Jackson plans to enter change of plea
GREENCASTLE -- A Greencastle woman accused of injuring four people with a knife during an altercation at a bar will be in Putnam County Circuit Court Aug. 19 to enter a change of plea.
A representative of the Putnam County Prosecutor's Office said no definite terms had been come to as yet, but that James Holder, attorney for Treva J. Jackson, and officers of the Putnam County Prosecutor's Office were hammering out details for a plea agreement.
Jackson, 36, had been scheduled to go to trial July 28 to face four charges of Class C felony battery by means of a deadly weapon. Each charge carries a maximum possible sentence of eight years in prison.
The July 28 date had been set after three continuances.
Court records said Jackson, along with her four alleged victims, was at Old Toppers Tavern in Greencastle on Sept. 19 when Jackson and another patron at the bar, Jessica Phares, began to argue.
An affidavit of probable cause said witnesses told police the verbal sparring escalated into a physical altercation between the women, and that Jackson pulled a knife on Phares.
A narrative on the case said three men jumped into the fray in an attempt to break up the fight between Jackson and Phares, and that they, along with Phares, were injured.
Phares is the former girlfriend of Scott Hoover, who is currently serving a prison sentence at the Putnamville Correctional facility for his role in the Dec. 15, 2007 death of Jackson's teenage son, Dietrich Jackson, who died of a prescription drug overdose. Phares was initially implicated in Dietrich Jackson's death, but all charges against her were dismissed.
Jackson was arrested on Sept. 21, and her bond was set at $20,000 cash only. Although the state objected, on Oct. 13 Judge Matthew Headley reduced Jackson's bond to $20,000 with 10 percent allowed. Jackson made bond and was released from jail on Oct. 15.
As a condition of her bond reduction, Jackson was required to be placed on electronic home monitoring immediately upon her release from jail.
Jackson's former attorney, Kristin Szczerbik of Cloverdale, requested on Nov. 12 that Jackson be released from home monitoring, but that request was denied by the court. Holder took over on Jackson's case in January.
Originally, Jackson was represented by former Putnam County Public Defender James Recker.