Willie Keith Jackson v. State of Alaska

In the Court of Appeals of the State of Alaska
Willie Keith Jackson,
Appellant,
v.
State of Alaska,
Appellee.
Court of Appeals No. A-14147
Order
Date of Order: May 12, 2023
Trial Court Case No. 3AN-21-05729CR
Before: Wollenberg, Harbison, and Terrell, Judges.
In 2021, the State charged Willie Keith Jackson with one count of felony
driving under the influence and one count of leaving the scene of a vehicle accident.1
He is currently awaiting trial.
Jackson’s bail was initially set at a $1,000 cash performance bond, with
Pretrial Enforcement Division (PED) supervision and a third-party custodian
requirement. The trial court subsequently reduced Jackson’s bail to a $500 cash
performance bond and a $500 unsecured appearance bond, with PED monitoring and
house arrest. (The court deleted the third-party custodian requirement.) The court also
precluded Jackson from possessing or consuming alcohol and required Jackson to
submit to alcohol monitoring.
Jackson posted the required bond and was released from custody pending
trial. Since his initial release from custody, Jackson has been charged with violating his
conditions of release by consuming alcohol on several occasions. After Jackson was
remanded on two of these occasions, the court imposed additional bail — first, a $500
cash performance bond, and then, an additional $450 cash performance bond.
1 AS 28.35.030(n) and AS 28.35.050(b), respectively.

Jackson v. State – p. 2
File No. A-14147
May 12, 2023
Jackson is back in custody following a new violation. In addition to the
original charges, Jackson now faces four counts of violating conditions of release.2
Following his most recent remand, the court initially required Jackson to
post an additional $2,500 cash performance bond on top of the already-posted bail. The
court has since reduced that amount to $1,000.
Jackson filed a bail appeal, challenging the court’s refusal to vacate his
bail conditions, exonerate his previously posted bail, and order his unconditional release
pending further litigation in his underlying case. 3 Having reviewed the record, we
conclude that the court did not abuse its discretion in setting the release conditions that
are currently in place to secure his performance. According to the APSIN information
included in the charging document, Jackson has twenty-nine prior state and municipal
convictions and a history of not complying with his bail conditions, including several
prior convictions for violating conditions of release. Jackson is alleged to have
repeatedly violated his bail conditions in this case, and he was separately charged with
multiple counts of assault while this case was pending. The trial court did not err in
declining to completely remove the conditions that are in place to reasonably ensure the
safety of the community.
Jackson also argues that he has reached his maximum sentence and that
the court was therefore required to lift his bail conditions. But the trial court rejected
Jackson’s underlying legal claim, concluding that Jackson’s two prior federal felony
2 AS 11.56.757(a).
3 Although the appellate rules preclude the filing of a reply memorandum in a bail
appeal absent a court order, Jackson filed a reply to the State’s opposition to his bail appeal.
See Alaska R. App. P. 207 & 503(d). The State did not oppose the filing. We ac cept
Jackson’s reply memorandum and consider it in ruling on this appeal.

Jackson v. State – p. 3
File No. A-14147
May 12, 2023
convictions qualified as prior convictions for presumptive sentence purposes4 — and
that Jackson therefore faced a presumptive sentencing range of 3 to 5 years on his
pending felony driving under the influence charge. 5 Because the court found that
Jackson had not yet reached the maximum permissible sentence for his pending charges,
the court did not err in declining to vacate Jackson’s bail conditions on this ground.
To the extent Jackson is attempting to challenge the underlying merits of
the trial court’s decision on the applicable presumptive range, we treat that issue as a
petition for review.6 And having reviewed the record, we see no grounds for exercising
our discretion to review that issue at this time.7
We AFFIRM the superior court’s order denying Jackson’s request for
unconditional release and exoneration of all previously posted bail in this case.
Entered at the direction of the Court.
Clerk of the Appellate Courts
________________________________
Ryan Montgomery-Sythe,
Chief Deputy Clerk
4 AS 12.55.145(a)(1).
5 AS 12.55.125(e)(3). In the alternative, the court held that, even if only one of
Jackson’s prior federal convictions qualified as a predicate felony, his prior state felony
convictions would qualify as predicate convictions under the rationale set out in Gilley v.
State, 955 P.2d 927 (Alaska App. 1998).
6 Alaska R. App. P. 402(a) (authorizing a party to petition the appellate court to
review a court order that is not a final judgment).
7 Alaska R. App. P. 402(b).

Jackson v. State – p. 4
File No. A-14147
May 12, 2023
cc: Court of Appeals Judges
Judge Peterson
Trial Court Clerk – Anchorage
Distribution:
Mail:
Jackson, Willie Keith
Email:
Heddell, Brian