Man Accused in Shooting Granted Bail

The stepson of a Long Beach newspaper executive was released on $500,000 bail Wednesday after a court hearing that included an emotional public appearance by the ex-girlfriend he allegedly shot and paralyzed.

Bradley Ackerman, 23, was released on bond pending a preliminary hearing where he will face charges of attempted murder. He allegedly shot Julie Alban, 22, in the back June 8 as she slept at her Long Beach home.

Ackerman, stepson of Press-Telegram Chairman Daniel H. Ridder, was recovering from a self-inflicted bullet wound to the chest. Alban was left paralyzed from the waist down in the attack.

Alban, who never addressed the court during the hearing in Long Beach Municipal Court, sobbed as a prosecutor pressed her request that Ackerman be held without bail.

$500,000 Bail

Until Wednesday, Ackerman had stayed out of jail by posting $100,000 bail on condition that he stay in a locked psychiatric facility. Judge Thomas R. Simpson reset bail at a total of $500,000 and removed the special condition.

Rolled into a court in a wheelchair, Alban held her mother’s hand. Her father, a Long Beach orthopedic surgeon, nodded in her direction during the hearing.

“It’s an incredible nightmare,” Alban said of the shooting as she waited for court. “You can’t imagine having trusted someone. The shock. The horror. It has altered my life forever.”

She said she fears for her life if Ackerman is released on bond because her house is across the street from his in an exclusive section of Long Beach. Alban said she expects to be going home from the hospital soon. “I’m starting the long road to recovery,” she said.

About 30 relatives and well-wishers attended the hearing to support the young victim. When Alban’s wheelchair was moved to the left side of the courtroom, the supporters all left their seats on the right side to greet her and take seats beside her.

Ridder, dressed in a gray suit, sat in the front row and never glanced back at Alban despite the commotion created by her appearance. He consulted and passed notes to Ackerman’s attorneys and declined to comment after the hearing. Ackerman did not attend the hearing.

In the hearing, Simpson said he believed that Ackerman should be held in a locked facility for his own health and safety.

“Anyone who attempts to take his own life after trying to take someone else’s . . . I doubt his mental stability has been restored,” Simpson said.

Defense attorneys said Ackerman will have more difficulty recovering from mental instability in a locked institution and that he is entitled to reasonable bail.

Alban’s supporters and her father, Dr. Seymour Alban, said they were disappointed by the judge’s decision to remove the restrictions on Ackerman.

“It doesn’t answer Julie’s request for protection,” Dr. Alban said after his daughter was wheeled out of the courtroom. “He’s free and she’s not.”