Isaac Jones, serving a 25-year sentence for killing a Chattanooga police officer, will not get a new trial, a judge ruled Wednesday, even though Jones was not given an opportunity to testify on his own behalf during his 2002 trial.
Jones, who appeared lucid and soft-spoken when speaking to the court during his post-conviction appeal on Wednesday, said he wanted to testify during the trial and believes now that, if he had been given the opportunity, the outcome of the case could have been different.
“I could have defended myself,” he said in court.
But after hearing what Jones’ testimony would have been, Special Judge John Kerry Blackwood said that, while Jones could show he received ineffective counsel, he didn’t think the absence of Jones’ testimony prejudiced jurors in the case.
Jones was convicted on a count of second-degree murder for the shooting death of Officer Julie Jacks.
On Wednesday, Jones said several things were introduced during the trial, including gang membership, molestation allegations and marijuana use, that were not true and damaged his chances for being declared not guilty by reason of insanity.
Jones’ lawyers argued during his trial that he was suffering from a schizophrenic episode when he shot Jacks seven times with her own gun.
Earlier that day, he had been taken to Parkridge Medical Center for a mental evaluation because he had become erratic after a final exam at Chattanooga State Community College. Jacks had pursued him after he escaped from his exam room.
Jones said he remembers nothing about the crime, only what happened before and after.
“It was like being in a dream state,” he said Wednesday in court.
Karla Gothard, who was the lead public defender representing Jones in 2002, testified Wednesday that she did not ask him if he wanted to testify in his case before it went to the jury, but said it was an innocent mistake.
She also said she didn’t want Jones to testify, worried that his criminal background would come up during cross-examination. She also said she thought his mental state was too fragile during the trial.
“When I first met him, he was unclothed in a small holding cell,” she said. “He had urinated and smeared feces everywhere.”
Contact Joan Garrett at jgarrett@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6601.