately, Jackson seeks to have the criminal complaint reinstated so that he can withdraw his guilty plea, enter a plea of not guilty and fight the case on its merits, Singh said. Jackson is due back in court May 1, for a review of the appeal’s status.
Jackson had been formally charged with one felony count of animal cruelty in June 2016 after a horse in his care was discovered emaciated in February 2016.