Nine years and a long series of legal twists after Sanchez Mixon was killed on a CTA Green Line platform, the man convicted of murder in his fatal beating was sentenced on Wednesday to 25 years in prison.
Anthony Jackson’s sentence concludes — for now — his case’s extraordinary tenure in Cook County court. The Jackson matter has been through two trials, a slew of explicit and conspiracy-laden court filings by his attorney brother, and an unsuccessful bid for relief at the U.S. Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, Jackson’s brother George Jackson III, a former federal prosecutor who represented Jackson until stepping down after the second trial last year, has been formally accused of misconduct by the administrator of the state commission that handles disciplinary complaints against attorneys.
“Anthony Jackson’s defense has often overshadowed the person who Anthony Jackson is,” Assistant Public Defender Marijane Placek, who replaced George Jackson III as Jackson’s attorney, told Judge Ursula Walowski at sentencing Wednesday. “It’s never good for an attorney to defend their relatives, because they become too emotionally involved.”
“This is a genuinely good man who needed help, and that help was misdirected,” she said. “The legal system has let him down.”
Jackson was convicted of first-degree murder in June. Jurors saw copious footage of the attack: Mixon approaching Jackson, the two men briefly speaking, then Jackson hauling off and punching Mixon, throwing him to the ground, kicking him in the head, stomping on him so hard his foot left a mark.
For the first time Wednesday, the Jacksons’ mother revealed in court that Anthony Jackson had been violently assaulted on his 16th birthday — at the same “L” platform where, years later, he would beat Mixon to death.
“I often say (the attack) was a backflash he experienced from the beating he experienced on that same platform,” Theresia Jackson said from the witness stand.
Anthony, the youngest of her five children, acted as her caretaker until he was taken into custody, Theresia Jackson said.
“Judge, I’m sorry, he’s not the person that people have him painted as. That’s not who he is,” she said. “Anthony is a very caring person.”
Assistant State’s Attorney Yolanda Lippert argued that Walowski should sentence Jackson to a term above the minimum of 20 years, noting that the beating was extraordinarily gruesome and apparently unprovoked.
“His actions showed a complete and utter disregard for life,” she said. “It was a completely senseless murder. Sanchez Mixon was a complete stranger, a regular citizen of Chicago on an ‘L’ platform in the middle of the day.”
Anthony Jackson gave a lengthy statement, saying he acted solely in self-defense.
“I kick him, he’s still getting up … I can’t let him get back up,” Jackson said.
Placek said in court afterward that while some of Jackson’s statement contradicted the evidence, she did not believe he meant to mislead. Rather, he was conflating the attack on Mixon with the attack he suffered on the same platform as a teenager, she said.
“I believe this is a mix-up in his mind of what happened when he was 16 years old on that same ‘L’ platform, and that’s what in fact was the triggering event that brought about the event that happened,” she said.
In sentencing Jackson, Walowski noted that he does have a “compassionate side.” Jackson may have had a split-second reaction on the platform, “but that was your reaction, your choice,” she told him.
The 25-year sentence is just five years above the minimum for first-degree murder. Jackson’s attorneys filed notice that they would appeal the conviction, bringing the case up to a higher court.
George Jackson III had been working on his brother’s case since 2015, when he signed on to help the defense at his first trial. He then successfully got the initial guilty verdict tossed out.
After that, the case took dozens of unusual turns. George Jackson was held in contempt more than once for sexually explicit and racially insensitive court filings. He filed a slew of paperwork alleging prosecutors and judges were in on a conspiracy to frame his brother. For a time, he was booted off the case, and separately, banned from even entering the courthouse.
At times he would fail to show up in court altogether. He has been referred to the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission at least twice, and a previous judge assigned to the case openly questioned his mental health.
Attorneys with the administrator of the ARDC formally accused him of misconduct in December, records show. Among other charges, he is accused of repeatedly making false statements and acting to “embarrass, hinder or obstruct” judges and prosecutors for no reason.
No response to the ARDC’s complaint has been posted online. If a panel of the ARDC’s hearing board finds that the allegations have merit, Jackson could be recommended for discipline.
mcrepeau@chicagotribune.com
