Tackett slated for summer trial date
A summer trial date has been set for the man accused of shooting service station owner Paul Walker in 1990.
The defendant, Roger Dale Tackett, 31, entered a not guilty plea before Circuit Court Judge Bart Stanley Wednesday to the charge of aggravated robbery. He was given a July 20, 2004 trial date. He will face plea or assignment on Jan. 28, 2004, at which time he must enter a plea or go ahead with trial.
Tackett was indicted earlier this month, nearly 13 years after he allegedly shot Walker outside the victim’s service station on Sparta Highway. Authorities believe Tackett, and perhaps others, laid in wait for Walker in the pre-dawn hours and then shot him in the neck as he was opening the station. The suspects then fled with a strong box containing around $500.
The wound left Walker permanently paralyzed from the chest down. Following years of rehabilitation, Walker runs a tire and alignment service near the site of his shooting.
Tackett was originally arrested along with two other suspects a few months after the shooting. However, their cases were dropped due to lack of evidence.
Lawmen have continued investigating the shooting through the years, with their efforts intensifying over the past year when a special prosecutor was named to head the case. District Attorney General Dale Potter will not be able to prosecute the case because he represented Tackett following his original arrest 12 years ago when he was public defender. Local attorney Phillip Clemons has been appointed to represent Tackett.
Along with his aggravated robbery count, which could net him up to 25 years in prison, Tackett also faces a number of forgery and theft counts from incidents which happened this summer. Tackett waived preliminary hearing in General Sessions Court Tuesday and was bound over to the grand jury on nine counts of forgery and eight counts of theft. The charges come for his alleged forging of stolen checks at local stores.