News Executive’s Stepson Pleads Guilty in Shooting

While awaiting retrial for attempted murder, Bradley Ackerman has pleaded guilty to reduced charges in a 1988 shooting that left his then-girlfriend permanently paralyzed.

Ackerman, 26, the stepson of a prominent Long Beach newspaper executive, pleaded guilty Thursday to a charge of attempted second-degree murder and was sentenced to 14 years in prison.

Ackerman was sentenced to life in prison in 1989 after a jury convicted him of attempted first-degree murder for firing a bullet into the back of Julie Alban while she was sleeping in her bedroom. The conviction was overturned in May by a state appeals panel, which concluded that Ackerman’s defense had been incompetent and ordered another trial.

But both sides wanted to avoid a second trial that would reopen the emotional wounds of a shooting that devastated the lives of two prominent Long Beach families and ended their long friendship.

“Mr. Ackerman did not want to have Ms. Alban go through another trial,” said Ackerman’s attorney, Gerald Chaleff. “He’s always acknowledged what he’s done and this seemed like the fairest result for all.”

Julie Alban, a 26-year-old law student now confined to a wheelchair, could not be reached. Her father, orthopedic surgeon Dr. Seymour Alban, declined comment.

Ackerman, the stepson of Long Beach Press Telegram Chairman Emeritus Daniel H. Ridder, had lived across the street from Julie Alban since childhood and the two families often socialized.

Ackerman was staying with the Albans--as he often did when his parents were out of town--when the shooting occurred. During the trial, Ackerman’s attorney argued that the former champion tennis player had shot Julie Alban in a tranquilizer-induced stupor, not knowing what he was doing.

But the defense, given mistaken information about whether Ackerman’s blood samples could be tested for the drug, Valium, never presented any scientific evidence to back up the claims. It was that lack of evidence that prompted the appeals reversal.

Under the sentence, imposed by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge J.D. Smith, Ackerman will be eligible for parole in 1996, about three years earlier than under his previous life sentence. He started serving his term after his conviction and has been imprisoned at the California Men’s Colony near San Luis Obispo.