A drifter sentenced to prison for stabbing actress Theresa Saldana nearly to death eight years ago, was found guilty Wednesday of sending letters threatening to finish her off.
Saldana, wearing a royal blue jacket and a trademark shocking pink bow in her hair, clapped her hands once and hugged a friend and a security consultant she hired after she was attacked on the sidewalk outside her apartment by Arthur Jackson, 55."My initial reaction to this is YEAH!" Saldana squealed to reporters at a news conference. "I am very, very thrilled and very, very, very, relieved."
District Attorney Ira Reiner said it was the first conviction under a law that Saldana lobbied for making it a crime to threaten crime victims or witnesses.
A Superior Court jury deliberated two days following a brief trial before Superior Court Judge James Bascue before returning the verdict against Jackson, a native of Scotland who said he had a "divine mission" to kill Saldana.
The jury found Jackson guilty on five counts of threatening a victim. He faces a maximum 11 years in prison when he is sentenced Jan. 8.