Opening statements today in retrial for 1982 killing of Riverside police officer

Opening statements are scheduled today in the trial of a 71-year-old paraplegic whose 1984 conviction for the murders of two Riverside police officers was overturned on grounds he had ineffective trial counsel.

After 25 years, Jackson Chambers Daniels is being retried for allegedly gunning down officers Dennis C. Doty and Philip N. Trust on May 13, 1982.

The defendant could, again, face the death penalty if convicted of two counts of first-degree murder along with special circumstance allegations of lying in wait, committing murder to avoid apprehension and killing sworn peace officers.

In 2005, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals invalidated Daniels’ murder convictions based on evidence that his two court-appointed attorneys in 1983 had failed to provide an adequate defense for the wheelchair-bound defendant.

According to the court, the attorneys — neither of whom had handled a capital murder case — spent barely three months preparing for the trial, were distrusted by Daniels, routinely had difficulty communicating with him, and employed a “ludicrous defense” that he was not the shooter “in the face of overwhelming evidence of culpability.”

The appellate jurists also criticized the defense team for not thoroughly profiling the defendant’s mental deficiencies, particularly during the penalty phase of his trial. In January 1984, a Riverside jury spent less than two days deliberating before recommending that Daniels be sentenced to death.

According to court documents, Daniels robbed a Riverside bank in 1980, leading to a gun battle with pursuing police officers, who shot him nine times. The wounds left Daniels a paraplegic.

The defendant pleaded guilty to armed robbery and assault on a police officer, and in return was permitted to remain free in the months prior to his sentencing, on the condition that he use that time to undergo rehabilitative physical therapy.

In an apparent mix-up, Daniels was arrested prior to his sentencing and jailed, prompting him to rescind his guilty plea, which the trial judge refused to accept, prompting Daniels to appeal, court documents state. During his appeal, the defendant was allowed to remain free on his own recognizance.

When Daniels’ appeal was denied and he missed a scheduled sentencing hearing in April 1982, a bench warrant was issued for his arrest.

Officers Doty and Trust, both 10-year law enforcement veterans who had served in the military and fought in Vietnam, were dispatched to pick up the defendant from the Wolfe Avenue home where he rented a room.

Daniels’ caretakers led the officers to the defendant’s bedroom, where he was sitting in his wheelchair, naked but for a T-shirt. As Daniels’ caretaker, Renee Ross, helped him dress and the officers stood by, the defendant allegedly reached between his legs, where he had concealed a small-caliber pistol, and opened fire on the lawmen.
Doty was shot three times, including once in the head. Trust was able to return fire and hit Daniels once in the hand before collapsing from six bullet wounds to the chest and stomach, according to court documents.

Daniels allegedly ordered Ross to drive him to a friend’s residence in Rubidoux. The witness later told investigators that Daniels said he had shot the officers “because of what they had done to him.”

The defendant was arrested by Riverside police after a brief standoff two days later.

Tags: 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, Jackson Chambers Daniels, riverside police, SWRNN

This entry was posted on Monday, November 16th, 2009 at 7:14 am and is filed under Courts, Crime, Local News, News . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.