Jul. 29—Under Jackson’s plea agreement, public defender Dana H. Sanetti will have the right to argue for a sentence shorter than 10 years, court records show. But Jackson cannot receive less than five years in prison, the mandatory minimum sentence under the provision of the first-degree assault law he pleaded guilty to.
The stabbing occurred on Morningside Street West in Hartford and was reported at 1:43 p.m. on Sept. 20, 2021.
The mail carrier told police that he was stabbed in the back, near his right shoulder, as he put mail in his van, according to a report by Hartford police Officer Joseph Mormino. The carrier said he turned around and fell into the van as the attacker tried to stab him again, adding that he kicked and pushed at the man, according to the officer.
The carrier reported that the assailant’s knife hit the inside of the van and broke off, at which point the man ran away, the officer reported. The carrier said he tried to follow the man in the postal van but eventually stopped and called police.
The carrier was treated at the St. Francis Hospital emergency room for a quarter-inch puncture wound to his right shoulder that was 3 inches deep, as well as a small puncture wound to his left chest, the officer reported.
The provision of the first-degree assault law to which Jackson pleaded guilty requires “serious physical injury.” But police said at the time of the incident that the carrier’s injury was not life-threatening.
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The carrier said he would not be able to identify the assailant because he was wearing a hooded sweatshirt, the officer reported.
But a police officer located a man fitting the assailant’s description, who “had a significant laceration on his left pinky,” Mormino reported. He added that he knows from training and experience “that lacerations of this nature and location are common when someone uses a knife during an assault, as their hand commonly slips forward from the handle and onto the blade.”
The officer who located Jackson reported that he said, “I did it,” according to Mormino’s report.
Mormino added, however, that the suspect “was unresponsive for much of the time that myself and other officers interacted with him.”
“The suspect appeared to be falling asleep while standing up,” the officer added.
The man identified himself only as “Randy Jackson” and was not carrying an identification card, according to the officer. He reported that the man was identified as Malique Jackson through the use of a mobile fingerprint scanner that compares prints to those in several federal databases.