MEMPHIS, Tenn. — New information was released about Noura Jackson’s release date.
According to the Tennessee Department of Correction, Jackson would be released into their custody in July.
Based on the new order, only then would she be certified eligible for a parole hearing.
Right now, the earliest she could schedule that hearing for would be in September.
Jackson accepted an Alford plea on voluntary manslaughter charges Wednesday.
The maximum sentence she would face is 15 years, with the possibility if parole after 9.
She has already served 9 and a half years in prison which means she is eligible for parole.
“It’s an incredible thing that she is asked to do today, but frankly it’s Noura’s position, her word not ours, that she doesn’t have anymore faith in the justice system,” said Michael Working, Noura’s attorney.
The State Supreme Court overturned Noura’s first conviction because of prosecutor misconduct, but Noura had doubts about another trial.
A special Prosecutor said he offered the plea because the facts just weren’t there, and charges against her were circumstantial.
Also, things like her prior drug and alcohol use and sexual activity were not going to be admissible this time around.
Still, prosecutors insisted they got what they wanted.
“An adjudication of guilt, a finding of guilt regarding a knowing and intentional killing of Jennifer Jackson, that’s what Noura Jackson pleaded guilty to,” said District Attorney Mike Dunavant, a special prosecutor assigned to the case.
Noura Jackson was taken back to Jail East.
As a part of her plea, she cannot contact her mother’s family, something they requested.
Jackson was convicted in 2009 of second-degree murder.
She was accused of stabbing her mother, Jennifer Jackson, at least 50 times in 2005.
The new trial was granted based on constitutional errors during the original trial.
The state Supreme Court said the lead prosecutor violated Jackson’s right to due process by not turning over a key witness’s statement to the defense.
The court also ruled the prosecutor’s comments on Jackson exercising her right to remain silent and not testify were impermissible.