Ex-Teacher Sentenced in Fatal Beating

It was a deal he never should have refused.

After two juries could not agree on murder charges, prosecutors earlier this year made Denneth Jackson a generous offer: If the former junior high school teacher pleaded guilty to manslaughter charges, he would serve less than another year behind bars for a 1994 fatal gang beating outside his Reseda apartment.

“I would have taken it,” said Michael White, Jackson’s court-appointed attorney. “But he said: ‘I didn’t do it. It would be wrong for me to plead guilty.’ ”

Instead Jackson, 29, took the case to trial again--and lost.

On Wednesday, he was sentenced to 18 years to life in prison on murder and assault charges for the gang attack. With credit for the time he served awaiting trail, prosecutors said he will not be eligible for parole until about 2010.

“It’s been really frustrating for us, for the whole family waiting for all these trials,” said Jose Aguilar, who with his brother, Julio, was beaten by Jackson and other gang members that night. “Finally, justice was served.”

Dozens of friends and relatives of the defendant and the victims filled the courtroom to hear the sentencing, but none stood to address the court.

During the hearing, Superior Court Judge Judith Ashmann denied White’s motions for a new trial and a reduced sentence.

“I would have no qualms in setting aside a conviction if I believed your client innocent,” Ashmann said. “I don’t think your client’s an innocent man. . . . According to the evidence, which the jury believed, your client really was the main actor.”

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Julio Aguilar was slain in the early morning hours of Nov. 12, 1994, during a confrontation with Reseda Westside gang members over an auto accident.

Jackson was having a party attended mostly by underage Reseda Westside gang members, according to Deputy Dist. Atty. Stephen Ipsen. During the night, Julio Aguilar drove his car into the van of one of the partygoers and was arrested for drunk driving. By all accounts, Jackson kept the peace during that first altercation.

About 2:30 a.m., Julio Aguilar returned with his brother and uncle to inspect the damage to the van. It was then that Jackson led a mob to the car and pulled Jose Aguilar out and beat him and his brother with their fists, feet and a 4-by-4 board.

Seven people were arrested for the beatings. All but Jackson pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and received 11-year prison sentences.

Jackson took the stand at all three of his trials and denied being a gang member and claimed that he acted in self-defense when he punched Jose Aguilar and pulled him out of his car. Jackson said he was trying to disarm Jose Aguilar, who had a gun. Once he pulled him from the car, Jackson said the mob took over and he couldn’t stop it.

Both Ipsen and Deputy Dist. Atty. Lea Purwin D’Agostino, who tried the case the first two times, said the gun was a fabricated defense that was mentioned for the first time at Jackson’s first trial.

Much of each of the trials centered around conflicting portraits of Jackson. White called on several teachers from Madison Middle School, where Jackson had taught social studies, who said he tried to steer youth away from gangs and into productive lives.

But prosecutors said he was a lifelong gang member, complete with tattoos, who was able to finish school and begin a teaching career with the help of supportive parents, but who would not cut his gang ties.

“Mr. Jackson was a schoolteacher for two months and for some reason, he couldn’t let go of his gang standing,” Ipsen said. “But for that reason, Julio Aguilar would still be alive and his brother, Jose, would not have been beaten.”

A single holdout juror forced a mistrial the first time. In the second trial, an Alhambra jury deadlocked 7-5 in favor of acquittal.

Before the third trial, White said prosecutors offered the lowest sentence yet, six years on manslaughter charges. That would have effectively added less than an additional year of incarceration to the three Jackson had already spent in jail awaiting trial.

White said in court on Wednesday that he believes “that this time the system didn’t work. It convicted an innocent man.”

Jackson’s family agrees.

“We’re going to fight for him and we’re going to be there for him no matter what it takes,” said Maxine Jackson, the defendant’s mother. “I know people say every mother feels this way, but I really believe my son.”